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I’m back from my family trip to London, Cyprus and Greece — narrowly missing volcanic ash and British Airways strike delays along the way — and I’ve learned three things that relate to the religion beat: the average Cypriot doesn’t know that Pope Benedict XVI is visiting in a few weeks, the average Greek doesn’t know that…

Nicole Neroulias returns to Belief Beat next week, but while she’s away, we wanted to introduce you to another blogger who will be joining Beliefnet soon. Mark Silk, who blogs at Spiritual Politics, will start a new blog for Beliefnet later this month.(He’ll also keep blogging at Spiritual Politics) We hope you’ll enjoy his post…

Hope everyone had a good Mother’s Day! Belief Beat is on a break this week, while I’m visiting family overseas. (Unfortunately, I’m missing Pope Benedict’s visit to Cyprus by less than a month… Then again, between the volcanic ash still spreading from Iceland, the strikes bogging down travelers in Greece, and our inevitable interfaith christening confusion, this trip is already…

The New York Times is reporting that President Obama will be announcing his nomination of Soliciter General Elena Kagan, who is Jewish, to the Supreme Court this morning, to fill the seat being vacated by Justice John Paul Stevens, who is Protestant. As I noted in an earlier blog post, the SCOTUS story has become religion news because…

Mother’s Day, which falls this Sunday, is technically a secular holiday, but a range of denominations incorporate it into their worship services each year. Check out Beliefnet’s Mother’s Day 2010 page for inspirational quotes, prayers and other links for the occasion. Not to be a Debbie Downer, but on a related note, two studies have…

The most entertaining religion story of the week was the speculation over the role that Mark Wahlberg’s religious mentor, the Rev. James Flavin, has had in helping him choose roles — steering him away from playing one of the gay cowboys in “Brokeback Mountain” (RIP Heath Ledger), for example. The news, which I learned about from a Religion News Service…

The Pontifical Swiss Guard, the 500-year-old elite force (if a bit oddly dressed, by today’s standards) sworn to protect Pope Benedict, are swearing-in 30 new recruits today. Catholic News Agency reports the events were slated to begin with a Mass for the world’s smallest army, their families and friends in St. Peter’s Basilica, presided over by Cardinal Tarcisio…

Today is National Day of Prayer, although the latest court ruling has declared the observance unconstitutional. (It’s still on the books, while the appeal process continues.)  There’s been plenty of religion news leading up to this occasion, based on the usual protests from atheists and other proponents of strict separation of church and state, compounded by…

A new CBS News/New York Times poll reports that U.S. Catholics think the Vatican has done a “poor job” handling the clergy sex abuse scandal, although Pope Benedict’s approval rating is up to 43 percent, compared to 27 percent in March. The survey also found that 31 percent of Catholics said celibacy is a major factor leading…

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which has become the latest denomination to lift a ban on gay clergy, announced this week that it is reinstating two gay pastors — a same-sex couple — to its clergy roster. The Associated Press reports that the Rev. Bradley Schmeling was removed from the group’s roster in 2007…
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