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(RNS) After weeks of intense pressure from Episcopal gay rights groups, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has condemned the “shocking severity” of proposed anti-gay laws in Uganda. The spiritual leader of the 77 million-member Anglican Communion also said that “I can’t see how it could be supported by any Anglican who is committed to what…

PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) Two parents charged with criminally negligent homicide in the faith-healing death of their teenage son will ask a judge to dismiss the charges because they followed the advice of state child welfare workers. Attorneys for the couple, Jeff and Marci Beagley, also contend state law on parental responsibility in children’s health care…

WASHINGTON (RNS) When is a Hanukkah party more than just a Hanukkah party? When it is hosted by the White House, and viewed as emblematic of the Obama administration’s relationship with American Jews. The White House cut the size of the Dec. 16 party to about 500 people, a sharp decline from the 800 or…

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI expressed “outrage,” “shame,” and “profound regret” over revelations of large-scale child abuse by Irish Catholic priests, the Vatican said on Friday (Dec. 11). The Vatican’s statement came after Benedict met with Ireland’s two leading bishops, Cardinal Sean Brady of Armagh and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, along with Secretary…

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says Hanukkah’s lessons should inspire everyone to be thankful for what they have. The eight-day celebration, beginning at sunset Friday, commemorates the rededication of the temple by Jewish rebels known as the Maccabees after their victory over the Syrians. The holiday is marked by the kindling of the lights of…

NEW ORLEANS (RNS) The green movement is going blue for many groups of different faiths that consider it a religious duty to protect the world’s bodies of waters. While water advocacy is a fairly recent phenomenon for some religious groups across the U.S., environmental activism as a matter of faith is a longstanding tradition for…

(RNS) Since becoming the first lesbian to be elected a bishop in the Episcopal Church on Saturday (Dec. 5), the Rev. Mary Glasspool has been hailed as a gay rights pioneer and maligned as the straw that will finally break the back of the Anglican Communion. Glasspool “wavered two or three times” before agreeing to…

WASHINGTON (RNS) In a speech bemoaning the necessity of war and the potential for peace, President Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize Thursday (Dec. 10) by declaring that “no holy war can ever be a just war.” In his 36-minute remarks in Oslo, Norway, Obama addressed how fear of loss of identity — including religious…

WASHINGTON (RNS) The vast majority of U.S. residents may be Christian, but nearly a quarter of them delve into a range of Eastern or New Age beliefs, a new study shows. Asked about their supernatural experiences, significant minorities of American Christian respondents said they believe in astrology (23 percent), reincarnation (22 percent), spiritual energy in…

DUBLIN – Ireland’s Catholic bishops privately debated Wednesday whether any of their number should resign in the wake of a damning investigation that blamed five of them for helping conceal child abuse by Dublin-based priests. Two of the bishops said they had done nothing wrong and would not step aside. Irish Cardinal Sean Brady, Dublin…
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