DAVID CRARY

AP National Writer

Freshly baked handmade matzo is seen after being prepared by first graders from Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation's Capital at the JCrafts Center for Jewish Life and Tradition in Rockville, Md., April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, file)

Passover begins soon. For many Jews, the celebrations will occur amid anxieties and divisions

Passover celebrations this year will again occur amid anxieties and divisions among many Jews related to the unresolved Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza and the specter of widespread antisemitism.

Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick celebrates a mass inside St. Nereus and Achilleus Church in Rome, Thursday, April 14, 2005. (AP Photo/ Alessandra Tarantino, File)

Disgraced former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has died at age 94

Disgraced former Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has died. He was 94. McCarrick was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019 after a Vatican investigation determined he had molested adults and children.

This April 2, 2025 photo provided by the Abyssinian Baptist Church shows the exterior of the Abyssinian Baptist Church, one of the most prominent churches in the Harlem neighborhood of New York. (Robert Owusu/Abyssinian Baptist Church via AP)

Judge dismisses gender bias suit by woman who lost bid to be top pastor of famed Black church

A federal judge has dismissed a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by a professor and minister who lost her bid to become the first woman serving as senior pastor of a prominent New York City congregation, the 217-year-old Abyssinian Baptist Church.

Fatima Guzman prays during a church service at the Centro Cristiano El Pan de Vida, a mid-size Church of God of Prophecy congregation in Kissimmee, Florida, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Alan Youngblood)

Trump won’t block immigration arrests in houses of worship. Now these 27 religious groups are suing

More than two-dozen Christian and Jewish groups representing millions of Americans have filed a federal court lawsuit challenging a Trump administration move giving immigration agents more leeway to make arrests at houses of worship.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo speaks during a Chicanukah event at Holocaust Museum Houston on Thursday, December 19, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

In a calendar rarity, Hanukkah starts this year on Christmas Day

Hanukkah, Judaism’s eight-day Festival of Lights, begins this year on Christmas Day. That’s only happened four times since 1900.

Mexica dancers burn incense during a ceremony commemorating the 503rd anniversary of the fall of the Aztec empire's capital, Tenochtitlan, in Mexico City, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Prayerful, playful, mystical: Some of AP’s most compelling religion photos of 2024.

Fittingly, in photographs depicting aspects of faith, it’s often the light that is most riveting.

An Apache dancer whirling around a bonfire during a coming-of-age ceremony in New Mexico.

FILE - Christine Zuba, who came out as a transgender woman at age 58, stands for a portrait at her home in Blackwood, N.J., on Monday, Feb. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski, File)

Transgender-rights advocates say the election of Trump and his allies marks a major setback

Election victories for Donald Trump and other candidates whose campaigns demeaned transgender people reinforced a widespread backlash against trans rights.

A cutout of Jesus watches over voters at the voting station at Redeemer Lutheran Church on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Lincoln, Neb. (Kenneth Ferriera/Lincoln Journal Star via AP)

AP VoteCast shows Trump boosted his level of support among Catholic voters

Among several blocs of religious voters, including his loyal evangelical base, Donald Trump fared roughly as well in his victory over Kamala Harris as he did in his loss to Joe Biden four years ago.

In this photo provided by the ACLU of Virginia, Ellenor Zinski stands for a portrait in front of a “You Matter” mural near the entrance to Blackwater Creek Trail, one of her favorite hiking trails in Lynchburg, Va., on Oct. 5, 2024." (Phuong Tran/ACLU of Virginia via AP)

Liberty University sued by former IT staffer fired after disclosing she’s a transgender woman

The nationwide debate over transgender rights is playing out on a personal level in a federal court lawsuit filed by a former Liberty University employee fired by the Christian school after disclosing her identity as a transgender woman.

Families and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza pray outside the prime minister's house in Jerusalem on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, marking one year in the Hebrew calendar since Hamas militants attacked Israel, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Fallout from 2023 Hamas attack lingers as Jews worldwide observe a holiday meant for joy

Customarily, Simchat Torah is one of the most joyous days of the Jewish calendar, highlighted by exuberant dancing around a Torah.

Worshipers stand to say the names of loved ones in need of prayers during a Shabbat service, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, at Temple Beth Sholom in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

It’s a ‘very difficult time’ for U.S. Jews as High Holy Days and Oct. 7 anniversary coincide

Judaism’s High Holy Days annually provide an emotional mix of celebration, introspection and atonement for Jews worldwide.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump acknowledges the crowd as he exits the stage after speaking at the Israeli American Council National Summit, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Jews and Catholics warn against Trump’s latest loyalty test for religious voters

Former President Donald Trump recently reissued his loyalty test to religious Americans, declaring that he can best protect their freedoms while preemptively blaming some if he loses the presidential election in November.

FILE - Spanish language voting stickers which read "He Votado Hoy" ("I Voted Today") are offered at a polling place in Philadelphia, May 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Most Hispanic Americans support abortion access: AP-NORC poll

For decades, some political analysts have sought to depict Hispanic Americans as “socially conservative” — and indeed many of them are.

Anti-abortion signs lean agains a fence outside a recently opened Planned Parenthood clinic in Pittsburg, Kan., Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Euphoric two years ago, US anti-abortion movement is now divided and worried as election nears

Just two years ago, leading anti-abortion activists were euphoric after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, thus ending the nationwide right to abortion.

Tania Tetlow president of Fordham University holds her dog Archie as new students arrive during Move In Day at the Bronx campus, Sunday Aug. 25, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Kena Betancur)

It’s a tough time for college presidents, but Tania Tetlow thrives as a trailblazer at Fordham

Tania Tetlow has earned a reputation as a trailblazer. At Loyola University New Orleans and now at Fordham University in New York City, she became the first woman and the first layperson to serve as president of those Jesuit schools.

This image provided by The Episcopal Church shows Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania Bishop Sean Rowe in his official 2024 church photo. (The Episcopal Church via AP)

Pennsylvania bishop Sean Rowe elected new leader of Episcopal Church. He’s the youngest since 1789

Sean Rowe, a 49-year-old bishop from western Pennsylvania, has become the youngest person ever elected as leader of the Episcopal Church.

In this photo provided by the United Methodists of Eastern Pennsylvania, Rev. Dr. Beth Stroud, right, holds hands with Bishop John Schol after offering a prayer of blessing at the Wildwoods Convention Center, Wildwood, N.J., on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, as he prepares to retire in August. Twenty years ago, Stroud was defrocked as a pastor after telling her congregation that she was in a committed same-sex relationship. On Tuesday night, less than three weeks after the UMC repealed its anti-LGBTQ bans, she was reinstated. (Shari DeAngelo/United Methodists of Eastern Pennsylvania via AP)

Defrocked in 2004 for same-sex relationship, a faithful Methodist is reinstated as pastor

Twenty years ago, Beth Stroud was defrocked as a United Methodist Church pastor after telling her Philadelphia congregation that she was in a committed same-sex relationship.

Beth Stroud sheds a tear pondering what reinstatement would mean 20 years after she was defrocked from her job as a United Methodist pastor in Philadelphia, Sunday, May 12, 2024, at Turning Point United Methodist Church in Trenton, N.J. Delegates at a United Methodist conference recently struck down longstanding anti-LGBTQ bans and created a path for clergy ousted because of them to seek reinstatement. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)

United Methodists scrap their anti-gay bans. A woman who defied them seeks reinstatement as pastor

Twenty years ago, Beth Stroud was defrocked from her beloved job as a United Methodist pastor in Philadelphia.

FILE - Chairs for the Bibas family, hostages held in Gaza, are seen at a Passover seder table set, Thursday, April 11, 2024, at the communal dining hall at Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel, where a quarter of all residents were killed or captured by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. Passover is a major Jewish holiday, celebrated over seven or eight days each year, commemorating the exodus of ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt, as recounted in the Bible. To many Jews, it symbolizes freedom and the birth of a Jewish nation. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)

War, hostages, antisemitism: A somber backdrop to this year’s Passover observances

Passover is a major Jewish holiday, celebrated over seven or eight days each year. It commemorates the exodus of ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt, as recounted in the Bible.

FILE - Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, leader of the "Kinnar Akhara," a monastic order of the transgender community, meets with followers at the Kumbh Mela festival in Pragraj, India, Feb. 5, 2019. The Kumbh Mela is a series of ritual baths by Hindu holy men, and other pilgrims that dates back to at least medieval times. The Vatican has issued a new document rejecting the concept of changing one’s biological sex – a setback for transgender people who had hoped Pope Francis might be setting the stage for a more welcoming approach from the Catholic Church. Around the world, major religions have diverse approaches to gender identity, and the inclusion or exclusion of transgender people. (AP Photo/Channi Anand, File)

Transgender inclusion? World’s major religions take varying stances on policies toward trans people

The Vatican has issued a new document rejecting the concept of changing one’s biological sex. It’s a setback for transgender people who had hoped Pope Francis might be setting the stage for a more welcoming approach from the Catholic Church.

Tis 2022 photo shows a self-portrait of Maxwell Kuzma, a transgender man working as a film editor and writer living outside of Columbus in rural Ohio. Kuzma expressed dismay at a Vatican document issued Monday, April 8, 2024, that rejected the idea that one’s biological sex can change. (Maxwell Kuzma via AP)

Transgender Catholics say new Vatican document shows no understanding of their lives

Transgender Catholics are voicing disappointment with a new Vatican document rejecting the fundamental concept of changing one’s biological sex. In essence, it’s a restatement of longstanding Catholic teaching.

FILE - A partial solar eclipse is seen behind a cross on the steeple of the St. George church, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, June 21, 2020. Throughout history, solar eclipses have had profound impact on adherents of various religions around the world. They were viewed as messages from God or spiritual forces, inducing emotions ranging from dread to wonder. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

Awe and dread: How religions have responded to total solar eclipses over the centuries

Throughout history, solar eclipses have had profound impact on adherents of various religions around the world. They were viewed as messages from God or spiritual forces, inducing emotions ranging from dread to wonder.

FILE - Jewish ultra-Orthodox men and children, some wearing costumes, celebrate the festival of Purim at a synagogue in Bnei Brak, Israel, March 17, 2022. Purim celebrates the biblical story of how a plot to exterminate Jews in Persia was thwarted, and thus is embraced as an affirmation of Jewish survival throughout history. For many Jews, it will have extra significance in 2024 during a war in Gaza triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel in which Hamas killed 1,200 people and took about 250 others hostage. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)

During the Israel-Hamas war, Jews will soon celebrate Purim — one of their most joyous holidays

Purim is widely depicted as the most joyful of Jewish holidays — highlighted by celebrations that include costumes, skits and noisemakers.

In this photo provided by the National Center for Transgender Equality, Andy Marra, left, the executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality visit San Francisco's Transgender District in January 2023. In the summer of 2024, their organizations – two of the biggest transgender-rights groups in the U.S. – will merge into a new organization to be called Advocates for Trans Equality. (NCTE via AP)

Faced with wave of hostile bills, transgender rights leaders are playing “a defense game”

For decades, the plotline for LGBTQ+ activism in the U.S. was one of advances — often slow but moving forward. Faced with unprecedented legislative attacks, transgender rights leaders are now playing defense.

In this photo provided by America Media, from left, the Rev. James Martin, Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, N.M., and Rev. Eric Andrews attend the closing Mass for the Outreach conference at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, in New York, June 18, 2023. Martin is the founder of Outreach, a unique Jesuit-run program of outreach to LGBTQ+ Catholics. (Cristobal Spielmann/America Media via AP)

Jesuits in US bolster outreach initiative aimed at encouraging LGBTQ+ Catholics

Catholic dogma continues to repudiate same-sex marriage and gender transition. Yet one of the most prominent religious orders in the United States — the Jesuits — is strengthening a unique program of outreach to LGBTQ+ Catholics.

FILE - Anti-abortion activists march outside of the U.S. Capitol during the March for Life in Washington, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. In June 2022, the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized abortion nationwide. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

Anti-abortion activists brace for challenges ahead as they gather for annual March for Life

A year ago, anti-abortion activists from across the U.S. gathered for their annual March for Life with reason to celebrate. It was their first march since the Supreme Court, seven months earlier, had overturned the nationwide right to abortion.

FILE - Shelby Ruch-Teegarden, center, of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, joins other protestors during the United Methodist Church's special session of the general conference in St. Louis, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019. United Methodist rules forbid same-sex marriage rites and the ordination of “self-avowed practicing homosexuals,” but progressive Methodist churches in the U.S. have increasingly been defying these rules. (AP Photo/Sid Hastings, File)

How to deal with same-sex unions? It’s a question fracturing major Christian denominations

Reaction among Catholics around the world is sharply divided over the Vatican’s recent declaration giving priests more leeway to bless same-sex couples. Catholic supporters of greater LGBTQ inclusion in the church welcome the move.

FILE - Attendees pray during a "rosary rally" on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023, in Norwood, Ohio. On Nov. 7, Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment that ensures access to abortion. It was the seventh consecutive state where voters decided to protect abortion access since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

US Catholic leadership foresees challenges after repeated election defeats for abortion opponents

Repeatedly in recent years, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has stipulated that the threat of abortion remains its preeminent priority.

The faithful attend a 'Via Crucis' (Way of the Cross) at the St. Gabriele dell'Addolorata sanctuary in Isola del Gran Sasso near Teramo in central Italy Friday, July 29, 2023. In Italy, centuries-old churches dot the landscape, sanctuaries and processions draw crowds, and nearly 80% of the population profess themselves Catholic. But to the majority, it's an affiliation in name and tradition, with little adherence to doctrine or practice. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Somber, joyful, magical: Some of the most compelling AP religion photos of 2023

Associated Press photographers were on the scene — there and in scores of other locales ranging from the flood-stricken mountains of northern India to the sacred volcano Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Their mission: Finding myriad ways to convey how faith and spiritualism, in their many forms, manifested them

FILE - A representative of Dignity USA, a group of LGBTQ+ Catholics, wears pins on the lanyard of his pilgrim credential, outside the Sao Vicente de Paulo Parish Social Center, after Pope Francis visited it, in the Serafina neighbourhood of Lisbon, Friday, Aug. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Armando Franca, File)

Step by step, Francis has made the Catholic Church a more welcoming place for LGBTQ people

The Catholic Church, in its doctrine, still rejects same-sex marriage and condemns any sexual relations between gay or lesbian partners as “intrinsically disordered.”