Cardinals, archbishops and other clerical leaders of the Catholic Church from around the world have penned a flurry of letters and official statements in the wake of the ground-breaking McCarrick report that concludes while many in the Vatican hierarchy had known for years about sexual abuse allegations against ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick and not removed him, Pope Francis was not complicit.
Read More(OPINION) Though factual evidence for the treatment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang is sparse, a recent Australian study recognized that mosques have been destroyed by the Chinese government.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In the biggest escalation in tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan since their war’s end in 1994, Armenia’s Christian clergy are standing firm with both soldiers and civilians, as they always have, while Azerbaijan’s troops continue to push back Armenia’s line of defense.
Read MoreSeveral leaders of Muslim countries have condemned France and President Emmanuel Macron for their response following the murder of a school teacher who showed caricatures of Prophet Muhammad during a class on freedom of speech. Muslims in Southeast Asia have called Macron’s statements Islamophobic.
Read MoreSeven months after deadly anti-Muslim riots in New Delhi, calm has been restored, and local Muslims have returned for prayers in the restored mosques. But those complicit in the 53 deaths, of which two-thirds were Muslims, remain at large.
Read More(OPINION) As a child in an exclusive Catholic Convent run by Irish missionaries, Jennifer was always told that the bedrock of the Catholic faith had to be compassion towards others. It's what guided her through some spontaneous decisions as a broadcast journalist in India.
Read MoreFather Joseph Pereira, a Catholic priest in Mumbai, is healing substance abuse addicts through yoga and meditation, which can be a controversial practice for Christians in India.
Read MoreCrimes against Dalits, a community marginalized for centuries in the complex Hindu social hierarchy, have increased by more than 7% in the last year, according to new government data. Experts and activists blame Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “politics of hatred” and say a law from the ‘80’s meant to deter the crimes has pervasively failed.
Read More(OPINION) Now, more than 25 years after the rather unclear resolution of a 1994 conflict—and emerging in the notoriously painful year 2020—the Armenia/Artsakh vs. Azerbaijan conflict has flared up again. And this time—tragically—Turkey’s Islamist President Tayyip Erdogan has powerfully entered the fray.
Read MoreWhy a federal court has denied petitions from a Native American tribe to stop construction on land they claim their ancestors are buried, how two Chilean churches were set ablaze during protests against inequality and the latest world leader to demand a UN investigation of China’s abuses against Uighurs.
Read More(ANALYSIS) At a time of tense China-India relations, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its affiliates are advancing the Hindu nationalist agenda in Taiwan, Hong Kong and other hubs of Indian diaspora in East Asia.
Read More(ANALYSIS) What was a nominally a little-known conflict regarding the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region — also known as Artsakh — claimed by both Armenia and Azerbaijan has erupted into a full-scale war with an estimated thousands of soldiers on both sides killed in intense fighting.
Read MoreA Chinese church now operating out of New York claims Jesus returned as a woman in China, upsetting Christian leaders in India wary of the group’s appeal among young Christians.
Read MoreZen, who recently returned to Hong Kong from a trip to the Vatican, has no higher authority on Earth to appeal to in his fight to save his country’s church from infiltration by the Chinese Communist Party.
Read MorePopular pilgrimage destinations like Jerusalem and Rome have seen a massive drop in religious travelers, especially during Passover, Easter and this past summer.
Read MoreKashmiris are welcoming the Indian government’s move to restore religious sites, including a Hindu temple, now in a Muslim neighborhood, vacated when Kashmiri Hindus fled the region’s armed rebellion in the 1990’s.
Read MoreIndian police have long been known to abuse their power, but this summer, a particularly brutal case made headlines shortly after the American outcry for George Floyd’s death. In a court order allowing charges to be filed, a majority-Hindu court made a surprising reference to the Bible.
Read MoreAfter China’s latest security law restricting several freedoms, Hong Kongers are increasingly drawing parallels between China’s treatment of the Uyghurs and themselves, while fears heighten in Hong Kong’s Muslim minority for speaking out against the government.
Read MoreA New Delhi-based Sikh organization is sponsoring dozens of Afghan Sikhs to settle in India after the March terror attack on a Kabul gurudwara, a Sikh temple. Although Sikh has ancient history in Afghanistan, Sikhs now make up only a tiny minority in the country, while the Indian government welcomes Sikhs, whose faith formed from Hinduism.
Read MoreIn East India, a popular mystic musician has been traveling and singing to spread awareness to the rural masses about COVID-19. Gautum Hazra draws on the syncretic Baul tradition that has influenced Western artists like Bob Dylan and blends Vaishnavite devotional Hinduism, Tantric Buddhism, Sufi thought and other traditions to emphasize religious harmony and tolerance.
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