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Associated Press – March 3, 2008 SEDONA, Ariz. – Endorsed by an influential Texas televangelist, Republican John McCain endeared himself to one group of voters but risked alienating another with the pastor’s anti-Catholic views. The controversy has been mild so far, but still, every vote counts in a presidential election that is expected to be…

Associated Press – February 29, 2008 BAGHDAD – Gunmen kidnapped a Chaldean Catholic archbishop Friday in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, police and the church said, in another attack targeting Iraq’s small Christian community. The gunmen killed three people who were with Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho after he ended a Mass at…

By Achal Narayanan Religion News Service CHENNAI, India (RNS) An influential group of Muslim theologians at a prominent Islamic seminary in northern India have denounced terrorism, saying it is goes against the teachings of Islam. The denouncement came during the All India Anti-Terrorism Conference in the state of Uttar Pradesh, home to the 150-year-old Darul…

By Brittani Hamm Religion News Service WASHINGTON — The United Methodist Church’s social policy office is circulating a petition that tells President Bush, a fellow church member, that torture is immoral and ineffective. The petition cites the Methodists’ Book of Discipline, which says, “The mistreatment or torture of persons by governments for any purpose violates…

Matthew Streib Religion News Service Washington – The poorest counties in the U.S. are among the hardest hit by the subprime mortgage crisis, according to a study released Wednesday (Feb. 27) by the Christian anti-hunger advocacy group Bread for the World. The report, titled “Home Ownership, Subprime Loans and Poverty,” found a strong correlation between…

Associated Press Albany, Ore. – A pair of Albany teenagers suspended for “gang-related behavior” because they were wearing crucifixes say they were only wearing gifts from their mothers. Jaime Salazar, 14, and his friend Marco Castro, 16, were suspended from South Albany High School after they refused to put away the crucifixes. Salazar said that…

Associated Press Washington – For Barack Obama, it is an ember that he has doused time and again, only to see it flicker anew: links to Islam fanned by false rumors, innuendo and association. The Democratic presidential front-runner and his campaign reacted strongly this week when a photo of him in Kenyan tribal garb began…

Associated Press – February 27, 2008 BEIJING – China’s railway to Tibet is allowing the government to exploit the region’s natural resources while threatening its Buddhist culture and traditional way of life, an activist group said Thursday. The Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet did not prominently mention the upcoming Beijing Olympics, but the report was…

Associated Press – February 27, 2008 KHARTOUM, Sudan – President Omar al-Bashir vowed on Wednesday to ban Danes from Sudan and called on the Muslim world to boycott Denmark as tens of thousands of Sudanese chanted slogans denouncing the country at a government-backed protest against the printing of a cartoon satirizing the Prophet Muhammad. The…

Efe – February 27, 2008 Havana, Feb 27, 2008 (EFE via COMTEX) — Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone became the first foreign dignitary to be received by Cuba’s new president, Raul Castro. Bertone and Castro “examined the development of the Cuban government’s relations with the Holy See and the Catholic Church in Cuba”…

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