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Religion

FILE - An Attendee holds up a ballot during the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif., Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Thousands will gather in Indianapolis, June 11-12, 2024, for the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

From women pastors to sexual abuse to Trump, Southern Baptists have a busy few days ahead of them

Thousands will gather in Indianapolis June 11-12 for the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention.

A seagull flies in front of Pope Francis during his appearance at his studiio's window overlooking St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Sunday, June 9, 2024, where faithful and pilgrims gathered for the traditional Sunday's blessing at the end of the Angelus prayer. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Pope Francis appeals for urgent humanitarian aid for Gaza and backs cease-fire proposals

The "Our Lady of Athletes" chapel in seen inside the Madeleine church, Thursday, May 30, 2024 in Paris. France's Catholic Bishops Conference has launched a nationwide "Holy Games" initiative. Since last September, it has set up the "Our Lady of Athletes" chapel in an iconic downtown Paris church, La Madeleine. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

In secular France, chaplains prepare to provide Olympians with spiritual support during the Games

Joel Penton, founder and CEO of LifeWise Academy, poses at LifeWise Academy offices Thursday, May 30, 2024, in Hilliard, Ohio. The Ohio-based Christian nonprofit that organizes off-campus Bible classes for public school students has taken off in Indiana since the state passed legislation forcing school districts to comply. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

A Christian group teaches public school students during the school day. Their footprint is growing

Reverend Matthew L. Watley delivers his sermon during Sunday service at Kingdom Fellowship AME Church, Sunday, June 2, 2024, in Calverton, Md. The suburban Maryland congregation, led by Rev. Watley, has landed at the top of a list of the fastest-growing churches in America. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)

How this Maryland pastor ended up leading one of the fastest-growing churches in the nation

Probe launched after Jewish student group omitted from New Jersey high school yearbook

A New Jersey school district has hired an outside law firm to investigate how and why a Jewish student group was omitted from the high school yearbook.

FILE - A Southwest Airlines jetliner waits on a runway for departure from Denver International Airport Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, in Denver. A judge’s order that three attorneys for Southwest Airlines get religious liberty training from a conservative advocacy group was put on hold Friday, June 7, 2024 by a federal appeals court that said the judge likely exceeded his authority with the requirement. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Airline lawyers spared religious liberty training in case about flight attendant’s abortion views

A judge’s order that three attorneys for Southwest Airlines get religious liberty training has been put on hold by a federal appeals court. A panel from the 5th U.S.

FILE - Pope Francis is flanked by Israel's President Shimon Peres, right, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during an evening of peace prayers in the Vatican gardens, Sunday, June 8, 2014. Pope Francis gathered the Israeli and Palestinian ambassadors to the Vatican Gardens on Friday, June 7, 2024 to pray for an end to the war in Gaza, marking the 10th anniversary of a similar encounter with the Israeli and Palestinian presidents with a new appeal for peace.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

Pope recreates the 2014 Mideast peace prayer in Vatican Gardens to beg for an end to Gaza conflict

Pope Francis has gathered the Israeli and Palestinian ambassadors to the Vatican Gardens to pray for an end to the war in Gaza.

This aerial photo taken on Nov. 13, 2023, by Archaeology Southwest with a volunteer pilot and Lighthawk, a nonprofit organization, shows new access roads and tower pad sites west of the San Pedro River, near Redrock Canyon, in Arizona. In a ruling Thursday, June 6, 2024, a U.S. district judge dismissed claims by Native American tribes and environmentalists who sought to halt construction along part of a $10 billion energy transmission line. (Archaeology Southwest via AP)

Judge dismisses Native American challenge to $10B SunZia energy transmission project in Arizona

A U.S. district judge has dismissed claims by Native American tribes and environmentalists who sought to halt construction along part of a $10 billion energy transmission line.

People gather behind barricades in front of an apartment block at Casal Bertone, in far-east Rome, where Pope Francis was expected to pay a visit, Thursday, June 6, 2024. Francis apparently pulled a last-minute switcheroo, after word had spread too much that he was planning to visit the apartment in Casal Bertone, and instead had a surprise meeting with 30 or so families in another building courtyard in the far west neighborhood of Palmarola, at the opposite side of Rome. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Papal switcheroo as Francis changes plans at last minute to visit different Rome community

Pope Francis pulled something of a switcheroo as he slipped out of the Vatican to meet with members of a local Roman parish.

Members of the United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe hold placards while holding a protest at the church premises in Harare, Thursday, May 30, 2024. The protests denouncing homosexuality and the departure of the church from the scriptures and doctrine, come barely a month after the United Methodist Church Worldwide General Conference held in North Carolina, US repealed their church's longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy, removing a rule forbidding "self-avowed practising homosexuals" from being ordained or appointed as ministers. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Methodist church regrets Ivory Coast’s split from the union as lifting of LGBTQ ban roils Africa

Leaders of the United Methodist Church have expressed regret over last week’s decision by the branch in Ivory Coast to leave the union following the church’s decision to repeal a long-standing ban on LGBTQ+ clergy but pledged to accept it.

FILE - The scaffolding surrounded 17th century, 95ft-tall bronze canopy by Giovan Lorenzo Bernini surmounting the papal Altar of the Confession is seen in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. Vatican police have detained a former employee on charges of attempted extortion after he allegedly tried to sell a 17th century gilded manuscript describing Bernini’s designs for the altar canopy of St. Peter’s Basilica back to the Holy See. Vatican prosecutors said the 18-page manuscript, which apparently contains the first known specifications for the gilding of the baldacchin canopy, had disappeared from the basilica archives. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

Vatican detains ex-employee who allegedly tried to sell back manuscript of Bernini’s basilica canopy

Vatican police have detained a former employee after he allegedly tried to sell a 17th century manuscript back to the Holy See.Vatican prosecutors said the 18-page manuscript contains the first known specifications for the gilding of the monumental Bernini canopy over the main altar of St.

FILE - In this Wednesday, June 16, 2021, file photo, people attend the morning session of the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn. Southern Baptists gathering at their next annual meeting June 11-12, 2024, in Indianapolis will vote on whether to enact a constitutional ban on churches with women pastors. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

Southern Baptists are poised to ban churches with women pastors. Some are urging them to reconsider

The Southern Baptist Convention is preparing to vote on a proposed constitutional ban on churches with women pastors.

FILE -- Snow-capped Haleakala serves as a backdrop as Paia, Maui's Scott Picton, left, plays a guitar and Saskatchewan's Shannon and Dan Runcie walk on Sugar Beach in South Maui, Hawaii, Feb. 11, 2019. Local officials on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, voted to oppose a U.S. military proposal to build new telescopes on the summit of Haleakala volcano. (Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP)

In Hawaii, Maui council opposes US Space Force plan to build new telescopes on Haleakala volcano

Local officials on the Hawaiian island of Maui have voted to oppose a U.S. military proposal to build new telescopes on the summit of Haleakala volcano.

Sam Earle, left, and his wife, Tori, pose with their daughter, Novalie, outside the Heritage Baptist Church Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Lakeland, Fla. Novalie was born through an embryo adoption. “We’re believers,” says Tori, 30, who belongs to the Baptist church where her dad once was pastor. “So we just prayed about it, and we asked the Lord to just kind of guide us.” (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)

A court ruled embryos are children. These Christian couples agree yet wrestle with IVF choices

When faced with infertility, Christians who believe life begins at or around conception must wrestle with weighty questions: How do you build a family in a way that conforms with your beliefs?

FILE - Connecticut Rep. Maryam Khan, second from right, with her right arm in a sling and surrounded by friends, family and fellow lawmakers, gives a harrowing account of her attack last month as she left a Muslim prayer service, July 6, 2023, in Hartford, Conn. Andrey Desmond, who attacked the Muslim state representative outside a prayer service in Connecticut, was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday, June 4, 2024, for attempted sexual assault and other crimes, a punishment the lawmaker previously said was too lenient. (AP Photo/Susan Haigh, File)

Man who attacked Muslim lawmaker in Connecticut sentenced to 5 years in prison

A man who attacked a Muslim state representative outside a prayer service in Connecticut has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Ohio’s attorney general seeks to block seminary college from selling its rare books

Ohio’s attorney general is asking a judge to bar an international institution of Jewish higher education from selling its rare book collection.

FILE - The Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Cardinal Michael Czerny, meets the journalists at the Vatican press hall, in Rome, on March 30, 2023. Cardinal Michael Czerny urged European voters Monday June 3, 2024 to remember their own migratory roots in showing sympathy to people forced to flee their homes, ahead of European Parliament elections this week where migration is a big issue. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

Vatican cardinal urges Europeans to remember own migratory roots ahead of European elections

A top Vatican cardinal has urged European voters to remember their own migratory roots in showing sympathy to people forced to flee their homes.

A Pakistani Christian accused of blasphemy and attacked by a mob has died of injuries

Pakistani police say a Christian man who was accused of blasphemy and attacked by a mob has died of injuries.

FILE- Argentine President Javier Milei prays at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, Feb. 6, 2024. Although born and raised Roman Catholic, Milei has increasingly shown public interest in Judaism and even expressed intentions to convert. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)

President Milei’s surprising devotion to Judaism and Israel provokes tension in Argentina and beyond

President Javier Milei of Argentina, who owns four clones of his dead dog Conan, has never been the most conventional occupant of Argentina’s highest office.

FILE - Southwest Airlines plane prepares to land at Midway International Airport, Feb. 12, 2023, in Chicago. Southwest Airlines is back in court over firing a flight attendant with anti-abortion views. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)

Southwest Airlines is back in court over firing of flight attendant with anti-abortion views

Southwest Airlines has gone back to federal court in hopes of reversing an $800,000 award to a flight attendant who says she was fired for her anti-abortion views.

Grow It organizer Leah Reichardt-Osterkatz, right, helps children make smoothies from strawberries they picked, plus kale grown on the farm, at Spring Forest in Hillsborough, N.C., on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. (Yonat Shimron/Religion News Service via AP)

With strawberries and goats, a ‘farmastery’ reaches out to its neighbors

HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. (RNS) — On a warm, sunny morning in farm country, a group of 40 preschoolers and their parents fanned out across several rows of crops to pluck strawberries from beneath crowns of green leaves.

This photo provided by Brad Searcy Photography shows Davy and Natalie Lloyd. The bodies of the U.S. missionary couple who were killed by gang members in Haiti’s capital have been returned to their family in Missouri. Natalie Lloyd's parents posted on Facebook announcing that the remains of their daughter and son-in-law arrived Friday, May 31, 2024 in Kansas City.(Brad Searcy Photography via AP)

Remains of US missionaries killed by criminal gang members in Haiti returned to family

The bodies of a U.S. missionary couple killed by gang members in Haiti’s capital have been returned to their family in Missouri.

A forensic police officers walks past a smashed stall of Pax Europa which had a banner with writing reading "Stop political Islam", on the market square in Mannheim, Germany, Friday, May 31, 2024. An assailant with a knife attacked and wounded several people in a central square in the southwestern German city of Mannheim on Friday, police said. Police shot the attacker, who also was hurt. Pax Europa, which describes itself as an organization that informs the public about the dangers posed by the “increasing spread and influence of political Islam,” said that the attack happened on the sidelines of an event it organized. It said that Michael Stürzenberger, an anti-Islam activist who has spoken at its events. was among those wounded. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)

6 injured in a knife attack in the German city of Mannheim. Police shot and wounded the assailant

Authorities in Germany say a man stabbed several members of a group that describes itself as opposing “political Islam.”

FILE- Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly speaks during a rally, Friday, Oct. 12, 2018, in Hammond, Ind. The former U.S. Senator Donnelly is stepping down as U.S. ambassador to the Vatican and returning to Indianathe U.S. Embassy confirmed Thursday, May 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

Former US senator from Indiana Joe Donnelly to step down as US ambassador to the Vatican

U.S. ambassador to the Vatican and former U.S. senator from Indiana Joe Donnelly is stepping down and returning to Indiana.

Man accused of driving toward people outside New York Jewish school charged with hate crimes

New York City police have arrested a man on hate crime charges after they say he shouted antisemitic threats while trying to mow down people with his car outside of a Jewish school.

FILE - Workers repaint a Ten Commandments billboard off of Interstate 71 on Election Day near Chenoweth, Ohio, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. Louisiana could soon become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom — in another expansion of religion into day to day life by a Republican-dominated legislature. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Louisiana may soon require public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments

Louisiana could soon become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom.

FILE - Health care workers walk in and out of the entrance at NYU-Langone Hospital on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, in New York. A nurse was fired by the hospital after she referred to Israel's war in Gaza as "genocide" during a speech accepting an award. Labor and delivery nurse Hesen Jabr, who is Palestinian American, was being honored by NYU Langone Health for her compassion in caring for mothers who had lost babies when she drew a link between her work and the suffering of mothers in Gaza. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen, File)

A nurse honored for compassion is fired after referring to Gaza ‘genocide’ in speech

A nurse was fired by a New York City hospital after she referred to Israel’s war in Gaza as “genocide” during a speech accepting an award.

Mervyn Kersh D-Day veteran who fought in the Normandy Campaign, at his home in London, Monday, April 8, 2024. A Jewish veteran is preparing to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Pvt. Mervyn Kersh was summoned by his commanding officer and threatened with arrest even as he prepared to embark for the battlefields of Normandy eight decades ago. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A Jewish veteran from London prepares to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings

A Jewish veteran is preparing to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Pvt. Mervyn Kersh was summoned by his commanding officer and threatened with arrest even as he prepared to embark for the battlefields of Normandy eight decades ago.

This is a locator map for Saudi Arabia with its capital, Riyadh. (AP Photo)

Iran says Saudi Arabia has expelled 6 state media journalists ahead of the Hajj after detaining them

Iran says that Saudi Arabia expelled six members of a crew from its state television broadcaster after they had been detained for nearly a week in the kingdom ahead of the Hajj.

FILE - Police in Riot gear stand guard as demonstrators chant slogans outside the Columbia University campus, on April 18, 2024, in New York. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly accused critics of Israel or his policies of antisemitism, including the U.S. college campus protests and the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

Netanyahu frequently makes claims of antisemitism. Critics say he’s deflecting from his own problems

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly accused critics of Israel or his policies of antisemitism.

FILE - In this July 29, 2013 file photo, Pope Francis answers reporters questions during a news conference aboard the papal flight of his famous quip "Who am I to judge?", on the journey back from Brazil. Francis' apology Tuesday, May 28, 2024, for using a vulgar term to refer to gay men was the latest comment to make headlines about the Catholic Church's teachings on homosexuality. Francis has made a hallmark of reaching out to LGBTQ+ Catholics, but his 11-year pontificate has also seen plenty of problems arise over his informal way of speaking and his outreach, evidence of how fraught the issue is for the church. (AP Photo/Luca Zennaro, Pool, file)

A look at Pope Francis’ comments about LGBTQ+ people

Pope Francis’ apology for using a vulgar term to refer to gay men was the latest comment to make headlines about the Catholic Church’s teachings on homosexuality.

FILE - David Berkowitz speaks inside the Sullivan Correction Facility in Fallsburg, New York, on May 29, 2009. Berkowitz, who set New York City on edge with late-night shootings in the 1970s, was denied parole after his twelfth board appearance. He was rejected after a Board of Parole prison interview on May 14, 2024 according to information listed on a state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision web site. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, file)

‘Son of Sam’ killer Berkowitz denied parole in 12th attempt

“Son of Sam” killer David Berkowitz has been denied parole after his twelfth board appearance. State corrections data shows Berkowitz was rejected after a Board of Parole interview on May 14.

This cover image released by Central Avenue shows "Goyhood" by Reuven Fenton. (Central Avenue via AP)

Book Review: Twin brothers, one religious, one not, go on a wild and wacky road trip through South

Mayer Belkin is deeply engrossed in his study of Torah when he receives some shocking news. His mother has taken her own life, leaving behind a suicide note in which she reveals that Mayer and his twin, David, are not in fact Jewish.

FILE - Pope Francis arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Pope Francis apologized Tuesday, May 28, 2024, after he was quoted using a vulgar term about gays to reaffirm the Catholic Church’s ban on gay priests. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni issued a statement acknowledging the media storm that erupted about Francis’ comments, which were delivered behind closed doors to Italian bishops on May 20. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

Pope apologizes after being quoted using vulgar term about gay men in talk about ban on gay priests

Pope Francis has apologized after he was quoted using a vulgar term about gay men to reaffirm the Catholic Church’s ban on gay priests.