When nuns listed a vacant Catholic girls’ school for sale in this sleepy French village in 2017, American Jerry Jones saw an opportunity to expand Christian influence and higher education in Europe. But his British wife, Zoobi Jones, gave a quick, succinct reply to his suggestion that the couple use their savings to buy La Maison de Perrine — “The House of Perrine” in English.
Read MoreChurches and cathedrals around the U.K. hold works of art by some of the most important and exciting artists of the past 100 years. But unless you know where to look, many can be hard to find. High-profile examples include significant commissions by Elisabeth Frink, John Piper and Graham Sutherland at Coventry Cathedral.
Read MoreRed post boxes are one of the most well-known and iconic British symbols — but at Christmastime, they take on a very different ambiance, often virtually overnight. Posting Christmas cards becomes even more fun as you never know quite what might appear on top of the post box in many part of the U.K.
Read More(ESSAY) These traditions, dating back to the Middle Ages, were born out of the darkest time of the year to symbolize the return of light to the world. Remembering them today confirms for me that God is present in beauty and in the effort we make to create peace for one another.
Read MoreBecause Mary herself was from the eastern Mediterranean, the subtle incorporation by Renaissance painters of abstractly rendered Arabic or Hebrew in religious art linguistically linked their sacred subjects to the region’s Biblical past as well as its bounteous wealth.
Read MoreResearch carried out by the Bat Conservation Trust has revealed that over 8,000 churches provide bats with a home. They are messy houseguests, and churchgoers must coexist with them. At the same time, a U.K. law prohibits removing or disturbing the winged creatures that have scared people for centuries.
Read MoreOn the same day the breakfast concluded, a local news outlet reported that two Armenian opposition podcasters had been placed in pre-trial detention. Vazgen Saghatelyan and Narek Samsonyan, co-hosts of the “Imnemnimi” podcast, had been arrested over comments made in a Nov. 10 episode about National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan.
Read More(ANALYSIS) “News as we have hitherto known it has died and been laid to rest.” So wrote illustrious former BBC war correspondent Martin Bell, ending his autobiography, “War and the Death of News.” He was not writing the BBC’s obituary, but he could have been. No, he was arguing the BBC no longer knew the difference between fairness and neutrality.
Read More(REVIEW) This makes film’s presentation feel extremely — for lack of a better word — basic. The movie, however, never figures out exactly which of these threads it wants to follow. Is it about the trials? The nature of evil and whether the Nazis were unique or not? Is it trying to educate viewers about Holocaust history, or say something new about it?
Read MoreItaly’s Supreme Court ruled that an evangelical worship space, which is located in a former shop a short distance from the Vatican, does not qualify as a religious edifice due to its non-traditional appearance.
Read MoreGod and Google can bring people together in any language. A diverse group of Christians connected on a recent Sunday in Marseille, France.
Read More(REVIEW) It can be easy to forget the role physical space plays for various faith and why talks of bringing about a “New Jerusalem” were not far-fetched. They started in places made of stone — and as Fergus Butler-Gallie points out, “Jerusalem is a somewhere, not a nowhere. Specifically, it is here.”
Read MoreBeneath a church sanctuary, a basement is filled with skeletons of over 40,000 individuals arranged in horrifying ways — it is like a scene out of a scary movie, but it is entirely real. For Christians, memento mori — a Latin phrase meaning “remember you must die” — is inescapable.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Halloween used to be different. Very different. Before Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger, before trick-or-treating and crowded costume parties, it was All Hallows’ Eve. It was a night when candles burned for the dead and prayers rose into the dark. Families across Europe gathered in solemn silence, marked more by reverence than by revelry.
Read More(OPINION) In the wake of the historic schism that has fractured the worldwide Anglican Communion, lazy and ignorant narratives have already begun to emerge. The secular media and even some progressive Christian outlets would have you believe this is a simple story of progress versus bigotry — a misogynistic, homophobic and unenlightened conclave of Global South bishops mostly from the African continent breaking away because a woman was put in charge.
Read MoreWhen fans of the soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv were assaulted in the streets of Amsterdam after a game last November, the violence drew comparisons to pogroms. It even prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to dispatch rescue planes to evacuate Israeli citizens. Once again there are fears of a repeat outbreak of violence, this time over a match in Birmingham, England.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The “Hear Us” exhibition added flashy decals to the columns, walls and floors of the iconic sanctuary, imitating the spray-paint art form common in alleys, road underpasses and urban neighborhoods. The images even offered up some bold challenges.
Read MoreChurch clocks have long been an iconic part of United Kingdom life, perched high on church towers, visible across the countryside. Over time, many have fallen into disuse or broken. Recently, three ancient clocks — in Montacute, Somerset and in Winchester, Hampshire — have been returned to full working order — and their restoration projects turned up some unexpected discoveries.
Read MoreIgnoring pleas from animal rights advocates to denounce bullfighting and its close ties with Spanish Catholicism, Pope Leo XIV is aligning himself with Spain’s bishops, who remain hesitant to condemn the cruelty of the popular bloodsport. Animal rights groups see a red flag, arguing that the practice, which dates back centuries, is barbaric.
Read More(ANALYSIS) European lawmakers have criticized Serbia’s use of force against anti-government protesters. But the Serbian Orthodox Church — representing 85 percent of the country’s population — has been largely urged the student protestors to “go back to their classes” and not protest.
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