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(RNS) Sudanese journalist Lubna Hussein will face trial Sept. 7 for wearing trousers in violation of government decency statutes derived from Sharia law. If convicted, she faces 40 lashes and a fine. But it’s the Sudanese government, not Hussein, who wants the trial to go away. “This is a turning point. We have a woman…

WASHINGTON — Two Florida school officials will be in court next month to answer charges that they violated a court order when they prayed in public after a school secretary was cleared on similar charges. The case, which defense attorneys say is an unprecedented display of government intrusion into the right of personal religious expression,…

Aug. 24–HACIENDA HEIGHTS — Thousands of people visited the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights over the weekend to offer prayers for departed loved ones and ancestors. The observance is part of an ancient Buddhist tradition known as Ullambana. The seventh month of the Chinese calendar — which this year runs from mid-August to mid-September…

Aug. 24–Imam Mujahid Ramos wasn’t surprised to see more people show up this weekend for the daily prayers at the Masjid At-Tawheed mosque in York City. The same thing happens every year during Ramadan, a time of religious rejuvenation for Muslims, said Ramos, the mosque’s spiritual leader. “It’s just an amazing time of the year,”…

(UNDATED) After a long and contentious debate, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted Friday (Aug. 21) to drop a ban on partnered gay clergy and committed to let people in same-sex relationships serve as leaders of the church. The ground-breaking decision is a dramatic change for the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination, which previously permitted…

WASHINGTON (RNS) Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jewish leaders warned the nation’s Catholic bishops that a June statement on whether Jews should convert to Christianity could make Jewish-Catholic dialogue “untenable.” In June, the bishops resurrected a 2002 statement on Jewish-Christian relations that they called “insufficiently precise and potentially misleading” about whether Christians should share the gospel…

(UNDATED) Yousef Abdallah’s annual Ramadan duties promise to be tougher than usual this year. The Islamic holy month starts Friday (Aug. 21) or Saturday (Aug. 22) night, depending on the sighting of the moon. Abdallah, a regional operations manager for Islamic Relief USA, one of the nation’s largest Islamic charities, and his staff are preparing…

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Doctors removed a cast from Pope Benedict XVI’s right wrist on Friday (Aug. 21), five weeks after he fractured it during a fall. A Vatican press release said that an x-ray showed the fracture had healed, but that Benedict would recover full use of his wrist after completing “an adequate program of…

(RNS) The nation’s largest Lutheran denomination approved a carefully balanced statement on human sexuality late Wednesday (Aug. 19) that progressives quickly welcomed as a possible step towards overturning a churchwide ban on non-celibate gay clergy later this week. By a vote of 676 to 338 — the exact two-thirds majority needed for passage — delegates…

WASHINGTON — Facing incendiary charges that health care reform would finance abortion and euthanasia, President Obama on Wednesday (Aug. 19) appealed to religious groups to help sell the plan and debunk critics’ “false witness.” “I’m going to need the help of all of you,” Obama told a conference call and live webcast that attracted an…
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