Complete Index

Amnesty International reports that up to 1,000 people have been accused of witchcraft and persecuted in Gambia.

A study of America’s religious beliefs and moral values yields surprising findings about belief in angels.

An Israeli scholar is claiming that the Essenes, the possible authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls, did not actually exist.

On March 17, 1737, Boston became the first U.S. city to celebrate the feast day of Ireland’s patron saint. New York followed suit 19 years later.

Concerned by flagging parish finances, Connecticut Catholics asked the state to intervene in church administration, but the bill died in committee.

A lawsuit challenging roadside crosses that mark troopers deaths in Utah offers a new twist on an old debate over such tributes.

On March 11, 1977, 12 gunmen seized three Washington, D.C., buildings, beginning the 39-hour Hanafi Muslim siege that left two dead.

Officials were working to improve security at an Illinois chuch where an attack on Sunday took the life of the congregation's pastor.

Two studies show that the brains of religious people have less intense responses to error, suggesting that faith in God can reduce anxiety.

The Vatican is currently sponsoring a five-day conference on evolution, marking the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s “Origin of Species.”

Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed agreed to institute a lenient form of sharia law in response to rebel demands. However, rebels vowed to continue fighting.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, renowned for hunting Nazi war criminals, has angered Jews and Muslims alike by planning to build a museum on an old Muslim cemetery site.

In a case that examined freedom of expression in public forums, the Supreme Court says a city does not have to place a religious groups’ monument next to the Ten Commandments.

The late Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado left behind sexual misconduct charges and a daughter, reminiscent of other religious leaders involved in scandal.

The canonization of Father Damien, a 19th-century missionary in Hawaii, could mean loss of privacy for people at a former leper colony in the state.

A move to allow Islamic education in Sarajevo’s preschools raises concerns that the sectarian tensions of the 1990s could be reignited.

As intellectual leaders from around the globe converge at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar, many question how the relationship arrived at its current state.

(For information on the U.S.-Islamic World Forum, please visit Will the U.S.-Islamic World Forum Create a New Way Forward?)

An Indian women’s group is protesting a militant ultranationalist Hindu group’s efforts to squelch Valentine’s Day by asking supporters to mail pink panties to the hardliners’ leader.

The arrest of a group of suspected witchdoctors after the ritual murder of a woman in Kampala underscores increased efforts to combat witchcraft-related violence in the region.

A 22-year-old woman in Britain of Pakistani descent is using the newly promulgated Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act to avoid having to marry her father's relative.

Eluana Englaro, a 38-year-old Italian woman in a vegetative state, died Monday days after her feeding tube was removed, ending a contentious right-to-die case.

The controversy over Bishop Richard Williamson, who denies the extent of the Holocaust, took a new turn Sunday when an Argentinian seminary removed him as director.

Italy’s Parliament may pass a bill that would require doctors to resume feeding Englaro, a woman in a vegetative state who is at the center of a contentious right-to-die case.

A Salzburg company is restricting its job openings to applicants born under one of five specific signs of the Zodiac.

A Christian group in London is responding to the atheist bus advertisements that have spread throughout London and the world by launching its own pro-God campaign.

A militant ultranationalist Hindu group in India vows to assault any couple seen celebrating Valentine’s Day. Groups in other localities have also cracked down on the Western holiday.

Angela Merkel criticized Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to reinstate an excommunicated Holocaust-denier, as have many others in the Pope’s home country. But now the Vatican has changed its views.

On Feb. 2, 1887, Punxsutawney, Pa., celebrated the first official Groundhog Day, a holiday with roots in ancient traditions.

Calgary is the newest city to experience atheist ads on public transit. The ads that began in Britain have also caused debate in countries such as Italy and Australia.