A discussion in Rome this week will include whether the church should allow flexibility in its traditional vow of celibacy for priests to ordain married men in the remote Amazon. The decision could very well impact Catholicism around the world.
Read MoreWho is made a cardinal can be loaded with intrigue. It’s why the Catholic church is covered like a political institution and less like a religion. It is this dangerous tendency, largely on the part of the secular press, to reduce theological positions to political ones that has fueled divisions during the Pope Francis era.
Read More(OPINION) It’s the NFL’s birthday. Looking back at great plays and memorable Super Bowl performances are a given. What about what players and coaches believed? What about their motivations? How about religion and the impact it left on the game?
Read More(BOOK REVIEW) Cardinal Robert Sarah’s new book examines the spiritual decline of the West amid scandals in the Catholic Church and secularization. He’s hopeful prayer can reverse the trend.
Read More(FILM REVIEW) A new documentary illustrates the magnitude with which the Argentine-born star impacted the game throughout the 1980s and how soccer’s biggest deity went from heaven to a dramatic fall from grace.
Read MorePaying for prayers, bishops with ties to the Kremlin and communist structures built around ancient churches — the society ruled by the Byzantines, then the Ottomans and then the Soviets is now reckoning with finding faith on its own.
Read More(OPINION) It’s back to school time, but media coverage of Catholic schools — unless there’s a scandal — is lacking. Given that some Catholic schools in low-income neighborhoods outperforming public schools, private religious schools deserve more coverage.
Read More(FILM REVIEW) These satanists may not constitute their own religion, but they want religious freedom laws to protect every faith equally and use the devil to push their message.
Read MoreWhat if you met a man who told you he was an angel? Would you believe him? That was the premise of the groundbreaking NBC show, which ended its five-season run 30 years ago this summer.
Read More(COMMENTARY) The women’s soccer team representing the Vatican — yes, the Vatican has a women’s soccer team — canceled its planned international debut in Austria when sports, religion and politics made for a bad mix.
Read MoreWe spoke with award-winning photographer Kieran Dodds about his project capturing the gardens of Eden cultivated by Ethiopian churches. The conservation is an act of worship to save their forests and provide an oasis for their congregations. Listen to the full podcast or read the edited transcript here.
Read More(OPINION) Two very different French sites — Lourdes, one of the holiest in the world for Roman Catholics, and the American cemetery at Normandy — have the ability to bring visitors closer to God in very different ways.
Read MoreRebuilding Notre Dame will be a painstaking task. Estimated to cost in the billions, the cathedral has also become a political pawn in a broader fight between traditionalists and secularists. In a country divided politically — the recent European election was another reminder of this — the fate of Notre Dame very much rests in the hands of the country’s warring lawmakers.
Read More(NEWS ANALYSIS) Never shy about brandishing a rosary or invoking God’s help, Italy’s Matteo Salvini has provided voters in the recent European elections with an alternative to Pope Francis’ pro-migrant stance and the church’s traditional social teachings.
Read MoreWho could imagine that a Norwegian itinerant preacher and entrepreneur born in the 18th century would become a leadership model in modern business?
Read MoreThere can’t be talk of the future without God and faith. Depending on the speaker (or the college/university), God can often be the focal point of a commencement address. This spring has been highlighted by a few notable speeches, including Vice President Mike Pence’s at Liberty University and Peggy Noonan at Notre Dame.
Read More(NEWS ANALYSIS) Matteo Salvini, who leads the League party, could take his anti-immigration stances to Brussels if opinion polls prove correct. His hardline stance on the issue has put him at odds with the Catholic church in Italy as well as with Pope Francis, who has repeatedly spoken in favor of refugees seeking asylum in Western Europe.
Read More(COMMENTARY) Christians are called to be in the world, not of it. So why do our churches strive to copy the culture?
Read More(COMMENTARY) At a time when humor is struggling with political correctness and fallout from the #MeToo movement, there’s little material for late-night hosts and stand-up comedians to work with. However, the people you’re allowed to pick on (at least from the material you see on TV) are Christians across all denominations.
Read More(COMMENTARY) The religion of presidential candidates and history with the dogma of their respective faiths — what they believe, why they believe it and, in some cases, when they changed their minds — is an issue many Americans care about.
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