Religion

Little oil lamps mark Diwali celebrations in Allahabad, India, far away from American homes.

Far From Diwali's Lights, The Warm Glow Of Home

9:42am November 04, 2013

by Lakshmi Singh

South Asian communities around the world are celebrating good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, light over darkness. Sunday is Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights. The holiday isn't well-known in the U.S., though, so families rely on themselves to keep the tradition alive.

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A young man gives a Catholic skullcap to Pope Francis as he greets the crowd before his general audience at St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Oct. 16.

In A Church Built On Tradition, The Pope Likes Spontaneity

8:36pm November 01, 2013

by Sylvia Poggioli

Seven months into his papacy, Pope Francis is shaking up the Catholic world, with outspoken interviews and cold calls to ordinary people. But some Catholic conservatives are deeply uncomfortable and worried that the Vatican has lost control of the papal message.

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Church elder Elwood Cornett preaches at a recent reunion of Old Regular Baptists. Brother Don Pratt is seated behind him in a blue shirt and tie.

Before Churches Had Songbooks, There Was 'Lined-Out' Gospel

10:12am October 28, 2013

by John Burnett

Hidden deep in the hills of Appalachia, there's a tradition of worship music that has not changed since the 18th century. The hymnody is still practiced by congregations of the Old Regular Baptist Church, where a leader calls out a line and the people respond in a mournful, soaring chorus.

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Candidates for town council Michal Chernovitsky (left) and Adina Ruhamkin campaign in a park in El'ad, or Forever God, a small religious community in Israel. They could be the first women on El'ad's council, and the first ultra-Orthodox women to win publi

Election In Ultra-Orthodox Israeli Town Tests Gender Norms

8:29am October 27, 2013

by Emily Harris

"It's a new thing. I hope it will be accepted, but I'm not so sure," one resident says about women running for town council. "Here women who express themselves aren't seen as a good thing."

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A woman drives a car in Saudi Arabia on Sunday. Saudi Arabia is the only country where women are barred from driving, but activists have launched a renewed protest and are urging women to drive on Saturday.

Saudi Women Go For A Spin In Latest Challenge To Driving Ban

7:39pm October 24, 2013

by Deborah Amos

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that effectively bars women from driving. Women are making a renewed challenge to the ban by getting behind the wheel and posting videos in advance of a national drive-in set for Saturday.

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Jennifer Haselberger, former top canon lawyer for the archdiocese, found stored files detailing how some priests had histories of sexual abuse. She resigned in April.

Abuse Allegations Leave Twin Cities Archdiocese In Turmoil

6:25pm October 24, 2013

by Madeleine Baran

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis had claimed to be a national leader in handling clergy sex abuse cases. But after a whistle-blower revealed evidence of a cover-up, alleged victims are preparing lawsuits, and some parishioners are calling for the archbishop to resign.

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Religion

Vatican Challenges Church Of England ... To A Cricket Match

8:07am October 24, 2013

The Vatican has announced it will be engaging in "sporting diplomacy" with a new team. St. Peter's Cricket Club will be made up of priests and seminarians from cricket-loving countries. And the Vatican threw down a challenge to longtime rival the Church of England: Form a team and make it the Anglicans versus the Catholics at Lord's Cricket Ground in London.

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Religion

Heaven Is Waiting; Hell Is A Different Question, Nun Says

6:38pm October 11, 2013

by NPR Staff

The Catholic Church has long held that saints are in communion with God after death, says Mary Catherine Hilkert, a Catholic theologian and Dominican Sister of Peace. But, she says, "never has there been a statement about anyone definitively being in hell."

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Detail of the central compartment of The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, completed in 1432 by Jan van Eyck, where pilgrims gather to pay homage to the lamb of God. Many art historians interpret the painting's fountain as a symbol of eternal life.

Religion

To Pastor, Afterlife Is Where We 'Learn To Live Together'

4:39pm October 11, 2013

by NPR Staff

Humans have debated the concept of an afterlife for millennia. But ultimately, each individual's view on life after death is a personal one. For his part, the Rev. Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, sees eternity as a place where people cast aside the differences that divided them on earth.

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Religion

Vatican Recalls Pope Medallions Because Of Typo

11:02am October 11, 2013

The Vatican minted thousands of medallions in gold, silver and bronze. A portrait of the pope was on one side and on the other, the Latin phrase that inspired Pope Francis to join the Jesuit order. The medals were promptly recalled after the Vatican discovered Jesus was misspelled as Lesus.

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