A new proposal in Quebec reignites the battle over where secularism ends and religious freedom begins.
Tag: church
Why do a few U.S. megachurches boom while most barely survive? A decade of data reveals the secrets — and limits — of evangelical growth.
A diocese in the UK found that many people lacked the confidence and faith to walk into a conventional church — so it decided to take the church to wherever people were.
Hunt Priest, a former Episcopal pastor from Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, shares how a psychedelic experience deepened his faith and inspired him to start a Christian organization exploring the healing and spiritual potential of psychedelics.
Even before last Sunday’s suicide bombing of a Damascus church, many Syrian Christians harbored doubts if the government that overthrew the Assad regime would protect them. Amid this growing sense of isolation, the question remains open: Is there truly a place for everyone in Syria?
Christians say the dormant law, first passed in the 1970s, targets their faith. Those trying to revive it say it is essential for preservation of indigenous faiths and culture.
Curia cleanup, abuses, Ukraine-Russia mediation, China. A month of pontificate as a litmus test of the Leo method.
In electing Pope Leo XIV, the institution of the Catholic Church appears quite clear about the place it should occupy beyond its spiritual commitment.
The conclave in which Pope Francis was elected had as its task the salvation of the Church. At the conclave that chose Cardinal Robert Prevost to be Pope Leo XIV, we ask him to fill in where politics has failed.
Italian novelist Viola Ardone reflects on childhood dreams, institutional patriarchy, and why the Catholic Church still silences women as 133 cardinals gather to elect the next pope.
In the last hours before the Cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel, a negotiation between powerful Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Luis Tagle, a favorite of the Church’s progressive wing from the Philippines could unblock the election for the next Pope.
Many couples only live side-by-side.The children or the house still keep them together — and they open up their relationship. It may sound at first like a logical solution, but it’s more often than not the worst of all the options.
France’s churches are a rich religious heritage that, unlike other European countries, largely belong to the national or local governments. But with strained budgets and years of neglect, keeping these historic churches standing has become a daunting and costly struggle.
The official end of a devastating virus, the start of a major uprising, and the birth of a celebrated actor.
Jesus spoke Aramaic, but the Bible has been translated from Greek. Many mistaken translations of the Gospels have skewed the development of Christianity — and the course of history. It’s time to let the Bible be retranslated to let its true message be known.
Updated Aug. 26, 2024 at 11:20 am Mother Teresa was born on this day in 1910. Who was Mother Theresa? Mother Teresa, born as Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in Skopje (now North Macedonia), was an Albanian-Indian Roman Catholic nun and missionary. She founded the Missionaries of Charity, a religious congregation that provided care and assistance to […]
Chiquita — the former United Fruit Company — is being ordered to compensate victims of the paramilitaries it financed in Colombia in the late 20th century. Like Monsanto with pesticides, it might begin saving funds to pay more such fines.
The Pope has once again caused outrage because of a homophobic statement he made last week. This is far from being the first time the pontiff has sparked controversy for something he said — by mistake or otherwise.
“The gospel that is being preached on the pulpit these days is just meant to insult and belittle us,” says a Ugandan churchgoer.
Ahead of Notre Dame Cathedral’s reopening in December 2024, a proposal by President Macron to replace six 19th-century stained glass windows with new panels has sparked outcry. Yet stained glass is not new to controversy in France, where even Matisse, Chagall, Garouste and Soulages have managed to unite the sacred and the contemporary.
Germany has been shaken by a study showing that sexual abuse has been widespread and systematic within the German Protestant Church, which has 19 million members. Now it is time for society to wake up to the fact that Protestantism is not superior to Catholicism when it comes to abuse.
It is not only the health of the Pope that worries the Holy See. From the collapse of vocations to the conservative wind in the USA, there are many ills to face.
Italy’s highest-profile nemesis of organized crime networks, prosecutor Nicola Gratteri, discusses the mob’s use of social networks, and how TikTok allows criminal organizations to advertise their lifestyle to impressionable viewers. Sound familiar?
The synod had promised to bring forth revolutionary ides for both members of the LGBTQ and women within the Church. But looking at the first session’s conclusion reveals that hopes for change may have come too early.
Since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Russian Orthodox Church has fully supported the Kremlin. Priests or members of the church that disagree with this politicization and militarization of the church face heavy consequences such as removal.
On this day in 1986, Desmond Tutu was named Archbishop of the Anglican Church in South Africa. What was Desmond Tutu’s role in the Anglican Church? Desmond Tutu was a South African Anglican bishop and social rights activist. He became known for his vocal opposition to apartheid, a system of racial segregation and discrimination in […]
Two synods by the Catholic Church, to be held in Rome in late 2023 and 2024, are to debate possible and even radical changes to the Church’s practices and rules in line with the Argentine pope’s vision of a social and inclusive Church.
In his Spiritual Testament, Pope Benedict XVI only cited Protestant theologians – not a single Catholic thinker. Were the Catholics not interesting enough for him? And what do Joseph Ratzinger’s pre-modern understanding of the concept of reason and inaccurate Kant quotes have to do with it?
Poland’s legislature is in the process of passing new “blasphemy” restrictions that would impose jail sentences for denigrating the Catholic Church, Warsaw-based daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported Monday. Parliament’s lower house has approved an amendment that—if passed into law—would impose “a fine, a penalty of restriction of liberty, or imprisonment up to two years,” on anyone […]
After a fire at a church in August killed 42 people, Egypt’s Christians are worried about the fate of their places of worship, which lack proper infrastructure and financial support to meet safety standards. But, as Egypt’s Mada Masr reports, this is not a new problem, and it is one that has been ongoing for years, during which Christians were not given permission to set up churches.
In parts of sub-Saharan Africa, where many people believe in witchcraft, allegations occasionally flare into violence and death.
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No Healing Here, But Maybe A Miracle
In Naples you will often hear people exclaim: “Maronna ro Carmine!“ To understand the meaning of that expression, here’s a true story from my childhood. Although everyone called her Maria, my grandmother’s real name was Maria Carmela, taken from the Madonna to whom she was devoted. And if you’re not from Naples, you wouldn’t know […]
Some would like to paint the Argentine-born Pope Francis as a sympathizer of his native country’s leftist government. But his ‘socialist’ declarations are in line with more than a century of Church doctrine.
But in the end… is it enough?
For decades, France did well in accommodating the religious needs of Muslims — on the condition they went back to their country of origin. Now, demands to express one’s faith are often labeled: separatism.
Pope Francis, the former Archbishop of Buenos Aires, has had a longstanding tolerance of and friendship for homosexuals, and yet rejection of marriage as anything other than a heterosexual institution.
It is the most delicate of roles right now, as Father Georg continues to serve his original boss, retired Pope Benedict XVI, while also heading the Papal household of Pope Francis.
Medically assisted procreation is restricted by law in Italy to heterosexual couples. A La Stampa reporter posed as a woman seeking to get pregnant and found dozens of willing men online.
Darwin may have poked a hole in the Christian creation myth. But historically speaking, the relationship between science and religion has been far more nuanced than most people imagine.
MONTE CASTELLO DI VIBIO — “Sei la figlia di Satana! Gesù non ti ama!” It was 1989 and I was 8 years old — and my teacher was screaming at me in front of my classmates, telling me I was Satan’s daughter and that Jesus didn’t love me. I had been looking forward to my […]