Groups of thieves across Uganda and Kenya are breaking into churches, stealing and damaging expensive items kept inside the houses of worship. Since the start of the year, vandals have broken into at least seven churches in Uganda and ransacked them. Several churches in the neighboring Kenya have also been robbed in recent months.
Read MoreOver the past few days, the Israeli war against Hamas has dominated conversations. Although this debate is going on practically everywhere in the world, for Kenyans it is a bit more personal since the country has been the target of militant Islamists. In addition, the East African nation was once proposed as a possible settlement for the then-stateless Jews.
Read MoreA coalition of diverse Christian leaders across the United States have intensified their fight this week against the death penalty, arguing that the state does not have the right to take the life of another. The fight against the death penalty is nothing new. While executions across the country have been in steady decline, many lawmakers are running on platforms seeking for it to be used more.
Read MoreLiberty University reportedly failed to keep its campus safe and repeatedly violated federal law specifying how to do so for years, according to a U.S. Department of Education preliminary report. It shows the university underreported campus crime and deterred people from reporting crimes in the first place. That’s even as Liberty claims to be “one of the safest campuses in the state — and in the nation.”
Read MoreWhile tensions over Jewish and Muslim holy sites remain a contentious part of the war, Christians who live and work throughout the the Holy Land are also under attack. Amid all the destruction has been some positive news. Contrary to reports, Gaza City’s Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius, built in the 12th century, was not destroyed in the bombings.
Read MoreIt is customary for married couples from different religious background to convert to a single faith after tying the knot. However, some Muslim and Christian couples, mostly in Nigeria and some parts of the United States, have defied this custom, instead opting to marry without converting to their spouse’s faith.
Read More(EXPLAINER) Two days after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack against Israel, fighting across the country and in Gaza continued. Some 900 Israelis have been killed since Saturday and more than 2,600 others have been wounded. How Israelis and Palestinians got here has been years in the making.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The parallels were striking — and surely not coincidental. Exactly 50 years and a day after being taken completely off guard by a coordinated military attack by its neighbors — Egypt and Syria — Israel was again caught by surprise.
Read MoreThe Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York will open a new exhibit later this month that explores the rescue in “Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark.” Intended particularly for children and adolescents, the interactive exhibit not only commemorates the event, but asks visitors to confront the question: How would you respond if you heard a cry for help today?
Read MoreDuring a recent small-ship cruise up Alaska’s Inland Passage from Sitka to Juneau, my wife and I saw many totem poles, both old and fairly new. Since we were voyaging through Tlingit territory, we paid special attention to those witnessing to Tlingit culture. Fortunately, we had a Tlingit as our guide.
Read MoreA 16th-century Torah scroll went on display at the Riyadh International Book Fair. The exhibit, which included 25 other rare historic manuscripts, was seen by tens of thousands in the Saudi capital. It was another sign of a newly-evolving willingness in the region to embrace ecumenicalism as a bridge between erstwhile enemies.
Read MoreTwo Ukrainian Christians, separated in age by a half-century, experienced the love of Jesus and the horrors of war. Artem Vinogradar, 22, died in mid-August while fighting against invading Russian forces. Two weeks later, longtime church leader and theologian Igor Kozlovsky, who spent nearly two years as the prisoner of pro-Russian separatists, died of a heart attack. He was 70.
Read MoreAfter many decades of exclusion by the church, the deaf in Zimbabwe and other African countries are finally being remembered and embraced.
Read MoreWhat people believe when it comes to the causes of climate change largely depends on your religious affiliation. The Public Religion Research Institute’s new climate change survey found that 76% of Hispanic Catholics — more than any other religious group — believe that changes to the environment are caused by humans.
Read MorePope Francis opened a meeting of bishops at the Vatican by warning that the Catholic church needs to put aside “political calculations or ideological battles” and welcome “everyone” to dialogue about the faith. During Mass at St. Peter’s Square, the pontiff said the church is a place of welcome for “everyone, everyone, everyone” ahead of a three-week series of meetings that has sparked hope among progressives and alarm from conservatives.
Read MoreDisgraced Hillsong founder Brian Houston has announced plans to write a new book sharing his story. Houston resigned from the global megachurch last year for alleged sexual misconduct, but has complained that he was “betrayed,” “lied about” and “defrauded.”
Read MoreIn a move that would signal a seismic shift for the Catholic Church, Pope Francis said he’s open to blessing same-sex unions and to studying the possibility of ordaining women to the priesthood. The comments came in a letter the pope penned in response to five cardinals who had written to him expressing concern about a number of issues that are expected to be discussed at a meeting of bishops starting Wednesday at the Vatican.
Read MoreOctober is Orthodox Awareness Month. Orthodox Christian Fellowship, a leading Eastern Orthodox student organization, dedicated the month to raise awareness of OCF in the Orthodox community and among non-Orthodox students on college campuses nationwide.
Read MoreWorld Vision, the $1.4 billion Christian relief ministry, has told U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley that it denies claims it aided terrorists in Gaza. In August, the senator from Iowa sent a series of questions to the ministry, a major beneficiary of federal funding that has long denied its work in Gaza supports terrorists
Read More(EXPLAINER) The next phase in the high-anticipated Vatican gathering of bishops known as the Synod of Synodality starts on Oct. 4. The first phase of this global gathering is the culmination of two years of preparation. Over the past two years, much has been said about synodality and what it aims to do for Catholicism.
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