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(RNS) The foundation started by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has named 30 interfaith fellows, including 12 Americans, to raise awareness about efforts to fight malaria in Africa. The fellows are expected to receive training in London and Chicago, to travel to Mali, Malawi and Tanzania in Africa to view humanitarian efforts against malaria,…

(RNS) While a majority of white evangelicals believe there is solid evidence that the earth is warming, only one in three says human activity is the cause, according to a recent survey. As the world celebrates Earth Day, a survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life shows significant disagreement among U.S.…

NARITA, Japan – The Dalai Lama on Wednesday criticized lengthy prison terms given a day earlier by China to three people for arson attacks during rioting last year in the Tibetan capital, calling the rulings politically motivated. The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader said the court decision reflected the Chinese Communist Party’s control of people “without…

Joseph Sitati grew up as a Quaker in Nairobi, Kenya, but felt no great affection for the faith. Its sermons were too political, he felt, leaving him thirsty for spiritual satisfaction. When Sitati attended his first Mormon service in 1985, something new stirred in his soul. “There was a very good spirit there,” Sitati said.…

On the eve of Earth Day, a coalition of Catholic groups launched a broad initiative Tuesday (April 21) to encourage Catholic churches, institutions and families to combat climate change and advocate for the poor in the debate over the environment. The Catholic Climate Covenant asks the nation’s 65 million Catholics to connect their religious values…

The Reform Jewish movement’s central seminary is considering closing two of its three U.S. campuses amid what the school’s president calls “the most challenging financial position (the school) has faced in its history.” Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, with campuses in New York, Los Angeles, Cincinnati and Jerusalem, is facing a deficit of about…

JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Monday not to allow Holocaust deniers to carry out a second Holocaust against the Jewish people. Speaking at the ceremony marking Israel’s annual memorial day for the 6 million Jews killed by Nazis and their collaborators during World War II, Netanyahu also described a U.N. anti-racism conference…

WASHINGTON — Every year between 2001 and 2008, former President Bush’s calendar was cleared on the first Thursday in May to mark the National Day of Prayer in the White House East Room with prominent evangelicals. Now the Obama White House is facing questions of inside-the-Beltway etiquette: Should Obama maintain the open door to conservative…

WASHINGTON (RNS) Some anti-abortion religious leaders are welcoming new draft guidelines from the National Institutes of Health on embryonic stem cell research as a balanced approach to the controversial procedure. The guidelines, issued Friday (April 17), permit federally funded research on stem cells derived from embryos that are no longer needed for fertility treatments. Most…

Christian thinkers have long employed insights from sociology, literature, and other fields to augment their ideas of how God works in the world. Yet despite the world-changing insights of science, very few theologians have drawn on physics, biology or geology in the same way. Renowned Anglican physicist-theologian John Polkinghorne wants to change all that. His…

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