WASHINGTON – Barack Obama is inviting close friends and staff to a private White House meal Thursday to mark Passover, part of the new president’s effort to reach out to Jewish voters. Among the invited is Valerie Jarrett, one of Obama’s closest advisers, and family friend Eric Whitaker, who is visiting from Chicago and attended…

(UNDATED) For all of Pontius Pilate’s faults, one was distinctly damning: he didn’t listen to his wife. According to the Gospel of Matthew, the Roman governor of Judea received a note from his spouse during the trial of Jesus. “Have nothing to do with that just man,” she writes, “for I have suffered many things…

(RNS) President Obama met with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians, on Tuesday (April 7) in Turkey, where they discussed religious freedom and the opening of an historic seminary closed by Turkish authorities. Bartholomew “made a convincing and passionate argument” for re-opening the Theological School of Halki, according to a statement…

SILVER SPRING, Md. — There are many things that Paula Settles is willing to forgo in these budget-conscious times, but an Easter hat isn’t one of them. “I wouldn’t consider going to church without a hat on,” said Settles, an African-American retiree of a certain age who’s planning her outfit for Easter services at her…

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