Latest Religion News

After shooting, Wisconsin school and church lean into Christmas message for comfort

Dec. 21, 2024 16:29 PM EST

For Christians around the world, Christmas is the joyful celebration of the birth of Jesus. To affirm their beliefs — that God is present and hasn’t abandoned them — the faith community at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, is embracing its holiday traditions just days...

13 people including children die in stampedes in Nigeria at Christmas charity events

Dec. 21, 2024 12:09 PM EST

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — At least 13 people, including four children, were killed in two separate stampedes in Nigeria as large crowds gathered to collect food and clothing items distributed at annual Christmas events, the police said Saturday. The two accidents came days after...

In a calendar rarity, Hanukkah starts this year on Christmas Day

Dec. 21, 2024 11:17 AM EST

Hanukkah, Judaism’s eight-day Festival of Lights, begins this year on Christmas Day, which has only happened four times since 1900. For some rabbis, the intersection of the two religious holidays provides an auspicious occasion for interfaith engagement. “This can...

What to know about Hanukkah and how it's celebrated around the world

Dec. 21, 2024 11:16 AM EST

Hanukkah — also spelled Chanukah or other transliterations from Hebrew — is Judaism’s “festival of lights.” On eight consecutive nightfalls, Jews gather with family and friends to light one additional candle in the menorah — a multibranched candelabra. In Hebrew,...

Pope has a cold and will skip outdoor Sunday prayer ahead of a busy week

Dec. 21, 2024 10:56 AM EST

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is suffering from a cold and will deliver his Sunday blessing from indoors, the Vatican said, announcing the precautions ahead of a busy Christmas period and launch of the Holy Year that will sorely test Francis' stamina and health. The Vatican cited the...

Vatican advances beatification process for Belgium's king who abdicated rather than approve abortion

Dec. 21, 2024 10:13 AM EST

ROME (AP) — The Vatican has taken the first main step to implement Pope Francis’ wish that Belgium’s late king be beatified for having abdicated for a day rather than approve legislation to legalize abortion. The Holy See’s saint-making office on Dec. 17 established a...

What we know about the suspect behind the German Christmas market attack

Dec. 21, 2024 09:17 AM EST

CAIRO (AP) — Authorities have not formally named the suspect in the car ramming in the city of Magdeburg that killed at least five people and wounded hundreds, saying only that he is a Saudi doctor who has lived in Germany for nearly two decades and that he acted alone. Local media...

Ten people including children die in a stampede in Nigeria at a Christmas food distribution event

Dec. 21, 2024 08:23 AM EST

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Ten people, including four children, have been killed in a stampede in Nigeria’s capital city as a large crowd gathered to collect food items distributed by a local church at a Christmas event, the police said Saturday. The stampede occurred in the early...

Florida requires teaching Black history. Some don't trust schools to do it justice

Dec. 21, 2024 00:22 AM EST

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Buried among Florida's manicured golf courses and sprawling suburbs are the artifacts of its slave-holding past: the long-lost cemeteries of enslaved people, the statutes of Confederate soldiers that still stand watch over town squares, the old plantations turned into...

University of California campuses resolve discrimination complaints stemming from Gaza protests

Dec. 20, 2024 19:15 PM EST

The U.S. Department of Education said Friday it has reached an agreement with the University of California system resolving complaints from Jewish and Muslim students of discrimination and harassment during protests last spring over the war in Gaza. The department’s Office for...