World

This issue of A Public Witness takes a look at past efforts from Christian clergy to bless weapons of war before returning to a current conflict to hear from a pastor in the little town of Bethlehem.

Orthodox Christians packed churches Saturday night for Christmas Eve services during ongoing conflicts including the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has signed a law into effect that mandates that all denominations and religious groups reapply for state registration, which authorities reserve the right to refuse.

Many of the salt-making families are Christian. Reconciling Christian faith with Native Hawaiian spirituality can be challenging, but it often happens organically.

The only Baptist church in the Gaza Strip — and one of just four Christian congregations in the besieged territory — received significant damage from an Israeli attack on Tuesday.

The change, enacted in legislation signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in July, reflects both Ukrainians' dismay with the 22-month-old Russian invasion and their assertion of a national identity.

Vatican officials said about 70,000 people filled St. Peter's Square for Francis' noonday speech and blessing. They included many people flying Palestinian flags, as well as some Ukrainian ones.

Palestinian Christians have felt abandoned by global Christian church leaders’ statements on the Israel-Hamas war, with some viewing the war as a moment for Western denominations to reckon with their colonialist past.

'It’s war, it’s terrorism,' Pope Francis said.

'God never turns away anyone who approaches him!' read the document issued by the Vatican's doctrinal department.