Yahoo! News: Religion News

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• Pope's Christmas message focuses on Mideast, China
• Gunmen kill six in northeast Nigeria church attack
• Cameroon archbishop calls same-sex marriage crime against humanity
• Pope decries slaughter of 'defenseless' Syrians
• Pope gives advice as Italians prepare for bitter campaign
• Pope decries slaughter of 'defenceless' Syrians in Christmas peace message
• The Pope Isn't Likely to Get His Christmas Wish for Peace This Year
• Archbishop of Canterbury says Anglican church wounded, not dead
• Pope's Christmas message says hope mustn't die in Syria, Nigeria

Pope's Christmas message focuses on Mideast, China Posted: 25 Dec 2012 11:53 AM PST VATICAN CITY (AP) — In his Christmas message to the world Tuesday, Pope Benedict XVI called for an end to the slaughter in Syria and for more meaningful negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, while encouraging more religious freedom under China's new leaders.

Gunmen kill six in northeast Nigeria church attack Posted: 25 Dec 2012 09:51 AM PST KADUNA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Gunmen killed six people at a church in northeast Nigeria early on Tuesday, the third year running that Christmas services have come under deadly attack in the country, the military said. The strike took place after a Christmas Eve midnight service outside the town of Potiskum in northeastern Yobe state, where Islamist sect Boko Haram has carried out several attacks this year. "Unknown gunmen attempted to attack Potiskum but were repelled by the troops. ...

Cameroon archbishop calls same-sex marriage crime against humanity Posted: 25 Dec 2012 08:43 AM PST YAOUNDE (Reuters) - One of Cameroon's most senior Christian leaders on Tuesday called same-sex marriages a "crime against humanity", ramping up anti-gay rhetoric in the Central African state. As in most African nations, homosexuality is illegal in Cameroon. But a number of incidents have highlighted the clash between a largely conservative culture backed by draconian law and youth for some of whom it is less of an issue. "Marriage of persons of the same sex is a serious crime against humanity," Victor Tonye Bakot, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Yaounde, told followers at Christmas Day mass. ...

Pope decries slaughter of 'defenseless' Syrians Posted: 25 Dec 2012 08:30 AM PST VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI wished Christmas peace to the world Tuesday, decrying the slaughter of the "defenseless" in Syria, urging Israelis and Palestinians to find the courage to negotiate and encouraging China's new leaders to allow more religious freedom.

Pope gives advice as Italians prepare for bitter campaign Posted: 25 Dec 2012 08:04 AM PST ROME (Reuters) - Pope Benedict sent a political Christmas greeting to Italians on Tuesday as they head into an election campaign expected to be brutal and bitter: think, cooperate for the common good and don't discard values when making big choices. The pope, in his Christmas greetings in 65 languages, said in his special message to Italians that he hoped the spirit of the day would "make people reflect, favor the spirit of cooperation for the common good and lead to a reflection on the hierarchy of values when making the most important of choices". ...

Pope decries slaughter of 'defenceless' Syrians in Christmas peace message Posted: 25 Dec 2012 07:10 AM PST VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI wished Christmas peace to the world Tuesday, decrying the slaughter of the "defenceless" in Syria and urging Israelis and Palestinians to find the courage to negotiate.

The Pope Isn't Likely to Get His Christmas Wish for Peace This Year Posted: 25 Dec 2012 07:09 AM PST During his annual Christmas address at the Vatican this year, the Pope prayed for peace in Syria, something that doesn't look likely any time soon. Pope Benedict XVI specifically called for an end to the violence on Syria's "defenseless" people, who have been caught in the middle of the fighting throughout this conflict. Like two days ago, for example, when Syrian troops bombed a line of people waiting for bread, during a food shortage the civil war has brought. ...

Archbishop of Canterbury says Anglican church wounded, not dead Posted: 25 Dec 2012 04:41 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - The leader of the Church of England on Tuesday said a vote last month that struck down proposals to allow women to become bishops had been "deeply painful", but that Christianity was still relevant in Britain despite falling numbers of believers. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who leads the global 80-million-strong Anglican Communion, said in his Christmas day sermon that the answer to the question of whether Christianity had "had its day" was a "resounding no". ...

Pope's Christmas message says hope mustn't die in Syria, Nigeria Posted: 25 Dec 2012 03:10 AM PST VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict used his Christmas message to the world on Tuesday to say people should never lose hope for peace, even in conflict-riven Syria and in Nigeria where he spoke of "terrorism" against Christians. Marking the eighth Christmas season of his pontificate, the 85-year-old read his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message to tens of thousands of people in St Peter's Square and to millions of others watching around the world. ...

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