Author: Duke Helfand

Source: The Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-conversion7-2009jul07,0,1041784.story

The nation's Roman Catholic bishops, looking to clarify their position on interfaith dialogue with Jews, have instead caused an uproar by issuing a recent statement that appears to endorse attempts to convert them.

The bishops' action threatens to further erode Catholic-Jewish ties that...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Syracuse.com

Wire Service: AP

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Syracuse.com

Wire Service: AP

Author: Chetan Chauhan

Source: Hindustan Times

[hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=cb3a0662-b810-40ce-8525-647fddbf7929]

Where political leaders have failed to come up with a plan to save the planet from global warming, religious leaders have succeeded.

On July 6, Islamic leaders from over 50 Muslim countries, including heads of states of Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, will meet in Istanbul to sign an agreement on environment conservation.

An announcement is expected...

Author: Paul Vitello

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/technology/internet/05twitter.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Things went smoothly for the first hour of the Twitter experiment at Trinity Church in Manhattan on Good Friday in April.

While hundreds of worshipers watched the traditional dramatization of the Crucifixion from pews in the church, one of New York’s oldest...

Author: Rachel Zoll

Source: The Tennessean

Wire Service: AP

[tennessean.com/article/20090704/NEWS06/907040317/1023/Acceptance+of+U.S.+Muslims+grows+among+other+faiths]

Sayyid Syeed remembers an interfaith event several years ago when a Jewish leader went to embrace him, saw someone snapping a photo, then suddenly pulled back.

"He said to the man, 'Stop,' '' Syeed recalled, " 'I'll lose my job.' ''

Times have changed for the Islamic Society of North...

Author: Jessica Terrell

Source: The Orange County Register

[ocregister.com/articles/warren-convention-muslims-2483889-interfaith-want]

Speaking to a crowd of nearly 8,000 Muslims at the Islamic Society of North America's annual convention in Washington D.C., Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren called on Muslims and Christians to form an interfaith coalition to combat prejudice and stereotypes.

While Fourth of July revelers staked out seats to watch fireworks at the nearby Capitol Building,...

Author: Gordon Dritschilo

Source: Rutland Herald

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20090703/NEWS01/907030362/1002/NEWS01

The School Board will vote next month on a policy on religious expression in school.

The policy, which will be distributed to the public in the August town newsletter, says that religious references as part of the curriculum are allowed while school-sponsored religious observances are not. The 11...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8132320.stm

A Turkish game show is challenging atheists to reassess their views and win "the biggest prize ever".

Penitents Compete will bring together an Islamic imam, a Jewish rabbi, a Buddhist monk and a Greek Orthodox priest seeking to convert the atheists.

The prize for any converted contestants is an expenses-paid pilgrimage to a holy site of their chosen...

Author: Jacqueline L. Salmon

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/02/AR2009070202451.html

President Barack Obama said today that he still favors a "robust" federal policy protecting health-care workers who have moral objections to performing some procedures even though he plans to roll back a Bush administration rule that expanded such protection.

Speaking...

Author: Anli Serfontein

Source: Ecumenical News International

http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=3146

Renounce Islamophobia, the general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, the Rev. Ishmael Noko, has urged world religious leaders at an inter religious congress in Kazakhstan.

Noko, a Zimbabwean, commended U.S. President Barack Obama for reaching out to Muslim communities and moving away from the language of the "war against terror...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8130624.stm

At least three people have been killed in violent clashes between mobs of Hindus and Muslims in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.

Two people died in the riots in the city of Mysore and a third was killed when police opened fire.

Violence began when the carcass of a pig was thrown into a mosque. A curfew has been imposed in the affected...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: PBS Religion & Ethics Newsweekly

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/july-3-2009/faith-communities-and-disability/3440/

Reverend BILL GAVENTA (Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities): In every faith community there is a scriptural basis for welcome and hospitality. But you’ve also got congregations who live in cultures where people with disabilities...

Author: Laurie Goodstein

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/us/02nuns.html

The Vatican is quietly conducting two sweeping investigations of American nuns, a development that has startled and dismayed nuns who fear they are the targets of a doctrinal inquisition.

Nuns were the often-unsung workers who helped build the Roman Catholic Church in this country, planning schools and hospitals and keeping parishes humming....

Author: Julia Zappei

Original Source: Syracuse.com

Wire Service: AP