Restrictions on religion by government officials across the world reached a new peak in 2021, a new Pew Research Center report released on Tuesday revealed. The report looked at 198 countries and territories around the world. It is the 14th year that Pew released such a report on the global state of religion.
Read MoreIt was quite a week for Javier Milei. Not only did he visit Israel in a show of support; the recently-elected Argentine president then flew to Vatican City, where he made peace with Pope Francis. While Milei is a Catholic, he hasn’t been shy about criticizing the pontiff in the past while also flirting with the idea of converting to Judaism.
Read MoreLibertarian economist and former soccer player Javier Milei was elected Argentina's president, a result that in many ways can be seen as a referendum on Pope Francis’ social agenda in his home nation.
Read More(ANALYSIS) While this pontiff has been a divisive figure in the Catholic Church (especially in the United States and Western Europe), Francis’ popularity in his homeland is also waning. It’s a departure from the fervor of a decade ago when Jorge Bergoglio, the cardinal of Buenos Aires, was elected pope. Much of the country celebrated. These days, Francis generates divided opinions.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In Uyuni, where one of the two new lithium plants will be constructed, Indigenous communities acknowledge the presence of these sacred beings. To this day, worshipers in nearby Lipez region explain the salt flat’s origin with a traditional legend: It is the mother’s milk of their Apu, a female volcano named Tunupa.
Read MoreThe season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts about six weeks, culminating with Easter Sunday. It is the day Christians believe Jesus rose from the dead. Ahead of the Lenten season, here are five books about this prayerful season that will prepare Christians for Easter.
Read MorePope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who served as head of the Roman Catholic Church from 2005 until his surprise resignation in 2013, was a theologian known for his writings and defense of traditional values to counter the increased secularization of the West.
Read More(ANALYSIS) With one week to go before Brazil’s presidential election, the two front-runners, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Jair Bolsonaro are battling for the religious vote. The group of people termed “evangelicals” is much more diverse in Latin America than in the United States – and it’s politically quite diverse, too.
Read MoreIndentured laborers from India brought their specific brand of worship under the overarching Hindu and Muslim traditions when they came to Guyana in the 19th century. Now, Guyanese people of Indian descent form a little over 44% of the country’s population. It’s no coincidence the country also has the largest population of Hindus in the Western Hemisphere.
Read MoreIn the past few years a national conversation has ignited about the character of racial and religious outsiders, who belongs in America and under what terms and conditions they belong. According to Stanford historian Kathryn Gin Lum in her latest book “Heathen: Religion and Race in American History,” these ideas and American conceptions of race can be traced back to the religious and racialized concept of the “heathen.”
Read MoreFor a century, more than 519 sacred objects from the Umbanda and Candomblé — both spiritual African religions — were in the possession of Brazil police. The new documentary “Respect Our Sacred” details the process of getting them back.
Read MoreSt. Paul’s cathedral, part of the cultural heritage of the British community in Valparaíso, turns to music to keep its doors open. After its parishioners emigrated from the Chilean port city in the 20th century, a restoration process began with concerts at the Queen Victoria Memorial Organ.
Read MoreNamed La’eeb — which FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, said is “an Arabic word meaning super-skilled player” — the World Cup mascot triggered plenty of confusion and scorn on social media. But the mascot was primarily an homage to Arab garments known as the “keffiyeh” and “thawb.”
Read MoreFaced with the reopening of face-to-face services, opinions on COVID-19 safety and security protocols have split congregations. Here is how a Brazilian church in New York handled the challenge.
Read More(ANALYSIS) As 2021 comes to a close, everyone is looking toward 2022. The news cycle over the last two years has been dominated by COVID-19, and that doesn’t seem to be subsiding given the rash of recent omicron infections. The Catholic world, meanwhile, had in 2021 one of its busiest years. Expect 2022 to be just as busy.
Read MoreThe vast Amazon basin has long drawn missionaries seeking to reach people who haven’t yet heard the gospel of Christ. But now, missionaries working with New Tribes Mission Brazil and other groups are facing a formidable foe: Indigenous groups backed by laws that protect small isolated tribes from both pandemics and proselytizing.
Read More(OPINION) Luis Palau, called the Billy Graham of Latin America, died March 11 at age 86. Religion Unplugged contributor and board member of The Media Project recalls what it was like working with Palau in Peru and accompanying him on official meetings with government officials and artists.
Read MoreThe Vatican’s diplomatic representative in Lima, Peru secretly obtained a Chinese COVID-19 vaccine, along with high-ranking Peruvian officials, meant for doctors and researchers working on a clinical trial.
Read More(ANALYSIS) What will 2021 bring? That’s the big question following a 2020 that will forever remain a year where the world was held hostage by a pandemic. It was also a year where we had a combative presidential election and a reawakened social justice movement that brought our divided politics out into our streets.
Read More(REVIEW) David Geisser’s new cookbook in time for the holidays, The Vatican Christmas Cookbook, offers up over 100 recipes from around the world.
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