Culture

"The Bible was part of a fine books and manuscripts auction at Bonhams on Tuesday. The auction house says Einstein writes in the German inscription the Bible "is a great source of wisdom and consolation and should be read frequently" — Einstein Signed Bible Sells For $68,500 In New York. (Associated Press/Huffington Post)

"Some of the oldest art in the United States maps humanity's place in the cosmos, as aligned with an ancient religion. A team of scientists has uncovered a series of engravings and drawings strategically placed in open air and within caves by prehistoric groups of Native American settlers that depict their cosmological understanding of the world around them" — Cave Art Study Shows Cosmos Was Keen Interest Of Prehistoric Settlers (Miriam Kramer, LiveScience/Huffington Post)

"In a concentration camp designed by the Nazis to eradicate Jewish cultural life, among 120,000 of its inmates who would ultimately be murdered, a rising young musician named Rafael Schachter managed one of the miracles of the Holocaust. Assembling hundreds of sick and hungry singers, he led them in 16 performances learned by rote from a single smuggled score of one of the most monumental and moving works of religious music – Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem Mass. Schachter would tell the singers: "Whatever we do here is just a rehearsal for when we will play Verdi in a grand concert hall in Prague in freedom." Seven decades later, his promise was finally fulfilled – the Roman Catholic Mass played in memory of the remarkable Jewish man and his fellow musicians who perished, among them brilliant composers, artists and intellectuals from across Europe" — Rafael Schachter, Jew Who Led Verdi’s Requiem Mass In Terezin Concentration Camp, Honored Decades Later In Prague (Denis D. Gray, Associated Press/Huffington Post)

Economie

"La religion et l’économie ne font pas toujours bon ménage, c’est ce que pensent indirectement les dirigeants d'Arabie Saoudite. En effet, ces dirigeants ont dû changer les jours de week-end du royaume : ceux-ci seront désormais fixés les vendredis et samedis, au lieu des jeudis et vendredis. Et cela, pour mieux adapter l’économie de l’Arabie Saoudite à celles des autres pays du monde !" — La religion et l'économie ne font pas toujours bon ménage… (Amid Faljaoui, Trends-Le Vif)

Anglicanisme

"L' archevêque de Canterbury, Mgr Justin Welby, a rencontré les membres du comité du dialogue inter-religieux du Grand Rabbinat d'Israël ainsi que le Président israélien Shimon Peres, à Jérusalem le 28 juin, lors d'une visite de cinq jours au Proche-Orient" — L'épineux voyage du leader anglican en Terre Sainte (La rédaction, Fait religieux)