Religion News & Current Events

FILE - Revelers take part in a traditional St. Nicholas procession in the village of Lidecko, Czech Republic, Monday, Dec. 4, 2023. Nicholas was a fourth century Catholic bishop from the Mediterranean port city of Myra (in modern-day Turkey). 鈥淢uch of the rest is legend. There鈥檚 not really a lot of hard historical evidence about St. Nicholas,鈥� said the Rev. Nicholas Ayo, author of 鈥淪aint Nicholas in America: Christmas Holy Day and Holiday.鈥� (APPhoto/Petr David Josek, File)

When is St. Nicholas Day? And how did this Christian saint inspire the Santa Claus legend?

The white-bearded Christian saint whose acts of generosity inspired America鈥檚 secular Santa Claus figure is known worldwide. But Saint Nicholas鈥� origin story is not.

Young cedar trees that have been planted in a forestation initiative 2,400 meters above sea level, bottom left, are scattered in open land overlooking the Kadisha Valley, covered by fog, considered a holy site to Lebanon's Maronite Christians, in the northeast mountain town of Bcharre, Lebanon, Saturday, July 22, 2023. For Lebanon's Christians, the cedars are sacred, these tough evergreen trees that survive the mountain's harsh snowy winters. They point out with pride that Lebanon's cedars are mentioned 103 times in the Bible. (APPhoto/Hassan Ammar)

Lebanon鈥檚 Christians feel the heat of climate change in its sacred forest and valley

The Salt Lake Temple in Salt Lake City is shown on April 18, 2019. A top Mormon church official learned a former bishop had made a religious confession to details about his relationship with his own daughter when she was a child. Recordings obtained by APshow that instead of helping prosecutors, the church used a legal playbook that has helped protect itself from sex abuse claims. Today, the former bishop is a free man. (APPhoto/Rick Bowmer, File)

Takeaways from The 麻豆传媒app鈥檚 investigation into the Mormon church鈥檚 handling of sex abuse cases

Chelsea Goodrich poses for a portrait in Ketchum, Idaho, on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. Goodrich's father, a popular Idaho dentist and former bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church, was excommunicated after sharing details about his relationship with her when she was a child during a religious confession. Recordings obtained by APshow that instead of helping prosecutors, the church used a legal playbook that has helped protect itself from sex abuse claims. Goodrich's father is today a free man, and she says she decided to speak out to protect other children. (APPhoto/Jason Dearen)

Recordings show how the Mormon church protects itself from child sex abuse claims

Two women hug as Muslim and Jewish women gather at an interfaith workshop on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at Rutgers University on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in New Brunswick, N.J. The latest violence, triggered by the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, is prompting some to question such dialogue, its role, impact -- or how to even have it-- while steeling the resolve of others to connect and wrestle together with the challenges. (APPhoto/Andres Kudacki)

In US, some Muslim-Jewish interfaith initiatives are strained by Israel-Hamas war

Wisconsin pastor accused of exploiting children in Venezuela and Cuba gets 15 years

A Wisconsin pastor accused of sexually exploiting children from Venezuela and Cuba has been sentenced to 15 years in a federal prison.

Nuns look at Pope Francis on a giant monitor set up in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023, as he blesses the faithful gathered in the square for the traditional Angelus noon prayer. Francis skipped his weekly Sunday appearance at a window because suffering from a mild flu. (APPhoto/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis says he鈥檚 doing better but again skips his window appearance facing St. Peter鈥檚 Square

An ailing Pope Francis has skipped his popular window appearance to the public in St. Peter鈥檚 Square for a second Sunday but said in televised remarks that he鈥檚 doing better.

In this handout photo provided by the Provincial Government of Lanao Del Sur - Public Information Office, law enforcers conduct an investigation at the site of an explosion in Marawi city, southern Philippines on Sunday Dec. 3, 2023. A powerful explosion believed caused by a bomb ripped through a Catholic Mass and killed several people and wounded dozens of others Sunday in a predominantly Muslim city in the southern Philippines, officials said. (Provincial Government of Lanao Del Sur - Public Information Office via 麻豆传媒app)

Philippine president blames foreign militants for a bombing that killed 4 Christian worshippers

The Philippine president has blamed what he called 鈥渇oreign terrorists鈥� for a bomb blast that killed four people, wounded dozens of other Catholic worshippers in the south and sparked a security alarm, including in the capital, Manila, where state forces were put on alert.

Professor Naoko Kihara, who has practiced Hanayagi-style dance for over two decades, stands in her studio during an interview in Mexico City, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. Born in Brazil from Japanese parents who later moved to Mexico City, she carries on the legacy of Tamiko Kawabe, her mentor and pioneer of Hanayagi-style dance. (APPhoto/Ginnette Riquelme)

In Mexico, a Japanese traditional dancer shows how body movement speaks beyond culture and religion

Unlike the fast-moving interpreters of samba, salsa and other Latin American dancing styles, Japanese traditional dancers move slowly, performing just a few moves that their bodies keep fully controlled.

FILE - Bishop Carlton Pearson speaks at a news conference accompanied by several other clergy members, April 4, 2013, in Chicago. Before his peers would label him a heretic, the late Bishop Carlton D. Pearson was once one of the best known preachers in the nation. In the 2000s. Pearson underwent a cataclysmic theological shift that altered the course of his life 鈥� and his legacy among the canon of American Christian leaders. (APPhoto/M. Spencer Green, file)

Send-offs show Carlton Pearson鈥檚 split legacy spurred by his inclusive beliefs, rejection of hell

Before his peers would label him a heretic, the late Bishop Carlton D. Pearson was once one of the best known preachers in the United States.

Cult preacher Pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, left, arrives at the Malindi Law Courts under tight security, Friday Dec. 1, 2023 for the sentencing of his 2019 case where he had been charged with three counts of being in possession of films intended to incite children against attending school and incite Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and Islams on their religion. In the second count, he was found guilty of being on procession and distributing films to the public which had not been examined and classified by Kenya Films Classifications Board. The third charge stated that he was found operating a films studio and producing films for public consumption without first registering as a film agent and acquiring a filming license. He was jailed for eighteen months imprisonment for the three counts. (APPhoto/Gideon Maundu).

Kenyan cult leader sentenced to 18 months for film violations but still not charged over mass graves

The leader of a doomsday cult in Kenya has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for the illegal distribution of films and operating a film studio without licenses.

Mourners pay their respects to former first lady Rosalynn Carter as she lies in repose at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, in Atlanta, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. The Carter Center said she died "peacefully, with family by her side," on Nov. 19 after living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health. (APPhoto/Brynn Anderson)

APPHOTOS: Rosalynn Carter鈥檚 farewell tracing her 96 years from Plains to the world and back

Former U.S. first lady Rosalynn Carter has been memorialized with three days of public ceremonies and tributes. She died Nov. 19.

Flags blow in the breeze at the grave of Father Damien outside St. Philomena Church on Kalaupapa, Hawaii, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. Damien was canonized a Catholic saint in 2009 for his work taking care of the physical and spiritual needs of leprosy patients in the 1800s. His body was moved to his home country of Belgium in 1936. Only the priest's hand remains, which was reburied at the site in 1995. (APPhoto/Jessie Wardarski)

Pilgrims yearn to visit an isolated peninsula where Catholic saints cared for Hawaii鈥檚 leprosy patients

Devotees of two Catholic saints 鈥� Damien and Marianne of Molokai 鈥� want to see where they spent a pivotal part of their lives caring for Hawaii鈥檚 leprosy patients.

FILE - Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., speaks to media after a Senate Democratic policy luncheon, Oct. 17, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. A federal grand jury has indicted a Las Vegas man arrested last month on suspicion of making antisemitic threats against Rosen and her family, along with the family of another U.S. senator, according to court records. (APPhoto/Stephanie Scarbrough, File)

Las Vegas man accused of threats against Jewish US senator and her family is indicted

A federal grand jury has indicted a Las Vegas man on charges of making antisemitic threats against U.S.

Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is pictured in his office on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in New York. U.S. authorities said an Indian government official directed a plot to assassinate Pannun in New York City after he advocated for a sovereign state for Sikhs. (APPhoto/Ted Shaffrey)

US prosecutors say plots to assassinate Sikh leaders were part of a campaign of planned killings

Law enforcement authorities say in court papers that the plot driven by a government official in India to assassinate a prominent Sikh separatist leader in New York City was meant to precede another killing in California and more assassinations in the U.S. and Canada.

Rev. Charles G. Adams gives the sermon at Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit on July 2, 2017. Rev. Adams has died following an illness. He was 86. Adams died Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023 following a bout with pneumonia, his sister, Edith Clifton, told The Detroit News for a story Thursday. (Daniel Mears/Detroit News via 麻豆传媒app)

Influential Detroit pastor the Rev. Charles Gilchrist Adams dies at age 86

Influential longtime Detroit pastor the Rev. Charles Gilchrist Adams has died following an illness. He was 86.

FILE - Sikh protesters demonstrate outside of the Indian High Commission in London on March 22, 2023. India has been asking countries like Canada, Australia and the U.K. to take legal action against Sikh activists, and Modi has personally raised the issue with the nations' prime ministers. (APPhoto/Kin Cheung, File)

What to know about the Sikh independence movement following US accusation that activist was targeted

The U.S. has charged an Indian national in what prosecutors allege was a failed plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist at the behest of an unnamed Indian government official.

FILE - An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man stands in front of a menorah on the third eve of Hanukkah, at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site in Jerusalem's old city, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009. On eight consecutive nightfalls, Jews gather with family and friends to light one additional candle in the menorah candelabra. They do so to commemorate the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd century BC, after a small group of Jewish fighters liberated it from occupying foreign forces. (APPhoto/Sebastian Scheiner, File)

What to know about Hanukkah and how it鈥檚 celebrated around the world

Hanukkah 鈥� also spelled Chanukah or other transliterations from Hebrew 鈥� is Judaism鈥檚鈥渇estival of lights.鈥�

Pope Francis delivers his blessing during a meeting with the members of the 2023 APYouth Day organizing committee, in the Pope Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. (APPhoto/Andrew Medichini)

Pope says he has acute bronchitis, doctors recommended against travel to avoid change in temperature

Pope Francis says he is suffering from acute and infectious bronchitis. He told an audience on Thursday that doctors recommended he cancel his planned visit to Dubai this weekend to avoid the quick changes in temperature that would be involved.

Maranatha Baptist Church, where the funeral service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter will be held, Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Plains, Ga. The former first lady died on Nov. 19. She was 96. (APPhoto/Alex Brandon, Pool)

Church that hosted Rosalynn Carter funeral played key role in her and her husband鈥檚 lives

PLAINS, Ga. (麻豆传媒app) 鈥� The church where those closest to Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter bid farewell to the former first lady Wednesday played a central role in the lives of the famous couple from tiny Plains, Georgia.

Charles Richardson, of Baltimore, wipes his eye while discussing his alleged abuse decades ago by a Catholic priest, in Baltimore on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. Black victims have largely been invisible in the Catholic sexual abuse crisis. Richardson recently came forward after the state of Maryland removed the civil statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims. (APPhoto/Steve Ruark)

In the US, Black survivors are nearly invisible in the Catholic clergy sexual abuse crisis

Black survivors have been nearly invisible in the Catholic Church sexual abuse crisis 鈥� even in Baltimore, home to a historic Black Catholic community.

An Indian official plotted to assassinate a Sikh separatist leader in New York, US prosecutors say

American authorities say an Indian government official directed a plot to assassinate a prominent Sikh separatist leader in New York City after he advocated for a sovereign state for Sikhs.

Pope Francis attends the weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. (APPhoto/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis is still having trouble breathing due to lung inflammation, Vatican says

The Vatican says Pope Francis is stable but is still having trouble breathing as a result of a lung inflammation that forced him to cancel a weekend trip to Dubai.

FILE - Sabrina Carpenter arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards, Sept. 12, 2023, in Newark, N.J. Carpenter's use of a Roman Catholic church in Brooklyn as a backdrop for parts of a music video led to a pastor being stripped of his administrative duties after its release and officials holding a Mass to restore the church's 鈥渟anctity.鈥� Carpenter released the video for 鈥淔eather鈥� on Oct. 31. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/麻豆传媒app, File)

Pop singer Sabrina Carpenter鈥檚 music video spurs outrage for using NY Catholic church as a setting

A pop singer鈥檚 use of a Roman Catholic church in Brooklyn for parts of a music video has led to its pastor being penalized.

FILE - Pope Francis arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. Pope Francis cancelled his trip to Dubai for the U.N. climate conference on doctors鈥� orders. The announcement marked the second time the pope鈥檚 frail health had forced the cancellation of a foreign trip: He had to postpone a planned trip to Congo and South Sudan in 2022 because of knee inflammation, though he was able to make the trip earlier this year. (APPhoto/Andrew Medichini, File)

Pope cancels trip to Dubai for UN climate conference on doctors鈥� orders while recovering from flu

Pope Francis has canceled his trip to Dubai for the U.N. climate conference on doctors鈥� orders. The announcement marked the second time the pope鈥檚 frail health had forced the cancellation of a foreign trip: He had to postpone a planned trip to Congo and South Sudan in 2022 because of knee inflammati

FILE - Cardinal Raymond Burke applauds during a news conference at the Italian Senate, in Rome, on Sept. 6, 2018. Pope Francis has taken measures to punish one of his highest-ranking critics, Cardinal Raymond Burke, by yanking his right to a Vatican apartment and salary in the second such radical action against a conservative American prelate this month, according to two people briefed on the measures. (APPhoto/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

Pope punishes leading critic Cardinal Burke in second action against conservative American prelates

Pope Francis has decided to take measures to punish Cardinal Raymond Burke, who is one of his highest-ranking critics.

This still image provided by Terrace Films, shows Saleha Jabeen at an Army Reserve Base, in September 2017, in Fort Sheridan, Ill. Jabeen is featured in "Three Chaplains," a documentary that offers a peek into the worlds of Muslim military chaplains. (Courtesy David Washburn/Terrace Films via 麻豆传媒app)

New documentary offers a peek into the triumphs and struggles of Muslim chaplains in US military

The small group of Muslim chaplains in the U.S. military tends to the souls and spirits of troops of all faiths and no faith.

German rock musician Gil Ofarim stands in the courtroom of the district court in Leipzig, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. A German-Israeli singer who claimed he had been turned away from a hotel in the eastern German city of Leipzig because he was wearing a Star of David pendant, admitted during a defamation trial against him over the incident on Tuesday that he had made up the story. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via 麻豆传媒app)

German-Israeli singer admits he lied when accusing hotel of antisemitism in a video that went viral

A German-Israeli singer who claimed he had been turned away from a hotel in the eastern German city of Leipzig because he was wearing a Star of David pendant has admitted during a defamation trial against him that he made up the story.

FILE -A German police officer stands guard in front of the synagogue in Frankfurt, Germany, early Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. A group tracking antisemitism in Germany said Tuesday that it documented a drastic increase of antisemitic incidents in the country in the month after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. The RIAS group said, it recorded 994 incidents, which is an average of 29 incidents per day and an increase of 320% compared to the same time period in 2022. The group looked at the time period from Oct. 7 to Nov. 9, 2023. (APPhoto/Michael Probst, File)

Antisemitic incidents in Germany rose by 320% after Hamas attacked Israel, a monitoring group says

A group tracking antisemitism in Germany says that it has documented a drastic increase of antisemitic incidents in the country in the month after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

This cover image released by Algonquin Books shows "We Must Not Think of Ourselves" by Lauren Grodstein. (Algonquin via 麻豆传媒app)

Book Review: Lauren Grodstein鈥檚 masterpiece of historical fiction set in Warsaw Ghetto during WWII

The Oneg Shabbat archive was a secret project of Jews imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto to record their histories as they awaited deportation to Nazi death camps during APWar II.

A giant screen broadcasts Pope Francis coughing during the Angelus noon prayer, from the chapel of the hotel at the Vatican grounds where he lives, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023. Pope Francis says he has a lung inflammation but will go later this week to Dubai for the climate change conference. Francis skipped his weekly Sunday appearance at a window overlooking St. Peter's Square, a day after the Vatican said he was suffering from a mild flu. (APPhoto/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis getting antibiotics intravenously for lung problem, limiting appointments, Vatican says

The Vatican says Pope Francis is receiving antibiotics intravenously to treat a lung inflammation but that he doesn鈥檛 have pneumonia.

A policewoman stand guard on a bridge as an anti-Semitism demonstration with protesters holding placards flags and banners, including the flag of Israel, takes place in London, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023. (APPhoto/Alberto Pezzali)

Tens of thousands march against antisemitism in London including UK ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson

Tens of thousands of people including former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson have gathered in London for a march against antisemitism.

Pope Francis appears on a giant monitor set up in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023, as he blesses the faithful gathered in the square for the traditional Angelus noon prayer. On Saturday, the Vatican said the pope, whose 87th birthday is next month, was taken to a Rome hospital to have a CT scan to rule out pulmonary complications following a light flu, and that the exam was negative. (APPhoto/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis says he has a lung inflammation but will go to Dubai this week for a climate conference

Pope Francis says he has a lung inflammation but will go later this week to Dubai for a climate change conference.

FILE - Thousands gather for a march against antisemitism in Paris, France, on Nov. 12, 2023. Antisemitism is spiking across Europe after Hamas' Oct. 7 massacre and Israel's bombardment of Gaza, worrying Jews from London to Geneva and Berlin. (APPhoto/Sylvie Corbet, File)

With antisemitism rising as the Israel-Hamas war rages, Europe鈥檚 Jews worry

Antisemitism is spiking across Europe after Hamas鈥� Oct. 7 massacre and Israel鈥檚 bombardment of Gaza, worrying Jews from London to Geneva and Berlin.

Nhia Neng Vang conducts a soul-calling ritual at his home in St. Paul, Minn. on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023. In traditional Hmong spirituality, humans are composed of multiple souls, which may become separated over time. The soul-calling ritual returns them for the new year. (APPhoto/Mark Vancleave)

In the US, Hmong 鈥榥ew year鈥� recalls ancestral spirits while teaching traditions to new generations

Late fall is the most spiritual time of the year in traditional Hmong culture. There are centuries-old celebrations for the post-harvest 鈥渘ew year,鈥� brought from Southeast Asia which the Hmong had to flee after helping the United States in the Vietnam War.