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Religion

Vatican austerity means donated nativity scene
The Vatican has happily accepted a donated Nativity scene for St. Peter's Square this Christmas after a previous setup costing €550,000 ($717,000) was ...
Morocco's biggest opposition leader dies
Sheikh Abdessalam Yassine, the charismatic religious leader of Morocco's largest opposition movement and longtime opponent of two Moroccan kings, died ...
Spanish botched fresco artist sells work on eBay
The 80-year-old Spanish artist who became famous because of her botched restoration of a Christ fresco in a small-town church is auctioning one of her ...
US, Syria opposition disagree over terrorist label
The U.S. and the head of the new Syrian opposition coalition being feted at a conference in Morocco Wednesday publicly disagreed over designating a ...
Egypt opposition urges 'No' vote on constitution
Egypt's main opposition alliance called for a "No" vote in the referendum on a disputed constitution rather than a boycott, hours after Islamist ...
Germany approves bill to protect male circumcision
German lawmakers approved a bill Wednesday that explicitly permits male infant circumcision, ending months of legal uncertainty after a court ruling ...
Pope hits 1M mark as he tweets: 'Dear Friends... '
Pope Benedict XVI hit the 1 million Twitter follower mark on Wednesday as he sent his first tweet from his new account, blessing his online fans and ...
Putin rejects foreign advice on democracy
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday angrily rejected what he described as attempts to enforce foreign patterns of democracy on Russia and vowed to ...
China revokes new Shanghai Catholic bishop's title
In a fresh challenge to Vatican authority, China has revoked the title of a new Catholic bishop in Shanghai who outraged Chinese officials by ...
Vandals spray hate graffiti on Jerusalem church
Vandals have spray-painted "Death to Christianity" and "Jesus, son of a whore" on a Greek Orthodox monastery in Jerusalem. The overnight attack on the ...
Walter Sullivan, former Richmond bishop, dies
Former Bishop Walter F. Sullivan, a progressive leader in the U.S. Roman Catholic church and the longest-serving head of the Richmond diocese, died ...
Egypt judges say most will boycott referendum
Most Egyptian judges rejected any role Tuesday in overseeing the country's constitutional referendum, a move likely to cast further doubt on the ...
Census: UK getting less religious, more diverse
Millions fewer Christians, many more immigrants and fewer married couples. Compared to a decade ago, Britain today is more ethnically diverse and less ...
Pope's sensitive side revealed in children's book
A children's picture book about the goldfish pond at the pope's summer residence reveals a side of him few may know. Every day while Pope Benedict XVI ...
Sikh soldier wears turban on palace guard duty
Britain's Ministry of Defense says a Sikh soldier has become the first guardsman to parade outside Buckingham Palace while wearing his traditional ...
Belfast leaders decry petrol-bomb attack on police
Leaders from across Northern Ireland appealed Tuesday for a week of angry, illegal Protestant street protests to end after a gang surrounded a ...
British government to legalize same-sex marriage
The British government announced Tuesday that it will introduce a bill next year legalizing gay marriage — but banning the Church of England from ...
Iran arrests 28 over links to religious networks
Tehran's chief prosecutor says authorities have arrested 28 Iranians for alleged links to foreign-based TV networks advocating the Baha'i religion, ...
Meeting delay a sign of cooling US-Vietnam ties
The U.S. and Vietnam, former enemies who share concerns about China's rise, are finding that one issue — human rights — is keeping them from becoming ...
Afghan attacks down overall, insider threat rises
The U.S. Army is updating its handbook for soldiers on how to detect and prevent so-called insider attacks, providing detailed warning signs to watch ...
Egypt's military takes over security ahead of vote
Egypt's military assumed responsibility Monday for protecting state institutions and maintaining security ahead of a Dec. 15 constitutional ...
Egypt's president behaves like his predecessors
The freshly scrawled graffiti depicting Mohammed Morsi as a pharaonic Saddam Hussein tells the tale of high hopes dashed with record speed: Barely six ...