The Council on American-Islamic Relations’ report “The Mosque in America: A National Portrait” (April 2001) broke ground with its focus on American Muslim congregational life.

The Gallup Center for Muslim Studies’ “Muslim Americans: A National Portrait” provides demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of Muslim Americans and measures attitudes.

June 17, 2013, Reuters “FaithWorld” blog post about the historically slow pace of religions to embrace environmentalism and the possible increase in that pace thanks to the impact of religious leaders including Pope Francis.

See the website of the Bahá’í International Community, which has its headquarters in Haifa, Israel, where the faith’s holiest sites are.

The official website of the Bahá’ís of the U.S., which has its headquarters in Evanston, Ill., is a treasure trove of basic information about the faith’s beliefs and practices. Its online press kit includes statistical information and story ideas.

View photo galleries of Bahá’í temples and holy places around the globe compiled by the Bahá’í International Community.

View a two-part video tour of the Bahá’í House of Worship for North America.

The Rev. Patrick Howell is vice president for mission and ministry at the School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University. He co-edited the book Empowering Authority: The Charisms of Episcopacy and Primacy in the Church Today. He has frequently written about Pope Benedict XVI for the Seattle Times.

Sandra Yocum is chair of religious studies at the University of Dayton who specializes in the history of theology, which is Benedict’s forte.