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Religion

Buddhists monks clean Buddha statues ahead of the upcoming birthday of Buddha on May 15, at the Jogye temple in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Buddha’s birthday: When is it and how is it celebrated in different countries?

Buddha’s birthday is an important holiday in several countries in Asia where there are large Buddhist populations.

Buddhists wait for a lantern parade as part of festivities celebrating the birthday of Buddha, at Dongguk University in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, May 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Lotus Lantern Festival draws thousands in Seoul to celebrate upcoming Buddha’s birthday

FILE - The Rev. Billy Graham addresses a gathering of about 40,000 people at Bulldog Stadium at Fresno State University in Fresno, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 11, 2001. A statue of the late Rev. Billy Graham set to stand inside the U.S. Capitol to represent North Carolina will be unveiled next week in a ceremony. (Mark Crosse/The Fresno Bee via AP, File)

Billy Graham statue for U.S. Capitol to be unveiled next week

Pope Francis gestures as he attends an annual gathering of pro-family organisations at the Auditorium della Conciliazione, in Rome, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope urges Italians to have babies as a measure of hope for future

FILE - Vodou pilgrims attend a Mass marking the feast day of agriculture and work, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Amid the spiraling chaos, a growing number of Haitians are praying more or visiting Vodou priests known as “oungans” for urgent requests ranging from locating loved ones who were kidnapped to finding critical medication needed to keep someone alive. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, File)

Shunned for centuries, Vodou grows powerful as Haitians seek solace from unrelenting gang violence

FILE - Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is seen, April 27, 2023, at the University of Washington's Hans Rosling Center for Population Health in Seattle. The Catholic church is refusing to cooperate with a Washington state investigation into whether it unlawfully used charitable trust funds to cover up sexual abuse by priests, Attorney General Ferguson said Thursday, May 9, 2024, and he asked a court to force the Seattle Archdiocese to turn over decades of records. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

Catholic church is stonewalling sex abuse investigation, Washington attorney general says

Washington’s attorney general says the Seattle Archdiocese isn’t cooperating in a sex abuse investigation, but church officials disagree.

A photo of Hardeep Singh Nijjar is seen during a news conference providing an update from the Sikh community about Nijjar's homicide from June 18, 2023 in Surrey, B.C. on Friday, May 3, 2024. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

India says Canada has shared no evidence of its involvement in killing of a Sikh separatist leader

India says Canada has shared no evidence to back its allegation that the Indian government was involved in the slaying of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada last year, despite the recent arrests of three Indian men in the crime.

Pope Francis presides over the second vespers in St. Peter's Basilica on Ascension Day, Thursday, May 9, 2024, after reading the papal bull 'Spes non confundit' (Latin for, hope does not disappoint), the official decree establishing the Catholic Holy Year: a once-every-quarter-century event that is expected to bring some 32 million pilgrims to Rome (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Holy Year or holy mess, Vatican and Rome begin dash to 2025 Jubilee with papal bull, construction

The Vatican has crossed a key milestone in the runup to its 2025 Jubilee with the promulgation of the official decree establishing the Holy Year.

North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore explains his bill that seeks to define antisemitism at a press conference in the Legislative Building in Raleigh, N.C., on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. He said the bill would guide education in the state, in addition to how local prosecutors may evaluate antisemitic incidents. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera)

North Carolina may join other states in codifying antisemitism definition

A bipartisan group of North Carolina lawmakers has approved a bill codifying a definition of antisemitism into law.

Michigan man accused of making explosives to target Satanic Temple in Massachusetts

A grand jury has indicted a Michigan man, who is accused of taking explosives to Massachusetts last year to target a building known as the Satanic Temple.

Court rules North Carolina Catholic school could fire gay teacher who announced his wedding online

A federal appeals court has ruled a Catholic school in North Carolina had the right to fire a gay teacher who announced a decade ago that he was going to marry his longtime partner.

Pope Francis appoints new bishop in Tennessee after former bishop’s resignation under pressure

Pope Francis has appointed Reverend James Mark Beckman as Bishop of Knoxville, Tennessee, almost a year after the previous bishop resigned following claims he mishandled sex abuse allegations.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, shows the indelible ink mark on his index finger after casting his vote during the third phase of general elections, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

India votes in third phase of national elections as Modi escalates his rhetoric against Muslims

Millions of Indians across 93 constituencies are voting as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has mounted an increasingly shrill election campaign, ramping up polarizing rhetoric against Muslims.

In this image taken from video, a Bernard J. Polite, 26, tries to shoot Pastor Glenn Germany, center, at the Jesus Dwelling Place church in North Braddock, Pa., May 5, 2024. The attempted shooting failed when Polite's gun didn't fire and was tackled by a congregant. (Glenn Germany via AP)

A man tried to shoot a pastor during a church service but his gun wouldn’t fire, state police say

Authorities say a man who tried to shoot a pastor during a service at a Pennsylvania church because “God told him to do it” was thwarted when his gun didn’t fire and he was tackled by a congregant.

People walk through the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau as they attend the annual Holocaust remembrance event, the "March of the Living" in memory of the six million Holocaust victims in Oswiecim, Poland, Monday, May 6, 2024. The event comes amid the dramatic backdrop of the violence of the Israel-Hamas war after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, the deadliest violence against Jews since the Holocaust, and as pro-Palestinian protests sweep U.S. campuses. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

The yearly memorial march at the former death camp at Auschwitz overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war

U.S. university presidents have joined Holocaust survivors and thousands of Israelis for a yearly memorial march at the site of Auschwitz.

A Muslim cleric walks along a former Byzantine church which formally opened as a mosque, in Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, May 6, 2024. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan formally opened a former Byzantine church in Istanbul as a mosque on Monday, four years after his government had designated it a Muslim house of prayer, despite criticism from neighboring Greece. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkey formally opens another former Byzantine-era church as a mosque

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has formally opened a former Byzantine church in Istanbul as a mosque.

FILE - Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., talks after a policy luncheon on Capitol Hill Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Washington. Schumer announced Sunday, May 5, a $400 million increase in federal funding that will be available for security in houses of worship. Places like mosques and synagogues can apply to use the money to hire security personnel or install cameras. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

$400 million boost in federal funds for security at places of worship

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has announced a $400 million increase in federal funding for security in houses of worship.

People visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem, Sunday, May 5, 2024. The annual Israeli memorial day for the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust of World War II begins at sundown on Sunday. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Netanyahu uses Holocaust ceremony to brush off international pressure against Gaza offensive

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected international pressure to halt the war in Gaza in a fiery speech marking the country’s annual Holocaust memorial day.

FILE - The Rev. David Meredith, left, and the Rev. Austin Adkinson sing during a gathering of those in the LGBTQ community and their allies outside the Charlotte Convention Center, in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday, May 2, 2024. When the United Methodist Church removed anti-LGBTQ language from its official rules in recent days, it marked the end of a half-century of debates over LGBTQ inclusion in mainline Protestant denominations. The moves sparked joy from progressive delegates, but the UMC faces many of the same challenges as Lutheran, Presbyterian and Episcopal denominations that took similar routes, from schisms to friction with international churches to the long-term aging and shrinking of their memberships. (AP Photo/Peter Smith, File)

A milestone reached in mainline Protestant churches’ decades-old disputes over LGBTQ inclusion

The fight to allow same-sex marriage and gay clergy has defined much of the last half-century for major mainline Protestant denominations in the U.S.

FILE - David Meredith, middle, hugs fellow observers after an approval vote at the United Methodist Church General Conference Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. When the United Methodist Church removed anti-LGBTQ language from its official rules in recent days, it marked the end of a half-century of debates over LGBTQ inclusion in mainline Protestant denominations. The moves sparked joy from progressive delegates, but the UMC faces many of the same challenges as Lutheran, Presbyterian and Episcopal denominations that took similar routes, from schisms to friction with international churches to the long-term aging and shrinking of their memberships. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File)

Methodists end anti-gay bans, closing 50 years of battles over sexuality for mainline Protestants

When the United Methodist Church removed anti-gay language from its official rules last week, it marked the end of a half-century of debates over LGBTQ inclusion in America’s mainline Protestant denominations.

An Ukrainian serviceman of the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, lights candles during a Christian Orthodox Easter religious service, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Ukraine marks its third Easter at war as it comes under fire from Russian drones and troops

Russia has launched a barrage of drones on eastern Ukraine and claimed its troops took control of a village they had been targeting as Ukraine marks its third Easter at war.

Judith Tzamir, a Holocaust survivor from Germany, poses for a portrait in her family home in Kibbutz Meflasim, southern Israel, Friday, May 3, 2024. On Monday, Tzamir will join 55 other Holocaust survivors from Israel and around the world for a memorial march in Poland, called March of the Living. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

A Holocaust survivor will mark that history differently after the horrors of Oct. 7

Israel will start marking Holocaust Remembrance Day on Sunday evening. But this year, after the unprecedented Oct. 7 attack by the militant Hamas group, the somber commemoration carries a heavier weight than usual for many Holocaust survivors.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Orthodox Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (Pavel Bednyakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Orthodox Russians mark Easter with nighttime service in Moscow cathedral

Worshippers including President Vladimir Putin have packed Moscow’s landmark Christ the Savior Cathedral for a nighttime Easter service.

Christian pilgrims hold candles as they gather during the ceremony of the Holy Fire at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Cheers and flames as Orthodox worshipers greet the ancient ceremony of the ‘Holy Fire’

Christian Orthodox worshippers in Jerusalem have thronged the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in one of the most chaotic gatherings in the Christian calendar.

Fireworks explode over the Venetian port after the procession of "Epitaphios", the bier that carries the body of Jesus Christ to his grave, in Nafpaktos town, western Greece, on Good Friday, May 3, 2024. The solemn processions in Greece, with the flower-adorned biers followed by the clergy and the faithful, are often spectacular, especially in places where bier processions from each parish converge into a central square. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Greek Orthodox mark Good Friday with solemn bier processions

NAFPAKTOS, Greece (AP) — The procession of “Epitaphios,” symbolizing the bier that carried the body of Jesus to his grave, took place across Greece on Friday, which was Good Friday in the Orthodox Christian calendar.

The Rev. David Meredith, left, and the Rev. Austin Adkinson sing during a gathering of those in the LGBTQ community and their allies outside the Charlotte Convention Center, in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday, May 2, 2024. They were celebrating after the General Conference of the United Methodist Church voted to remove the denomination's 52-year-old social teaching that deemed homosexuality "incompatible with Christian teaching." (AP Photo/Peter Smith)

United Methodist delegates repeal their church’s ban on its clergy celebrating same-sex marriages

United Methodist delegates have repealed their church’s longstanding ban on the celebrations of same-sex marriages or unions by its clergy.

Rabbi Levi Cunin, with Chabad on Campus, speaks during a pro-Israel rally at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind., Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Jewish students grapple with how to respond to pro-Palestinian campus protests

Some Jewish students have taken part in strident pro-Palestinian protests dominating U.S. colleges in recent weeks, but few have led rallies in support of Israel or against perceived displays of antisemitism.

Christian Orthodox worshippers leave the chapel basement after attending a service at the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in, Lypivka, near Lviv, Ukraine, Sunday, April 28, 2024. This Orthodox Easter season, an extraordinary new church is bringing spiritual comfort to war-weary residents of the Ukrainian village of Lypivka. Two years ago it also provided physical refuge from horrors outside. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Damaged in war, a vibrant church in Ukraine rises as a symbol of the country’s faith and culture

An extraordinary new church is bringing spiritual comfort to war-weary residents of the Ukrainian village of Lypivka this Orthodox Easter season.

The Rev. David Meredith, left, and the Rev. Austin Adkinson sing during a gathering of those in the LGBTQ community and their allies outside the Charlotte Convention Center, in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday, May 2, 2024. They were celebrating after the General Conference of the United Methodist Church voted to remove the denomination's 52-year-old social teaching that deemed homosexuality "incompatible with Christian teaching." (AP Photo/Peter Smith)

United Methodists remove anti-gay language from their official teachings on societal issues

For the past 52 years, the United Methodist Church had officially declared “the practice of homosexuality ... incompatible with Christian teaching.”

Palestinian medics treat a wounded person as the other one carries a young wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip at the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, early Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

Hamas is sending a delegation to Egypt for further cease-fire talks in the latest sign of progress

Hamas says it’s sending a delegation to Egypt as soon as possible to continue talks in the latest sign of progress in the fragile cease-fire process.

Poland's chief rabbi Michael Schudrich points to the Nożyk Synagogue in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. The synagogue was damaged in a attack with Molotov cocktails overnight. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Police arrest Polish teenager suspected of throwing firebombs at synagogue

Polish police have arrested a 16-year-old male on suspicion of attacking a synagogue with Molotov cocktails and say they plan to ask prosecutors to open an investigation.

Holocaust survivor Herbert Rubinstein talks during an interview with The Associated Press at his home in Duesseldorf, Germany, Thursday, April 25, 2024. Holocaust survivors from around the globe participating in a new digital campaign called "#CancelHate" which features videos of them reading Holocaust denial posts from different social media platforms. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

At time of rising antisemitism, Holocaust survivors take on denial and hate in new digital campaign

Holocaust survivors are participating in a digital campaign called #CancelHate which features videos of them reading Holocaust denial posts from different social media platforms.

FILE - This Dec. 1, 2012 file photo shows a silhouette of a crucifix and a stained glass window inside a Catholic Church in New Orleans. In April 2024, Louisiana State Police carried out a sweeping search warrant at the Archdiocese of New Orleans, seeking a long-secreted cache of church records and communications between local church leaders and the Vatican about the church's handling of clergy sexual abuse. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Expanding clergy sexual abuse probe targets New Orleans Catholic church leaders

Authorities are expanding their investigation of clergy sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in New Orleans to include church leaders suspected of shielding predatory priests and failing to report crimes to law enforcement.

Angie Cox, left, and Joelle Henneman hug after an approval vote at the United Methodist Church General Conference Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. United Methodist delegates repealed their church’s longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy with no debate on Wednesday, removing a rule forbidding “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” from being ordained or appointed as ministers.(AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

United Methodists repeal longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy

United Methodist delegates have repealed their church’s longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy with no debate.

Fire damage is visible on the façade of the Nożyk Synagogue in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. The synagogue was attacked with firebombs in the night by an unknown perpetrator, but sustained minimal damage and nobody was hurt. The incident was strongly condemned by political leaders. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Warsaw synagogue attacked at night with 3 firebombs, no injuries reported

Poland’s chief rabbi says that Warsaw’s main synagogue was attacked with firebombs during the night by an unknown perpetrator, but sustained minimal damage and nobody was hurt.