Inspiration Faith & Prayer Health & Wellness Entertainment Love & Family
Newsletters Special Offers

Beliefnet News

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI spent Sunday (Oct. 3) in the heartland of the Sicilian Mafia, denouncing organized crime and paying tribute to those slain in the long struggle against the mob. “Don’t give in to the temptations of the Mafia, which is a path of death, incompatible with the gospel,” Benedict said Sunday…

LONDON (RNS) Druidry, the pagan worship that has been practiced on these shores for thousands of years, on Friday (Oct. 1) gained recognition by the British government as an official religion after a four-year legal battle. The Charity Commission, established by Parliament to regulate charities in England and Wales, released a Sept. 21 decision that…

By Adelle M. Banks c. 2010 Religion News Service (RNS) Bishop Eddie Long was once best known as an Atlanta-area megachurch leader and internationally known religious broadcaster. Now there’s another title: Accused sex offender. As the Lithonia, Ga., pastor faces charges of using money and gifts to coerce young men into sexual relationships, experts say…

(RNS) Officials in Buddhist-majority Bhutan have barred Hindu and Buddhist clergy from voting in upcoming elections in order to keep a clear distinction between religion and politics. The landlocked Himalayan nation considers Mahayana Buddhism the state religion and funds a large monastic community, but also requires religion to be above politics. The country’s regulatory authority…

By Francis X. Rocca c. 2010 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY (RNS) Mother Mary MacKillop won’t be canonized until Oct. 17, but some Catholics already have an unofficial title for the 19th-century Australian nun: Patron Saint of Whistleblowers. MacKillop (1842-1909), Australia’s first native-born saint, was co-founder of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred…

By Adelle M. Banks c. 2010 Religion News Service Note: This story was updated to include a correction in the second paragraph. The word “not” was added. WASHINGTON (RNS) Who can best answer questions about religion in America? Based on a new survey released Tuesday (Sept. 28) by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public…

DENVER (RNS) Religion reporters from The Washington Post and The New York Times won top honors Saturday (Sept. 25) at the 2010 Religion Newswriters Association’s annual awards competition. The RNA also honored former New York Times religion reporter Gustav Niebuhr with its William A. Reed Lifetime Achievement Award. Niebuhr, who left the beat in 2001,…

(RNS) Bishop Eddie Long, the Atlanta-area preacher facing charges from four young men that he coerced them to have sex, told his congregation Sunday (Sept. 26) he is “under attack” and will fight the allegations against him. “I’ve been accused,” Long told the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga. “I’m under attack. I…

(RNS) Bishop Eddie Long, a prominent Atlanta-area megachurch leader, has been sued by three young men accusing him of sexual misconduct. Long, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga., has denied claims of sexual abuse and gifts of cash, cars and overnight trips by the men. After two suits had been filed…

By Francix X. Rocca c. 2010 Religion News Service LONDON (RNS) Seemingly unfazed by months of protests from secularist critics, Pope Benedict XVI deployed unusually forceful language on Friday (Sept. 17) to defend the “legitimate role of religion” in public life. Benedict, on the second day of his four-day visit, seemed to be taking cues…
archives most recent
search this blog
More from Beliefnet and our partners