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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,…

(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…
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