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(RNS) To the untrained eye, the graceful lilies that arrive on church altars each year on Easter Sunday are a familiar symbol of resurrection and renewal. Like poinsettias on Christmas, it just wouldn’t be Easter without them. But for the people who get them there — on a date that shifts from year to year…

(RNS) Siddhartha Gautama was suffering. For six long years the young spiritual seeker had practiced strict asceticism: surviving on one grain of rice a day, sleeping on nails, drinking his own urine. His arms were thin as vines; his spine looked like a thread of beads. But none of these yogic practices had pacified his…

(RNS) The number of churches that reported a drop in giving due to the sour economy rose nearly 10 percent last year, according to new survey. In 2009, 38 percent of churches reported a decline in giving, versus 29 percent in 2008. Megachurches — those with 2,000 members are more — were hit hardest, with…

VATICAN CITY – Cardinals across Europe used their Holy Thursday sermons to defend Pope Benedict XVI from accusations he played a role in covering up sex abuse scandals, and an increasingly angry Vatican sought to deflect any criticism in the Western media. The relationship between the church and the media has become increasingly bitter as…
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