Latest Religion News
'Conclave' and Ralph Fiennes go for the (papal) throne
NEW YORK (AP) — Robert Harris had just completed a trilogy of novels about Cicero when he watched the election of Pope Benedict live on television. As a chronicler of power and its mutations, the scene — the Sistine Chapel smoke signaling a decision, of course, but also the whole, secretive...
Fallout from 2023 Hamas attack lingers as Jews worldwide prepare for a holiday meant for joy
NEW YORK (AP) — Customarily, Simchat Torah is one of the most joyous days of the Jewish calendar, highlighted by exuberant dancing around a Torah. Jewish leaders say the joy will return during this week's celebrations, even as Jews recall that last year's Simchat Torah overlapped with Oct. 7, the...
Movie Review: It’s all politics at the Vatican in ‘Conclave’
In Edward Berger’s “Conclave,” the selection of the pope is no holy affair. Instead, it’s a petty, political campaign carried out in secrecy, where gossip flows, agendas are malleable and loyalties are fleeting. All are there to serve God, they say. But we all know how helpful that has been...
Peruvian theologian the Rev. Gustavo Gutiérrez, father of influential liberation theology, has died
LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian theologian the Rev. Gustavo Gutiérrez, the father of the social justice-centered liberation theology that the Vatican once criticized for its Marxist undercurrents, has died. He was 96. The Dominican Order in Peru announced on social media that the...
Louisiana's 2020 Teacher of the Year is trying to block the state's Ten Commandments law
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana's 2020 Teacher of the Year has filed a lawsuit against the state challenging a new law that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom by Jan. 1. It's the second lawsuit filed against the law, which was enacted...
Arrested Philippine televangelist confronted in the Senate by women he's accused of sexually abusing
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Former followers of an arrested Filipino televangelist confronted him in a Senate hearing Wednesday, accusing him of repeatedly abusing them sexually by portraying the assaults as their religious duty to the “appointed son of God." Apollo Carreon...
Malaysia charges 22 members of an Islamic business group, including its CEO, for organized crime
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Twenty-two members of an Islamic business group, including its CEO, were charged Wednesday for being part of an organized crime group after hundreds of children believed to have been sexually abused were rescued last month from welfare homes linked to the group. ...
About 140 Rohingya Muslims on wooden boat off Indonesia's coast as residents refuse to let them land
LABUHAN HAJI, Indonesia (AP) — About 140 weak and hungry Rohingya Muslims, mostly women and children, were on a wooden boat anchored about 1 mile (0.60 kilometers) off the coast of Indonesia’s northernmost province of Aceh on Tuesday, officials said, and local residents refused to allow them...
Burial held for Catholic priest and Indigenous peace activist killed in southern Mexico
SAN ANDRES LARRAINZAR, Mexico (AP) — Hundreds of people turned out Tuesday for the burial of Catholic priest Marcelo Pérez, an activist for Indigenous peoples and farm laborers who was killed in the southern Mexico state of Chiapas. Some 2,000 mourners shouted slogans like...
China and the Vatican agree to extend an agreement on appointing bishops
BEIJING (AP) — China and the Vatican have agreed to extend a provisional agreement on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four more years, officials said Tuesday. The 2018 agreement, extended twice previously, was an attempt under Pope Francis to bridge long-standing...
