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(RNS) The fierce budget battle in Wisconsin that’s pitting unions against Republican Gov. Scott Walker has also pitted the state’s top Roman Catholic bishops against each other in a series of public exchanges over the church’s historic support for unions. The war of words — however polite — has exposed a longstanding rift between the…

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (RNS/ENInews) Worshippers gathered outdoors on Sunday (Feb. 27) after an earthquake ravaged New Zealand’s second-largest city, meeting in unfamiliar churches and next to damaged buildings to reflect, pray, mourn and give thanks. The death toll from the Feb. 22 quake reached 147 on Sunday, and is expected to double as dozens were…

(RNS) Southern Baptist bookstores have quietly suspended a four-year-old program that warned customers to read with “discernment” books by several up-and-coming authors whose books “could be considered inconsistent with historical evangelical theology.” Chris Rodgers, the director of product standards and customer relations for Nashville-based LifeWay, said the warnings were discontinued because they were “irrelevant to…

(RNS) For Janis Galvin fasting for Lent has long meant saying no to candy for the 40 days before Easter. But when the season begins this year on March 9, it’s apt to mean something more: walking when she’d rather drive, for instance, or turning the thermostat way down. Galvin, an Episcopalian, will join with…

NEW ORLEANS (RNS) One by one, alumni of St. Augustine High School took the microphone on Thursday (Feb. 24), recalling one paddling at the hands of a St. Augustine teacher that turned them around and taught them a lesson. The 60-year-old tradition of corporal punishment at St. Augustine — believed to be one of the…

LONDON (RNS) A Muslim student described by a judge as “thoroughly radicalized” has been sentenced to five years in prison in Britain for creating terrorist movies and “inflammatory” videos he fed to the Internet. A jury in London’s Old Bailey criminal court convicted Mohammed Gul of five terrorist offenses with publications that police said “could…

By NANCY HAUGHT c. 2011 Religion News Service CLATSKANIE, Ore. (RNS) It’s Friday night at Great Vow Zen Monastery. Supper’s over and Noble Silence, the quiet that stretches from bedtime through breakfast, is still two hours away. Two dozen people sit in a circle, explaining why they’ve come to a refurbished grade school sprawled on…

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (RNS/ENInews) Churches shattered by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake were yielding up their dead on Friday (Feb. 25) as clergy and parishioners grieved and searched for places to worship on Sunday. The overall death toll from the Feb. 22 quake reached 113, with more than 200 people missing and hundreds injured. Rescue workers began…

(RNS) A coalition of American Jewish groups are placing their bets on Las Vegas, a destination they hope will simultaneously lure back young adults and groom their next generation of leaders. More than 1,200 22- to 45-year-olds have signed up for TribeFest 2011, a combination mixer and symposium at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.…

(RNS) Islam was the most frequent topic of religion news coverage in 2010, as the media doubled the amount of time and space devoted to religion compared to 2009. An analysis by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that more than 40 percent of religion coverage centered on three issues: plans to…
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