All the great religious creeds, said writer Reynolds Price, "have known forever that if we're ever to arrive at the state of anything called wisdom, pain seems to be the way we get there."

Faith communities have an important role to play, says Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence, in raising moral issues about gun laws and policies.

"I think it's fair to say that Islam has had some difficulty in coming to terms with modernity," says sociologist of religion William Martin, who believes that the Gülen movement "offers a much more positive picture of what Islam can be."

"The most broadly based access to the developing world is through religious people," says the former president of the World Bank, "and so it is a tragedy if they are not embraced in the overall development process."

During decades of civil war in Sudan, says John Ashworth of Catholic Relief Services, the church was the only institution on the ground with the people, and because of that it gained huge moral authority. Now South Sudan is voting in a referendum for independence from the Muslim-majority national ...

During the Montgomery bus boycott "it was black Christians teaching white Christians what it mean to be Christian," says a white Lutheran pastor who joined with Martin Luther King Jr. and others to change the world.

Watch much more of our conversation with Rev. Robert Graetz, who calls the Montgomery bus boycott a spiritual movement based on love and nonviolence that changed the hearts of people across the country.

Jewish singer and songwriter Debbie Friedman, who died in California on January 9, once said that "spiritually if you don't have the opportunity to exercise your heart and soul you don't really fully understand all that you are."

“We’re looking at long-term changes to make something sustainable here,” says World Vision’s Mary Kate MacIssac. Watch more interviews about the recovery effort and more video of three different church services on a recent Sunday morning in Port-au-Prince.

"Haiti is not dying," says Free Methodist pastor Jean-Marc Zamor one year after the devastating earthquake, and faith-based humanitarian aid workers press on with relief and reconstruction despite criticism that efforts have fallen short.

Mariners and sailors, says Rev. David Rider, often experience God's presence and absence in the depth of their souls, and for almost two centuries an ecumenical ministry based in the Port of New York and New Jersey has advocated for their spiritual and professional well-being.

Join our discussion of the most anticipated religion and ethics news stories in the year ahead.

Look back at excerpts from our conversations with reporters over the past 10 years about religion and its changing role in our world.

Watch our annual reporters roundtable on the most important religion and ethics news of the past year.

A new state law could shut down the city of Tucson’s high school ethnic studies program. The state superintendent says ethnic studies divides students by race. Supporters say it teaches mutual respect and fosters a commitment to democracy.

On December 14, religious leaders held a prayer summit and "Jericho March" on Capitol Hill to urge senators to vote in favor of a bill that would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who were brought into the country by their parents and who go on to attend college or serve in ...

Blockades, barriers, and post-election turmoil are preventing faith-based aid groups from safely doing their work.

"We hope to instill in our children what it takes to be a responsible, caring, and giving person who is God-conscious," says Kathy Jamil, principal of the Universal School in Buffalo.

At Manhattan High School for Girls, students are learning what Jewish law teaches about gossip, rumors, and evil speech.

This moving service of scripture readings, prayers, hymns, and carols was created after World War I at King's College Cambridge.