Yahoo! News: Religion News

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• Congress honors Birmingham church bombing victims
• Congress bestows highest honor on Alabama church-bombing victims
• Jihadists force Syria Christian to 'convert at gunpoint'
• Pope says empty convents and monasteries should house refugees
• Syria rebels announce withdrawal from Christian town
• Quebec presents bid to ban religious garb
• Quebec seeks to ban public workers from wearing religious symbols
• Pope visits refugees in Rome Jesuit center
• Italian priest gifts pope his old Renault
• Pope visits refugees at Rome center
• 1 Klansman survives Ala church bombing cases
• Ontario Liberal speaks out against Quebec charter to restrict religious symbols
• After more than 10 years of hardship, Iraqi Christian calls it quits on Iraq
• Britons become less religious: survey
• Mining is no savior for El Salvador, says Catholic Church
• Pope Francis bio fills gaps left by 'instant books'

Congress honors Birmingham church bombing victims Posted: 10 Sep 2013 04:00 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — House and Senate leaders on Tuesday awarded Congress' highest civilian honor to four girls killed in the Alabama church bombing nearly 50 years ago that became a watershed moment in the civil rights movement.

Congress bestows highest honor on Alabama church-bombing victims Posted: 10 Sep 2013 03:40 PM PDT By Verna Gates (Reuters) - Four Alabama girls killed 50 years ago in a church bombing that galvanized the civil rights movement were posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on Tuesday, the highest honor the nation's leaders can bestow on civilians. On the morning of September 15, 1963, a Ku Klux Klan bomb exploded at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing 11-year-old Denise McNair and 14-year-olds Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson. ...

Jihadists force Syria Christian to 'convert at gunpoint' Posted: 10 Sep 2013 01:29 PM PDT Jihadists who overran Syria's ancient Christian town of Maalula last week forced at least one person to convert to Islam at gunpoint and executed another one, residents said Tuesday.

Pope says empty convents and monasteries should house refugees Posted: 10 Sep 2013 12:51 PM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Disused church buildings should be used to house refugees, who must be embraced rather than feared, Pope Francis told asylum seekers in Rome on Tuesday, underlining his papacy's emphasis on the poor and the plight of immigrants. Turning convents and monasteries that have emptied due to a drop in vocations into hotels has raised funds for the Church, but also attracted criticism. "Empty convents and monasteries should not be turned into hotels by the Church to earn money ... ...

Syria rebels announce withdrawal from Christian town Posted: 10 Sep 2013 12:49 PM PDT Syrian rebel fighters announced on Tuesday their withdrawal from the historic Christian town of Maalula near Damascus, two days after they took control of it.

Quebec presents bid to ban religious garb Posted: 10 Sep 2013 12:14 PM PDT Officials in Quebec Tuesday presented their controversial bid to ban religious apparel -- including headscarves, turbans and yarmulkes -- on public sector workers, part of an overhaul to the Canadian province's "Charter of Values."

Quebec seeks to ban public workers from wearing religious symbols Posted: 10 Sep 2013 11:25 AM PDT By David Ljunggren (Reuters) - The Canadian province of Quebec will not allow public servants to wear Muslim headscarves, Jewish skullcaps or other obvious religious symbols under a new charter unveiled on Tuesday that is designed to cement a secular society. The pro-independence government of the predominantly French-speaking province says its Charter of Quebec Values will help create a distinct identity for its 8 million people. ...

Pope visits refugees in Rome Jesuit center Posted: 10 Sep 2013 11:04 AM PDT ROME (AP) — Pope Francis urged members of religious orders on Tuesday to use empty convents and other structures to house refugees fleeing war and hardship, not as hotels.

Italian priest gifts pope his old Renault Posted: 10 Sep 2013 10:35 AM PDT Pope Francis no longer has to be chauffeured in popemobiles but can drive around the Vatican himself after a 70-year-old priest gave him his old Renault 4.

Pope visits refugees at Rome center Posted: 10 Sep 2013 09:55 AM PDT ROME (AP) — The pope has welcomed refugees at center in Rome as part of his mission to extend solidarity to migrants fleeing war and hardship for Europe.

1 Klansman survives Ala church bombing cases Posted: 10 Sep 2013 09:24 AM PDT BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The last surviving Klansman convicted in a church bombing that killed four black girls 50 years ago spends nearly all his time in a one-person prison cell, apparently too wary of other inmates to venture out.

Ontario Liberal speaks out against Quebec charter to restrict religious symbols Posted: 10 Sep 2013 08:13 AM PDT TORONTO - Political debate is heating up again over Quebec's controversial "values charter" that would restrict religious clothing and symbols.

After more than 10 years of hardship, Iraqi Christian calls it quits on Iraq Posted: 10 Sep 2013 07:38 AM PDT Fatin Yousef endured the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the outbreak of fierce Sunni-Shiite fighting in 2006, and an uptick in militant attacks after US troops withdrew in December 2011.

Britons become less religious: survey Posted: 10 Sep 2013 07:20 AM PDT The number of Britons who are religious has declined significantly in the last 30 years and the number of adherents to the established Church of England has halved, a survey revealed on Tuesday.

Mining is no savior for El Salvador, says Catholic Church Posted: 10 Sep 2013 05:41 AM PDT On a rainy Sunday night at the Santa Clara de Asis church, east of San Salvador, Friar Domingo Solis addresses 70 rapt parishioners, explaining why he believes mining is impossible here.

Pope Francis bio fills gaps left by 'instant books' Posted: 10 Sep 2013 02:33 AM PDT By Tom Heneghan Paris (Reuters) - A wave of "instant books" about Pope Francis rushed into print after his surprise election last March left readers waiting for one that brought more insight into the two seemingly contradictory phases in his past. In "Pope Francis: Untying the Knots," British journalist Paul Vallely fills that gap by showing how the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio went from being the divisive head of the Jesuit order in Argentina in the 1970s to the humble and inclusive pastor he became once made a bishop in 1992. ...

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