Note:  this Christmas Commentary is written in the context of the holiday observance, and as a requiem for the slaughter of the innocents at a place now known to us all as Sandy Hook. A pdf version to …

“I think that people who are leaving church, or people who call themselves spiritual but not religious, are raising really significant questions about faith, about community life and about the future of religion that religious leaders should …

Twelve men face mutilation and execution for allegedly being gay after they have been captured by an extremist Libyan Islamist militia. The twelve men were, apprently, having a private party in Ain Zara, a suburb of Tripoli, …

This past Wednesday the Freedom from Religion Foundation filed a federal lawsuit against IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman for allowing churches to endorse candidates while remaining tax exempt. According to the FFRF, this “constitutes preferential treatment to churches and religious organizations …

The Israel/Gaza ceasefire has officially commenced. There have been no explosions since the official ceasefire starting point at 9 p.m. local time (2 p.m. EDT), but low flying drones can still be heard flying overhead in Gaza. Agence …

This interview is part of a series profiling leaders of the Faith and Reproductive Justice Leadership Institute, a project of CAP’s Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative. The Institute provides faith-based leaders working on reproductive justice with training …

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond has told the nation’s only blended Catholic and Episcopal parish it must change its worship services so Catholics and non-Catholics meet in separate rooms for Holy Communion. The parish, Church of …

(Reuters) – A majority of parishes in the conservative Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina voted on Saturday to leave the U.S. Episcopal Church over disagreements on issues including the national church’s ordination of gay clergy and acceptance …

Three Buddhists, a Hindu and a “none” will walk into the 113th Congress, and it’s no joke. Rather, it’s a series of “firsts” that reflect the growing religious diversity of the country. When the new Congress is …

News of Savita Halappanavar’s agonizing death in an Irish hospital from septicemia and E. Coli infection is all over the internet, and thank goodness, most people are heartbroken and angry. Everything about her death is heartbreaking and angering: the …

BARNESVILLE, Minn. – If you want to be a Catholic, you have to be 100 percent Catholic. That’s the lesson one family here learned after their 17-year-old son was denied confirmation after the priest at the Assumption …

Dear Rev. Rodriguez, I hope this finds you well. Some friends made me aware of your statement on the reelection of President Obama. I read it through multiple times, and each time I tried to put my metaphorical finger …

(RNS) It’s tempting to view the sex scandal surrounding retired Army Gen. David Petraeus through a religious lens. After all, most faiths forbid adultery, and even before his fall from grace, some Pentagon colleagues compared Petraeus to …

Almost 100 faculty members at the University of San Diego have declared a loss of confidence in their president’s leadership, saying her cancellation of a British theologian’s visiting fellowship and her response to criticism of the move …

A new survey of Jewish communal organizations found that 50 percent of them have taken significant steps to welcome gays and lesbians and their families. The Jewish Organization Equality Index provides benchmarks for gauging and improving policies …

PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) Three states made history Tuesday (Nov. 6) voting to approve same-sex marriage, and a fourth repudiated an attempt to ban it. Oregon, once known as a trailblazer for progressive causes, wasn’t among them. But …

Less the 24 hours after Barack Obama won his reelection campaign on Tuesday, a new kind of campaign was launching in a sold out auditorium in downtown Seattle. For the climate activists at 350.org, it didn’t necessarily …

“It’s demography, stupid!” is the new mantra for analyzing the 2012 election, in which African Americans, Asian Americans and Latinos cast their votes in overwhelming numbers for President Obama. But religious diversity was another key theme. How …