Christianity
Centro Islámico, a hub for Latino Muslims near and far, breaks ground on expansion during Ramadan
By Alejandra Molina — April 15, 2022
(RNS) — 'We realize that there are people who have moved specifically because we're building the only Spanish-speaking Islamic center in America,' said Jaime 'Mujahid' Fletcher, chief executive officer and founder of IslamInSpanish.
Penance and plague: How the Black Death changed one of Christianity’s most important rituals
By Nicole Archambeau — April 11, 2022
(The Conversation) — Churches’ struggles to respond to the plague and constant warfare in the 14th and 15th centuries helped shape the kinds of Christianity in the world today.
BYU speech therapy clinic’s cancellation of transgender services draws probe
By Alejandra Molina — April 7, 2022
(RNS) — Shane Reese, academic vice president at BYU, in a March 10 letter cited the church’s handbook in justifying the cancellation of the clinic’s gender-affirming speech therapy.
At top universities, institutes of Catholic thought focus on science and religion
By Alejandra Molina — March 28, 2022
(RNS) — A multi-million dollar grant will support a new three-year plan for creating a national network of independent institutes of Catholic thought at US universities.
Study: Women of no faith face discrimination — when they are seen at all
By Alejandra Molina — March 22, 2022
(RNS) — ‘Nonreligious Women in America’ details the extent to which women conceal their nonreligious identities, as well as the isolation, stigma and discrimination they face.
Jehovah’s Witnesses to resume in-person gatherings, door knocking still on hold
By Alejandra Molina — March 18, 2022
(RNS) — Kingdom Halls will, as of April 1, reopen for in-person worship as long as there are no pandemic-related government restrictions forbidding them from doing so. Virtual services will still be available.
Study: Christians, Jews and Muslims encounter workplace discrimination differently
By Alejandra Molina — March 16, 2022
(RNS) — Rachel Schneider, one of the report’s authors, said workers often experienced religious discrimination in the form of microaggressions — such as stereotyping and othering.
They were killed by death squads in El Salvador four decades ago. Now, these martyrs are closer to sainthood.
By Alejandra Molina — March 11, 2022
(RNS) — As the four martyrs are one step closer to sainthood, Salvadorans in the United States hope the designation could inspire the Catholic Church to center the poor and marginalized.
In LA, ‘Atheist Pirates’ remove religious signs from public streets and overpasses
By Alejandra Molina — March 3, 2022
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — ‘The only way we can have streets that are welcoming to all is if all religions can equally go through them and be on them without feeling like they are less than.’
Online forum draws hundreds of faith leaders to counter religious opposition to abortion
By Alejandra Molina — January 21, 2022
(RNS) — 'So many of the abortion restrictions we’re seeing come from a particular religious lens that doesn’t represent the majority of the country,' said a Presbyterian pastor.
House of Intuition founders want you to tap into your ‘inner magic’
By Alejandra Molina — January 14, 2022
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — In 'Your Intuition Led You Here,' Alex Naranjo and Marlene Vargas advise readers on how to find their own inner magic.
Maranatha Chapel to honor pastor Ray Bentley, who died from COVID-19 complications
By Alejandra Molina — January 7, 2022
(RNS) — ‘We are all in shock and heartbroken. We find comfort in knowing that he is rejoicing in heaven with his beloved Jesus,’ the San Diego church said in a statement.
My Christmas prayer
By Jeffrey Salkin — December 25, 2021
Christmas is the American Shabbat. Think about it.
Former London Fashion Week designer pivots to modest fashion market
By Joseph Hammond — December 22, 2021
(RNS) — After being wrongfully imprisoned for two years in the U.K., Elle B. Mambetov has taken her once famed luxury brand and focused it on modest fashion, aimed at Muslim women.
There are no African American saints. A lay Catholic group seeks to change that.
By Alejandra Molina — December 15, 2021
(RNS) — ‘It is embarrassing to many of us that in the church where we worship, there are no United States African American saints recognized by the highest church authorities.’
