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Jewish organizations are aiming to send more North American teens and young adults than ever to Israel this year, focusing on increasing current numbers and reaching out to new groups. Taglit-Birthright Israel, which takes 18- to 26-year-olds on its 10-day heritage tours, has been awarded a $100 million matching grant from the Israeli government for…

By FRANCIS X. ROCCA c. 2011 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY – If you’re looking for the pope’s Twitter account, keep looking. There’s @Pope–Benedict, @popebenedictxvi, @Benedict XVI, @PopeBenedict XVI, @Benedict–XVI, @popebenedict–16, @JoeRatzinger and even @pope–benny–16, and none of them are officially sanctioned sites. So it’s fitting that the real Pope Benedict XVI on Monday (Jan.…

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf launches his multi-city Interfaith Tour in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn. The Imam shares his goals for the effort and his vision of interfaith understanding.video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player– Odyssey Networks

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — EWTN Global Catholic Network, the Alabama-based international media enterprise founded by Mother Angelica in 1981, has signed a letter of intent to acquire the National Catholic Register newspaper. “I am very pleased and excited that the Register will now be a part of the EWTN family,” said Michael P. Warsaw, the Network’s…

A Chinese Christian should be given another chance at asylum after an immigration judge thought the man couldn’t answer “basic questions” about Christianity, a federal appeals court has ruled. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said on Wednesday (Jan. 19) that Lei Li was improperly denied asylum after the judge was unsatisfied by his…

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley apologized to anyone who was offended with his inaugural day comments that non-Christians were not his “brothers and sisters.” Bentley met for an hour with members of Alabama’s Jewish community on Wednesday (Jan. 19), and afterward told reporters he meant no insult with his words. “What I would…

VATICAN CITY — The most prestigious religious university in the Sunni Muslim world has suspended dialogue with the Vatican to protest statements by Pope Benedict XVI denouncing violence against Christians in Egypt. The move, on Thursday (Jan. 20), came only nine days after Egypt recalled its ambassador to the Vatican for the same reason. Sheikh…

LONDON — A Florida pastor who sparked fury when he threatened to burn a pile of Qurans on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks has been officially banned from Britain for preaching religious extremism. The British government announced Thursday (Jan. 20) that it had issued the exclusion order against Pastor Terry Jones, who had been…

By NICOLE NEROULIAS c. 2011 Religion News Service (RNS) As President Obama prepares to assess the state of the union, three out of four Americans grade the country’s moral climate at a “C” or below, according to a new poll released on Thursday (Jan. 20). The PRRI/RNS Religion News Poll found that Americans cite partisan…

By GREG GARRISON c. 2011 Religion News Service Jewish and Muslim groups want to know if they have a place in Alabama after Gov. Robert Bentley, just hours into office, said people who have not accepted Jesus as their savior are not his “brothers and sisters.” “Gov. Bentley certainly has a right to believe whatever…

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