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(RNS) When Congress passed a law transferring the property around a war memorial cross in the Mojave National Preserve into private hands, did that resolve a court ruling that the cross violated church-state separation? The U.S. Supreme Court grappled with that question Wednesday (Oct. 7) and related thorny issues, including how veterans should be memorialized…

(RNS) At least two denominations say they are not seeking taxpayer funding of abortion as part of health care reform after an online newsletter erroneously reported that they were. Lifenews.com reported — and later retracted — on Oct. 2 that several denominations were lobbying through the Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice and Healing for…

(RNS) U.S. Jews give President Barack Obama a high job approval rating, more than other religious groups and significantly more than the general population, Gallup reports. While 52 percent of U.S. adults approve of the job the president is doing, 64 percent of Jewish adults voiced approval during the month of September, according to Gallup…

(RNS) A half-century ago, when civic groups were a staple of American life, 4.1 million men regularly spent evenings at Masonic lodges around the country. That period, from the late 1950s to the early 1960s, would be the peak of Freemasonry membership. Each year since, membership has declined, in line with those of other service…

(RNS) U.S. Catholic bishops have tried to reassure Jewish leaders that interfaith dialogue will never be used as a means of proselytism or a “disguised invitation to baptism,” after months of interfaith tension. The overture from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops comes more than three months after the bishops angered Jewish leaders by seeming…

WASHINGTON – A decision by Barack Obama to postpone his first meeting as president with the Dalai Lama is overshadowing a visit to Washington this week by the exiled Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader. The Dalai Lama arrived Monday in Washington and will be received by prominent U.S. lawmakers and the U.S. coordinator for Tibet. But…

WASHINGTON (RNS) The Supreme Court announced Monday (Oct. 5) that it will not intervene in two prominent church-state cases, one involving a Catholic diocese in Connecticut and the other a former Episcopal parish in California. The Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn. has fought since 2002 to block the release of more than 12,000 pages of depositions…

VATICAN CITY (RNS) The new American ambassador to the Holy See met the press on Monday (Oct. 5), for the first time since his nomination was announced in May. Miguel H. Diaz received a group of 10 American and Italian reporters at the official ambassador’s residence on Rome’s Janiculum Hill, three days after presenting his…

JERUSALEM (RNS) Four influential ultra-Orthodox rabbis in Israel have decreed that Jews may not use so-called “Shabbat elevators,” which enable observant Jews to use elevators without breaking rules against manual labor on the Sabbath. This is the first time a group of such eminent rabbis has banned the use of Shabbat elevators, which have been…

VATICAN CITY (RNS) In a meeting with the new U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, Pope Benedict XVI praised Obama administration policies on arms control and inter-religious relations, but underscored a key area of disagreement by reaffirming the Catholic Church’s opposition to abortion. Benedict made his remarks on Friday (Oct. 2) as he formally accepted…
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