By Adelle M. Banks (RNS) He’s Time magazine’s Person of the Year, the most talked about topic on Facebook and the most popular baby namesake in Italy. No surprise, Pope Francis is also the top Religion Story of the Year and the Religion Newsmaker of the Year, according to a poll of Religion Newswriters members….
By Claire McCartney Governmental restrictions on religious freedoms and social hostilities related to religious differences have increased globally since the Arab Spring, according to a recent Pew Research Center study. Despite hope expressed by people all over the world that the revolutionary political movement would bring increased personal freedom and regional peace, the Pew Center reports…
By Lauren Markoe WASHINGTON (RNS) People who hoped the Arab Spring would lead to greater religious freedom across the Middle East have been sorely disappointed, and a new Pew study confirms that the region has grown even more repressive for various religious groups. “In 2011, when most of the political uprisings known as the Arab…