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By ALFREDO GARCIA c. 2010 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS) When the Baptist World Alliance held its global conference in Hawaii earlier this month, it was missing about 1,000 attendees from around the world. In June, the inaugural meeting of the World Communion of Reformed Churches in Grand Rapids, Mich., was missing 74, and the…

(RNS) Same-sex couples can begin marrying in California again on Aug. 18 after a federal judge lifted a stay on his recent ruling that struck down California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage. “Based on the trial record, which establishes that Proposition 8 violates plaintiffs’ equal protection and due process rights, the court cannot conclude that…

(RNS) Advocates for victims of clergy sex abuse have blasted the Episcopal Church for reinstating the bishop of Philadelphia who had been charged with not investigating sex abuse allegations about his brother. A church appeals court ruled July 28 that Bishop Charles Bennison committed conduct inappropriate for a member of the clergy, but said charges…

Associated Press – August 10, 2010 LOUISVILLE, Kentucky – Three men who sought to hold the Vatican liable in an American court for sexual abuses by Roman Catholic priests in a Kentucky diocese are abandoning the case. Lawyers looked to question Pope Benedict XVI under oath but had to leap the high legal hurdle of…

(RNS/ENInews) The International Assistance Mission has rejected Taliban claims that 10 staffers from the Christian aid agency who were killed in Afghanistan had been trying to convert Muslims. “Our faith motivates and inspires us, but we do not proselytize. We abide by the laws of Afghanistan,” Dirk R. Frans, IAM’s executive secretary, said in a…

(RNS) Seven top leaders of the Baha’i faith who have been incarcerated in Iran since 2008 have each received jail sentences of 20 years after six months of court hearings that ended on June 14, according to the Baha’i World News Service. Bani Dugal, principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations,…

(RNS) The Church of God (Cleveland, Tenn.) has decided to permit women to serve on local church councils but has maintained its rule that they cannot be ordained as bishops. By a narrow vote during its recent General Assembly, the denomination changed its policy on congregational councils by deleting the word “male” from its previous…

By Lilly Fowler c. 2010 Religion News Service GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (RNS) Christian author Carole Lewis stands at the front of the church sharing her tale of woe: bankruptcy, a daughter’s death, a husband’s prostate cancer, a home destroyed by a hurricane. Pastor Sheila Schuller Coleman stands nearby, listening attentively. Neither Coleman nor the congregation…

WASHINGTON (RNS) Twenty religious organizations are calling for Congress and President Obama to ensure a fair and thorough investigation into allegations of forced human experimentation by the CIA on detainees after 9/11. In June, the group Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) released “Experiments in Torture” which detailed health professionals’ involvement in CIA interrogation programs. The…

Associated Press – August 5, 2010 NEW YORK – A group of Jewish activists and community leaders voiced their support for a planned mosque near ground zero and said opponents, including the nation’s leading Jewish civil rights group, are perpetuating misunderstandings about Islam. Rabbi Arthur Waskow, of the Philadelphia-based Shalom Center, joined about 30 other…
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