Essay: We’re ignoring the power of religion to resolve conflicts
URIEL SIMONSOHN, in an article first published on Religion News Service, says religion is here to stay so, rather than dismissing it as a hindrance to peace, we should consider it a potential catalyst for reconciliation…
Nearly half of world’s migrants are Christian, Pew Research shows
United States RNS The world’s 280 million immigrants have greater shares of Christians, Muslims and Jews than the general population, according to a new Pew Research Center study released on Monday. “You see migrants coming to places like the US, Canada, different places through Western Europe, and being more religious – and sometimes more Christian […]
Israeli hardliner Ben-Gvir draws anger with Jerusalem prayer call
Jerusalem Reuters Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Tuesday visited the Al-Aqsa mosque compound known to Jews as Temple Mount, and said Jews should be allowed to pray there, freshly challenging rules covering one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly denied there would be any change to […]
Essay: Religious leaders are playing an important (and unusual) role in Ukraine war
JENNIFER MATHERS, in an article first published on The Conversation, looks at how religious leaders in Russia and Ukraine have responded to the conflict…
In Hiroshima, the Vatican joined religious leaders to change the narrative on AI
RNS Meeting where one of two atomic bombs that ended World War II landed in Hiroshima, Japan, causing mass death and devastation, representatives from 11 diverse religious traditions gathered on 9th to 10th July for a Vatican-sponsored event to address a latter-day technology also destined, many believe, to upend humanity: artificial intelligence. Rather than focus […]
Religious groups think Trump’s actions immoral in hush money case, split on whether he broke the law
United States RNS A new survey finds that majorities of all major US religious groups believe actions by former President Donald Trump detailed in a recent hush money trial were immoral, but views are more split on whether he broke the law. It also remains unclear whether Trump’s new status as a convicted felon has […]
Holocaust researchers use AI to search for unnamed victims
Jerusalem Reuters Researchers in Israel are turning to artificial intelligence to comb through piles of records to try to identify hundreds of thousands of Jewish people killed in the Holocaust whose names are missing from official memorials. More than six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis during the World War II, a genocide commemorated […]
A $US400 million boost in federal funds for security at US places of worship
New York City, US AP A $US400 million increase in federal funding is available for security in US places of worship, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced on the weekend. The boost in money comes as concerns rise over threats against Jewish and Muslim communities, fuelled in part by the Israel-Hamas war. Senate Majority Leader Chuck […]
The yearly memorial march at the former death camp at Auschwitz overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war
Oswiecim, Poland AP Holocaust survivors and survivors of the 7th October attack on Israel were among thousands who took part Monday in the March of the Living, a yearly memorial march at the site of Auschwitz that honours the six million Jews killed by Nazi Germany and celebrates the state of Israel. This year, the […]
US House Speaker Johnson heckled and booed at Columbia, centre of Gaza protests
New York/Los Angeles Reuters Columbia University students heckled House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday as he visited the flashpoint of nationwide student demonstrations over the Israeli war in Gaza, even as the New York school agreed to 48 more hours of negotiations to end a protest encampment. Johnson’s visit, which he said was meant to […]