NEWS OF THE WEEK
Hindus celebrate Shivaratri (August 12), the annual festival that honors Shiva, one of the Hindu religion’s chief deities. And Japanese Buddhists and Shintos celebrate Obon (August 15), or the Festival of the Dead. Obon is a time of paying tribute … More
Those headed to Philadelphia for Pope Francis’s visit in September may be having trouble finding a hotel. Well, the Battleship New Jersey, which is docked across the river, is offering a Pope Special: sailors’ bunks for $75 per person, per … More
Days before this past week’s Republican debate, two GOP presidential candidates took their cases directly to evangelical leaders. At a conference of Southern Baptist pastors in Nashville, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio spoke about how faith influences their politics. Rubio’s … More
Jewish and liberal Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders made a surprising announcement that in September he will speak at Liberty University, the conservative evangelical college founded by the late Reverend Jerry Falwell.
Faith-based groups are among those welcoming the administration’s new plan to dramatically cut carbon emissions from US power plants. President Obama unveiled the final version of the measure at the White House. He cited Pope Francis’s recent encyclical on the … More
Also this week, President Obama continued trying to rally support for the nuclear deal with Iran. During a speech at American University, he promised that Iran will be caught if it tries to cheat. The president hosted American Jewish leaders … More
Faith leaders from across the spectrum are participating in the NAACP’s 40-day march for racial justice that began in Selma, Alabama and will end in Washington, DC. The marchers spoke of continuing inequalities in America, including incidents of police violence … More
August 15 is the Feast of the Assumption, when Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and some other Christians commemorate the belief that the Virgin Mary was bodily taken into Heaven at the end of her earthly life.
This week the Boy Scouts of America ended its ban on gay adult troop leaders, two years after deciding to admit openly gay youth as members. The policy will not force church-sponsored troops to accept gay leaders. But some religious … More
At the Vatican, Pope Francis appealed for the release of Italian Jesuit priest Paolo Dall’Oglio, who was kidnapped in Syria two years ago this week. For many months, there has been little or no credible information about Dall’Oglio’s status or … More
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