By Ann Rodgers c. 2010 Religion News Service Pittsburgh (RNS) The entrance to the Vatican Splendors exhibit evokes a part of St. Peter’s Basilica that few tourists ever see: the archaeological excavation beneath the altar, where the modest grave of St. Peter lies amid elaborate first-century pagan mausoleums. The choice of beginning with the grave…

WASHINGTON (RNS) The American Civil Liberties Union is criticizing plans by two Iowa churches to host early voting during worship services. “Combining polling places with religious services is an invitation to the abuse of both religion and the civic act of voting,” said Ben Stone, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa,…

International Herald Tribune – October 21, 2010 A plan for Mr. Obama to visit the Golden Temple in Amritsar appears to have foundered on the thorny question of how he would cover his head, as Sikh tradition requires. The Golden Temple, a sprawling and serene complex of gleaming gold and polished marble that is the…

(RNS) As the U.S. has grown more diverse, more Americans believe that being a Christian is a key aspect of being “truly American,” researchers say. Purdue University scholars found that between 1996 and 2004, Americans who saw Christian identity as a “very important” attribute of being American increased from 38 percent to 49 percent. Scholars…

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