(OPINION) This week 20 years ago, Tom Osanjo was running late to report on a press conference between Kenya’s Trade Minister and the U.S. ambassador. It may have saved his life.
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Mary McAleese, an attorney and the former president of Ireland, assailed her Catholic Church for its practice of baptizing infants shortly after birth with parents making vows on their behalf. She argues that this treats children as “infant conscripts who are held to lifelong obligations of obedience,” and is a violation of their human rights.
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In Kashmir, the Amarnath Pilgrimage showcases the perfect symbol of unity and bonding between Hindus and Muslims.
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Nathan DiCamillo reflects on his time as a freelancer for The Capital Gazette. He freelanced for the paper while he was in school from 2014 to 2016 and says the staff there taught him the basics of journalism and helped him to launch his career.
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Justice Anthony Kennedy's 7-2 majority opinion in favor of the baker at the Masterpiece Cakeshop focused on evidence that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had demonstrated open hostility towards owner Jack Phillips and his Christian faith. Meanwhile, Phillips says he is looking forward to creating more wedding cakes, now that he is free to do so while following his Christian convictions.
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The bizarre, cultish group that made headlines for recruiting women to be “slaves” and “masters” has closed after its leader, Keith Raniere, was denied bail after appealing in court. Raniere’s cult, NXIVM, caught the public’s attention last fall when the New York Times published a detailed exposé that included graphic details about branding of female followers, coerced sexual acts and blackmail.
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The soap opera that is Italian politics has taken a dramatic turn in recent weeks as two populist parties on opposite ends of the spectrum have decided to join forces as the Catholic Church opposes the wave of anti-immigrant sentiment that has engulfed the country over the past year.
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Ann-Marie Wilson, a doctor of psychology and a midwife who trained in Pakistan, recently completed a paper on the origins of FGM, claiming that the mummies in the British Museum show clear signs of the practice. Now three countries, Egypt (97 per cent), Ethiopia and Indonesia (the most populous Muslim country in the world) account for more than half of the 200 million women and girls who have undergone what can be a life-threatening procedure.
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Why has a letter by the Archbishop of Delhi to all the Parish priests and religious institutions in the Archdiocese of Delhi with the subject ‘Prayer for our nation’ created a firestorm in India? The media suddenly is abuzz after several different voices across the political spectrum cry foul that the letter is meant to divide the nation on communal lines. Notably, the right wing Hindu organization’s ideologue called it a "direct attack on secularism and democracy."
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People living along the Gaza Strip face the constant reality and accompanying anxiety of not knowing when the red alert — a blaring siren giving a 10-second notice that a rocket launched by Hamas fighters, Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalists — will make landfall, destroying everything in its path.
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Massive protests have rocked India over the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in the remote Rasana village near the Indo-Pak border in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. It appears the motive was to dislodge Muslim nomads from a Hindu-dominated area. Two ministers who backed supporters of the accused have since resigned.
The remains of 39 Indians kidnapped and killed by the terror group ISIS are finally returned back home. The individuals remained out of government sight while they were working in the war-torn city of Mosul after they were sent there by unauthorized travel agents.
Read MoreIt is a time of reckoning in the media industry. Breakthrough reporting revealed that newsroom sexual misconduct is both pervasive and protected. That truth became the catalyst for the #MeToo moment, which opened eyes by opening old -- and not-so-old wounds for all to witness. How did it happen here? How did our systems and values harbor harassment and discrimination?
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This weekend, people of all faiths will commemorate both saints - St. Patrick and St. Joseph - by enjoying corned beef and cabbage, and topping off the meal with some zeppole for dessert. It’s all become part of the shared American experienced and America’s acceptance of immigrants and their customs.
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The March 4 vote in Italy swept to victory a wave of populist candidates – including Matteo Salvini of the Lega party – who campaigned heavily against immigration. As Italians, like many across Europe, become more agnostic, their politics morph. Political observers say a new generation of a more secular electorate have started to differentiate between religious obligations and political desires.
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Away from their homes in Kashmir and living in different parts of the world, Kashmiri Hindus (also known as Kashmiri pandits) strive to keep their language and culture alive.
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Like a well-scripted movie, many Kenyans who come into a windfall in the recent betting craze talk of spending their money in a way that often includes tithing. But church leaders say they want the gambling to stop or they'll take the law into their own hands.
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(COMMENTARY) As Christians enter the season of Lent, the church's mission is as paramount as ever – to spread the Gospel and inform parishioners, through news stories and commentary, about the politics and culture around us. The mainstream press is not the least interested in such a mission – so it has largely become the role of the religious-based press – and the communication tools of the 21st century – to fill the void.
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An Interview With Claire Foster-Gilbert
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(COMMENTARY) Canada serves as a warning to the United States of the tricky balance that the legalization of same-sex marriage brings with it. The Supreme Court must protect the religious freedom of all American citizens. Should justices rule otherwise, the U.S. could be headed down the same downward spiral that Canada finds itself in today.
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