Latest Christianity News
Church closing in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, donates the last of its money in Christmas act of charity
BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) — A church whose congregation has roots going back to the 19th century is closing and donating hundreds of thousands of dollars from the sale of its building to charity in a Pennsylvania city named for the biblical birthplace of Jesus. Trinity United Church of...
What is the Native American Church and why is peyote sacred to members?
The Native American Church is considered the most widespread religious movement among the Indigenous people of North America. It holds sacred the peyote cactus, which grows naturally only in some parts of southern Texas and northern Mexico. Peyote has been used spiritually in ceremonies, and as a...
Pope brings Holy Year and prayers for better future to Rome prison, a 'cathedral of pain and hope'
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis inaugurated his Holy Year at Rome’s main prison on Thursday, bringing a message of hope to inmates and involving them in the Catholic Church’s once every quarter-century celebration that is expected to bring about 32 million pilgrims to Rome. Francis...
Community remembers teacher killed in Wisconsin school shooting as Christian with Southern roots
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Family and friends said their final farewells Monday to a substitute teacher killed in a shooting at a private religious school in Wisconsin last week, describing her as a devout Christian with Southern roots who made copious notes in her personal Bible and planned to take...
A Holy Year is about to start in Rome. Here's what you need to know
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Tuesday formally inaugurates the 2025 Holy Year, reviving an ancient church tradition encouraging the faithful to make pilgrimages to Rome, amid new security fears following a Christmas market attack in Germany. At the start of Christmas Eve...
It's the holidays in Zimbabwe. Time to celebrate by unveiling a family tombstone
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Chipo Benhure started saving early for a holiday season to remember in Zimbabwe, but it wasn’t for a party or vacation. The highlight is a graveyard ceremony to unveil her late mother’s tombstone. The generations-old rite has come to be associated with...
Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 22 as Vatican envoy visits Christians for pre-Christmas Mass
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Sunday killed at least 22 people, including five children, Palestinian medical officials said, while Gaza's small Christian community celebrated a pre-Christmas Mass. Israeli authorities...
After shooting, Wisconsin school and church lean into Christmas message for comfort
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...
Official says Wisconsin shooter was new student at Christian school where her victims had deep ties
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin 15-year-old who shot and killed a teacher and a fellow student Monday was only in her first semester at the school but seemed to be settling in, a school official said Thursday as families of the victims remembered them as people of faith who had deep...
As wars rage around them, Armenian Christians in Jerusalem's Old City feel the walls closing in
JERUSALEM (AP) — As the war in Gaza rages, Syria's government transforms, and the Israeli-occupied West Bank seethes, Armenian residents of the Old City of Jerusalem fight a different battle — one that is quieter, they say, but no less existential. One of the oldest communities...
