Religion News

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Gov. Sarah Palin's church is promoting a conference that promises to convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer.

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Shortly after a priest's opening prayer and a screening of a short film on John McCain's faith, Sen. Sam Brownback stepped to the microphone and didn't waste words.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - As Islam makes inroads in the United States, American Muslims are setting up mega-mosques that combine religious tradition with typical American convenience.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The motto of Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin comes from a Bible verse reminding believers that God has given them "no cowardly spirit."

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - It's hard to find much brotherly love on the campaign trail, particularly in a hard-fought, high-profile race for an open seat in the U.S. House.

MUMBAI (AFP) - Hindus across the world on Wednesday began celebrating the Ganesha festival, the annual worship of the elephant-headed god, with major celebrations in the Indian city of Mumbai.

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russian archaeologists said Wednesday they had found the long-lost capital of the Khazar kingdom in southern Russia, a breakthrough for research on the ancient Jewish state.

ST. PAUL--Less than two hours after expected Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her husband announced that their unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, evangelical leaders told U.S. News that they don't believe the revelation will harm the GOP ticket within the conservative faith community.

LINO LAKES, Minn. - The message from the pulpit was "Wine, Water and Worship" — with no mention of the other "W," George W. Bush.

ROME - Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt on Monday was able at last to thank Pope Benedict XVI, the man whose voice she said reached deep into the Colombian jungle "like a light" to comfort her during captivity.

CAIRO (AFP) - Muslims around the world this week begin the fasting and feasting month of Ramadan amid hopes of violence easing in some of the Islamic world's conflict hotspots but hit hard by rising food prices.

MANILA (AFP) - In a country where three babies are born each minute and the Catholic Church exerts heavy influence, the long battle for a family planning programme could finally be reaching its climax.

CHICAGO - Muhammad Ali and Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan were among those paying respects Saturday to Ali's former manager and the son of a former minister of the Nation of Islam.

SALT LAKE CITY - Attorneys for a polygamous church sued a court-appointed accountant on Friday, seeking to reverse an $8.8 million judgment against its $110 million property trust.

CLEVELAND - Hundreds of mourners filed into a church Friday to pay their respects to the late U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress.

BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) - Thousands of people, most of them Christians, have sought shelter in makeshift government camps in eastern India, driven from their homes by religious violence which has killed at least 13 people this week.

ROME - An art museum in northern Italy said Thursday it will continue displaying a sculpture portraying a green frog nailed to a cross that has angered Pope Benedict XVI and local officials.

ATHENS, Greece - A small group of pagans pledged Thursday to hold a protest prayer among the ruined Acropolis temples, more than 1,500 years after Christians stamped out worship of the ancient Greek gods.

Politics can be treacherous. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi walked on even riskier ground in a recent TV interview when she attempted a theological defense of her support for abortion rights.

LONDON - A man accused of involving two teenage boys in self-flagellation as part of a Muslim religious ritual was convicted of child cruelty Wednesday.

Southern Baptists are organizing a nationwide prayer campaign to accompany their values-voter registration drive, seeking spiritual renewal for families and churches, and God's favor for public officials who are guided by the Bible.

DENVER - Two prominent Roman Catholic archbishops say House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Catholic Democrat, misstated church teachings about abortion in a recent television appearance, the latest sign that the U.S. Catholic hierarchy will not stay silent about politics this election year.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Four Britons released from Guantanamo in 2004 after two years' detention, requested the US Supreme Court to rule on the right of prisoners "to worship and ... not to be tortured."

DENVER - At the first official event Sunday of the Democratic National Convention, a choir belted out a gospel song and was followed by a rabbi reciting a Torah reading about forgiveness and the future.

SHANKSVILLE, Pa. - As hundreds of firefighters bowed their heads in prayer, a cross made out of steel from the World Trade Center was dedicated Sunday near where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into the ground on Sept. 11.

CAIRO (AFP) - Maher al-Gohari converted to Christianity 30 years ago, but the Muslim-born Egyptian only recently took the decision to make his conversion public.

LIENZ, Austria, Aug 24, 2008 (AFP) - A young and pretty Asian girl with a big smile and long black hair bows with her hands in prayer, the Nepalese way, as she says hello: welcome to the Austrian Alps.

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. - Barack Obama took a sermon on humility to heart Sunday, predicting his presidential acceptance speech might not be the best at this week's Democratic convention despite his famous oratory skills.

DENVER - When Joe Biden underwent brain surgery for a life-threatening aneurysm in 1988, he asked doctors whether he could tuck his rosary beads under his pillow. The six-term Democratic senator from Delaware also has offered to shove his rosary down the throat of the next Republican who tells him he isn't religious.