WASHINGTON (RNS) Never before has a U.S. stamp celebrated anything Hindu.
But coming soon to a post office near you: a stamp marking the Hindu holiday of Diwali.
The new Forever stamp is scheduled to be featured at a first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony on Oct. 5 at the Consulate General of India in New York City.
Diwali, or the Hindu festival of lights, is observed across the globe with music, fireworks and dance. It celebrates good triumphing over evil.
The stamp features a photograph of a traditional diya oil lamp, its flame glowing in front of a gold background.
The Hindu American Foundation, which helped lead a campaign for the stamp, said the diya is “the most iconic symbol of the holiday.” Continue reading
Pope Francis and Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, the Primate of the Anglican Communion, will meet in Rome Oct. 5 to celebrate First Vespers in the Basilica of San Gregorio al Celio.
(JNS.org) A new interfaith and spiritual gathering of Christians, Jews and Muslims will take place in Jerusalem this September.
NEW ORLEANS, La. — The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) voted overwhelmingly last week to approve a declaration of unity with the Roman Catholic Church in an endeavor to “enumerate the many points of agreement between Lutherans and Catholics”—a move that some state is contrary to biblical Christianity.
Many Muslims attended church in France this Sunday to show compassion for slain priest, Father Jacques Hamel, and solidarity with their Catholic compatriots.
Muslims and Catholics joined in Friday prayers at the mosque in the Normandy town where an elderly priest was slain this week, with one imam chastising the extremists as non-Muslims who are “not part of civilization.”
A priest was killed and another person seriously injured when two members from an Islamic extremist group stormed the Church of Saint-Etienne du Rouvray in Normandy, France, on July 26. The assailants slit the throat of Father Jacques Hamel, who was 85 years old.
French religious leaders have called for more security at places of worship following the murder of an elderly priest in Normandy on Tuesday.
Some 1,700 Christians from around 300 denominations have met in Munich for a ‘Together in Europe’ gathering of the Ecumenical Congress promoting unity between Catholics, Protestants and Evangelicals.