VATICAN CITY (RNS) Jewish leaders warned of new strains in Catholic-Jewish relations after Pope Benedict XVI moved his controversial wartime predecessor, Pope Pius XII, one step closer to possible sainthood. Benedict signed a decree on Saturday (Dec. 19) recognizing Pius’ “heroic virtues” and declaring him “venerable.” That new status makes the late pope eligible for…

WASHINGTON (RNS) About one-third of the countries in the world have high restrictions on religion, exposing almost 70 percent of the globe’s population to limitations on their faith, new research shows. The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life based its analysis, released Wednesday (Dec. 16), on 16 sources of information, including reports from the…

VATICAN CITY (RNS) An Irish Catholic bishop criticized in a recent report on clerical sex abuse apologized to victims on Thursday (Dec.17), the same day the Vatican announced his resignation. “I humbly apologize once again to all who were abused as little children,” Bishop Donal B. Murray of Limerick said at St. John’s Cathedral, adding…

(RNS) Two out of three Protestant pastors believe Islam is a “dangerous” religion, according to a new survey from a Southern Baptist-affiliated research group. The survey of more than 1,000 Protestant clergy by LifeWay Research, released Monday (Dec. 14) found that 45 percent strongly agree with the statement “I believe Islam is a dangerous religion”…

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