Weekly religion news roundup (October 31-November 6, 2025)
Photograph by Utsav Srestha via Unsplash
Rev. Dr. Anna Piela
Interfaith leaders call on Trump administration to bolster Israel-Hamas ceasefire. Scores of Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders in 20 countries have urged the Trump administration to bolster the fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire and ensure desperately needed humanitarian aid flows to civilians still suffering from two years of war. (Baptist News Global)
At Mamdani victory party, a broad coalition of faith communities cheers Muslim mayor-elect. From prominent Muslim community leaders to members of Jews for Zohran, Hindus for Zohran and Shias for Zohran, the campaign’s election reflected the diverse coalition of religious communities who rallied behind him. (RNS)
In act of reparation, Franciscan sisters return land to Chippewa Indians in Wisconsin. This is the first Catholic institution to return land to a Tribal Nation in the name of reparations for colonialism and residential boarding schools, according to officials involved in the sale. (National Catholic Reporter)
Sikhs arrive in Pakistan for annual religious festivities. The week-long celebrations mark 552 years since the birth of Guru Nanak, who settled in today’s Pakistan. His shrine is also in Pakistan, and visible from across the border in India. (Associated Press)
Members of the last surviving gnostic sect prepare for the ‘Little Feast’ in Texas. Mandaeans, who believe they are descendants of the disciples of John the Baptist, have scattered around the globe, fleeing war and persecution in the Middle East. (RNS)
Each Friday in The Christian Citizen, we publish a Religion News Roundup with summaries of religion news stories and links for those who want to read more.
Virginia’s Ghazala Hashmi becomes the first Muslim woman elected statewide in the U.S. Virginia state Senator Ghazala Hashmi on Tuesday became the first Muslim American woman elected to statewide office in the U.S. with her victory in the lieutenant governor's race. (NBC News)
Are Christians being persecuted in Nigeria as Trump claims? For months, campaigners and politicians in Washington have been alleging that Islamist militants were systematically targeting Christians in Nigeria. But some of the data being relied on to come to this conclusion are difficult to verify. (BBC News)
New Mormon apostle led a global temple building boom and has deep knowledge of church finances. Gérald Caussé, a high-ranking official in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who oversaw a global temple building boom under its previous president, became the faith’s newest apostle on Thursday. (Associated Press)
A kosher community fridge in Chicago’s Jewish suburbs arrives amid rising food insecurity. The project is named in honor of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the Israeli-American kidnapped from the Nova music festival in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and subsequently murdered by Hamas. Hersh’s parents, Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin, are originally from the Chicago area. (Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Report claims Assemblies of God prioritized forgiveness over safety. The Assemblies of God — one of the world’s largest Pentecostal denominations — has been thrust into a crisis of theology and failed accountability related to clergy sexual abuse. (Baptist News Global)
Rev. Dr. Anna Piela is senior writer at American Baptist Home Mission Societies and assistant editor of The Christian Citizen.
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of American Baptist Home Mission Societies.
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