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NEW YORK — Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II, who shepherded his church through the rubble of communism but was unable or unwilling to heal a longstanding breach with the Catholic Church, died Friday (Dec.5). He was 79. Alexy, the spiritual leader to more than 100 million Christians around the world, died at his Moscow residence…

MECCA, Saudi Arabia – Draped in white robes to symbolize purity and the equality of mankind under God, nearly 3 million Muslims from all over the world gathered Friday in Mecca, on the eve of the start of the annual hajj pilgrimage. Male pilgrims, wearing two-piece seamless white robes, and women, covered head to foot…

(UNDATED) Nearly everyone agrees that a conservative group of Anglicans broke new ground when they declared on Wednesday (Dec. 3) that they had founded a new North American province of the Anglican Communion. But further reactions to the new Anglican Church in North America, made up of conservatives who are fed up with the liberal…

Vatican City – A top Vatican official said Thursday Muslims should be allowed to build new mosques in Italy, where the country’s interior minister, citing terrorism fears, is pushing to ban such initiatives. On Wednesday Interior Minister Roberto Maroni a member of the anti-immigration Northern League party, proposed a moratorium on the building of mosques…

Conservative Anglican leaders unveiled on Wednesday the constitution and laws for a new organization intended to replace the Episcopal Church as the American arm of the Anglican Communion, which has 77 million members worldwide. The move is the most telling sign yet that the debate over the role of gay and lesbian Christians has torn…

Mumbai, India – Mumbai’s tiny Jewish community feels itself under threat for the first time in hundreds of years in the wake of the deadly attacks by suspected Muslim militants that included a bloody two-day siege at an ultra-Orthodox Jewish center. Jews here said they had always considered themselves safe amid the tapestry of religions…

NEW YORK (RNS) In an effort to continue interfaith cooperation and prevent backlash against Muslims, Jews and Muslims are coming together here to memorialize the Jewish victims of the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. Imam Mohammed Shamsi Ali and Rabbi Marc Schneier, who recently appeared together in Manhattan during November’s national Jewish-Muslim “Weekend of…

NEW YORK – Theological conservatives upset by liberal views of U.S. Episcopalians and Canadian Anglicans formed a rival North American province Wednesday, in a long-developing rift over the Bible that erupted when Episcopalians consecrated the first openly gay bishop. The announcement represents a new challenge to the already splintering, 77-million-member world Anglican fellowship and the…

PARIS – An international doctors’ panel appointed by the Roman Catholic Church says it’s getting out of the “miracle” business at Lourdes. The panel will no longer judge whether pilgrims to the French shrine could have benefited from “miracle” healing – a huge shift from the centuries-old way of deciding what makes the cut as…

Vatican City – In the 24 years since the U.S. and the Holy See established full diplomatic ties, relations have never been closer or warmer than during the administration of President George W. Bush. The two sides broke over the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, but Bush’s personal esteem for Popes John Paul II…
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