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TURIN, Italy (RNS) As hoteliers and souvenir vendors from Lourdes to Mexico City can readily attest, a sacred pilgrimage can quickly morph from a spiritual event into a commercial bonanza. And although religious tourism has recently become a booming global industry, it’s still rare for religious leaders themselves to sanction a pilgrimage for explicitly economic…

DENVER – The Army is considering whether to rescind an invitation to evangelist Franklin Graham to appear at the Pentagon amid complaints about his description of Islam as evil, a military spokesman said Wednesday. Graham, the son of famed evangelist Billy Graham, was to appear at the Pentagon on May 6 on what is the…

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI promised Wednesday that the Catholic Church would take action to confront the clerical sex abuse scandal, making his first public comments on the crisis days after meeting with victims. During his weekly public audience in St. Peter’s Square, Benedict recounted his tearful weekend meeting in Malta with eight men…

WASHINGTON (RNS) Religious leaders are outraged over a bill passed by Arizona legislators that criminalizes illegal immigration, calling the bill “anti-immigrant” and a “social sin.” Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony compared aspects of the legislation, approved Monday (April 19) by the Arizona Senate, to “reverting to German Nazi and Russian Communist techniques whereby people are…

ST. LOUIS (RNS) The daily drumbeat of news about clergy sexual abuse began in Ireland last year. This year, the stories spread — to Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Norway. The drumbeat got louder. E-mails from across the ocean continued to pour in to the Chicago and St. Louis offices of the Survivors Network of those Abused…

WASHINGTON – Advocates for victims of sexual abuse by priests appealed to the pope and the archbishop of Washington on Tuesday to keep a retired Vatican cardinal from celebrating Mass at the nation’s largest Roman Catholic church. Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos is scheduled to celebrate a special Latin Mass on Saturday at the Basilica of…

WASHINGTON – U.S. Supreme Court justices on Monday seemed to split sharply on whether a law school can deny recognition to a Christian student group because it will not let gays join, a case that could determine whether college nondiscrimination policies trump the rights of private organizations to determine who can – and cannot –…

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI marked the fifth anniversary of his election Monday under the shadow of a clerical sex abuse scandal that has plunged the Catholic Church into its most serious crisis of recent times. Benedict was the host of a lunch at the Vatican with about 60 cardinals, and they cheered and…

(RNS) As Sholom Rubashkin sits in an Iowa jail awaiting a possible life sentence on fraud charges related to his now-defunct kosher meat business, his ultra-Orthodox Jewish support base has ramped up protests over his case. Through an online petition, media outreach, Facebook pages and Twitter feeds, some rabbis have called it a “sacred obligation”…

VALLETTA, Malta – With tears in his eyes, Pope Benedict XVI made his most personal gesture yet to respond to the clerical sex abuse scandal Sunday, telling victims the church will do everything possible to protect children and bring abusive priests to justice, the Vatican said. The emotional moment carried no new admissions from the…
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