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Associated Press – August 12, 2009, PARIS – A Muslim woman garbed in a head-to-toe swimsuit – dubbed a “burquini” – may have opened a new chapter in France’s tussle between religious practices and its stern secular code. Officials insisted Wednesday they banned the woman’s use of the Islam-friendly suit at a local pool because…

c. 2009 Religion News Service NEW ORLEANS — The nation’s largest umbrella group for Roman Catholic sisters opened its annual meeting here Tuesday (Aug. 11), marking the first formal gathering of members since the Vatican launched two unprecedented inquiries into their communities. Officers of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, whose 1,500 members represent about…

(RNS) The president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s domestic missions agency and three of his associates resigned Tuesday (Aug. 11) after questions were raised about his management of the agency. Geoff Hammond led the North American Mission Board for two years. Hammond’s resignation takes effect immediately, Tim Patterson, chairman of the agency’s trustee board, said…

(RNS) A Virginia jail will stop censoring religious mail after protests from civil rights organizations that clerks had turned Bible-quoting missives from an inmate’s mother into tattered strips of paper signed “Love, Mom.” Rappahannock Regional Jail authorities agreed to change the policy after receiving a letter signed by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the…

JERUSALEM – A planeload of Israeli rabbis and Jewish mystics held an airborne prayer meeting in the belief that it could help check the spread of swine flu in Israel, an Israeli newspaper reported Tuesday. The Yediot Ahronot daily said a plane with 50 people on board circled over Israel on Monday, with the passengers…

Vatican City (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI has prayed that Eunice Kennedy Shriver receive eternal reward for her service on behalf of the mentally and physically disabled, according to the Vatican. Shriver, the sister of the late President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert Kennedy, as well as current Sen. Ted Kennedy, died Tuesday (Aug. 11)…

(RNS) The Senate on Friday (Aug. 7) confirmed Francis Collins, a geneticist known for his role in decoding the human genome and dedication to bridging the gap between religion and science, as director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Friday that Collins was unanimously…

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,…
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