Stories related to: religion

Tony Blair will officially become a Catholic in the next few weeks, a Catholic newspaper says, after years of signing off on Anglican appointments as prime minister. The conversion isn't a shock—Blair often attended Mass with his Catholic wife and child. But the Church of England’s official status, along with British disdain for mixing religion and politics, kept Blair from converting in office. More »

A top Republican lawmaker is probing six televangelists who have put their opulent lifestyles on display, the AP reports. Rolls Royces, private jets, and a $30,000 table are among the luxuries that sparked Sen. Chuck Grassley's inquiry, he said yesterday. "I don't want to conclude that there's a problem, but people who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code." More »

Parents are turning to state laws allowing religious exemptions to keep their children from being vaccinated, the Associated Press reports. Such shots are often required for children to attend preschool; though sects such as the Christian Scientists have real religious objections to medicine, some parents distrustful of the science behind vaccines are using the laws to avoid inoculations. More »

Fred Thompson, once the longed-for alternative to a field of uninspiring GOP candidates, didn't get through his campaign's first official month before the religious right started jumping ship, Politico reports. Thompson's refusal to back a gay marriage ban, past lobbying for an abortion-rights group, and refusal to talk religion has conservatives scrambling to find a different candidate to stop frontrunner Rudy Giuliani's nomination. More »

The removal of  hundreds of thousands of  religious books  from federal prison libraries is drawing fire—not just from inmates, but from chaplains and other religious leaders. In the wake of 9/11, the Bureau of Prisons issued an approved list of religious books for institutions it controls, the Times reports, to eliminate those advocating radicalism or violence. More »

Pope Benedict has urged Catholics to  keep Sunday special amid the  "mad rush" of the modern world. He encouraged people to set the day aside for reflection on faith and the dangers humans pose to the world, including destruction of "God's creation," an apparent reference to environmental harm. More »

A legal center that champions the Christian right is scoring victories and becoming “a very, very significant player in constitutional law,” one analyst says. The American Center for Law and Justice has made waves in the legal world by defending prayer at high school football games and supporting a pharmacist who doesn’t want to sell the morning-after pill, the Chicago Tribune reports. More »

Thousands visited Kolkata (Calcutta), India, today to remember Mother Teresa 10 years after her death. At the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, where the nun lived and died, the local archbishop led a Mass where rich and poor joined to pray for her, Reuters reports. "I hope she is made a saint soon," said one worshiper. More »

After 20 years of development, Reform Judaism's new prayer book hits the shuls in about a month with a gender-neutral text that eliminates references to God as "He." The new prayer book, "Mishkan T’filah," is intended to offer something for everyone, from those who prefer all-Hebrew services to those who might not even believe God exists, the Times reports. More »

Billy Graham has seen US leaders laid bare, from skinny-dipping with LBJ to long walks on the beach with GWB. A new book details the ailing 88-year-old preacher’s rendezvous with presidents past, including counseling Ford to pardon Nixon and advising Hillary Clinton to look past Monica Lewinsky. Graham’s refusal to be a party booster has lent him his independent spiritual voice, Bloomberg reports. More »

Franciscan friars have another deep question to ask their congregation: Paper or plastic? The brothers of St. Anthony's Shrine in Boston have installed a wireless kiosk allowing their flock to make contributions with credit or debit cards. The service is provided by SecureGive.com, created by a Georgia minister and his wife in an effort to keep up with cashless times. More »

Western or unconventional styles are officially out in Iran, where police shuttered over a dozen barbershops in the past 2 weeks for giving “un-Islamic” haircuts. Such practices are forbidden thanks to an edict issued in April through the barber’s union. Eleven salons for women were also closed for license violations, including tattooing, which is forbidden by the health ministry. More »

Even as she was selflessly ministering to the poor, Mother Teresa felt nothing of God’s presence, according to stunning personal letters published in a new book and this week’s TIME magazine. The nun wrote of a great “silence and emptiness” and the “pain and darkness” in her soul during a spiritual crisis that haunted the last half century of her life. More »

Turkish secularists are bracing for another clash over the presidential candidacy of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, a devout Muslim and one-time Islamist party member who critics fear plans to enforce extreme religious principals in public life. The last time he was nominated as the ruling party's candidate, just three months ago, the army threatened a coup, and thousands took to the streets. More »

A ventriloquist and a born-again movie star are among those headed for Iraq to entertain US soldiers and fold them into the arms of the Lord, writes Max Blumenthal in the Nation . All well and good, but this version of the Almighty, delivered by the likes of Stephen Baldwin, is funded by the US Defense Department. More »

German leaders say they won't press for a ban on Scientology—not because they're against it, but because they don't think it would succeed. The German government officially considers the organization a cult, Der Spiegel reports, but politicians from both major parties say that they probably don't have enough evidence to take their case to court. More »

A New York City public school principal's head is on the chopping block for forcing teachers to participate in spiritual cleansing rituals using chicken blood and incense, the AP reports. The principal paid another woman to perform several ceremonies practiced by followers of  Santeria, a Caribbean blend of  Christianity and African traditions. Students weren't in school at the time. More »

Amid chatter about Democratic candidates wooing the religious vote, Howard Dean has quietly used his DNC pulpit to build grassroots and national values outreach programs. The Hill reports that Dean—once so spiritually lost as to say “my religion doesn’t inform my public policy”—was born again after partnering with a DNC higher-up who doubles as a Pentecostal minister. More »

Scientology has earned cult status for many outsiders, but Slate ’s Mark Oppenheimer argues it's no more bizarre than any mainstream faith. He says the peculiarities of the celebrity-friendly religion abound, but that they're reflected right back in the wacky ideas of more accepted theologies—say, by the Book of Mormon or Intelligent Design. More »

The owner of two Chicago-area Dunkin' Donuts is locked in a legal dispute with the company over conflicts between his religious beliefs and his breakfast menu, the Chicago Tribune reports. A franchisee since 1979, Walid Elkhatib has never served pork products; it wasn't until 2002 that Dunkin' Donuts insisted he toe the line or lose stores. More »