Nyepi Day, or The Day of Silence, is a Hindu new year celebration unique to Bali. For 24 hours, the festival looks a lot like social distancing. But Balinese authorities are also allowing tens of thousands to attend ceremonies during the pandemic — and experts fear that despite warnings to limit gatherings, the coronavirus will spread.
Read MoreCatholics have called for the intercession of a great number of saints (such as Saint Pope Gregory the Great) throughout history to help defeat widespread illness, plagues and epidemics. There are scores of saints that can be called upon in a time of crisis. While the world continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic, Catholics are looking for the intercession of these five saints to battle COVID-19.
Read MoreThe Jehovah’s Witnesses’ push toward Deaf inclusion recently culminated in the publication of the first complete ASL (or American Sign Language) Bible, passing their 1,000th language mark for Bible translations. It was a long road to get there, the Deaf community in the church says.
Read MoreSocial distancing is important, but social avoidance is not okay, says Ron Lewis, pastor of the multicultural church Every Nation NYC as they moved services online. The church was formed during another crisis— 9/11— and sees its mission, to help people grow their faith, uninterrupted during the current pandemic.
Read MorePassover seders are often cherished family memories. But this will be remembered as the year when a public health crisis prevented generations of family from gathering together, when those who did not travel watched on a computer screen as the story of the exodus from Egypt was retold.
Read MoreShabbat dinners are canceled, community centers are closed, and leaders in the Jewish community are having to come up with creative ways to foster community in these unprecedented times.
Read MoreWhen her physical reality was pushed to its limit, Sybil Archibald plumbed her inner world. She communicates what she discovered through art.
Read MoreThe main duties of a priest are to administer the church’s sacraments — which include baptism, confession and holy communion — while also visiting the sick and providing pastoral care to parishioners. How does all that work during the COVID-19 pandemic when most priests are in the high-risk age category for contracting the deadly virus?
Read MoreAhmed Toufiq, Morocco’s minister of Islamic affairs, is leading an export of the kingdom’s Boutchichiya Sufi Islam and pushing back against the Wahhabi tradition of Saudi Arabia with its links to Salafi jihadism.
Read MoreOn. March 13, in a surprise move, the Indian government released former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and current Member of Parliament, Farooq Abdullah. He had been detained more than seven months inside his home in Kashmir, since Aug. 5, 2019 when the Indian government revoked Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status.
Read MoreThe group delivered ibuprofen, multivitamins, gloves, masks and snacks and also aided a group of 13 pilgrims from Alabama in a 14-day quarantine near Bethlehem to protect others from coronavirus. So far, 30 people in the West Bank and 147 in Israel have been confirmed to have COVID-19 infections.
Read MoreWith the future obscured by unprecedented uncertainty — or the certainty that things will get much worse — what approach is best for counseling from a faith perspective?
Read More‘You don’t ever think that’s the last time you’re going to see somebody,’ Izzy Stevens says.
Read MoreThe Jewish holiday Purim celebrates Esther’s rescue of the Jews from genocide in 5th century Persia. Her intervention highlights the good that humans can do. While many Purim events were cancelled to protect from the spread of Coronavirus or COVID-19, this community decided the threat was small and the lessons too great to stay home.
Read More“Apollo’s Fire: O Jerusalem!” a Grammy Award-winning ensemble, brings to the stage the musical roots of each of Jerusalem’s four quarters with poetry and sacred songs from the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Arab sections of Jerusalem’s Old City from the 13th to the 17th centuries.
Read MoreIn a remote part of the Guatemalan highlands, Israeli businesses are creating jobs and wealth for Guatemalan youth. The Israeli-Latino alliance relies on the prominence of evangelical faith in Guatemalan politics and culture that sees Israel as an important ally, even as locals worry whether Israeli backpackers are a bad influence on their kids.
Read MoreThe Indian government has restored Muslim-majority Kashmir’s Internet access. Kashmiris wonder: for how long?
Read MoreEgypt, Israel and Palestine are closing several holy sites after a fleet of Greek tourists who visited them have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. Meanwhile, faith groups around the world are rethinking traditions to curb the spread of the disease and protect their worshippers without straying from their religious laws.
Read MoreAmid the death and devastation brought by a tornado, a grieving Tennessee congregation still trusts in God.
Read MoreLast year, Advent Lutheran Church fed more than 8,000 people, more than 20 times the number of its congregation. While food prices are rising, their funds are declining, and New York’s hungry — battling rents rising faster than wages— keep coming.
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