(ANALYSIS) We have a new pope! May the Holy Spirit guide you, Papa! These are my thoughts, on the fly, as a relatively new Catholic, having entered the church two years ago.
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(EXPLAINER) As tensions rise between India and Pakistan, questions about what constitutes a lawful war are once again in focus. International law makes a clear distinction between jus ad bellum (the right to go to war) and jus in bello (the rules governing conduct in war). These are framed by the United Nations Charter, customary international law and treaties such as the Geneva Conventions, all of which define what states and their leaders can — and cannot — do during conflict.
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(ANALYSIS) As Catholics prepare for a new pope, Pew has released new insights into lines of tension and division among American Catholics. Five years after the "transubstantiation" study, a new survey includes more evidence that "U.S. Catholics" disagree with many core Catholic doctrines and, thus, want a "more inclusive" church.
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India launched a military strike deep into Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir early on May 7, saying it targeted sites used by terror groups responsible for the April 22 attacks on civilians in the Kashmir region. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the attack a “blatant act of war,” promising that it “will not go unpunished” and claiming that a “resolute response is already underway.”
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(ANALYSIS) This may be unsettling to those who’ve invested in the idea of a steadily secularizing globe, but the numbers don’t lie. In the long run, the groups that reproduce tend to shape the narrative. If religion continues to dominate global culture through the 21st century, it won’t be because it won a war of ideas. It’ll be because believers have more babies.
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(ANALYSIS) The big U.S. Supreme Court decisions due in the coming two months include three cases on the religion clauses in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights. At issue: Can a state deny a tax benefit to religious charities it thinks are not “religious” enough, can parents withdraw public elementary children from classes on gender identity and whether the state can fund a religious charter school.
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(ANALYSIS) If you’ve been tracking the gossip around the upcoming conclave — or if you’ve seen Conclave — I bet there’s one question dominating your mind: What is up with those hats?
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(ANALYSIS) Be honest: How many of you have watched or rewatched the movie “Conclave” during the past month or two — roughly starting with the health crisis that eventually ended the Pope Francis papacy?
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(ANALYSIS) Ashraf, a Muslim and daily wage labourer from Wayanad, Kerala, had arrived in this coastal Karnataka city just weeks earlier. On the evening of April 27, he was found dead near a temple in Kudupu — barely six miles (10 kilometers) from Mangaluru city’s centre. Reportedly killed on the sidelines of a cricket match, his death was a brutal act that felt grimly familiar.
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In a presentation at the Associated Church Press annual convention in Chicago, our Weekend Plug-in columnist reflects on his experience covering natural disasters.
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Here are three questions for news consumers who are paying attention to pre-conclave news. These questions play a crucial role in this week’s “Crossroads” podcast, which focuses on some elite mainstream press coverage of the unfolding drama in Rome.
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(ANALYSIS) One of the most interesting lines of survey research in the last couple of years has been led by Tyler VanderWeele at Harvard. It’s focused on a fairly simple but incredibly consequential aspect of life — human flourishing.
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(ANALYSIS) The April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, which killed 26 civilians, has pushed India and Pakistan into one of their most dangerous standoffs in recent years. Daily gunfire is being reported across the Line of Control and diplomatic ties have been cut off and military activity is intensifying between the majority Hindu nation and their Muslim neighbors.
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Pizzaballa’s name has been included in almost every list == in secular and Catholic media — of “papabile,” or “pope able” candidates to fill the Chair of Saint Peter. Thus, journalists and church insiders have dissected sermons and addresses by Pizzaballa and other popular “papabile,” searching for clues about their stands on doctrine, worship and pastoral issues in the wake of the tumultuous Francis papacy.
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(ANALYSIS) Parents and caregivers — especially those from urban areas or with less economic stability — felt that the church could do more to support early childhood development and address their community's needs. This is where Black and Latino community churches and faith leaders need to step in to support families.
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(ANALYSIS) Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion and Harvard University's Human Flourishing Program, along with Gallup and the Center for Open Science, released on Wednesday the first findings of their ongoing worldwide survey examining what makes for human flourishing.
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(ANALYSIS) In the United States, April is designated as Genocide Prevention and Awareness Month and is aimed at commemorating and raising awareness about genocides that occurred in the past, including the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide.
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(ANALYSIS) Here’s a religion and politics story from the 2024 election that I hadn’t really thought about until recently: J.D. Vance, Trump’s pick for vice president, converted to Catholicism in 2019.
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(ANALYSIS) With Pope Francis’ funeral in the rearview mirror, the focus at the Vatican shifts to the forthcoming papal conclave and the process of electing the next pontiff. The Catholic Church is bigger than one single pope, but talk of Francis’ legacy lingers as the church finds itself at a crossroads. It is also something the next pope will have to contend with.
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Saturday’s majestic open-air funeral for Pope Francis is now followed by election of the next pope by the College of Cardinals in a process shrouded in secrecy. Indeed, the Latin root for “conclave” means “locked room”). Its legendary status was underscored in January when the fictionalized movie thriller “Conclave” was nominated for Best Picture and other Oscars.
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