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Jerusalem – “Mommy, mommy, mommy!” wailed little Moshe at a tearful memorial for his parents in Mumbai on Monday, before a plane carrying him, his caretaker and the bodies of the six Jewish victims of the Chabad House hostage siege took off for Israel – a place the curly-haired 2-year-old survivor of the terror attack…

New York – African drums boomed and pipe organ music swelled as the Cathedral of St. John the Divine opened for worship Sunday after years of cleanup from a fire that struck the world’s largest Gothic cathedral in 2001. The cathedral’s 98-year-old Skinner organ was played for the first time since the fire, heralding a…

Washington – Marking World AIDS Day, President George W. Bush said Monday that his presidential initiative on the deadly disease already has met its goal of treating 2 million people in sub-Saharan Africa. When the administration launched the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief in 2003, the goal was to support 2 million people with…

TRAPPIST, Ky. — Around the country for the next few weeks, many Roman Catholics will remember and honor the life of Trappist monk Thomas Merton, who died 40 years ago on Dec. 10, 1968, in a freak electrocution accident. Merton, who influenced generations of believers with both his monastic lifestyle and his prodigious writings —…

SIDHBARI, India – Give the magnetic personality and hunky good looks of a rock star to a Tibetan Buddhist monk, and the result might be Gyalwang Karmapa, the third-highest lama in the Tibetan religious firmament. The Karmapa, as he is known, is getting more than his share of attention these days. He’s being talked about…

NEWARK, N.J. — The perfect man for Aparna Kachalia, who was born to Hindu parents from Bombay, will be one who loves the 20-year-old sophomore at Dartmouth College and treats her well. If he happens to be Hindu, great. If not, no problem. “A lot of people in my generation are more open to marrying…

SAN ANGELO, Texas – Child welfare authorities want a judge to order a teenage member of a polygamist sect to let them collect a DNA sample from her newborn so they can identify the father and determine if he’s an adult. The girl is a minor and Child Protective Services believes she was married to…

JERUSALEM (RNS) Regularly attending religious services may significantly reduce the risk of death, according to a comprehensive study by researchers at Yeshiva University and its medical school, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Findings of the study were published in Psychology and Health, the official journal of the European Health Psychology Society.…

MIAMI – A judge on Tuesday overturned a strict Florida law that blocks gay people from adopting children, declaring there was no legal or scientific reason for sexual orientation alone to prohibit anyone from adopting. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman said the 31-year-old law violates equal protection rights for the children and their prospective gay…

DHARMSALA, India – The Dalai Lama warned that the decadeslong dream of a free Tibet would be in danger if exiled leaders weren’t careful, after they said they might push for independence if China refuses to grant autonomy soon to the Himalayan region. The Buddhist spiritual leader also called for dialogue with the Chinese people…

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