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Associated Press – December 17, 2007 WASHINGTON – Unable to override a promised veto, Democrats have backed down on their insistence that the 2008 foreign aid budget reverse President Bush’s ban on providing aid to family planning groups abroad that offer abortions. A measure to ease restrictions on international aid was stripped this weekend from…

Associated Press MECCA, Saudi Arabia – Millions of Muslims from around the world gathered in Mecca Sunday for the start of the annual Islamic hajj pilgrimage, as the Saudi Interior Ministry announced tough security precautions. Men and women draped in white robes circled the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site, seven times in a ceremony anticipating the…

Associated Press – December 14, 2007 TRENTON, N.J. – With New Jersey poised to become the first state in four decades to abolish the death penalty, opponents of the practice declared a historic victory and hoped other states would follow suit. The Assembly voted 44-36 on Thursday to approve the legislation, which passed the Senate…

Associated Press – December 14, 2007 LONDON – The archbishop of Canterbury said Friday he will not reverse his decision to exclude a gay U.S. bishop from joining other bishops at a global Anglican gathering next year. Archbishop Rowan Williams’ office said he had also not changed his mind about refusing an invitation to Martyn…

Associated Press – December 14, 2007 VATICAN CITY – The Vatican, which has been accused of aggressively seeking souls in Russia and some other countries, said Friday it has every right to spread its message and accept converts but that non-Catholics must never be forced to embrace the faith. The Vatican’s doctrinal office issued guidelines…

Associated Press Charleston, W.Va. – As Christmas draws near, Pastor John Foster won’t be decorating a tree, shopping for last-minute gifts or working on a holiday sermon for his flock. After all, it’s been 50 years since Christmas was anything more than a day of the week to him. He’s one of very few American…

Associated Press Mexico City – Hundreds of thousands of people, some crawling on hands and knees, others carrying her image to be blessed, gathered Wednesday to honor the Mexico’s beloved patron saint, the Virgin of Guadalupe. Celebrants set off fireworks, sang and prayed inside the packed Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe to celebrate the…

The Miami Herald A South Florida imam says U.S. officials pressured him to give up his immigration appeals and leave the country voluntarily. A Muslim group says the imam’s case is part of a troubling trend in which religious leaders are compelled to become informants or risk being deported. Foad Farahi, 33, of the Shamsuddin…

By JANET FILLMORE 2007 Religion News Service CLEVELAND — When the Ven. Shih Ying-Fa parks his 5-foot-10 frame before the computer in his home office, he never knows who will be seeking his help. It could be a high school student in Baton Rouge, La., who asks the difference between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism for…

Associated Press – December 12, 2007 BOSTON – Republican Mitt Romney retorted to questions about his faith by surging rival Mike Huckabee on Wednesday, declaring that “attacking someone’s religion is really going too far.” In an article to be published Sunday in The New York Times, Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, asks, “Don’t Mormons…
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