# Religion

Vatican, Muslim Clerics Lay Groundwork For Landmark Talks

For a second day, Muslim and Catholic leaders sat down at the Vatican in Rome yesterday for talks to pave the way for what some are billing a historic meeting of the faiths later this year. The preparatory talks by five Muslim leaders and five Vatican officials are the result of a Muslim call for dialogue.

# Religion

Polish Priest Wins Templeton Prize for Uniting Science and Religion

Michael Heller, a Polish Roman Catholic priest and cosmologist whose intellectual and religious life has been grounded in the insights of both science and religion, has won the 2008 Templeton Prize, believed to be the largest yearly monetary award given to a single individual.

# Religion

Rick Warren Helps Rwanda Become a Country With a Purpose

Pastor Rick Warren, author of the Purpose Driven Life, along with the president of Rwanda launched '40 Days of Purpose' for thousands of Rwandan Christians, and affirmed a Global Peace Plan that tackles five of the largest problems facing the world today including, poverty, disease, and ignorance.

# Religion

Rick Warren Reignites Peace Coalition

Rick Warren, the author of Purpose Driven Life, at a conference last week, invited 1,700 evangelical pastors to join his PEACE coalition, which was created to turn at least half of the world's tens of millions of Christian churches into a giant "network of networks" dedicated to relieving the poverty and misery of the developing world.

# Religion

Vietnam Eases Restrictions on Catholics

Vietnam's communist rulers are easing restrictions on Catholics after a history of church-state land disputes, reports the Reuters News agency.

# Religion

Teaching Tolerance in High School Religion Class

Modesto, Calif. is the only public school district in the U.S. that requires students to learn about the major religions. It is a model that may benefit Americans of all faiths.

# Religion

Saudi King Calls for Unity, Reconciliation at Interfaith Conference

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia sponsored an interfaith conference that kicked off in Madrid yesterday in an effort to bring Muslims, Christians, and Jews closer together.

# Religion

Church Building Destroyed but Congregation is Resurrected With New Purpose

Last spring, the Peace Baptist Church, a massive Classic Revival building, was consumed by fire, but soon members will break ground on a new building in Philadephia and begin with earnest to live the Easter message.