The surprising election of the first American pope felt fraught and disorienting to Roman Catholics around the world, who had considered such an outcome unlikely and perhaps unwelcome — until Pope Leo XIV stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and chose to speak a few sentences in Spanish. In an instant, the new…
Sirens blaring, a truckful of armed men trailing in its wake, the black sport utility vehicle that sliced sharklike through the Syrian town of Ashrafieh Sahnaya on Friday morning was impossible to miss. Government forces had retaken control from the armed groups that turned the town into a sectarian battlefield for two days this week,…
New York lawmakers are considering a measure that would dramatically weaken their oversight over religious schools, potentially a major victory for the state’s Hasidic Jewish community. The proposal, which could become part of a state budget deal, has raised profound concern among education experts, including the state education commissioner, Betty Rosa, who said in an…
In just the last month, the Supreme Court has heard three important religion cases, culminating in yesterday’s argument over a Catholic charter school in Oklahoma. Judging from the justices’ questioning, the side pressing religious-freedom claims seemed likely to prevail in all three. That would extend a remarkable winning streak for religion at the Supreme Court….
Israel launched airstrikes on Syria on Wednesday and threatened to strike government forces there if clashes persisted between pro-government fighters and militiamen from the Druse minority. Wading into the latest eruption of sectarian violence in the country, the Israeli military said its aircraft had struck a group of “operatives” accused of having “attacked Druse civilians”…
Violent clashes between pro-government fighters and Druse militia around Syria’s capital, Damascus, spread on Wednesday and drew Israel’s military into the fray, leaving at least 11 people dead, according to the Syrian authorities and a war monitor. The total death toll for two days of unrest rose to at least 28 after the latest outbreak…
The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Wednesday over the fate of the nation’s first religious charter school, in Oklahoma, which seeks to use government money to teach a curriculum infused by Catholic doctrine. In earlier cases from Maine and Montana, the court ruled that states that decide to create programs to help parents pay…
Two Republican congressmen arrived in Damascus on Friday, the first visit by American lawmakers to Syria in many years — and a signal that the party is starting to pay attention to the war-ravaged country after changes in leadership. The congressmen, Cory Mills of Florida and Marlin Stutzman of Indiana, were accompanied by members of…
The Indian Parliament passed a controversial bill on Friday that increases government oversight of properties held by Muslim trusts, despite vocal protests that the religious minority was being singled out for interference. The bill would allow the appointment of non-Muslims to panels administering the trusts, called Waqf boards, and empower state officials to be adjudicators…
The extremists began by asserting control over women’s bodies. In the political vacuum that has emerged after the overthrow of Bangladesh’s authoritarian leader, religious fundamentalists in one town declared that young women could no longer play soccer. In another, they forced the police to free a man who had harassed a woman for not covering…