Riverside Church in New York City, one of the nation's best known congregations, has accepted the resignation of senior minister Brad Braxton two months after his installation.Braxton was controversial from the start. Some congregants complained that his compensation package was

Mainline Protestant denominations and the Catholic Church have been pushing the Obama administration to lift the nearly 50-year-old trade embargo with Cuba. This week, a prominent Cuban ecumenical leader said he believes the time is now right to do that.

President Barack Obama hosted gay rights activists at the White House to celebrate Gay Pride Month. During the gathering, the president said his administration is working hard to change what he called the "worn arguments and old attitudes" in the

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has kicked off a new project to distribute 100,000 free copies of the Qur'an to US legislators, educators, and others who help shape public policy and opinion. The group says it wants to follow up

Pope Benedict XVI says science may have helped to verify the final resting place of the Apostle Paul. The pope said carbon dating confirmed that bone fragments found in a sarcophagus near Rome date from the first or second century.

media=434]FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Aravind is the world's largest eye care center, a one-stop shop that even makes many of the lenses and instruments used by its surgeons. It looks like any of India's high tech centers where rich Indians

media=433]Read more of Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly's July 1, 2009 interview in New York City with Riverside Church senior minister, the Rev. Dr. Brad Braxton:I would say it's a time of relief, at least for me personally, to know that

In Iran, after weeks of protest, the country's religious authority validated the disputed presidential election and widened efforts to quash dissent. The Guardian Council, a body of clerics and Islamic law experts, this week formally certified President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as

Reverend BILL GAVENTA (Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities): In every faith community there is a scriptural basis for welcome and hospitality. But you've also got congregations who live in cultures where people with disabilities have been hidden and ostracized and

media=432]Rev. Francisco Marrero Gutierrez: Cuba-US Relations Mainline Protestant denominations and the Catholic Church have been pushing the Obama administration to lift the nearly 50-year-old trade embargo with Cuba. A prominent Cuban ecumenical leader says he believes the time is now

One of the most controversial points emerging in the debate over health care reform is the public plan option, a government-run healthcare plan that would compete with private insurers. Two experts answered your questions.

As Russia struggles to regain its economic momentum, health officials are facing a daunting problem: many young people are dying in their prime due to cheap cigarettes and dangerous cultural mores. Margaret Warner reports from Russia.

U.S. Marines encountered little opposition as they moved into Taliban territory in southern Afghanistan on Friday to win over local leaders and populations.

A party, even to celebrate America's independence, just didn't make it into the spending plan in parts of Patchwork Nation. Nixa, Mo., a socially conservative "Evangelical Epicenter," ended a 22-year tradition when it canceled its Sky High Fourth of July.

As fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq continues, so too does the work of the casualty assistance officers who help military families deal with the death of a loved one. In this slideshow, Lt. Col. Steven Beck talks about his duties

Paul Solman examines how the number of jobless people who fall outside of official unemployment counts offer a different picture of the nation's economic recovery.

Employers cut more jobs than expected last month, further quashing hopes for a quick economic recovery. The Labor Department reported Thursday that the country shed 467,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate hit a 26-year high of 9.5 percent.

What do you get when you pair an 11th century Spanish poet with a modern American composer? Last week, the audience at the Seattle Symphony found out at the world premiere of Aaron Jay Kernis' "Symphony of Meditations," based on

The U.S. is getting heavier every year, according to a report released Thursday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The study found that obesity rates rose in 23 out of 50 states in the past year and remained steady in

Columnists Mark Shields and Michael Gerson mull Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's surprise resignation and the Minnesota Supreme Court's ruling that granted Democrat Al Franken a U.S. Senate seat over Republican Norm Coleman.