Churches & Religion

‘It means everything’: Holocaust survivor Carla Olman Peperzak celebrates 100th birthday at middle school named in her honor

November 8, 2023, 8:13am Churches & Religion

Cupcake in hand, 12-year-old Sawyer Coombs scurried to the edge of the lunchroom to catch the first glimpse of his middle school’s special guest on Tuesday. Read story

Different faith traditions unite in Yakima to pray for peace in the Middle East

November 8, 2023, 8:06am Churches & Religion

In 1994, three men shared the Nobel Peace Prize for their work to create peace in the Middle East — in alphabetical order, they were Yasir Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin. Read story

Suspicious packages were sent to several synagogues in the Seattle area, including Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation in the Seward park neighborhood.

FBI investigating suspicious packages sent to Seattle synagogues

November 7, 2023, 7:53am Churches & Religion

Cormac Li was suspicious of the white envelope delivered to his Seward Park synagogue Friday afternoon, given that the name of the house of worship was misspelled and the two return addresses — one in Jerusalem, the other in Seattle — were clearly bogus. Read story

Ailing Pope Francis meets with European rabbis and condemns antisemitism, terrorism, war

November 6, 2023, 8:25am Churches & Religion

Pope Francis met with European rabbis on Monday and decried antisemitism, war and terrorism in a written speech he declined to read, saying he wasn’t feeling well. Read story

FILE - New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks at the state Capitol, Feb. 1, 2023, in Albany, N.Y. On Tuesday, Oct. 31, Hochul announced a probe of antisemitism policies at the City University of New York, the nation's largest urban public university system, as protests about the war between Israel and Hamas erupt at college campuses across the country.

Governors show solidarity with Israel, earning plaudits and criticism

November 5, 2023, 6:00am Churches & Religion

Eleven days after Hamas terrorists poured into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing at least 1,400 people and kidnapping more than 230, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul arrived in Israel with a photo of a Long Island native in hand to give to the president of the besieged country. Read story

Anchorage’s Russian Orthodox church gets new life

Bishop Alexei, the head of the Orthodox Church in Alaska, is shown Oct. 13, 2023, speaking to others gathered at a ceremony marking the beginning of a restoration project at the old St. Nicholas Church in Eklutna, Alaska. The Orthodox church is the oldest standing building in the Municipality of Anchorage.

The Russian Orthodox church on the outskirts of Alaska’s biggest city is packed with treasures for the Christian faithful: religious icons gifted by Romanov czars, panels of oil paintings and jewel-studded incense burners. But outside the hand-hewn log sanctuary, dozens of miniature Alaska Native spirit houses sit by aging gravesites… Read story

The White House is working on a strategy to combat Islamophobia. Many Muslim Americans are skeptical

President Joe Biden speaks during an event on protecting retirement security against what are commonly referred to as "junk fees" in the State Dining Room of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023, in Washington.

President Joe Biden’s administration is privately developing a national strategy to combat Islamophobia, according to people briefed on the matter, as it faces skepticism from many Muslim Americans for its staunch support of Israel’s military assault on Hamas in Gaza. Read story