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Supporters of religious group burn a representation of a French flag during a rally against French President Emmanuel Macron and republishing of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad they deem blasphemous, in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 30, 2020. Muslims have been calling for both protests and a boycott of French goods in response to France's stance on caricatures of Islam's most revered prophet. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

As anger rises, Muslims protest French cartoons

Oct. 30, 2020 3:51 PM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Tens of thousands of Muslims, from Pakistan to Lebanon to the Palestinian territories, poured out of prayer services to join anti-France protests on Friday, as the French president's vow to protect the right to caricature the Prophet Muhammad continues to roil the Muslim...

FILE - In this Sunday, June 2, 2019, file photo, Washington D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory, left, greets parishioners following Mass at St. Augustine Church in Washington. Pope Francis has named 13 new cardinals, including Washington D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory, who would become the first Black U.S. prelate to earn the coveted red cap. In a surprise announcement from his studio window to faithful standing below in St. Peter’s Square, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020, Francis said the churchmen would be elevated to a cardinal’s rank in a ceremony on Nov. 28. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Social issues a priority for cardinal-to-be Wilton Gregory

Oct. 30, 2020 4:00 PM EDT

Washington, D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory, soon to become the Roman Catholic Church’s first Black cardinal from the United States, hopes the U.S. hierarchy can broaden its concept of “pro-life” so that other pressing issues can be considered top priorities along with opposition to abortion....

In this Aug. 23, 2020, photo provided by Steve NeSmith, Scott Sauls, senior pastor at Christ Presbyterian Church, preaches to his congregation in Nashville, Tenn. (Steve NeSmith/Christ Presbyterian Church via AP)

Fraught election puts faith leaders through a political test

Oct. 27, 2020 12:07 PM EDT

Both President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden count endorsements from well-known faith leaders. But for clergy members who try to tackle thorny moral matters without overtly backing a candidate, the campaign has tested their ability to reconcile religious values and politics. That challenge comes...

Ofelia Esparza, 88, from East Los Angles, has brough fresh marigolds, often called

For many Latinos, virus deaths loom over Day of the Dead

Oct. 30, 2020 5:20 PM EDT

PHOENIX (AP) — Matilde Gomez wants her mother, Gume, to know how much she appreciates her love and sacrifices. So, she's putting her feelings into a letter. Only Gume Salazar will never get to read it. Instead, it's going on a table in Gomez's home in Arizona that's dedicated to her mother, who died of...

FILE - In this July 28, 2018 file photo, former Michigan Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., left, and other supporters during a campaign stop in Detroit. Since the 2016 elections, more “Muslims recognized that every vote that we make is a down payment on the attention that every politician will have to pay to our community in the future,” El-Sayed said in a recent interview. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

Muslim Americans aim for high turnout, new influence in 2020

Oct. 30, 2020 12:03 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the 2016 presidential election, Mohamed Abukar didn’t like his options, so he didn’t vote. This year the 26-year-old Michigan resident has already cast his ballot — and urged others to follow suit. “It’s your civic duty” to vote, Abukar said...

Latest Religion News

Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard at a closed market area during a strike called by separatists in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020. Kashmir’s main separatist grouping called the strike to protest new land laws that India enacted on Tuesday, allowing any of its nationals to buy land in the region. Pro-India politicians in Kashmir have also criticized the laws and accused India of putting Kashmir’s land up for sale. The move exacerbates concerns of Kashmiris and rights groups who see such measures as a settler-colonial project to change the Muslim-majority region’s demography. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Kashmir shuts down to protest India's new land laws

Oct. 31, 2020 4:53 AM EDT

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Shops and businesses were shut in several parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir on Saturday as separatists challenging Indian rule called for a general strike to denounce new laws that allow any Indians to buy land in the disputed region. Government forces in riot gear patrolled streets...

A woman, wearing a mask for protection against the COVID-19 infection, is reflected in a tinted chapel window, along with a metal casing said to contain the remains of St. Dimitrie of Basarabov, the patron saint of the Romanian capital, in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. The feast of St. Dimitrie of Basarabov, the patron saint of the Romanian capital, which usually lasted for a week and was attended by up to 100 thousand people from all over the country, was reduced in 2020 to three days due to pandemic control restrictions, which included limiting access to the celebrations to inhabitants of Bucharest, and less than a third of the usual number of worshipers attended. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

AP PHOTOS: Pandemic tempers patron saint festival in Romania

Oct. 31, 2020 4:23 AM EDT

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — The feast of St. Dimitrie of Basarabov, the patron saint of Bucharest, is a show of Orthodox Christianity's strength in Romania, where a weeklong festival devoted to the former hermit typically draws up to 100,000 people from all over the country to the capital every October. ...

Saudi man crashes car into gates of Mecca's Grand Mosque

Oct. 30, 2020 10:32 PM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Saudi man in a speeding car crashed into the outer gates of Mecca's Grand Mosque late Friday night, the country's state-run news agency reported. The crash happened around 10:30 p.m. and saw the man's car ram through a barrier and keep driving until it hit the gate on...

FILE - In this Sept. 4, 2020, file photo, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Kuala Lumpur. Mahathir said Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, he is disgusted because his comments on attacks by Muslim extremists in France had been taken out of context. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File)

Mahathir says remarks on French attacks taken out of context

Oct. 30, 2020 10:05 PM EDT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad stood by his widely condemned comments on attacks by Muslim extremists in France, saying Friday that they were taken out of context and criticizing Twitter and Facebook for removing his posts. Mahathir, 95, sparked widespread outrage...

Young people take part in a protest against the conservative government, on the eighth straight day of angry demonstrations that were triggered by a recent tightening of the abortion law, in the Old Town, in Warsaw, Poland, Friday, Oct. 30, 2020.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Poland: Tens of thousands hold new protest over abortion ban

Oct. 30, 2020 5:47 PM EDT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Tens of thousands of people marched Friday through downtown Warsaw to the house of Poland's ruling party leader in what women's rights activists planned as the largest demonstration in nine days of protests against a near-total ban on abortions in Poland. There were cases of far-right...

Ofelia Esparza, 88, from East Los Angles, has brough fresh marigolds, often called

For many Latinos, virus deaths loom over Day of the Dead

Oct. 30, 2020 5:20 PM EDT

PHOENIX (AP) — Matilde Gomez wants her mother, Gume, to know how much she appreciates her love and sacrifices. So, she's putting her feelings into a letter. Only Gume Salazar will never get to read it. Instead, it's going on a table in Gomez's home in Arizona that's dedicated to her mother, who died of...

FILE - In this Sunday, June 2, 2019, file photo, Washington D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory, left, greets parishioners following Mass at St. Augustine Church in Washington. Pope Francis has named 13 new cardinals, including Washington D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory, who would become the first Black U.S. prelate to earn the coveted red cap. In a surprise announcement from his studio window to faithful standing below in St. Peter’s Square, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020, Francis said the churchmen would be elevated to a cardinal’s rank in a ceremony on Nov. 28. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Social issues a priority for cardinal-to-be Wilton Gregory

Oct. 30, 2020 4:00 PM EDT

Washington, D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory, soon to become the Roman Catholic Church’s first Black cardinal from the United States, hopes the U.S. hierarchy can broaden its concept of “pro-life” so that other pressing issues can be considered top priorities along with opposition to abortion....

Supporters of religious group burn a representation of a French flag during a rally against French President Emmanuel Macron and republishing of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad they deem blasphemous, in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 30, 2020. Muslims have been calling for both protests and a boycott of French goods in response to France's stance on caricatures of Islam's most revered prophet. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

As anger rises, Muslims protest French cartoons

Oct. 30, 2020 3:51 PM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Tens of thousands of Muslims, from Pakistan to Lebanon to the Palestinian territories, poured out of prayer services to join anti-France protests on Friday, as the French president's vow to protect the right to caricature the Prophet Muhammad continues to roil the Muslim...

Women's rights activists protest against recent tightening of Poland's restrictive abortion law, in front of the parliament building as inside, guards had to be used to shield right-wing ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski from angry opposition lawmakers, in Warsaw, Poland, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020. Massive nationwide protests have been held ever since a top court ruled Thursday that abortions due to fetal congenital defects are unconstitutional.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Why an abortion law ruling triggered mass protests in Poland

Oct. 30, 2020 3:33 PM EDT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland is a largely conservative country compared to much of Europe, a place where churches fill up on Sundays and Roman Catholicism is deeply interwoven with the national identity. So why has a court ruling restricting abortion sparked more than a week of angry protests across the...

A family lights a candle in front of the Notre Dame church in Nice, France, Friday, Oct. 30, 2020. A new suspect is in custody in the investigation into a gruesome attack by a Tunisian man who killed three people in a French church. France heightened its security alert amid religious and geopolitical tensions around cartoons mocking the Muslim prophet. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

France mourns 3 killed in church attack, tightens security

Oct. 30, 2020 2:43 PM EDT

NICE, France (AP) — Mourners lit candles and prayed silently Friday to honor three people killed in a knife attack at a church, as France heightened security at potential targets at home and abroad amid outrage over its defense of the right to publish cartoons mocking the prophet of Islam. The attacker,...

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