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The Supreme Court decided Monday (Feb. 23) to consider a case about a controversial eight-foot cross that was erected as a war memorial on federal property in California. The legal battle surrounding the memorial in the Mohave National Preserve in San Bernardino County, Calif., has pitted veterans groups against advocates for church-state separation. The 9th…

(RNS) A Missouri minister has been appointed the new general secretary of the Assemblies of God, replacing the previous officeholder who resigned after admitting to misconduct. Pastor James Bradford of Central Assembly of God in Springfield was appointed on Thursday (Feb. 19), the denomination announced. “I have known Jim for many years, and find him…

NEWARK, N.J. (RNS) Manischewitz, America’s largest producer of processed kosher food, has resumed full Passover matzo production after its factory relocation contributed to a national shortage last year. During Passover, which falls between April 9 and April 15 this year, Jews eat the crispy flatbread and other unleavened products to commemorate the ancient Hebrews’ hurried…

NEW YORK — The Rev. Steven Avella, a Roman Catholic priest in Milwaukee, said his counterparts in the Archdiocese of New York should soon expect a phone call from their new boss — Archbishop Timothy Dolan. “He’ll start phoning guys right away,” said Avella, 57, a historian at Marquette University who served under Dolan during…

ROME — Until a few decades ago, practically everybody attending a Catholic baptism, first Communion or funeral would walk out of the ceremony with a holy card in their pocket or purse. Typically the size of a slightly elongated playing card, with the image of a saint or the Virgin Mary on one side and…

NEW YORK (AP) – Rabbi Ellen Weinberg Dreyfus, who leads a small congregation in suburban Chicago, will become the second woman to head the rabbinical assembly of Judaism’s liberal Reform movement. Dreyfus, 57, is to be installed as president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis on Feb. 28 in Jerusalem and will begin her…

WASHINGTON — A move to require broadcasters to provide equal time to all sides of controversial issues has religious radio programs worried, even though no formal proposal has been introduced and the White House likely wouldn’t support it. At issue is the idea of reinstating the Fairness Doctrine, which policed public airwaves from 1949 to…

Argentina is expelling a Holocaust-denying bishop whose recent readmission to the Catholic Church prompted anger and outrage from Jewish groups, according to international reports. Bishop Richard Williamson, whose excommunication was lifted by the Vatican in January, will be forced to leave Argentina within 10 days, the Associated Press reported Thursday (Feb. 19). Argentina’s Interior Ministry…

A religious liberty watchdog group has joined a campaign to strip the Arkansas Constitution of a provision that prohibits atheists from holding office and testifying in court. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty sent a letter Tuesday (Feb.17) to the Arkansas legislature in support of a bill to amend Article 19, Section 1, of the…

A blue-ribbon panel recommended on Thursday (Feb. 19) that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America lift its ban on partnered gay and lesbian clergy, but only after the church agrees in principle on gay relationships and respecting the consciences of those who dissent. A majority of the 15-member Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality…
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