Faith

A group of students at Columbia Heights High School came up with a unique way to mark World Hijab Day, giving their peers a chance to ask questions about the traditional head covering or even try one on.

A powerful blast struck on Monday inside a mosque in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing more than 18 people and wounding more than 70 worshippers, officials said.

Two people at the center of the controversy at Hamline University over academic freedom that has gained international attention spoke Wednesday about how the incident has impacted their lives.

Many believe Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died Saturday, mishandled the clergy sexual abuse scandal. But John Thavis, who was the Rome bureau chief for Catholic News Service during Benedict’s papacy, says his record is more nuanced. And he says it was music that could stir the stubbornly straight-faced pontiff.

Bells tolled Thursday for the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the German theologian who made history by retiring, as thousands of mourners packed St. Peter's Square.

Memorial masses are planned in Minneapolis and St. Paul to honor Benedict, who died Saturday morning.

He is remembered as a staunch conservative who opposed modernizing reforms and as the first pope to step down since the 15th century.

The Vatican says Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is lucid, conscious and stable, but his condition remains serious. That, a day after officials revealed that the 95-year-old's health had deteriorated recently.

Austen Hartke at Transmission Ministry Collective is working to foster a more welcoming space in Christianity for transgender folks.

Pope Francis used his Christmas message to make a plea for an immediate end to the fighting in Ukraine, which he decried as "senseless." He also addressed long-running conflicts in the Middle East.