Source: Los Angeles Times

On October 9, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported on Karen Armstrong. It explained that, "for years she was tagged the 'runaway nun,' the rebellious ex-Catholic with outspoken opinions about religion--comparing, for example, Pope John Paul II to a Muslim fundamentalist. Now, with her 12th book, "Islam, a Short History" (Modern Library), Karen Armstrong has changed her image. She can still be sharp-tongued, inclined to draw conclusions that get a rise out of critics. But something closer to reconciliation, rather than anger, is...

Source: The New York Times

On October 7, 2000, The New York Times reported that "On Sept. 5, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who heads the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a document titled 'Dominus Iesus' ('The Lord Jesus') that condemned certain 'relativistic Theories' of religious pluralism. A month later, the dust has still not settled. In some eyes, Cardinal Ratzinger was only saying the obvious and doing his job. Haven't Christians always believed that it is through Jesus Christ and the church of the Gospel that salvation has...

Source: The Boston Herald

On October 6, 2000, The Boston Herald published an article entitled, "Guiding Light: Interfaith Families Share Ancient Traditions - and Create New Ones."

Source: The Buffalo News

On October 6, 2000, The Buffalo News reported that in an event "described as the first such meeting in recent memory, local Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders came together under one roof Thursday to denounce the violence that has erupted in Jerusalem and has threatened hopes of reviving the Middle East peace process. The local leaders signed a statement pleading for President Clinton to redouble his efforts to bring the parties back to the negotiating table so this conflict can be settled with conversation and not...

Source: The Washington Post

On October 4, 2000, The Washington Post reported that "about 22,000 area Roman Catholics are expected to attend the Washington Archdiocese's Eucharistic Congress, a four-day celebration of the Catholic faith starting tomorrow at the Washington Convention Center. A year in the planning, the congress is the archdiocese's most important Jubilee Year 2000 event. Based on registration, church officials predict that the congress's concluding Mass on Sunday--celebrated by Cardinal James A. Hickey--will be the largest gathering of...

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On September 30, 2000, The Houston Chronicle published an article which reported that, "Archbishop Demetrios, spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, wants the 1.5 million members to share their faith and culture. 'Orthodoxy by nature is a church that is not selfishly turned in on itself,' the archbishop said during his first visit to Houston last week. 'It is an absolute necessity for this church, if it is going to be genuine, to reach out continuously. By reaching out I don't mean any propaganda attempts. I...

Source: The New York Times

On September 30, 2000, The New York Times reported that "after some prominent Christian conservatives grumbled about Gov. George W. Bush's decision to skip the Christian Coalition's annual conference this weekend, the Bush campaign reversed itself today and announced that the governor would address the convention by videotape on Saturday. The announcement of Mr. Bush's change of heart came after Pat Robertson, the Christian Coalition chairman and founder, had complained earlier this week, and again today, that Mr. Bush was "taking...

Source: The Washington Post

On September 30, 2000, The Washington Post reported that "the Defense Department has agreed to rehire a Lake Ridge woman who lost her job at the Fort Belvoir Commissary when she refused to sign a loyalty oath for religious reasons, her attorneys said yesterday. Michelle Hall, 37, had filed suit in U.S. District Court in Alexandria last December saying that an affidavit required of almost all 1.8 million executive branch employees violated the First Amendment's protections of free speech and free exercise of religion. But she and...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On September 30, 2000, the Los Angeles Times told the story of Ai Tasedan. She has "attended services at St. Mark Presbyterian Church faithfully for the past 25 years. She got married there. She goes on church-sponsored mission trips and volunteers wherever needed." And, surprising to some, she is a Buddhist. "It's an ecumenical twist that doesn't bother the liberal Newport Beach congregation very much, if at all. St. Mark's elders decided in 1975 to help rescue Tasedan and her family, Vietnamese refugees who were in living in a...

Source: The New York Times

On September 27, 2000, The New York Times reported that "not every pedestrian on Washington Street here sees an apparition of the Virgin Mary in the smudgy colored streaks of the thermal pane window. But just as in the miracles frequently reported in small Southern towns, or the one that played out for months in a suburban yard in Marlboro, N.J., a few years back, none of the faithful here are demanding unanimity. The streaks in the window, in Ramona and Marcelino Collado's second-floor apartment, started changing colors and...

Source: The Plain Dealer

On September 23, 2000, The Plain Dealer published an article entitled, "Criticism of Hindu Plucked from Web." It reported that "some members of a Christian conservative group apparently believe Congress erred when it allowed a Hindu priest from Parma to give a historic invocation before the House of Representatives last week. But the Family Research Council, best known for its former leader, one-time presidential candidate Gary Bauer, backed away yesterday from its criticism that Venkatachalapathi Samuldrala's prayer in the Capitol...

Source: USA TODAY

On September 21, 2000, USA TODAY reported on Joan Brown Campbell. "'I face the future,' says Campbell, recently retired general secretary of the National Council of Churches. Her last public role: assisting Elian Gonzalez during the Cuban boy's tempestuous months in America. Campbell found an American lawyer for Elian's father and later waved farewell when the U.S. legal system permitted the boy's return to Havana." During the nine years she was at the National Council of Churches, she "pushed the 35 denominations of the NCC to be 'the...

Source: The Courier-Journal

On September 21, 2000, The Courier-Journal of St. Louis reported that, "Christian Students Gather for Prayer Event; Early Morning Tradition Draws Teens Nationwide."

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On September 21, 2000 The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that "more than 300 pagans gathered Wednesday to dispel myths about their ancient religion, which they say has been unfairly demonized by Christians pushing for prayer in public schools. 'Our point is, you can have no religions in the public schools or you can have all religions in the public schools, but you are not going to have just the Christian religion in the public schools,' said rally organizer Ginger Strivelli. She is a co-founding...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On September 19, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported on a controversy brewing in a Boston suburb over the construction of a Mormon temple. The dispute has been in and out of the courts for over four years, with local residents contending that the "three-story temple threatens the character of a bedroom community known for decades as 'a town of homes.'" Opposition to the temple came from some residents of Belmont who "forced the Mormon Church to scale back a design featuring six golden spire towers--the main one 13 stories tall...