Will Catholic nuns and orthodox Jews be next to point to their religious headwear?
Tag: religion
During a long sit-down in his Dharamsala residence, the Dalai Lama answers hard questions about the self-immolation of Tibetan monks and Chinese leaders, old and new.
AFP, BBC, IRRAWADDY (Burma), REUTERS Worldcrunch MEIKTILA– Burmese sectarian violence has turned deadly, as angry mobs rioted in the streets and at least five people have been reported killed in the central city of Meiktila. The BBC cites a death toll of 20 by Friday morning, though the Myanmar government has only confirmed five fatalities […]
LA STAMPA (Italy) Worldcrunch VATICAN CITY – A book by Pope Francis and the Chief Rabbi of Buenos Aires will be translated and published into English on May 7. “Sobre El Cielo y La Terra” (On Heaven and Earth) was written as a series of conversations between then Archbishop of Buenos Aires Cardinal Jorge Mario […]
MOSCOW – Catholics aren’t the only ones who have noted the significance of Pope Francis’ name choice. Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, Metropolitan of Volokolamsk and head of the Russian Orthodox Church“s Department of External Relations, says the Argentine pontiff’s decision to honor Saint Francis of Assisi puts “service to the poor” at the top of the […]
FEZ – It had served over the years as a prison, a carpet factory and a boxing gym. But last week, the building in this ancient Moroccan city’s central medina was officially returned to its original incarnation: the Slat-al-Fassiyine synagogue was inaugurated by King Mohammed VI after a long-anticipated restoration. Rare in the Arab world […]
With his historic resignation, Benedict offers a more modern vision of the Catholic Church. Otherwise, says a commentator from his native Germany, he was a man stuck in the last millennium.
BBC NEWS (UK), TIMES OF INDIA, HINDUSTAN TIMES (India) Worldcrunch ALLAHABAD – At least 36 pilgrims on their way back from the world’s largest religious festival in northern India have died in a stampede late Sunday. The death toll may rise again, as dozens of other injured were in a critical condition after the stampede […]
ISTANBUL – Four heavily made-up, peroxide blondes are sitting on a talk show set. In broken German, they’re trying to prove that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is wrong. It’s a particularly bizarre bit of religious propaganda – but since 2011 creationist theories have been packaged this way for Western viewers and broadcast by the […]
CASABLANCA – Saturday September 1st was a sunny day, the afternoon sky was blue and the summer holidays not quite over. A young couple, Mr. and Mrs. Ajouhi wanted to bring their six and three-year-old children to the Tahiti Beach Club on the Corniche Boulevard in Casablanca, Morocco. Established in 1940 and currently owned by […]
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“Buddhaland” – Is Nothing Sacred Anymore?
The struggle for power in Lumbini, Nepal as a Chinese group pushes a “mega project” to draw Buddhist tourists from around the world.
CALCATA – Alessandro Falconi had promised he would pick up his guests by car, but he is an hour late. Luckily, the 30-kilometer drive to Calcata, where Falconi runs a small Bed & Breakfast, more than made up for the long wait. The roads in this countryside north of Rome are narrow and winding. Falconi’s […]
Worldcrunch VATICAN CITY – It’s been a long time coming, but Pope Benedict XVI has finally graced the world with his first few tweets. Two weeks after establishing his Twitter handle, @Pontifex (Latin for “Pope”) in eight different languages, he finally sent out some 140-character blessings Wednesday morning : Dear friends, I am pleased to […]
PARIS – What kind of haircuttee are you? Do you belong to the mute or the verbose category? At the hair salon, we apparently tend to be rather predictable. “About six out of ten people will just listen to what the hairdresser says. The others mainly need someone to talk to,” says Anthony Galifot, hairdresser […]
PARIS – To look at them, you would never know the agony these young men, relaxed and self-assured, have endured. Drinking wine and eating blinis in their comfortable Parisian apartment, Nicolas (not his real name), Bertrand, Fabrice and Damien all tell a similar story. Raised in practicing Catholic families, and believers themselves, they have taken […]
CHIRANG – “Around 50 of them came and opened fire on our village.” Rebayal Ali still seems stunned, his eyes glazed over. His vest clings to his skinny torso because of the humidity, as the Muslim farmer tells Le Monde of his night of terror. It was July 23 in his village in Assam, a […]
KIGALI – In Rwanda, getting married has always been a complicated affair. Before anything, the families of the bride and groom sit down for a long negotiation. Once they have exchanged gifts and agreed that the couple should indeed marry, and of course settled on what the dowry will be, the traditional wedding can start. […]
KIGALI – There are preachers everywhere in the Rwandan capital. From minibuses to markets, from hospitals to the streets, all day, they try to get people to join their church. Early September, at the Nyabugogo market in Kigali, market-goers were surprised to see the Sainte-Famille parish priest. He had come to the market with worshippers […]
AL JAZEERA (Qatar), REUTERS, BBC (UK), SANA (Syria) Worldcrunch Anger against the West is spreading throughout the Muslim world as further reports of attacks on the UK, German and US embassies develop Friday afternoon. Following Pope Benedict XVI’s arrival Friday for a three-day trip to Lebanon, anti-Western protests amassed in the country’s second-largest city Tripoli. […]
JERUSALEM – It is almost prayer time in Ramot, the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in north Jerusalem, and men in black suits, white ties and black hats with wide brims are hurrying to the synagogue. On July 31, the 10-year-old “Tal Law” exempting ultra-Orthodox Jews from military duty expired, sparking a nationwide debate in Israel over the […]
BEIRUT – Elias, a 42-year-old Syrian, is chain smoking under the silent gaze of his children. This Christian farmer abandoned his lands, near the Lebanese border, leaving behind conflicts he felt had nothing to do with him, but tormented by the future of Syria and the fate of his minority religion there. Together with 20 […]
LE MONDE, LE PARISIEN (France) Worldcrunch PARIS – On August 15, a controversial “Prayer for France” will be read out at French Catholic churches, reviving a centuries old tradition as the country celebrates the Feast of the Assumption — the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven. The wording of the prayer, which […]
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (USA), THE GUARDIAN (UK) Worldcrunch Russian authorities have charged members of an Islamic sect with child abuse after discovering underground cells near Kazan in Tatarstan where a self-proclaimed prophet and his followers kept one to 17-year-olds for nearly a decade without heat or sunlight. The Guardian reports that prosecutors have opened a […]