Throughout the world, billions of people rely on their faith to lift them above lives of hardship or the banality of arid secularism. For them, belief trumps politics, and efforts to influence them must incorporate faith as part of any appeal.

Faith Diplomacy, the use of religion to communicate with global publics and its incorporation into foreign policy, is an element of international engagement that cannot be dismissed. Mutual understanding is a key pillar of public diplomacy and religion is often the core of national identity. Post-9/11, and arguably even pre-9/11, religion finds itself at the core of some of the greatest diplomatic puzzles.  It is therefore imperative that faith-based organizations and leaders are enlisted to help better engage foreign communities.

The Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday morning opened the International Buddhist Conference to commemorate together with India, the 2.600th "Sambuddhtva Jayanthi", the anniversary of Buddha's enlightenment.

Religious ideas and the people who represent them are indispensable tools in the pursuit of peace, justice and the common good, said the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, Miguel Diaz, in an address at The Catholic University of America.

As recent events have unfolded throughout the Middle East, it is increasingly clear that an in-depth understanding of the role of religious freedom—and the cultural and political role of religion itself—is crucial to advancing American foreign policy interests especially in that region.

The Vatican will unveil the latest installment in its social media transformation next week — a Facebook page dedicated to the upcoming beatification of Pope John Paul II, officials said.

Islam dominated religion news coverage in 2010, a year that also saw religion reporting double to 2 percent of all news, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.