South Africa's Cape Town Opera has turned down an appeal from Nobel peace prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu to call off a tour of Israel. He said it would be as inappropriate as it had been for international firms to visit South Africa during apartheid.

n the BBC series of viewpoints from African journalists, Sola Odunfa considers what Nigeria's movie industry reveals about the country's spirituality.

In an interview with France24.com, a top official of the government of South Sudan insisted that an independent South would protect citizens of all faiths, as it has done since gaining autonomy in 2005.

The U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief on Thursday spoke out against intolerance toward religious groups such as Falun Gong and the Baha'is, remarks that irritated China.

President Obama will visit India next month. But his staff may have taken a trip to the Golden Temple off the agenda as it would involve wearing head gear, possibly furthering speculation that he is Muslim.

The Dead Sea Scrolls, among the world's most important, mysterious and tightly restricted archaeological treasures, are about to get Googled. The technology giant and Israel announced Tuesday that they are teaming up to give researchers and the public the first comprehensive and searchable database of the scrolls - a 2,000-year-old collection of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek documents that shed light on Judaism during biblical times and the origins of Christianity.

The leaders of Moscow's 1.5 million strong Muslim community say they desperately need more places of worship. But a plan to build a new mosque has run into local opposition which is being fuelled by nationalists calling for a "clean Moscow" without Muslims and foreigners.

A senior Vatican official said that, “There is a strong likelihood that Pope Benedict will visit Ireland in 2012 as part of the Eucharistic Congress.”