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By LYNNE TERRY c. 2011 Religion News Service PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) Lawyers representing a group of people who accuse Jesuit priests of sexual abuse filed 37 lawsuits Thursday in bankruptcy court, asking for about $3 million. The lawsuits claim that the Roman Catholic order paid money to various entities before declaring bankruptcy two years ago,…

The young Nebraskan boy who, after a near-death experience, believes he saw a vision of Jesus and Heaven is becoming an Internet sensation. Watch Colton Burpo’s story as reported by Fox affiliate KDVR in Denver.Click here to purchase Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back.

WASHINGTON (RNS) House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King is facing grassroots pressure to cancel his planned hearings on the “radicalization” of U.S. Muslims. “He is doing precisely what President George Washington promised would not happen: he is sanctioning bigotry and assisting persecution toward the Muslim community,” said Rabbi Arthur Waskow, director of the Philadelphia-based…

TORONTO (RNS) The mayor of a Quebec town says he will appeal a decision by a human rights tribunal that bans prayer at city council and ordered him to remove a crucifix from the council’s chambers. Saguenay Mayor Jean Tremblay said he will refuse to heed the judgment from the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal that…

By ALICE FORDHAM c. 2011 USA Today CAIRO (RNS) In Magdi Shnouda’s cafe in Cairo, pictures of Jesus and the saints hang on the shabby walls, and the men playing backgammon and dominoes are a mixture of Christians and Muslims. Sucking down glasses of sweet tea and strong coffee, they drape arms around one another…

By DANIEL BURKE c. 2011 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS) Many economists warn that the government’s huge national debt is a looming threat to long-term prosperity. But is it also immoral? According to a growing number of conservative Christians, the answer is a resounding “Yes.” As Washington debates President Obama’s proposed 2012 budget, the immorality…

WASHINGTON (RNS) A proposed House bill will require the use of “mother” and “father” by all federal agencies and contractors when describing parents, pushing back on a move by the State Department to use “parent” instead. The Parental Title Protection Act of 2011, sponsored by Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., would mandate the use of these…

NEW DELHI (RNS) India plans to lend rare fragments of the Buddha’s bones to Sri Lanka for the 2600th anniversary of Buddha’s Enlightenment in May, and some see it as part of India’s strategy to gain a regional edge over neighboring China. Indranil Banerjie, head of New Delhi-based think tank Security and Political Risk Analysis,…

By JEANETTE DeFORGE c. 2011 Religion News Service CHICOPEE, Mass. (RNS) In what one expert is calling a landmark decision, three closed Catholic churches in the Diocese of Springfield, Mass., have been given at least a partial reprieve. St. Patrick’s and St. George churches in Chicopee and St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Adams each received…

By NICOLE NEROULIAS c. 2011 Religion News Service (RNS) Americans haven’t heard much about upcoming congressional hearings on the radicalization of U.S. Muslims, yet more than half think it’s a good idea, and nearly as many believe Muslims here haven’t done enough to fight extremists in their midst, according to a new poll. At the…

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