Biden to create Indian boarding school national monument to mark era of forced assimilation

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — President Joe Biden plans to designate a national monument at a former Indian boarding school in Pennsylvania to honor the resilience of Native American tribes whose children were forced to attend the school and hundreds of similar abusive institutions. The...

Indigenous Mayans want their sacred cenotes to have personhood status

HOMUN, Mexico (AP) — A huge poplar tree stands proud in Maribel Ek's courtyard, adorned with a sign that reads: “Florece desde adentro” ("It blooms from within"). Deep underground, the tree's long roots search for the water that makes this land special: a sinkhole lake, known...

Oldest known stone tablet inscribed with Ten Commandments to be auctioned

NEW YORK (AP) — The oldest known stone tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments, dating from 300 to 800 A.D., will be sold in New York this month, Sotheby's auction house said. The 155-pound (52-kilogram) marble slab inscribed with the commandments in Paleo-Hebrew script will be...

Polygamous leader with 20 'wives' faces sentencing for criminal sex acts with children

PHOENIX (AP) — A polygamous religious leader who claimed more than 20 spiritual “wives ” including 10 underage girls faces decades in prison at his sentencing on Monday for coercing girls as young as 9 years old to submit to criminal sex acts with him and other adults. Samuel...

Australian synagogue fire declared terrorism in a decision that increases investigation resources

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian law enforcement authorities on Monday declared an arson attack on a synagogue last week a terrorist act in a decision that increases resources available to the investigation. Arson squad detectives have been investigating the blaze that...

The spiritual heart of Paris awakens: Notre Dame hosts first Mass since 2019 fire

PARIS (AP) — Notre Dame Cathedral, its air thick with the smell of incense, hosted its first Mass on Sunday since the catastrophic fire of 2019, a moment that transcended religious significance to become a powerful symbol of Paris’ resilience. Beneath the glow of traditional...

Giant statue of the Buddha in New Jersey becomes interfaith hub and spiritual home for many

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — Just off a state highway in New Jersey, one of the largest statues of the Buddha in the United States appears unexpectedly in the middle of a backyard. It rises 30 feet high from the woods in Franklin Township, near Princeton, where it was built a...

Notre Dame's reopening celebrated its saviors as much as the cathedral's resurrection from fire

PARIS (AP) — The reopening ceremonies for Notre Dame were as much a celebration of people as they were a rejoicing at the cathedral's resurrection from fire. Outside, the Catholic faithful shivered and prayed in the cold and the rain — and yet were ecstatic and said they wouldn't...

The Latest: The famed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris reopens to great fanfare

PARIS (AP) — Notre Dame is reopening its doors for the first time since a fire in 2019 nearly destroyed Paris' beloved 12th-century cathedral. World leaders — including President-elect Donald Trump, America’s first lady Jill Biden, Britain’s Prince William and Ukrainian...

French President Emmanuel Macron expresses “gratitude” to those who saved, helped and rebuilt Notre Dame Cathedral