With administration bets leading the 2019 senatorial race, an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care (CBCP-ECPPC) has called on the country’s would be senators to pass pieces of legislations with the welfare of the people in mind, and not just to please the president.

An Iraqi court has sentenced three French citizens to death after finding them guilty for joining the Islamic State group.

The Philippine Congress has passed a bill declaring Sept. 8, the Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, a national holiday.

The Interior Ministry announced the elimination of two terrorist cells comprised of 16 members in Arish, who were armed with firearms and explosives according to a statement Tuesday.

A UN team investigating the massacre of Iraq's Yazidi minority and other atrocities has excavated 12 mass graves and is collecting witness accounts that could be used in Iraqi and other national courts, according to a UN report seen by AFP on Monday.

Sochi, May 16, Interfax - It is necessary to take into account the opinion of residents on the construction of St. Catherine's Church in Yekaterinburg; local residents should be polled, and the interests of both supporters and opponents of the project should be respected, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

An Egyptian court on Sunday sentenced two men to death and eight others to between three years and life in prison over an attack on a church and Christian-owned shop in Cairo that killed 10 people.

French lawmakers on May 10 approved a controversial law for restoring Notre Dame within five years, after the famous Paris cathedral sustained major fire damage last month.

Pope Francis has issued new rules obligating priests and nuns to report incidents of abuse or cover-ups to church authorities, saying, "The crimes of sexual abuse offend Our Lord, cause physical, psychological and spiritual damage to the victims and harm the community of the faithful."

The Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia University hosted an international conference on Buddhist chaplaincy and faith-based social services from 4–5 May. The conference was co-sponsored by the International Center of Chinese Buddhist Culture and Education in the US and the International Center for Buddhist Studies at Renmin University in Beijing.

From cleaning up relatives' graves and sharing food with the poor to holding colourful torch-lit street parades, millions of Indonesians are getting ready to welcome the holy month of Ramadan in the world's populous Muslim-majority country.

Sri Lanka has banned about 200 Muslim clerics as a security operation and investigation continue into the Easter Sunday massacre that killed more than 250 people.

Authorities in Poway say they are reviewing social media of 19-year-old suspect to establish motive behind deadly shooting.

It comes as intelligence suggests the chance of assaults on churches by Isis fanatics is at an "all-time high".

The Society for the Promotion of Buddhism, known in Japanese as Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai (BDK), has awarded McMaster University C$1.2 million (US$891,000) to establish a Numata Visiting Scholar Program in Buddhist Studies. The grant comes as the Department of Religious Studies at McMaster University, based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, is experiencing heightened interest in its Buddhist Studies program.