DHARMSALA, India (RNS) — At least three Tibetan Buddhist monks drank gasoline and set themselves ablaze in January, bringing the count of self-immolations to 15 since March 2011. Lobsang Sangay, the prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, attributes the deaths…
COMMENTARY: Spike Lee does right thing by religion
PARK CITY, Utah (RNS) — I have a confession to make. The only real reason I saw Spike Lee’s new film at the Sundance Film Festival here is because it is set in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, where…
After angering Catholics, White House honors teachers
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Following days of tension between the Obama administration and the U.S. hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, the White House on Jan. 25 heralded nine Catholic educators as “Champions of Catholic Education.” “Irony is the word of…
Top Catholic bishop feels betrayed by Obama
WASHINGTON (RNS) — In the wake of President Obama’s controversial decision to mandate that religious groups pay for contraceptives for their employees, much of the coverage focused on how the president had disappointed progressive allies by giving religious groups an…
Why Mitt Romney can’t be the Mormon JFK
NEW YORK (RNS) — Mitt Romney’s sudden downgrade from Republican frontrunner to potential also-ran coincided with a massive shift of conservative Christians voters in South Carolina to Newt Gingrich’s camp. Why? Many observers trace it to lingering suspicion among evangelicals…
Leonard installed in Baptist chair at Wake Forest
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Amid academic pageantry, Baptist historian Bill Leonard was officially installed Jan. 24 as the first Dunn Professor of Baptist Studies at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. James Dunn and Bill Leonard recessing after the divinity school’s…
Pujols’ foundation committed to St. Louis area
By Vicki Brown Albert Pujols may have left the Cardinals to play for the Los Angeles Angels, but his family foundation that benefits people with Down syndrome and the poor in the Dominican Republic remains committed to St. Louis. “Obviously,…
Pro-life, pro-choice speakers urge common ground
By Bob Allen After nearly 40 years of polarization over abortion, two speakers at a Mercer University event said Jan. 24 it is time for people who are pro-choice and pro-life to seek common ground to reduce the current number…
Workers at religious institutions fear future of pensions
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (RNS) — Sue Fritz tended to the sick for more than two decades as a nurse at St. Peter’s University Hospital. By the time she left for another job in 1999, she was vested in the hospital’s…
Shhh! Pope praises value of short tweets, silence
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Benedict XVI praised new communications technologies like Twitter on Jan. 24, saying that even “concise phrases, often no longer than a verse from the Bible,” can convey “profound thoughts.” Benedict did not explicitly refer to…
‘A miniature Christian bookstore’ in your palm
NEW YORK (RNS) — God may hold the whole world in his hand, but persecuted Christians can now hold an entire seminary library on a fingertip. Bible League International is working with the Digital Bible Society to carry the thumbnail-sized…
COMMENTARY: Competing in the free market
NEW YORK (RNS) — If local newspapers are dying, where will we get the trustworthy news we need to be responsible citizens, neighbors and economic contributors? It’s a good question. Here’s another. If slow-moving, complacent old-economy enterprises like Kodak continue…