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Chicago Tribune When Republican presidential candidates John McCain or Mike Huckabee need advice on the nation’s surging Latino evangelical vote, there is one man to call: Rev. Samuel Rodriguez. The young California pastor serves as president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, making him the link to nearly 18,000 Latino evangelical churches and some…

Associated Press Vatican City – Pope Benedict XVI mourned the death of Greece’s Orthodox leader, Archbishop Christodoulos, and praised him Tuesday for having “opened a new era” in relations with the Vatican that helped forge greater Christian unity. In a telegram of condolences, Benedict recalled that Christodoulos had hosted Pope John Paul II on a…

Associated Press Jerusalem – Barack Obama wooed Jewish voters and skeptical Israelis in interviews published Tuesday, voicing support for key Israeli demands in peace talks with the Palestinians. Winning over Israel could help the Democratic presidential candidate gain favor with American Jews, who make up large voting blocs in key states like New York and…

United Press International – January 28, 2008 MIAMI, Jan 28, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) — The economy overshadows other conservative social issues in the Republican U.S. presidential campaign as religion fades from prevalence, pollsters say. The evangelical base makes up as much as 40 percent of the GOP primary electorate in some states, but the…

Associated Press – January 26, 2008 ROME – The new leader of the Jesuits met Saturday with Pope Benedict XVI and told him the religious order would study the pontiff’s invitation to confirm their “total” adhesion to Catholic teaching, including on divorce, homosexuality and liberation theology. The Jesuits have had a tense relationship with the…

Associated Press – January 28, 2008 SALT LAKE CITY – Utah’s leaders and believers mourned the death of Gordon B. Hinckley, the humble head of the Mormon church who added millions of new members and labored long to burnish the faith’s image as a world religion. Hinckley, the 15th president of The Church of Jesus…

Associated Press – January 24, 2008 ST. LOUIS – A Roman Catholic archbishop’s call this week for Saint Louis University to discipline its popular basketball coach for publicly supporting abortion rights has put the Jesuit school in a bind. If the university takes action against Rick Majerus, no stranger to controversy throughout his career, it…

By Matthew Streib Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS) Catholic and evangelical social justice leaders on Thursday (Jan. 24) urged President Bush to use his upcoming State of the Union address to turn around what they called his faltering moral legacy. Frequently referring to the state of American public policy as “shameful,” the representatives of five…

By Daniel Burke Religion News Service (RNS) Answers in Genesis, the Christian ministry that founded the $27 million Creation Museum in Kentucky last year, has now launched an online technical journal to publish studies consistent with its biblical views. The Answers Research Journal will disseminate research conducted by creationist theologians and scientists “that are consistent…

By G. Jeffrey MacDonald Religion News Service Epping, N.H. – Six Hindu men and a woman huddled together on a 20-degree January morning along a dirt road beside a series of posted “NO TRESPASSING” signs. They had come to save their deity. Having been evicted from their bucolic, 100-acre temple grounds two weeks earlier, they…

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