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VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday (Aug. 9) likened the Nazi concentration camps that killed millions of Jews during World War II to “hell on earth.” “Nazi death camps, like all extermination camps, can be considered extreme symbols of evil, of the hell that opens up on earth when man forgets God and…

(RNS) A coalition of Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders has launched a national campaign for health care reform, calling it a “fundamental religious issue,” in hopes of countering the vocal opposition exhibited at recent town hall meetings. The “40 Days for Health Reform” effort includes a television commercial, an Aug. 19 conference call with President…

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Just when it seemed to have cooled off, the topic of hell is back on the front burner — at least for pastors learning to preach about a topic most Americans would rather not talk about. Only 59 percent of Americans believe in hell, compared with 74 percent who believe in heaven,…

(RNS) The Dalai Lama will be honored with an international award from the National Civil Rights Museum this fall. The exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader will receive the International Freedom Award at a Sept. 23 ceremony at a Memphis, Tenn., hotel. The Memphis museum is housed at the former Lorraine Motel, the site of the assassination…

Organizers of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair planned for a crowd of 50,000 at their August gathering 40 years ago in rural New York. Instead, nearly 500,000 people showed up to hear Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and the Who, transforming the festival into an iconic — and some say spiritual — event that still…

(UNDATED) — The Crusades, when Christians tried for two centuries to oust Muslims from the Holy Land, left over a million dead, with territory lost and gained and lost again — all in the name of Jesus. These days, Christians are not so quick to call the Crusades the golden age of Christendom, but a…

(RNS) The American Psychological Association has announced that therapies aimed at changing a person’s sexual orientation could be hazardous, but health professionals should respect the beliefs of patients who object to homosexuality on religious grounds. Although the APA Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation concluded that “efforts to change sexual orientation are…

ATLANTA – Ordained a United Methodist minister, the Rev. Chester Cook has now become a jack of all faiths. On a recent day, Cook welcomed a Christian-oriented Army chaplain, a Muslim family and a Buddhist ticket agent to his interfaith chapel at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport – a snapshot of the various faithful who make…

UTRECHT, Netherlands — (RNS/ENI) Four hundred years after the first Baptist congregation was established, followers have been challenged to continue championing religious liberty. “We as Baptists must continue to defend religious freedom for all peoples and all religions,” said Denton Lotz, the former general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, at a special service held…

WASHINGTON (RNS) The U.S. Senate on Tuesday (Aug. 4) confirmed a Cuban-born theologian as the ninth U.S. ambassador to the Vatican. Miguel H. Diaz, 45, will be the first theologian and the first Hispanic to serve as American envoy since Washington established formal diplomatic ties with the Holy See in 1984. A relative unknown before…
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