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VATICAN CITY – A top Vatican official says Pope Benedict XVI will speak with a “clear and decisive voice” when he addresses clerical sex abuses in Ireland in a forthcoming letter. Benedict is expected to release his letter soon in response to decades of systematic abuse in church-run schools and other institutions in predominantly Roman…

(RNS) The State Department issued its annual human rights report Thursday (March 11), noting religious freedom violations in countries ranging from China to Iraq to Saudi Arabia. The report on 194 countries called 2009 “a year in which ethnic, racial, and religious tensions led to violent conflicts and serious human rights violations.” The State Department…

(RNS) The Pledge of Allegiance, with its inclusion of the words “under God,” is constitutional, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday (March 11), reversing a previous ruling. The 2-1 ruling answers a challenge by California atheist Michael Newdow, who argued that the use of the pledge in a Northern California school district — where…

(RNS) The Catholic Church in Europe’s widening sexual abuse scandal hit home for Pope Benedict XVI on Friday, as his former archdiocese admitted to making “serious errors” in the case of a priest suspected of molesting a child. Benedict discussed the spreading scandal with the head of Germany’s Catholic bishops on Friday (March 12), hours…

DHARMSALA, India – The Dalai Lama lashed out at China on Wednesday, accusing it of trying to “annihilate Buddhism” in Tibet and rebuffing all his efforts to reach a compromise over the disputed Himalayan region. China shot back, accusing the Tibetan spiritual leader of using deceptions and lies to distort its policy in the region.…

(RNS) Bishops in the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination have approved preliminary steps to welcome a group of openly gay and lesbian ministers as official clergy with new liturgical rites. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Conference of Bishops approved a draft proposal on Monday (March 8) for the new rites, which include prayers and the…

BANGALORE, India (RNS/ENI) Churches in Pakistan have deplored the killing of six World Vision staff members as the international Christian humanitarian organization suspended its operations in the country. “All of World Vision’s operations in the country have been suspended for the time being,” agency spokesman Dean Owen said after the attack, adding that the aid…

TEL AVIV, Israel – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday implored Israelis and Palestinians to move beyond a diplomatic spat that has marred his trip to the region, urging the sides to waste no time in resolving their decades-old conflict despite daunting obstacles. Biden used conciliatory language as he wrapped up a three-day visit…

(RNS) A majority of dioceses in the Episcopal Church have confirmed the election of an open lesbian as a bishop in Los Angeles, bringing Bishop-elect Mary Glasspool one step closer to consecration. The Diocese of Los Angeles, where Glasspool was elected as an assistant bishop last December, announced confirmations from 61 of the denomination’s 110…

LONDON (RNS) Police in Ireland say they have arrested seven suspects in an alleged plot to murder a Swedish cartoonist for depicting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog. Drawings by Lars Vilks triggered widespread anger by Muslims when they appeared in a regional newspaper three years ago. Three Swedish newspapers reprinted the…
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