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(RNS) “Fireproof” and “The Christmas Choir” captured the two $100,000 Epiphany Prizes at the 17th annual Movieguide Faith and Values Awards Gala in Beverly Hills, Calif. “Fireproof” depicts the reconciliation of a troubled marriage while “The Christmas Choir” follows homeless men who refocus their lives by singing Christmas carols The Epiphany Prizes for Inspiring Movies…

CHENNAI, India (RNS) The father of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, the Chabad missionary who was murdered along with his wife in last November’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai plans to rebuild the Jewish center that was badly damaged in the assault. Rabbi Nachman Holtzberg and his wife Frieda, now on a two-week trip to Mumbai from their…

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI lectured House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the “dignity of human life” at a private meeting here on Wednesday (Feb. 18), a decidedly less cordial reception than is frequently given many U.S. leaders. Pelosi, D-Calif., describes herself as an ardent Catholic but raised eyebrows last year by saying “doctors of…

New York (dpa) – The founder of a Muslim television station in the United States has been charged with murder after allegedly decapitating his wife, the channel’s website and local media reported Tuesday. Muzzammil Hassan, 44, was arrested Thursday after informing police that his wife’s body was located at the Bridges TV office outside Buffalo…

BATON ROUGE, La. (RNS) A national organization of scientists has informed Gov. Bobby Jindal that it will not hold its annual convention in Louisiana as long as the recently adopted science curriculum standards remain on the books. The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology told Jindal that its executive committee chose Salt Lake City for…

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of 18 Christian leaders has developed a host of policy recommendations on poverty reduction that they hope will shape the actions of the Obama administration and Congress. The effort, co-chaired by evangelical activist Jim Wallis and Michael Gerson, who was a speechwriter for former President George W. Bush, is led…

Associated Press – February 12, 2009 SAN FRANCISCO – Same-sex couples seeking to wed showed up at marriage license counters nationwide Thursday to highlight a right they don’t have in 48 states, part of an annual protest that took on renewed urgency given recent election setbacks. In San Francisco, where same-sex marriage was legal for…

OKLAHOMA CITY (RNS) The Oklahoma Department of Corrections’ refusal to allow a Christian ministry access to send Bibles, books about Jesus Christ and other religious materials to inmates has sparked a federal lawsuit. Wingspread Christian Ministries, headquartered in Prairie Grove, Ark., and operated by Illinois-based Evangelists for Christ Inc., filed the lawsuit Wednesday (Feb. 11)…

MOSCOW – A top Russian Orthodox official signaled that a meeting between Patriarch Kirill and Pope Benedict XVI is not likely to happen soon, a news agencies reported Friday. The comments from Bishop Ilarion, the Russian church’s envoy to European organizations, are the latest indication that the centuries-old distrust between the two denominations remains difficult…

Washington – When Barack Obama was campaigning for president, he promised to enact legislation to prohibit states from limiting the right to abortion. Now that Obama is in the White House and solid Democratic majorities are ensconced in Congress, opponents of abortion rights have been bracing for that and other major changes to abortion laws.…

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