Sweating nervously from his bald head the American soldier gathered enough composure to deliver an extraordinary presentation.

Religions do a little good and a lot of bad, says Paul Little.

The chief of the Churches Education Commission, Simon Greening, and survey author David Hines present their views on the debate over religious education programmes in schools.

South Asian Muslims in Auckland report feeling secure, but some say they'd received "prejudicial treatment" in their dealings with police.

Schools are going through the "hurtful" process of choosing to drop religious instruction, with boards of trustees working through passionate arguments from parents on both sides of the debate.

The Pope's shift in stance on homosexuality has been welcomed by activists in conservative Italy.

A survey shows one in three state primary and intermediate schools teaches religious instruction, triggering a debate about what kids are being taught.

A Muslim sect is taking its faith to the streets of Auckland this Ramadan month to counter "Kiwi ignorance" of Islam.

In just over a week, Muslim faithful around the world will be celebrating Eid ul-Fitr, the breaking of the fast to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

It is 8.30am in the favela in Rio de Janeiro that will receive Pope Francis on Friday, and men carrying weapons walk along what will be the Pontiff's path.

Investigators in Rome are combing through the 19,000 accounts held by the Vatican's bank in search of money laundering and other crimes.

A team of Israeli archaeologists thinks it has found the ruins of a palace belonging to the biblical King David, but other Israeli experts dispute the claim.

Paul Charman reckons Taniwha are scarier than Zombies.

Radical Buddhist nationalism is sweeping Burma, and at the forefront of the movement is a group more commonly associated with peace and tolerance: monks.

What, in your opinion, is the greatest misconception about God?

Being English, making a fuss is as painful to me as losing a kidney.

As millions of Muslim pilgrims prepare to converge on holy sites in Saudi Arabia this [northern] autumn, the global health community is anxiously monitoring an outbreak of a respiratory virus known as Mers.

Wellington's new Anglican Dean was surprised the church would want to hire him, as he was a "dodgy Baptist" pastor with criminal convictions.

Contrary to the claims of your columnist Rodney Hide last weekend, the self-described anti-theist, I don't believe prayer to be hocus-pocus.

Worshippers at about 500 British mosques have heard sermons condemning the sexual grooming of children after a number of paedophilia cases involving Muslim gangs.

A Baptist pastor who is about to become Wellington's new Dean of the Anglican church comes with a chequered past, including convictions for fraud and burglary of a parishioner's house - all while he was a Bay of Plenty pastor.

Rodney Hide is an anti-theist. He just doesn't believe in God. He is pleased there isn't one.

A nun has admitted breaking the arm of a 9-year-old at Sunday School after the girl failed to get an action song right.

A nun accused of breaking a 9-year-old's arm told a Sunday School teacher "it was me'', a court has been told.

A nun broke the arm of a 9-year-old girl during a Sunday School class, a court has been told.

A former Catholic brother will be extradited to Australia to face 252 sexual abuse charges alleged to have been made against 35 complainants, a judge ruled today.