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The Miami Herald Miami – Maisie McNaught’s first encounter with Kwanzaa pretty much embodied its seven principles in one go: More than 20 years ago, as a new mother looking to forge family traditions, she discovered a book on the African-inspired holiday at a black-owned bookstore. She joined forces with six other families to host…

Associated Press Bethlehem, West Bank – Gloom was banished from Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem for the first time in years on Monday as Christian pilgrims from all over the world flocked here to celebrate Jesus’ birth in an atmosphere of renewed tranquility. After Israeli-Palestinian fighting erupted in 2000, most of the people milling around Manger…

Associated Press Baghdad – Fear still pervades life in Iraq despite a recent reduction in violence, the spiritual leader of Iraq’s Catholics said Monday, making a Christmas appeal for refugees who have fled the country to return nonetheless. The U.S. military has said there has been a 60 percent reduction in violence since June, and…

Associated Press Mecca, Saudi Arabia – Despite five days of exhaustion and hardships, Muslim pilgrims were saddened to see the annual hajj wind down to a close Friday, ending what for many is a spiritual high point of their lives. “Bidding farewell is hard,” said Afaf al-Nuweihi, her voice choking with emotion. “I wish I…

Associated Press Washington – President Bush’s special envoy for Sudan, Andrew Natsios, has resigned, U.S. officials said Friday. Natsios oversaw a push to end the violence that the United States calls genocide in Sudan’s troubled western Darfur region and worked to maintain a 2005 peace agreement that ended decades of civil war between north and…

Associated Press Vatican City – Pope Benedict XVI said Friday the Vatican is willing to have “serene and constructive” talks with Chinese authorities to solve the problems of the Catholic community in the country. Benedict recalled a letter he sent to all Catholics in China in June, in which he praised the underground faithful but…

By Adelle M. Banks Religion News Service Though college students’ attendance at worship services declines, their interest in spiritual matters grows during their time on campus, a new UCLA study shows. UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute compared the views of students who were freshmen in the fall of 2004 with the same students’ thoughts in…

San Diego – The head of the largest branch of American Judaism is urging members of the movement to do more to observe Shabbat. Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said in a speech to the group’s biennial convention that stressed families need a day when they can “stop running around…

Associated Press Mina, Saudi Arabia _ – Mohammed Abdel-Salam Ali, a 60-year-old Egyptian farmer, spent years scraping together nearly $11,000 to bring his wife and son here to perform Islam’s hajj pilgrimage. Once here, they have slept for days in tiny one-person tents on the side of the road at the hajj’s sacred sites, walking…

By Kat Glass Religion News Service (RNS) The United Nations is looking to partnerships with the faith community to spearhead the drive against global warming. The U.N. recently linked with the Bath, U.K.-based Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC), pouring funding and attention into the ARC’s ongoing campaign to use faith groups as a vessel…
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