Pope Francis has called for Christians, Jews and Muslims to work together for peace as he toured holy sites in Jerusalem on the final day of his Middle East pilgrimage.

His only previous trip to the Middle East had to be cut short after the outbreak of one of its worst crises - the 1973 Yom Kippur War that pitted Israel against Egypt and Syria.

Last Monday I sat in Auckland Town Hall and watched people from 65 countries taking an oath that made them New Zealand citizens.

The man at the centre of a mosque battle in Auckland has allegedly been monitored by police for potential terrorist allegiances.

Employers find it okay to employ Buddhists and Hindus but are wary of hiring Muslims, an AUT study has found.

One thousand Christians have been forced from their place of worship in a city in eastern China after Communist Party officials decided their 10-storey mega-church was an eyesore that needed to be destroyed.

A mosque in Auckland has been shut down indefinitely following violent attacks and the declaration of jihad, or holy war, against private security staff.

A group of 26 Italian women who claim to be having affairs with Roman Catholic priests have written a joint letter to the Pope begging him to end the Catholic Church's ban on priests having sex and getting married.

International outrage is growing after a heavily pregnant young woman was sentenced to death in Sudan for renouncing Islam and marrying a Christian man.

The Anglican Church has agreed to look at ways same-sex relationships can be part of church life, but will not marry gay couples.

A Salafist imam who taught two men who were stopped from leaving New Zealand to join the war in Syria says he is no terrorist.

The conventional investment thinking suggests tipping your money into growth assets like you have when there is a longer time frame.

The sons of a Muslim imam who was barred from his own mosque for allegedly teaching extreme Islam have denied their father is an advocate for jihad, or holy war.

A Muslim imam accused of teaching "extreme Islam" has been barred for a second time from his Auckland mosque sparking a row between worshippers.

Religious leaders in the UK want all halal and kosher meat labelled with slaughter methods. With a large chunk of NZ lamb sold there, are our exports at risk?

The Anglican Church faces a decision about gays and lesbians in the church this coming week.

Last week's newspaper delivered a comical cavalcade of delights.

A City known as China's Jerusalem has had its holy statues depicting biblical scenes destroyed, removed or "hidden" by authorities, adding to fears of a renewed offensive against Christianity and drawing comparisons with the Cultural Revolution.

A team of Catalan archaeologists believes it has unearthed one of the earliest images of Jesus Christ buried deep in an ancient Egyptian tomb.

It is a story that has been around since the sixth century, but businesses in the Highlands will look at the Loch Ness Monster with extra interest next month as they hear how to exploit the economic potential of the legend.

It has been dubbed "the day of the four Popes", an unprecedented occasion in the 2000-year history of the Catholic Church.

200 years after NZ's first service, some churches are riding a resurgence in which theology and pastoral care merge with pragmatic acceptance of sex, booze and rock’n’roll.

Roman Catholic devotees in northern Philippines nailed themselves to crosses as hundreds gathered to watch the annual crucifixion re-enactment.

Shattered, gutted and shocked beyond words, the despondent group of men and women clung to each other for comfort and reassurance.

Easter is coming with eggs and other trivia; Christ will be ignored, writes Bruce Logan.

Only fifty percent of Kiwis reported themselves as 'Christian' in the 2013 census, writes Paul Morris. But what does Easter really mean to most NZers?