Yahoo! News: Religion News

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• 'Insulting religion': Blasphemy sentence in Egypt sends a chill
• England census: Why have the ranks of the religious declined?
• Ebbing Protestant power upsets fragile Northern Irish balance
• Egypt court gives Christian 3 years for blasphemy
• Pope needs help sending out blessing in first tweet
• Pope hits 1M mark as he tweets: 'Dear Friends... '
• Holy Tweet! Pope struggles with tablet tech
• France steps up struggle against religious radicals
• Here's the Pope's First Tweet
• Christian Copt jailed for blasphemy in Egypt
• Pope Tweets: 'Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter...'
• China revokes new Shanghai Catholic bishop's title
• Pope Tweets: 'Dear Friends... '
• Vandals spray hate graffiti on Jerusalem church
• China revokes Shanghai Catholic bishop's title in challenge to Vatican
• Church sources say China revokes Shanghai bishop's title in new challenge to Vatican authority
• Progressive Catholic bishop Walter Sullivan dies

'Insulting religion': Blasphemy sentence in Egypt sends a chill Posted: 12 Dec 2012 01:00 PM PST An Egyptian court sentenced Alber Saber to three years in jail today for insulting religion. Such blasphemy prosecution cases, on the rise since the revolution and almost uniformly criticized by civil rights activists in Egypt, may only increase if the draft constitution is approved this week.

England census: Why have the ranks of the religious declined? Posted: 12 Dec 2012 09:59 AM PST Results from the first census of England and Wales for 10 years this week revealed a crisis engulfing what until recently had seemed to be Britain's newest and most vibrant religion: The ranks of Jedi Knights have more than halved to 176,632.

Ebbing Protestant power upsets fragile Northern Irish balance Posted: 12 Dec 2012 09:38 AM PST BELFAST (Reuters) - Petrol bombs on the streets of Belfast this month reveal anger and frustration among pro-British Protestants at a loss of dominance in Northern Ireland but do not - yet - pose a serious threat to a 15-year-old peace. Launched after local councilors voted to end a century-old tradition of daily flying Britain's union flag from City Hall, 10 days of brick-throwing battles with police provided an outlet for a build-up of grievances among a community that new figures this week showed no longer forms a majority of the population. ...

Egypt court gives Christian 3 years for blasphemy Posted: 12 Dec 2012 09:33 AM PST A Cairo court on Wednesday convicted a Coptic Christian blogger who shared an anti-Islam film on social networking sites and sentenced him to three years in prison for blasphemy and contempt of religion.

Pope needs help sending out blessing in first tweet Posted: 12 Dec 2012 08:55 AM PST VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - After weeks of anticipation bordering on media frenzy, Pope Benedict solemnly put his finger to a computer tablet device on Wednesday and tried to send his first tweet - but something went wrong. Images on Vatican television appeared to show the first try didn't work. The pope, who still writes his speeches by hand, seems to have pressed too hard and the tweet was not sent right away. So, he needed a little help from his friends. Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli of the Vatican's communications department showed the pontiff how to do it, but the pope hesitated. ...

Pope hits 1M mark as he tweets: 'Dear Friends... ' Posted: 12 Dec 2012 07:50 AM PST Pope Benedict XVI hit the 1 million Twitter follower mark on Wednesday as he sent his first tweet from his new account, blessing his online fans and urging them to listen to Christ.

Holy Tweet! Pope struggles with tablet tech Posted: 12 Dec 2012 06:44 AM PST After weeks of anticipation bordering on media frenzy, Pope Benedict solemnly put his finger to a computer tablet device on Wednesday and tried to send his first tweet - but something went wrong.

France steps up struggle against religious radicals Posted: 12 Dec 2012 05:57 AM PST PARIS (Reuters) - France will deport foreign-born imams and disband radical faith-based groups, including hardline traditionalist Catholics, if a new surveillance policy signals they suffer a "religious pathology" and could become violent. A French Islamist shooting spree last March that killed three soldiers and four Jews showed how quickly religiously radicalized people could turn to force, Interior Minister Manuel Valls told a conference on the official policy of secularism. ...

Here's the Pope's First Tweet Posted: 12 Dec 2012 03:43 AM PST The long wait is over and we've finally got the first words of Twitter wisdom from Pope Benedict XVI.

Christian Copt jailed for blasphemy in Egypt Posted: 12 Dec 2012 03:35 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian Copt arrested on suspicion of posting online an anti-Islam film that ignited Muslim protests around the world was sentenced on Wednesday to three years in prison, a court source said Computer science graduate Alber Saber, 27, was arrested at his Cairo home on September 13 after neighbors accused him of uploading sections of the film "Innocence of Muslims" and making another movie mocking all religions. Saber can appeal the ruling issued by a Cairo court after paying bail of 1,000 Egyptian pounds ($160). ...

Pope Tweets: 'Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter...' Posted: 12 Dec 2012 02:58 AM PST VATICAN CITY - The pope has tweeted.

China revokes new Shanghai Catholic bishop's title Posted: 12 Dec 2012 02:54 AM PST In a fresh challenge to Vatican authority, China has revoked the title of a new Catholic bishop in Shanghai who outraged Chinese officials by immediately dropping out of the government agency that oversees the country's officially sanctioned church, religious officials said Wednesday.

Pope Tweets: 'Dear Friends... ' Posted: 12 Dec 2012 02:42 AM PST The pope has tweeted.

Vandals spray hate graffiti on Jerusalem church Posted: 12 Dec 2012 02:24 AM PST Vandals have spray-painted "Death to Christianity" and "Jesus, son of a whore" on a Greek Orthodox monastery in Jerusalem.

China revokes Shanghai Catholic bishop's title in challenge to Vatican Posted: 12 Dec 2012 12:13 AM PST BEIJING, China - In a fresh challenge to the Vatican, China has revoked the title of a new Catholic bishop in Shanghai.

Church sources say China revokes Shanghai bishop's title in new challenge to Vatican authority Posted: 11 Dec 2012 11:01 PM PST Church sources say China revokes Shanghai bishop's title in new challenge to Vatican authority.

Progressive Catholic bishop Walter Sullivan dies Posted: 11 Dec 2012 06:39 PM PST Former Bishop Walter F. Sullivan, a progressive leader in the U.S. Roman Catholic church and the longest-serving head of the Richmond diocese, died Tuesday. He was 84.

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