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10 Most Religious Cities In The World

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Religion has long played a crucial role in shaping human societies, providing both unity and division throughout history.

The following ten cities have witnessed epic religious events and continue to serve as pilgrimage sites for millions.

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1. Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Mecca, the holiest city in Islam, attracts millions of Muslims each year for the Hajj pilgrimage, one of the Five Pillars of Islam. This journey is obligatory for every capable Muslim at least once in their lifetime. Non-Muslims, however, are not permitted to enter Mecca. The city’s history dates back to a pre-Islamic legend involving Adam and Eve. More accurately, around 2000 BC, Abraham and his son Ishmael built the Kaaba, Islam’s most sacred site. In 570 AD, the Prophet Muhammad was born here, and later in 630 AD, he declared the city a center for Muslim pilgrimage.

2. Lhasa, Tibet

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Lhasa, meaning “place of the gods,” was the home of the Dalai Lamas from the 1600s until 1959. Although Tibetans are now a minority, the city remains a hub for Tibetan Buddhism. Notable sites include Jokhang Temple and the Potala Palace, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Many pilgrims come to Lhasa to follow one of the three pathways that lead around Jokhang Temple, seeking spiritual merit.

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3. Bethlehem, West Bank

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Bethlehem is revered as the birthplace of Jesus, making it a major pilgrimage destination for Christians, especially during Christmas and Easter. It is also historically significant as the birthplace of David, the King of Israel. Despite the city’s tumultuous past, including numerous invasions and occupations, it remains a focal point of Christian pilgrimage. The Church of the Nativity, one of the world’s oldest churches, is believed to mark the location of Christ’s birth.

4. Varanasi, India

One of India’s most sacred cities, Varanasi holds religious importance for Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains. Legend states that the city was founded by Lord Shiva, while historical records suggest it emerged 3,000 years ago as a center for textiles. Many Hindus come to Varanasi to bathe in the Ganges River, which is believed to cleanse sins. The city is also notable as the place where Buddha delivered his first sermon.

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5. Vatican City

Situated in Rome, Vatican City is the epicenter of the Roman Catholic Church. The world’s smallest independent state, it holds some of the most significant religious and cultural sites, including St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican Museums. Once part of the Papal States, it became independent in the 20th century after a treaty signed by Mussolini.

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6. Haifa, Israel

Haifa, a city on Mount Carmel overlooking the Mediterranean, is a center for the Bahá’í faith. The Bahá’í World Center, with its golden-domed shrine, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bahá’í, a religion founded in 19th-century Iran, emphasizes unity among all religions and the oneness of humanity.

7. Salt Lake City, Utah

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Salt Lake City was founded in 1847 by Mormon pioneers escaping persecution. Today, it serves as the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). The city’s religious landmarks include the iconic Salt Lake Temple, which took 40 years to complete, and the Family History Library, the largest genealogical library in the world.

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8. Jerusalem, Israel

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Jerusalem is a spiritual hub for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It has been a focal point of religious significance for millennia and has faced destruction and invasion multiple times. Sites like the Temple Mount, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Western Wall draw millions of pilgrims annually. The Old City of Jerusalem, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, remains a testament to the city’s profound historical and religious legacy.

9. Pushkar, India

One of India’s oldest cities, Pushkar is a sacred site for Hindus. The city is associated with Lord Brahma, the Hindu god of creation. Pilgrims visit Pushkar Lake and the Brahma Temple, one of the few temples dedicated to Brahma. The city is also home to the Pushkar Fair, one of the world’s largest camel fairs.

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10. Medina, Saudi Arabia

Medina is the second holiest city in Islam after Mecca. It is where the Prophet Muhammad sought refuge after being driven from Mecca. The Prophet’s Mosque, Al Masjid al-Nabawi, stands on the site of Muhammad’s home and is where he is buried. Only Muslims are permitted to enter the city, which serves as a key stop during the Hajj pilgrimage.

These cities offer a deep spiritual experience for visitors, filled with history and religious significance.

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Young Catholics Converge On Rome For Pope Leo’s Vigil

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Thousands of young Catholics began assembling Saturday for an evening prayer vigil led by Pope Leo XIV, the culmination of a week-long pilgrimage and a key event in the Jubilee holy year that is expected to draw up to a million people.

The “Jubilee of Youth” — when the Vatican invites Catholics aged 18 to 35 to the seat of the global Church’s power — has seen young pilgrims from around the world flood Rome, waving flags, singing or praying in groups.

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It comes nearly three months after Leo, 69, the first American pontiff, began his papacy, and 25 years after the last such massive youth gathering in Rome under Poland’s Pope John Paul II.

On Saturday morning, thousands of young pilgrims had already gathered at the vast open space in Rome’s eastern Tor Vergata neighbourhood where the pope will lead the vigil, the ground already dotted with blankets and mattresses.

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Elsewhere in the Eternal City, numerous groups of young people were seen preparing to set off for the venue.

On the plaza outside the Basilica of St John Lateran, they filled water bottles, applied suncream and checked bags of food and snacks — ready to spend the next 24 hours surrounded by a swarm of people and then sleep under the stars.

Victoria Perez, who carried a Spanish flag, could not contain her excitement at seeing “the Pope up close.

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It’s the first time I’m going to see him, and I can’t wait,” the 21-year-old told AFP, excited to experience the “night of prayers under the stars”.

French pilgrim, Quentin Remaury, 26, said he had been inspired by the late Pope Francis’s rousing message to youth during a 2016 visit to Krakow, Poland.

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Pope Francis told us to ‘get off your couches,’ and that really gave me a boost,” he said.

– ‘What is his message?’ –

Since the youth jubilee began on Monday, attendees have participated in various Church-planned events throughout the city.

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On Friday, approximately 1,000 priests were on hand to take confession at Circus Maximus, one of Rome’s top tourist spots.

Some 200 white gazebos lined the hippodrome where chariot races were once held, and youths lined up to speak to priests in 10 different languages.

Of the many languages heard on the streets of the Italian capital this week, Spanish seemed to dominate. The Vatican has said that more than 146 countries were represented, and it expects up to a million people to attend the vigil.

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The pilgrimage is taking place as economic uncertainty and anxiety over climate change rise among the under-30s, with many saying they were curious to hear the Church’s position on global warming, wars and economic inequalities.

Samarei Semos, 29, said she had travelled three days from her native Belize to get to Rome.

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“We are still trying to understand his leadership,” she said of the new pope, adding she hoped he would have a strong say about “third world countries”.

As Parisian student Alice Berry exclaimed, “What does he have to say to us? What is his message for young people?”

– Raising voices –

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The youth pilgrimage also comes amid global alarm over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and more than three years of war in Ukraine.

READ ALSO:Pope Leo XIV Outlines A Path For A Modern Church That Follows Francis’ Steps

The Vatican has praised young Catholics who managed to travel to Rome from war-scarred countries, with Pope Leo saying the voices of the world’s youth “will be heard to the end of the earth”.

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In an unprecedented move, Leo hosted a mass on Tuesday for Catholic social media influencers, signalling the Vatican’s openness to supporting the Internet-savvy youth.

More than 4,300 volunteers will be working the event to welcome the young pilgrims, along with over 1,000 police, according to organisers.

Roman authorities have tightened security in the city — which has seen an unprecedented number of people, with both tourists and pilgrims inundating the city.

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Ukrainian Drone Strikes Kill Three In Russia

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Ukrainian drone strikes killed three people and wounded two others overnight in western Russia, regional governors said on Saturday.

One woman was killed and two other people were wounded in an attack on an enterprise in Penza, the region’s governor, Oleg Melnichenko, wrote on Telegram.

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An elderly man was killed inside a house that caught fire due to falling drone debris in the Samara region, Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev posted on Telegram.

In the Rostov region, a guard at an industrial facility was killed after a drone attack and a fire in one of the site’s buildings, acting Rostov governor Yuri Sliusar said.

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The military repelled a massive air attack during the night,” destroying drones over seven districts, Sliusar posted on Telegram.

Russia’s defence ministry said its air defence systems had destroyed 112 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory — 34 over the Rostov region — in a nearly nine-hour period, from Friday night to Saturday morning.

In Ukraine’s central-eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, overnight Russian drone attacks left three people wounded, governor Sergiy Lysak wrote on Telegram.

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Several buildings, homes and cars were damaged, he said.

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Russian forces have claimed advances in Dnipropetrovsk, recently announcing the capture of two villages there, part of Moscow’s accelerated capture of territory in July, according to AFP’s analysis of data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War.

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Kyiv denies any Russian presence in the Dnipropetrovsk area.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has consistently rejected calls for a ceasefire in the more than three-year conflict, said Friday that he wanted peace but that his demands for ending Moscow’s military offensive were “unchanged”.

Those demands include that Ukraine abandon territory and end ambitions to join NATO.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, said only Putin could end the war and renewed his call for a meeting between the two leaders.

“The United States has proposed this. Ukraine has supported it. What is needed is Russia’s readiness,” he wrote on X.

AFP

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Corporation For Public Broadcasting To Shut Down Following Trump’s Funding Cuts

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The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced on Friday that it will shut down operations, ending over 60 years of public media funding.

The move comes after President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers succeeded in eliminating federal support for the organization.

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Trump recently signed a rescissions bill canceling $9 billion in previously approved government spending. Of that amount, $1.1 billion had been allocated to CPB for the next two years.

Trump has long criticized public media as “biased” against conservatives and made repeated efforts to cut its funding.

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Despite the extraordinary efforts of millions of Americans who called, wrote, and petitioned Congress to preserve federal funding for CPB, we now face the difficult reality of closing our operations,” said CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison.

“CPB remains committed to fulfilling its fiduciary responsibilities and supporting our partners through this transition with transparency and care.”

The organization is now focused on helping local PBS and NPR stations—especially those in rural areas—prepare for the resulting budget shortfalls.

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Harrison previously warned that some stations could be forced to close entirely.

Larger outlets may survive with help from donors and other revenue streams, but public media leaders say the national network will be severely weakened.

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The ripple effects of this closure will be felt across every public media organization and, more importantly, in every community across the country that relies on public broadcasting,” said NPR CEO Katherine Maher.

The CPB expects to eliminate most of its 100 staff positions by September 30, when the current funding expires.

A small transition team will remain until January to oversee a “responsible and orderly closeout of operations.”

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The shutdown marks a political win for Trump, who has pushed for defunding CPB since the start of his presidency. Earlier this year, he tried to remove three board members, despite lacking legal authority under the 1967 law that created the corporation.

CPB filed a lawsuit to block that attempt, but on Friday, it voluntarily dropped the case—effectively conceding defeat.

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REPUBLICANS HAVE TRIED DOING THIS FOR 40 YEARS, AND FAILED… BUT NO MORE,” Trump posted on Truth Social, celebrating the bill’s passage through the GOP-controlled House and Senate.

Some advocates had hoped that Congress might still restore funding through the usual budget process.

However, a draft Senate bill released Thursday included no CPB funding—suggesting those hopes are now unlikely to materialize.

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Trump and other Republicans argue that defunding CPB is a stand against liberal influence in public broadcasting.

Public media supporters say the move undermines civic life and access to reliable news.

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The end of CPB is the direct result of the deep and corrupt failure of Congress and the Trump administration to invest in informing the American public,” said Craig Aaron, co-CEO of media advocacy group Free Press.

They have trashed decades of democracy-building work and will deny many journalists, artists, educators and creators the opportunity to be heard.”

Aaron said he still believes there’s a chance to rebuild publicly funded media from the ground up. He called for a new system “as a bulwark against authoritarianism that meets the civic needs of all our communities.”

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Some broadcasters are already mobilizing support. In Boston, GBH put up a sign reading, “Local. Trusted. Defunded.”

“We’re not backing down,” the station said in a fundraising message. “But we can’t do it without you. Donate now to keep public media strong and independent.”

(CNN)

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