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Churches & Religion

Ma Aijun, 45, of China, poses next to a mountain of scrap metal unloaded from the Chinese merchant ship he works on, at the port of Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024.

Seafarers move global trade — and Christmas gifts. These ministries bring them holiday cheer

Ma Aijun, 45, of China, poses next to a mountain of scrap metal unloaded from the Chinese merchant ship he works on, at the port of Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024.

December 29, 2024, 6:00am Churches & Religion

On a balmy December evening, four Indian crew members, eager to go explore this Mediterranean city where their container ship docked for a few hours, turned for help to Stella Maris. It’s the largest of the faith-based organizations that minister to seafarers in hundreds of ports around the world. Read story

Sandor Iron Rope, Oglala Lakota tribe member, president of the Native American Church of South Dakota and Indigenous Peyote Conservation Initiative board member, left, and Miriam Volat, executive director of the Indigenous Peyote Conservation Initiative and co-director of the RiverStyx Foundation, look for peyote, a cactus and sacred plant medicine utilized in ceremony by members of the Native American Church, in Hebbronville, Texas, Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

What is the Native American Church and why is peyote sacred to members?

Sandor Iron Rope, Oglala Lakota tribe member, president of the Native American Church of South Dakota and Indigenous Peyote Conservation Initiative board member, left, and Miriam Volat, executive director of the Indigenous Peyote Conservation Initiative and co-director of the RiverStyx Foundation, look for peyote, a cactus and sacred plant medicine utilized in ceremony by members of the Native American Church, in Hebbronville, Texas, Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

December 28, 2024, 6:05am Churches & Religion

The Native American Church is considered the most widespread religious movement among the Indigenous people of North America. It holds sacred the peyote cactus, which grows naturally only in some parts of southern Texas and northern Mexico. Peyote has been used spiritually in ceremonies, and as a medicine by Native… Read story

Photos of the late Amada Cardenas, who was one of the first federally licensed peyote dealers, alongside her husband, to harvest and sell the sacramental plant to followers of the Native American Church, in Mirando City, Texas, Monday, March 25, 2024.

Why this Mexican American woman played a vital role in the US sacramental peyote trade

Photos of the late Amada Cardenas, who was one of the first federally licensed peyote dealers, alongside her husband, to harvest and sell the sacramental plant to followers of the Native American Church, in Mirando City, Texas, Monday, March 25, 2024.

December 28, 2024, 6:02am Churches & Religion

The late Amada Cardenas was called many things — the “angel of peyote,” the “peyote rose” or simply “Grandma Amada.” Read story

Members of the Indigenous Peyote Conservation Initiative and various chapters of the Native American Church and ABNDN, Azee Bee Nahgha of Diné Nation, look March 26 for peyote growing in the wild, in Hebbronville, Texas.

Peyote sacred to Native Americans threatened by psychedelic renaissance and development

Members of the Indigenous Peyote Conservation Initiative and various chapters of the Native American Church and ABNDN, Azee Bee Nahgha of Diné Nation, look March 26 for peyote growing in the wild, in Hebbronville, Texas.

December 28, 2024, 6:00am Churches & Religion

In this corner of southern Texas, the plump cacti seem to pop out of arid dust and cracked earth, like magic dumplings. Read story

Dov Marcus, right, kisses his father, Robert Marcus, in Teaneck, N.J., on Dec.

Making faith welcoming for disabled worshipers

Dov Marcus, right, kisses his father, Robert Marcus, in Teaneck, N.J., on Dec.

December 28, 2024, 5:30am Churches & Religion

The Rev. Shannon Blosser sees how his son loves church — the music, the singing, the communion. But the United Methodist pastor said his family hasn’t always felt like 11-year-old Noah, who is autistic, has been welcome. Read story

Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, right, and Rabbi Shmuel Segal, left, watch the set-up of a giant Hanukkah Menorah by the Jewish Chabad Educational Center ahead of the Jewish Hanukkah holiday, in front of the Brandenburg Gate at the Pariser Platz in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah! Rare holiday overlap sparks reflection on faith

Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, right, and Rabbi Shmuel Segal, left, watch the set-up of a giant Hanukkah Menorah by the Jewish Chabad Educational Center ahead of the Jewish Hanukkah holiday, in front of the Brandenburg Gate at the Pariser Platz in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024.

December 26, 2024, 11:30am Churches & Religion

For the first time in nearly 20 years, the first night of Hanukkah fell on Christmas Day, marking a rare confluence of Jewish and Christian holidays, which occur on separate calendars. Read story

Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024.

Pope brings Holy Year and prayers for better future to Rome prison, a ‘cathedral of pain and hope’

Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024.

December 26, 2024, 7:47am Churches & Religion

Pope Francis inaugurated his Holy Year at Rome’s main prison on Thursday, bringing a message of hope to inmates and involving them in the Catholic Church’s once every quarter-century celebration that is expected to bring about 32 million pilgrims to Rome. Read story

Pope Francis waves before delivering the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for ‘to the city and to the world’ ) Christmas’ day blessing from the main balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024.

Pope urges ‘all nations’ to overcome divisions

Pope Francis waves before delivering the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for ‘to the city and to the world’ ) Christmas’ day blessing from the main balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024.

December 25, 2024, 11:42am Churches & Religion

Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas message on Wednesday urged “all people of all nations” to find courage during this Holy Year “to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions” plaguing the world, from the Middle East to Ukraine, Africa to Asia. Read story

Friends of the Carpenter Executive Director Mike Hammond looks over items made by those who spend time at the nonprofit in Vancouver’s Fruit Valley neighborhood. Hammond took over the nonprofit in April with the goal to open the space for people who may be socially excluded from other woodworking spaces.

‘A space for everybody’: Friends of the Carpenter looks to rejuvenate space, expand services

Friends of the Carpenter Executive Director Mike Hammond looks over items made by those who spend time at the nonprofit in Vancouver’s Fruit Valley neighborhood. Hammond took over the nonprofit in April with the goal to open the space for people who may be socially excluded from other woodworking spaces.

December 25, 2024, 6:10am Churches & Religion

Laughter filled the air as guests assembled small wood crosses on a recent afternoon at Friends of the Carpenter in Vancouver’s Fruit Valley neighborhood. Staff and volunteers circulated to chat with participants and offer homemade cupcakes. Read story

Conservator Corrine Long, of Dover, N.H., restores nearly 300-year-old painted angels on walls of Old North Church, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Boston.

Centuries-old angels uncovered at Boston church made famous by Paul Revere

Conservator Corrine Long, of Dover, N.H., restores nearly 300-year-old painted angels on walls of Old North Church, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Boston.

December 24, 2024, 7:43am Churches & Religion

Straddling the scaffolding high up in a historic Boston church, murals conservator Gianfranco Pocobene is working to uncover eight angels that were hidden under layers of paint for more than a century. Read story