Religion News Service

 A coalition of 430 human rights, civil rights, foreign policy and faith organizations has submitted a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging him to dismantle his department’s new Commission on Unalienable Rights.

Signs of the Times: The purpose of this memo is to inform you of an upcoming raid to arrest a woman living in New York City who we plan to send back to her country of origin, France.

Where humans go, faith seems to follow. It’s no less true of NASA’s first manned mission to land on the moon.

Trump administration officials announced a new alliance with U.S. partners focused on religious freedom.

Signs of the Times: In appointing seven women to the Vatican congregation that oversees religious orders July 9, Pope Francis achieved a double win. In one stroke, he has advanced both the role of women in the church and the reform of the Vatican Curia.

Leaders from three Abrahamic faiths shared their own stories of experiencing religious violence in the past year.

China, Iran and other countries that the U.S. considers the most egregious religious liberty violators aren’t invited to the State Department’s second summit on religious freedom this week.

The U.S. ambassador on religious freedom issues defended the State Department's second summit on global religious liberty against critics who say the first summit failed to accomplish much.

Signs of the Times: Because of the apocalyptic consequences of global warming, many are hoping for a miracle from God or science to save us from ourselves. Maggots may be part of that miracle.

The pactice could soon be a thing of the past, but a ban on sanctifying weapons of mass destruction is unlikely to affect the intertwining of Russia’s armed forces — including its nuclear forces — with the Russian Orthodox Church under President Vladimir Putin.

German Cardinal Walter Brandmüller's critiques of the working document for the synod of bishops, scheduled for this fall, is closer to heresy than anything in the instrumentum laboris, writes Charles Camosy.

Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo both addressed a Christian pro-Israel group July 8, lifting up the U.S. ally as a bastion of inclusivity and railing against Iran.

Research suggests that constantly staring at screens may be making us more distracted, distant, drained and lonely. Some are realizing that lighting candles, inviting people over, sharing a meal and logging off may guard against those things.

Two Indiana schools drew national attention to the Catholic Church's attempts to grapple with LGBTQ relationships in June, highlighting the church's position in a country increasingly welcome to different sexual identities.

Closed city-center congregations often leave behind two casualties: a unique building and a community anchor. An innovative approach called adaptive reuse aims to find solutions.

Democratic presidential candidates have talked a lot about God this year, but are they willing to debate the divine?

Fifty percent of practicing Christians say the history of American slavery continues to significantly affect the African American community today, a Barna study shows.

Signs of the Times: Without trust, human cooperation is impossible. Without trust, people refuse to cooperate and instead engage in struggles over power because they fear what will happen if their opponents have it.

If Catholic bishops hope to reclaim their moral credibility after revelations about covering up clergy sexual abuse, church leaders should take a year of abstinence from preaching about sex and gender.

The Democratic Party has hired a new religious outreach director and launched a round of listening sessions with faith leaders in the lead-up to the 2020 election.