Churches & Religion

Holy month of Ramadan begins for Muslims across the world

March 22, 2023, 4:09pm Churches & Religion

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan began at sundown on Wednesday, as the faithful prepared for a month of dawn-to-dusk fasting intended to bring them closer to God and to remind them of the suffering of those less fortunate. Read story

People bathe in the Cisadane River, ahead the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Tangerang, Indonesia, Tuesday, March 21, 2023. Muslims followed local tradition to wash in the river to symbolically cleanse their soul prior to entering the holiest month in Islamic calendar.

Muslims in Indonesia celebrate Ramadan amid soaring prices

March 22, 2023, 8:23am Churches & Religion

Millions of Muslims in Indonesia are celebrating the holy month of Ramadan that was set to begin Thursday as many grappled with soaring food prices as a result of supply disruptions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Read story

Mill Plain United Methodist Church plans food drive to aid FISH of Orchards

March 16, 2023, 6:01am Churches & Religion

Mill Plain United Methodist Church will host a community food drive from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at 15804 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd. Read story

FILE - Pope Francis arrives for a pilgrimage at the Lac Saint Anne, Canada, on July 26, 2022, as he crisscrossed Canada delivering long overdue apologies to the country's Indigenous groups for the decades of abuses and cultural destruction they suffered at Catholic Church-run residential schools. Pope Francis' first 10 years as pope have been marked by several historic events, as well as several unplanned moments or comments that nevertheless helped define the contours and priorities of history's first Latin American pope.

10 iconic moments in Pope Francis’ first 10 years as pontiff

March 13, 2023, 8:23am Churches & Religion

Pope Francis marks the 10th anniversary of his election as pope on Monday. During that decade, several historic occasions, as well as several unplanned events, helped define the contours and priorities of history’s first Latin American pontiff. Visits with refugees in Italy and Greece, trips to Africa and the Arabian… Read story

Gurdeep Singh Saggu a member of Sikh Motorcycle Club USA, outside Garden City, Kansas.

Curious about the motorcycle club wearing turbans? They want to talk with you

March 13, 2023, 5:59am Churches & Religion

Gurdeep Singh Saggu sat on the carpet of the Stockton Sikh Temple prayer hall, staring at the photographs of the seven Sikhs killed in a mass shooting in Wisconsin in 2012. Read story

Vatican ‘donating’ its own 3 Parthenon sculptures to Greece

The marble head of a young man, a tiny fragment from the 2,500-year-old sculptured decoration of the Parthenon Temple on the ancient Acropolis, is displayed in 2008 during a presentation to the press at the new Acropolis Museum in Athens.

The Vatican and Greece finalized a deal Tuesday for the return of three sculpture fragments from the Parthenon that have been in the collection of the Vatican Museums for two centuries, the latest case of a Western museum bowing to demands for restitution. Read story

‘A time bomb’: India’s sinking holy town faces grim future

Joshimath town is seen along side snow capped mountains, in India's Himalayan mountain state of Uttarakhand, Jan. 21, 2023. For months, residents in Joshimath, a holy town burrowed high up in India's Himalayan mountains, have seen their homes slowly sink. They pleaded for help, but it never arrived. In January however, their town made national headlines. Big, deep cracks had emerged in over 860 homes, making them unlivable.

Inside a shrine overlooking snow-capped mountains, Hindu priests heaped spoonfuls of puffed rice and ghee into a crackling fire. They closed their eyes and chanted in Sanskrit, hoping their prayers would somehow turn back time and save their holy — and sinking — town. Read story