Religion News Service

A federal watchlist of more than 1 million people identified as “known or suspected terrorists” violates the constitutional rights of those placed on it, a federal judge ruled Sept. 4.

Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church are meeting at the Vatican for a synod aimed at strengthening the Byzantine Rite church’s ties with Rome while maintaining its identity in the ongoing tug of war between East and West.

After six years as pope, Francis continues to remake the College of Cardinals in his own image, increasing the likelihood that his successor will continue on the same path as his papacy.

The Islamic Society of North America attracted some major names to its annual convention in Houston this year, including comedian Trevor Noah, activist Linda Sarsour, Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad and (by video) Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Signs of the Times: Everyone reading this column will die one day. We just don’t know when. But contemporary medical technology is increasingly forcing us to think about how.

A federal judge has denied a request by a group of Catholic peace activists to dismiss charges against them for breaking into a nuclear submarine base in Kings Bay, Georgia, last year to protest nuclear weapons.

The apparently intentional escalation of fires in the Amazon rainforest has contributed to a growing political split among religious groups in Brazil, as the country's Catholic bishops and Protestant denominations have spoken out against President Jair Bolsonaro's environmental policies while his evangelical Christian allies have remained silent, or even debunked the criticism.

Two of the three congregations that met inside the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh said they were saddened and disappointed with the news that federal prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing 11 Jews at their place of worship last year.

 The Rev. William Barber II, a progressive activist and pastor, addressed the executive committee of the Democratic National Committee on Aug. 23, calling on party leaders to host a presidential debate focused on poverty and to do more to address the concerns of poor and low-income Americans.

It started with a call on Facebook to demonstrate against the country’s increasingly hostile immigration policies.

On the same day that a prominent woman urged greater inclusion of female leaders in Religions for Peace, delegates to the 10th World Assembly of the interreligious global organization elected their first woman secretary-general.

"Myself and Bono, we weren't like the other kids in the street and we knew we weren't," Guggi told Religion News Service recently during "My Cup Overflows," an exhibit of his new works at Arcane Space, a gallery in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles co-owned by Morleigh Steinberg, wife of U2 guitarist The Edge.

Does President Trump have a Messiah complex? No, according to some of his most loyal evangelical Christian supporters — but one could see how he might get the idea that he is here to save the world.

The 10th Religions for Peace World Assembly launched Aug. 20 with calls for religious groups to take decisive action on the main geopolitical issues of the day, and ending with an unusual “statement of commitment” aimed at fostering multi-religious cooperation.

In politics, it is common to have disagreements over values and goals. What makes government decision-making even more difficult today is that we disagree not only on goals but also on the facts.

The largest presidential election forum focused on the concerns of Native Americans drew several leading Democratic presidential candidates in its first day, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

A letter signed by nearly 30 leading theologians in the liberal Catholic journal Commonweal forcefully rejects any link between nationalism and Christianity and asserts that such a connection can "threaten the integrity of Christian faith."

Three Democratic presidential hopefuls fielded questions from black church leaders on Aug. 16, bouncing between politics and prayer as they vied for support from an audience of about 5,000 black millennials.

"This is not just a celebration for women, or women of color or for the LGBTQIA+ community." 

Signs of the Times: There has been a lot of clerical hand-wringing of late about Catholics who don’t believe what the church teaches about Christ's presence in the bread and wine of the Eucharist.