Religion

Tens of millions of Hindu devotees make do with little at Maha Kumbh festival

PRAYAGRAJ, India (AP) — It’s late evening in the city of Prayagraj and the roadside vendors selling snacks are packing up their wares to shut for the night.

4 men charged in a Brooklyn synagogue tunnel scuffle are awaiting trial in April

Benin’s mecca of spirits and gods draws tourists and followers with famed Voodoo festival

Pope Francis is introspective and self-critical in his autobiography, at least about his youth

Millions of pilgrims and naked, ash-smeared ascetics take holy dips in India’s mega Hindu festival

Europe must combat antisemitism as thousands of Jews abandon the continent, top Jewish leader says

The leader of a prominent European Jewish organization says authorities across Europe need to immediately take action against a precipitous rise in antisemitism.

Bejeweled crown stolen from Virgin Mary statue at Philadelphia church

A man broke into a Philadelphia church and stole a 125-year-old bejeweled crown from atop a marble statue of the Virgin Mary. City police say the burglary at St.

What are the main obstacles to a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages?

Israel and Hamas have been holding indirect talks for more than a year aimed at ending the war in Gaza and returning scores of militant-held hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

India kicks off a massive Hindu festival touted as the world’s largest religious gathering

Millions of Hindu devotees and mystics have gathered in the northern Indian city of Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh festival, which is the largest religious congregation on earth.

Pope Francis baptizes 21 babies in an annual ceremony at the Sistine Chapel

Pope Francis has baptised 21 babies in the Sistine Chapel on Sunday under the ceiling frescoed by Michelangelo, in what has become an annual tradition that marks the end of the Christmas holiday period at the Vatican.

Biden honors Pope Francis with the Presidential Medal of Freedom

President Joe Biden has honored Pope Francis with the Presidential Medal of Freedom with distinction. It’s the highest civilian award given by the president.

Syrian intelligence agency says it thwarted a planned Islamic State attack on a Shiite shrine

Intelligence officials in Syria’s new de facto government say they have thwarted a plan by the Islamic State group to set off a bomb at a Shiite shrine in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab.

Bill McCartney, who coached Colorado to its only football national championship in 1990, has died

Bill McCartney, who coached Colorado to its only football national championship in 1990, has died. He was 84.

Some states are making the Bible more central in schools. Advocates may use Trump’s influence

Conservative lawmakers across the U.S. are pushing to introduce more Christianity to public school classrooms, testing the separation of church and state.

LA wildfires destroy numerous houses of worship. Clergy and congregants vow to persevere

Among the thousands of buildings destroyed in the Los Angeles wildfires were a mosque, a synagogue, a Catholic parish and a half-dozen Protestant churches.

Anita Bryant, a popular singer who became known for opposition to gay rights, dead at age 84

Anita Bryant, a former Miss Oklahoma and popular singer who became known over the second half of her life for her outspoken opposition to gay rights, has died.

Some notable quotes from Jimmy Carter’s funeral

Jimmy Carter has been remembered at his funeral as a man of “character” and “something of a miracle” with “prophetic” vision.

Pope asks aide to deliver his annual foreign policy address, tells ambassadors he’s battling a cold

Pope Francis has told ambassadors accredited to the Holy See that he wasn’t up to delivering his annual foreign policy speech and asked an aide to deliver it instead.

Filipino Catholics pray for good health and peace in huge procession venerating Jesus statue

At least 1.8 million mostly barefoot Catholic worshippers are marching in an annual procession in the Philippines that venerates a centuries-old black statue of Jesus.

Jimmy Carter lauded for humility and service in Washington before being laid to rest in Georgia

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was honored with the pageantry of a funeral in the nation’s capital before a second service in his tiny Georgia hometown that launched a Depression-era farm boy to the world stage.

Scarves over headscarves, Muslim women’s outdoors group tackles snow tubing in Minnesota

Three years ago, a Somali-American mom in Minneapolis founded a group for Muslim women who want to enjoy the great outdoors.

In his first 2025 catechism lesson, Pope says anyone who exploits or abuses a child answers to God

Pope Francis has denounced the “scourge” of child labor and other abuses suffered by children, saying anyone who harms or exploits a child will have to answer to God.

President-elect Donald Trump joins visitors to Jimmy Carter’s casket in Capitol Rotunda

President-elect Donald Trump paid his respects on Wednesday as President Jimmy Carter lay in state at the Capitol Rotunda as part of state funeral rites.

Tents arrive for survivors of a quake that killed 126 in freezing, high-altitude Tibet

Rescuers in the freezing, high-altitude Tibet region in western China searched a second day for any remaining victims of a deadly earthquake that struck near a holy city for Tibetan Buddhists, before shifting their focus to resettling the survivors.

Who was Dietrich Bonhoeffer? An AP Explainer about the anti-Nazi pastor

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor and theologian from Germany executed by the Nazis in 1945 at age 39 for his role in a resistance movement.

What would Bonhoeffer do? Anti-Nazi pastor’s legacy claimed, debated across political spectrum

Shortly before he was hanged by the Nazis in 1945 at age 39, Dietrich Bonhoeffer reportedly told a fellow prisoner: “This is the end — for me the beginning of life.”

Ethiopians celebrate Christmas as natural calamities and conflict take their toll

Ethiopia’s Orthodox Christians are celebrating Christmas with prayers for peace in the Horn of Africa nation that has faced persistent conflict in recent years.

Jimmy Carter eulogized by Kamala Harris and others as 39th president returns to Washington

Jimmy Carter’s state funeral has moved to Washington after observances in his native Georgia. The 39th president’s remains left the Carter Presidential Center on Tuesday morning and flew to the Washington area aboard Special Air Mission 39.

France marks 10 years since deadly Charlie Hebdo attack

It’s been a decade since Islamic extremist gunmen stormed the offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in a deadly assault that shook France to its core.

Middle East latest: 3 Israelis fatally shot in West Bank attack on a bus

Gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Israelis in the occupied West Bank on Monday, killing at least three people and wounding seven others.

Catholics in rural area outside Brazil’s capital celebrate Epiphany festival

SANTO ANTONIO DE GOIAS, Brazil (AP) — Catholics in the small Brazilian city of Santo Antonio de Goias celebrated the Epiphany throughout the weekend and into Monday, the same day the rest of the nation observed Three Kings Day.

Bulgarians celebrate the feast of Epiphany with a ritual plunge into icy rivers

Thousands of Orthodox Christian worshippers in Bulgaria on Monday braved the freezing winter weather to plunge into icy waters as they observed centuries-old Epiphany traditions.

Pope Francis has named the first woman to head a major Vatican office, choosing an Italian nun

Pope Francis has named the first woman to head a major Vatican office. He is appointing Sister Simona Brambilla, an Italian nun, to become prefect of the Vatican department responsible for all the church’s religious orders.

Pope names like-minded ally Cardinal McElroy as Washington archbishop

Pope Francis has named Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego as the archbishop of Washington, D.C. He is tapping one of his most progressively like-minded allies to head the Catholic Church in the U.S. capital at the start of Donald Trump’s second administration.

Pope wraps up busy Christmas season by calling for culture of welcome in Christian communities

Pope Francis is wrapping up a busy Christmas season. He’s celebrating Epiphany Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.