The executive branch of the European Union has withdrawn its “guidelines for inclusive communication,” which suggested that European Commission officials “update” the language they use by replacing the word “Christmas” with “holiday times" and avoiding “gendered” words.
The United States has raised “serious concern” over a resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly, which is part of what is known as the “Palestinian Package” and refers to Judaism’s most holy site, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where the first and second Jewish Temples once stood, by only its Muslim name, al-Haram al-Sharif.
A court in Nepal has sentenced a pastor to two years in prison under the country’s harsh anti-conversion law for merely saying that prayers can heal COVID-19, according to reports.
An 11-year-old girl in Israel found a rare silver coin from the first century, with the inscription “Holy Jerusalem,” while volunteering for an archaeological project, Israel Antiquities Authority has announced.
The family of a 12-year-old Christian girl from Pakistan’s Punjab province who was abducted by a Muslim man earlier this month fears she's been forcefully converted to Islam and married to her abductor, just as many other girls have been in the past.
Iranian authorities have ordered a pastor from the Church of Iran denomination to return to prison to begin serving a five-year sentence for “sectarian activities,” indicating that Christian persecution might be intensifying after a brief respite due to the spread of COVID-19 that led authorities to the temporary release of many people from prison.
Archaeologists in Israel say they have discovered in eastern Jerusalem a 2,000-year-old precious gem an engraving that depicts the Balm of Gilead, a rare perfume used medicinally and which was mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.
An annual census by the Vatican news agency, Fides, shows that the number of Catholics has increased in Africa, the Americas and Asia but gone down in Europe.
Speaking at a conference in California, Academy award-winning actor Anthony Hopkins, who has starred in films like "The Remains of the Day," frankly discussed his longtime fight with alcoholism and how "trust in God" helped him overcome it and saved his life and career.
Episodes of theologian John Piper's podcast "Ask Pastor John" have been played 100 million times over the last five-and-a-half years, and just one episode, on whether oral sex is okay, has been played more than 1.5 million times.
Archaeologists recently uncovered Christian prayer beads dating from the eighth to ninth century on an ancient island in the United Kingdom known as "Holy Island," and say the discovery will give an insight into how people in medieval Britain lived and expressed their faith.
The United Methodist Church (UMC) will convene its 2028 General Conference at two locations simultaneously for the first time in the denomination’s history, bringing together delegates in the United States and Africa for its highest legislative assembly. The UMC Commission on the General Conference announced Tuesday that Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Harare, Zimbabwe, will jointly host the gathering.
Christian persecution has worsened in more than half of 18 countries surveyed by a Catholic watchdog, raising concerns about the future of Christian communities in the Middle East. The Middle East has emerged as an area of particular concern, where prolonged instability threatens Christianity’s presence in its historic birthplace.
Multisite churches are expanding rapidly across the United States, attracting nearly one in 10 Protestant churchgoers, but their growth is increasingly outpacing the development of qualified leaders, according to a new national study. The report identified more than 1,800 multisite churches operating over 6,000 campuses nationwide, highlighting the growing influence of congregations that maintain multiple worship locations under a unified organizational structure.
New York Times bestselling author and BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey has drawn mixed reactions from Christians after questioning whether believers should embrace Halloween festivities and consume horror-themed entertainment. During the Oct. 19 episode of her “Relatable” podcast, Stuckey addressed the different ways Christians approach Halloween, acknowledging that the subject involves personal convictions and differing interpretations of Christian freedom.
A federal appeals court has handed a legal victory to churches, synagogues and other religious organizations challenging the Trump administration’s decision to permit immigration enforcement operations at places of worship. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed a lower court’s decision rejecting the religious groups’ request for a preliminary injunction.