Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3509777.stm

On February 21, 2004 the BBC News reported, "The Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church have agreed to set up a joint working group to try to improve relations. The announcement was made simultaneously in Rome and Moscow. The most senior Vatican representative to visit Russia for four years is currently on a mission to try to mend bridges between the two churches...The Russian Orthodox believe that Pope John Paul...

Source: The Toledo Blade

[toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040221/NEWS10/102210138/-1/NEWS]

On February 21, 2004 The Toledo Blade reported, "Bernie Keating grew up in the badlands of South Dakota, riding horses and running away from organized religion. He was, he says, 'a cowboy infidel' raised by 'a lukewarm Catholic father and a fallen-away Methodist mother.' His work as an engineering executive for Owens-Illinois, Inc., took him around the world and expanded his awareness of different cultures and religions...

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/02/19/MNGTF53E1P25.DTL

On February 20, 2004 The San Francisco Chronicle reported, "City Hall workers are not the only officiants keeping busy these days with same-sex marriages. The Rev. Karen Oliveto, pastor of Bethany United Methodist Church in San Francisco, has provided God's blessing to eight couples who were issued civil marriage licenses since the...

Source: Slate

[slate.msn.com/id/2095536/]

On February 20, 2004 the Slate ran a column by the Rev. Chloe Breyer, an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of New York, on her experience as a part of the partnership between the Diocese of New York and Masjid Hazrat-i-Abu Bakr in Flushing, N.Y. to rebuild a mosque destroyed in Afghanistan during the war of 2001. She writes, "For conservative Christians who doubt that the church should reconstruct mosques abroad while its own houses of worship lack weatherproof roofing, the fact that...

Source: New York Newsday

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/queens/nyc-nyxmas193677544feb19,0,6404263.story?coll=nyc-topheadlines-queens

On February 20, 2004 New York Newsday reported, "A federal judge yesterday backed the city's Department of Education, ruling that the displaying of the Nativity scene, unlike Christmas trees and menorahs, is not secular and has no place in classrooms. Judge Charles Sifton in...

Source: US Newswire

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=150-02192004

On February 19, 2004 US Newswire reported, "Representatives of the Jewish community and several Christian denominations in the Greater Washington Area have created a dialogue guide to Mel Gibson's new film 'The Passion of the Christ.' The guide, offering a constructive approach for Christians and Jews in discussing the film, will be sent to hundreds of clergy in area...

Source: Religion News Service

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/140/story_14052_1.html

On February 19, 2004 Religion News Service published an article on the unorthodox alliance of supporters Mel Gibson has acquired for his upcoming film, "The Passion." "Gibson has virtually ignored the Catholic hierarchy and instead marketed his film almost exclusively to evangelicals, a well-organized audience of true believers that promises to turn the film into box office gold when...

Source: The Poughkeepsie Journal

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/thursday/lifeentertainment/stories/li021904s2.shtml

On February 19, 2004 The Poughkeepsie Journal reported, "Last year, at the first Salaam-Shalom: Family Culture Fest, members of Vassar Temple and Masjiid al-Noor celebrated and shared their cultural and religious heritage through music, dance, food, storytelling, henna art and face painting. This year, on Saturday...

Source: The Oregonian

http://www.oregonlive.com/living/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/living/1077109020127790.xml

On February 18, 2004 The Oregonian reported, "Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, a statewide partnership of 17 Christian denominations -- Protestant, Orthodox and Catholic -- is today celebrating 30 years of talking and working together... In the 21st century, in a Western state that shares a reputation for being largely '...

Source: American Civil Liberties Union

http://www.aclu.org/ReligiousLiberty/ReligiousLiberty.cfm?ID=14995&c=38

On February 18, 2004 American Civil Liberties Union reported, "Saying that the city of Plattsmouth 'abandoned its duty to religious neutrality and acted with the intent of promoting a particular point of view in religious matters,' a federal appeals court today ruled that the town’s Ten Commandments monument violates the religious...

Source: U.S. Newswire

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=108-02182004

On February 18, 2004 U.S. Newswire reported, "PipeLineNews.org, the Internet's fastest growing conservative political news source, is calling for 'an immediate, thorough and unbiased review of the Bernardin School's Catholic-Muslim Studies Program, and that further 'interfaith outreach' to the Muslim community be immediately terminated pending that review.'" Editor...

Source: Yahoo! News

Source: Beliefnet.com

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/140/story_14046_1.html

On February 17, 2004 Beliefnet.com posted an Associated Press article that reported, "A top Vatican official arrived in Moscow on Tuesday for sensitive talks with the Russian Orthodox hierarchy, which accuses the Catholic Church of aggressive proselytizing in traditionally Orthodox lands...On Tuesday, the Moscow Patriarchate posted on its web site what it said were responses from 14...