Religion

VATICAN CITY – The future Pope Benedict XVI refused to defrock an American priest who confessed to molesting numerous children and who served prison time for it, simply because the cleric wouldn’t agree to the […] […]

THE violence that marked the Israeli takeover of the international aid flotilla is set to have serious security and political ramifications for Israel. “This is an event of historic proportions,” said Alon Liel, a former […] […]

ANKARA, TURKEY—Turkish police blocked dozens of stone-throwing protesters who tried to storm the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul over reports of an Israeli attack on at least one aid ship in international waters on Monday, news […] […]

A PAKISTANI court has ordered authorities to restore access to Facebook, nearly two weeks after the popular social networking website was blocked nationwide in a row over blasphemy. Justice Ejaz Chaudhry of the Lahore High […] […]

Tudor Parfitt has spent years chasing a theory that a lost tribe of Jews wound up in southern Africa. But his latest leap has landed him in a minefield. His theory is the remains of […] […]

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is turning up the heat on ‘tolerance’ for ‘cultural practices’ like female genital mutilation Ayaan Hirsi Ali breaks off an interview to answer her apartment intercom. A parcel has arrived. But it […] […]

VATICAN CITY—The Vatican prosecutor of clerical sex abuse warned perpetrators on Saturday that they would suffer damnation in hell that would be worse than the death penalty. The Rev. Charles Scicluna, a Maltese priest who […] […]

LAHORE: Gunmen yesterday stormed two Pakistani mosques belonging to a minority sect in Lahore, taking worshippers hostage and sparking gun battles with police that left 70 people dead. Squads of militants burst into prayer halls […] […]

MADRID—The Spanish city of Lleida has barred women from wearing face-covering Islamic veils inside its municipal buildings. The move makes the northern city of Lleida—population of 135,000—the first in Spain to regulate the garments that […] […]

PAKISTAN will restore access to YouTube but will block videos offensive to Muslims that are posted on the video-sharing site. A number of high-profile websites were blocked in Pakistan last week over offensive content, such […] […]