Attempting to determine which American city is the “most Christian” is no easy task. The outcome of a new study came with some surprises. The survey, out in time for Easter, has determined that the urban center with the highest religious engagement for Christians, using a variety of metrics and factors, is New York.
Read MoreFive cases addressing religious liberty ranging from parental rights to age verification on pornographic sites will be decided when the Supreme Court announces its decisions in the coming months.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Why empower a small group of unelected, perhaps unrepresentative, people from some religious communities with official privileged access to the governor? Why treat seven people as if they could speak for the millions of religious believers in Texas? Can a Baptist properly reflect Catholic concerns, or an Orthodox Jew reflect Muslim concerns?
Read MoreAlthough a recent study reveals that Lent is largely ignored by many Christians in the United States, there is a trend among members of some conservative Protestant denominations to incorporate it in their Easter observances. Some who are members of conservative Presbyterian denominations have even taken up Lent in a break from tradition.
Read MoreTheodore McCarrick — once one of the Catholic Church's most influential figures in the United States who was later defrocked following a Vatican investigation that found he had abused both adults and minors — has died at age 94. McCarrick, who served as the archbishop of Washington from 2000 to 2006, remains one of the highest-ranking U.S. prelates accused in a sexual abuse scandal.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The bridge between Ash Wednesday and Easter is the penitential season of Lent. However, Lent is “not on the radar” for most Americans, according to a new Lifeway Research study focusing on Catholics, Protestants and the unchurched. Most who observe Lent find their own ways to mark the season, with some form of the “give up one thing for Lent” pattern as the norm.
Read MoreMost immigrants at risk of deportation are Christian, researchers deduced, with 61 percent of them Catholics. But 13 percent are evangelicals, seven percent are from other Christian groups, seven percent are from other religious groups and 12 percent have no religious affiliation.
Read More(ANALYSIS) As a medievalist, I appreciate Francis’ contrasting approach: A religious leader who embraces history and scholarship, and encourages others to do the same — even as book bans and threats to academic freedom mount.
Read MoreRome has been all gussied up for the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year. An extra 10 million pilgrims are forecast, adding to last year's record of 22 million. More than $8 billion has been spent to refurbish the city’s historic sites with their ancient ruins, spectacular churches and Renaissance fountains. Nothing of the like has taken place in Israel as it also awaits pilgrims.
Read MoreGrief can take many forms — the echo of a loved one’s laugh, a favorite saying or even a silly joke. It’s a belonging on a living room table, clothes you can’t quite bring yourself to donate or a domestic animal who wanders the house aimlessly after a loved one’s death.
Read MoreWhile we were recording the podcast this week, I told Lutheran Public Radio listeners that I was well aware that much of the information I was sharing was rather complex, if not downright confusing. That was kind of the point. When it comes to statistical trends in religion, we live in a very, very confusing age.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Clergy need to grasp that smartphones are raising moral and spiritual questions they cannot avoid. Postponing complex and even controversial discussions of these digital dilemmas will not make the problems disappear.
Read MoreIn many countries around the world, a fifth or more of adults have left the religious group in which they were raised. Christianity and Buddhism have experienced large losses from this “religious switching,” while rising numbers of adults have opted to have no affiliation, according to Pew Research Center surveys of nearly 80,000 people across 36 countries.
Read MoreFor centuries, churches have used different methods to calculate the date of Easter. Rarely do they coincide. The search for a common date has also been one of the main issues of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, whose 1,700th anniversary is being celebrated this year. As a result, this could be a year that marks a turning point in the relationship between Eastern and Western churches.
Read More(ANALYSIS) If she were still alive, March 25 would mark Flannery O’Connor’s 100th birthday. This milestone invites us to explore the many ways in which her Catholic faith shaped her literary genius. O’Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia, where Protestantism was the norm. Her decision to follow Catholicism wasn’t just a personal faith choice, but a key part of her identity and a driving force in her writing.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Thirty-eight days have gone by since Feb. 14, when Pope Francis left the Vatican to be hospitalized at the Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital. These weeks have been challenging for an 88-year-old patient battling bilateral pneumonia. Medical reports did not downplay the severity of his condition, the crises he endured, or the complexity of his clinical picture.
Read MoreWhen it comes to basic statistics, the 1960s and ‘70s were the high-water mark for liberal mainline Protestants. Pews were often full and strategic mergers — such as the process that eventually created the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 1983 — led to membership totals that inspired ecclesiastical bureaucrats to dream about bold “reforms” in the future (click for a timeline of LGBTQ+ activism in the Episcopal Church).
Read MoreNearly 80 percent of evangelical Protestant pastors reject the scientific consensus that the climate is changing and human actions are a major cause, according to a new report. Only about one-quarter of clergy from other Christian traditions, such as Catholic and mainline Protestants, share this same skepticism.
Read MoreIn recent years, Nigeria has seen a surge in kidnappings and violent attacks. Christians living in the country’s five southeast states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo have said violence has affected their religious lives.
Read More(OPINION) “Poor wordy little Protestants” — as someone once said — have severed this connection between the church and its visual soul food. Bereft of beauty, Protestant churches have left us to the narcotizing effect of TV and social media, and a daily diet of pap, propaganda and rage. Could new generations and populations be inspired again to aspire to the heights to which those early artists aspired? If so, we'll surely need to get out more.
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