The debate over abortion and Catholic politicians affects all Catholic public officials who are pro-choice. Catholic politicians, both past and present, often face many challenges when it comes to questions of faith and politics.

U.S. mainline denominations are all deeply divided on gay issues. In 2003, the U.S. Episcopal Church consecrated an openly gay bishop. But the United Methodists have stood firm in their opposition to homosexuality. In a series of votes, United Methodist delegates reaffirmed their church’s traditional policy, which says the practice of homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching.”

Despite their many differences, evangelicals share a common commitment to spread their faith. In RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY’s national survey, 73 percent of all evangelicals said they have tried to convince someone to accept Jesus. Tens of thousands do that through traditional career missionary efforts overseas, but the vast majority of evangelicals say they do it in their everyday lives.

Between evangelicals and the secular world around them, who is having the greater influence on whom? In RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY’s national survey, nearly three quarters of white evangelicals said the media are hostile to their values. Yet they have also created their own widely popular alternative music and books.

Buddhist meditation techniques are widely popular, and one such method is called Shambhala meditation, a simplified version of Tibetan practice. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, author and meditation leader, told a group of beginners to relax, note their breathing, set aside their thoughts, and just be — quietly — who they are.

The world’s more than 250 million Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate the feast of Pascha, or Easter, at the end of Holy Week. They observe the Julian calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar followed by most westerners.

An overwhelming number of all white evangelicals, 70 percent, are Republican or lean toward the political right. The one reason more than any is abortion, which has been and still is a defining issue for most evangelicals. But not all evangelicals share the same view on abortion or politics.

As an evangelical, President Bush has often spoken about trying to do God's will in the world. Listen to perspectives about the president’s sense of mission from Richard Cizik, vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals, and Robert Franklin, professor of social ethics at Emory University in Atlanta.

Watch Anna Greenberg of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and John Green of the University of Akron discuss the results of a survey on America’s evangelicals conducted in conjunction with RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY.

A look at one of the great phenomena of religion in America — the prominence and the paradox of white Protestant evangelicals. They make up about a quarter of the population. Their political influence is strong. Their churches seem to be thriving. And yet, many evangelicals say they feel misunderstood by the wider culture — under siege — as if they were an estranged minority.

The styles and traditions may vary, but on Easter Sunday, all Christians celebrate a central tenet of their faith: that Jesus Christ was crucified and three days later, he rose again. Kim Lawton sat down with prominent author and Episcopal priest Fleming Rutledge to reflect on crucifixion and resurrection.

In the Orthodox Christian tradition, icons are said to be written, not painted. The Orthodox consider making icons more a form of prayer than art, and they believe the iconographer's hand is guided by God.

For members of the clergy, providing spiritual care for their congregants is a role they are well prepared for. But providing spiritual care to the sick can be a different sort of challenge. In the nation's capital, the Washington Hospital Center offers clergy special training sessions for a special kind of sick person: the patient with cancer.

"Every single food on the Passover Seder plate has a dual symbolism," says cookbook author Joan Nathan who explains the meaning behind some of the foods of the Seder.

Two thousand years after Jesus' death, Mel Gibson's controversial movie, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, set off a wave of new conversations about who was responsible for Jesus' death -- and why it matters today. For many Christians, that debate is history, but for most Jews, it still arouses deep fears of persecution.

The Jewish tradition of tahara, the washing and purifying of a dead body, is considered one of the greatest of all good deeds — mitzvot. Those who perform taharas are volunteer members of the burial society, chevra kadisha. Women attend to deceased women, men to men.

A growing black middle class and the lack of available land in cities are luring some African-American congregations to the suburbs, depriving their old neighborhoods of the ministries that had served them.

Do ancient ruins in Israel support or contradict the Bible’s depiction of King David and King Solomon? Archaeologists debate the matter as digging proceeds at Megiddo, where scholars are unearthing and dating the remains of cities, altars, and battlefields at one of civilization’s most violent crossroads.

Rev. Michael Haynes, the long-time minister at Twelfth Baptist Church in Boston, was a friend of Martin Luther King Jr. -- the two worked together at the church in the 1950s. This year, Rev. Haynes invited his brother, renowned jazz drummer Roy Haynes, to be part of a special musical service honoring King. Reverend Haynes talked with us about how music inspired the civil rights movement.

Nearly four decades after he fought for voting rights, the 65-year-old Lewis is an elected official, serving in his ninth term as a member of Congress.