Mark A. Kellner

Antisemitic attacks jumped 34% last year to hit all-time high, Anti-Defamation League says

Antisemitic incidents in the United States rose 34% last year to 2,717 reports of assault, harassment and vandalism, the Anti-Defamation League said Wednesday.

April 26, 2022

Muslim advocacy group says Islamophobic incidents hit 27-year high in 2021

Reports of Anti-Muslim or Islamophobic incidents were up 9% last year over 2020 figures to a 27-year high of 6,720 cases, according to an annual report released Monday by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

April 25, 2022

Satanists sue Pennsylvania school district for not allowing ‘Satan Club’

The Satanic Temple said it plans to file a civil suit against the Northern York School District in Pennsylvania over the body's rejection of an "After School Satan Club" that teaches "freethinking" to elementary school students.

April 25, 2022

Franklin Graham: Disney’s morals ‘are in the gutter’

The Rev. Franklin Graham told his 9.8 million Facebook followers on Saturday that leadership's morals at The Walt Disney Co. "are in the gutter."

April 25, 2022

Taliban regime merits ‘concern’ designation over religious freedom crackdown, U.S. commission says

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom on Monday identified Afghanistan as a "country of particular concern," citing the Taliban's crackdown on religious liberty in its annual report.

April 25, 2022

Mainline Presbyterian group suffers further membership losses, group reports

The Presbyterian Church (USA), one of the country's oldest mainline Protestant denominations, is shedding members and congregations while its aging constituency is posing challenges, the group's news service reported Thursday.

April 22, 2022

Hillsong Church pioneer blasts leaders now entangled in sex scandals, splintering ministry in U.S.

A pioneering leader of Hillsong Church, the Australian Pentecostal powerhouse with 130 congregations in 30 nations, has come out and blasted the group for "canceling" him and focusing more on money and power than faith.

April 22, 2022

Pope Francis joins U.N. appeal for Orthodox Easter truce in Ukraine

Pope Francis supports the appeal by the heads of the United Nations and Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church for a four-day "Easter truce" so those trapped in Ukraine's war zones can be evacuated, the Vatican said Thursday.

April 21, 2022

Mobility, not mortality, limits Queen Elizabeth during Jubilee 70th year on throne: biographer

Queen Elizabeth II is "very alert, very on the ball [but] just not very mobile," her latest biographer said in a telephone interview.

April 20, 2022

Sikhs, Muslims, Jews sue Marine Corps, Navy over restrictions on beards, hair

The Marine Corps and the Navy are facing lawsuits over prohibitions on service members wearing beards or long hair required by their religion.

April 19, 2022

Hillsong Church loses leaders at another U.S. congregation amid scandal

Hillsong Church, one of the most influential Pentecostal church networks in the world, lost two more pastors Monday as the leaders of Hillsong Boston announced their departure, media reports indicate.

April 18, 2022

Orthodox Jews reach out to Ukrainian brethren, refugees, evoke World War II-era rescue group

Orthodox Jews in the United States have raised more than $4.5 million to support their brethren in Ukraine and those finding refuge in other nations.

April 18, 2022

Scholars: Rating schools on friendliness to faith benefits students, parents, administrators

College-bound students and their parents will soon have a way of determining how "faith-friendly" a given school is, two academic researchers say.

April 18, 2022

Decades of church-military ‘symbiosis’ behind Russian Orthodox Church’s pro-war stance: scholar

A decadeslong "symbiosis" between church and military has planted the Russian Orthodox Church's leadership on the side of Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, a leading George Washington University scholar said Friday.

April 15, 2022

Handmade ‘watched’ matzah a hot Passover 2022 commodity; Lubavitchers set giveaway

ST. GEORGE, UTAH -- A special kind of unleavened bread is being readied for distribution in a quiet corner of southern Utah, where the local rabbi estimates as many as 2,000 Jews live among a population predominately affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, popularly known as the Mormons.

April 12, 2022

Faith leaders appeal for peace, offer words of comfort at faith summit in Ukraine

Pope Francis on Tuesday decried "the forces of evil" that have brought "the suffering inflicted on so many frail and defenseless persons" in Ukraine.

April 12, 2022

Moscow-aligned Ukrainian Orthodox clerics call for tribunal for Patriarch Kirill, key Putin ally

More than 290 clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church--Moscow Patriarchate, a body aligned with the Russian Orthodox Church, petitioned Monday for a church heresy trial against Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian church and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

April 11, 2022

Lessons of Easter, Passover have influence on nation’s future, poll shows

Most Americans say the lessons of Easter and Passover are not only important spiritual observances but also will influence the nation's future, according to a new poll released Monday.

April 11, 2022

Saudis to limit hajj to 1 million pilgrims under age 65

Saudi Arabia this year will allow 1 million participants to undertake the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca that is one of the five pillars of Islam.

April 10, 2022

Pope calls for ‘Easter truce’ in Ukraine, says God can end war there

Pope Francis on Palm Sunday called for an Easter truce in Ukraine.

April 10, 2022