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HARTFORD, Conn. – Connecticut’s Supreme Court ruled Friday that same-sex couples have the right to marry, making the state the third behind Massachusetts and California to legalize such unions. The divided court ruled 4-3 that gay and lesbian couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry under the state constitution, and Connecticut’s civil unions law…

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI marked the 50th anniversary of the death of Pope Pius XII on Thursday (Oct. 9), praying that the World War II-era pontiff would reach the next step on the road to sainthood, and defending him against charges that he did too little to save Jews during the Holocaust. Pius…

SALT LAKE CITY – Mormons should strive for unity at home, in the church and with those whose backgrounds and opinions differ from Latter-day Saints, a senior church leader said. Henry B. Eyring, the senior counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said at the faith’s semiannual General…

BUENA PARK, Calif. – In a suburban landscape dotted with evangelical megachurches and auto malls, followers of an Indian religion thousands of years old spent days decorating marble idols and lighting incense to herald the opening of one of their faith’s largest temples. The new $20 million Jain temple complex, celebrating a religion that promotes…

WASHINGTON (RNS) Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders condemned the DVD “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West” that has been circulated in U.S. newspapers and urged Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain to do the same. More than 20 million DVDs were distributed as paid advertisements in 12 electoral swing states. The Interfaith Alliance, a…

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — The stuff Harold Males is saying around his synagogue here might have shocked people’s sensibilities a few years ago. Like his contention that evangelical Christians make good friends. “They’re not dangerous people, not to me,” he insists. Or that Gov. Sarah Palin boasts some impressive credentials. “Dressing a caribou is no…

(RNS) Catholic legal scholar Nicholas Cafardi, who recently endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president, has resigned as a trustee of Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, an outpost of conservative Catholicism. Cafardi, an expert in civil and canon law, said he quit the school’s board voluntarily. “When it became apparent to me that some Catholics…

Zen Buddhist meditation may help treat depression, attention deficit disorder and anxiety, among other maladies, according to a recent study by Emory University neuroscientists. Mental illness such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression are characterized in part by “excessive rumination” or runaway thoughts, said Giuseppe Pagnoni, a neuroscientist at Emory in Atlanta. Zen meditators show an…

Vatican City – On Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate a special Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Pope Pius XII. The fact that Oct. 9 this year coincides with Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, is ironic, since debate over Pius’ record is one of…

Nashville – The U.S. conservative evangelical Christian vote is still the Republican Party’s to lose, but the poor economy may be peeling some of them off, analysts say. Voters who value moral issues such as opposition to abortion and gay marriage still tend to favor Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain of Arizona over Democratic…
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