Religion News

Austria rejects registering Jews for kosher meat

By AFP

Vienna - Austria rejected Friday registering Jews who want to purchase kosher meat after a far-right politician proposed introducing stricter controls on ritual slaughtering to reduce the practice citing animal rights.

Israel adopts controversial Jewish nation-state law

By AFP

Jerusalem - Israel's parliament on Thursday adopted a law defining the country as the nation state of the Jewish people, provoking fears it could lead to blatant discrimination against Arab citizens.

Israel adopts controversial Jewish nation-state law

By AFP

Jerusalem - Israel's parliament on Thursday adopted a law defining the country as the nation state of the Jewish people, provoking fears it will lead to blatant discrimination against Arab citizens.

Turnbull calls on Pope to sack archbishop for concealing child abuse

By AFP

Sydney - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Thursday called on Pope Francis to sack disgraced archbishop Philip Wilson after he was convicted of covering up child sex abuse but remains employed by the church.

100 years on, Orthodox Church split over executed tsar's remains

By AFP

Moscow - Next week's centenary of the execution of Russia's last tsar has reignited a long-running conflict between the state and the Russian Orthodox Church over what to do with the murdered royal family's remains.

Turkey detains Muslim televangelist on fraud charges

By AFP

Ankara - Turkish police on Wednesday detained on fraud charges a televangelist notorious for propagating conservative views while surrounded by scantily-clad women he refers to as his "kittens".

Russia pursues Jehovah's Witnesses as 'extremists'

By AFP

Moscow - With masks and rifles, police came to Anatoly Vilitkevich's door in the early morning and made him pack a bag. He was wanted for religious extremism -- as a Jehovah's Witness.

Massive Turkey-funded mosque stirs unease in north Cyprus

By AFP

Nicosia - In the flat sunbaked fields north of the Cypriot capital Nicosia, a huge Turkey-funded mosque opening this week has caused a stir in the largely secular Muslim society.

Italian journalist named Vatican's first lay comms officer

By AFP

Vatican City - Pope Francis has appointed an Italian television journalist as the Vatican's first-ever lay communications officer, the Holy See said on Thursday.

Australian archbishop gets 12 months for concealing child abuse

By AFP

Sydney - One of the highest-ranked church officials convicted of covering up child sex abuse was Tuesday sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment, but Philip Wilson could avoid jail after a court ordered he be assessed for home detention.

Lithuanians seek identity in their pagan roots

By AFP

Vilnius - Dancing around a blazing fire with garlands of wildflowers in their hair, members of Lithuania's Romuva neo-pagan community mark the summer solstice, as the Baltic state undergoes a revival of its pre-Christian beliefs.

Abortion row reignites as US supreme court justice retires

By AFP

Los Angeles - Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement from the United States Supreme Court has sparked fears over universal abortion rights as President Donald Trump looks for an ultra-conservative replacement judge.

Pope appoints 14 new cardinals

By AFP

Vatican City - Pope Francis appointed 14 new cardinals Thursday, a diverse selection from all over the world including Iraq, Pakistan, Madagascar and Japan whom he warned to avoid the kind of "palace intrigues" which have plagued the Vatican over the years.

Dutch approve partial ban on burqa wearing in public

By AFP

Den Haag - Dutch senators overwhelmingly approved a bill Tuesday to ban the Islamic full-face burqa from some public places such as schools and hospitals, ending years of discussion on a hot-button issue.

Pope and Macron hold 'intense' meeting at Vatican

By AFP

Vatican City - French President Emmanuel Macron held an "intense" meeting with Pope Francis during his first official visit to the Vatican on Tuesday, discussing global issues including the fate of migrants coming to Europe.

Outrage after Philippines' Duterte calls God 'stupid'

By AFP

Manila - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte faced growing outrage on Tuesday in his largely Catholic nation after calling God "stupid", the latest furore he has sparked with an unfiltered broadside.

Vatican visit puts Macron's religious views in spotlight

By AFP

Paris - As a schoolboy, Emmanuel Macron decided he wanted to be baptised as a Catholic, despite his parents' misgivings.It was "the start of a mystical period that lasted for a few years," the French president told an interviewer during campaigning in 2017.

Imams, rabbis ride tandems in Berlin rally for mutual respect

By AFP

Berlin - Jewish rabbis and Muslim imams took to tandem bicycles Sunday to ride through central Berlin in a joint show of inter-faith respect and against racism and anti-Semitism.

Quite a mud-dle! Filipino devotees slather themselves in soil

By AFP

Aliaga - They say there's nothing quite like it for cooling the blood, but for more than a thousand Filipinos at a Catholic festival on Sunday, slathering their bodies in mud was a way to show devotion and humility.

Vatican jails Italian priest for child porn

By AFP

Vatican City - A Vatican court on Saturday jailed for five years an Italian priest who worked as a diplomat for the Holy See's Washington embassy, for possessing and sharing child pornography.

Pope Francis seeks 'unity' with non-Catholics in Geneva

By AFP

Geneva - Pope Francis called Thursday for deeper unity between the Catholic Church and other Christian faiths as he visited Geneva, a centre of Protestantism, amid Christianity's waning influence in Europe.

Pope Francis to seek closer ties with non-Catholic churches in Geneva

By AFP

Vatican City - Pope Francis will seek deeper relations between the Catholic Church and other Christian faiths Thursday when he meets the world's largest ecumenical community of Protestant and Orthodox churches amid waning influence in Europe and indiscriminate attack...