(ANALYSIS) For members of the Religion News Association, this was the kind of dramatic appeal that made the Chicago native the top Religion Newsmaker of 2025. The runner-up was Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani, who was elected as New York City's first Muslim mayor. The assassinated evangelical activist Charlie Kirk placed third.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Faith and politics collided as a U.S.-born pope emerged, Donald Trump returned to power, immigration crackdowns intensified across the U.S. and churches faced violence. At the same time, a Muslim mayoral win stirred debate, while antisemitic attacks surged. Here’s a recap of the past 12 months.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Why do I think Christian families should have a “Christmas movie” tradition in which there are a few (very few) wonderful flicks that they watch as part of its “traditional” (small “t”) festivities linked to Christmas?
Read MoreHong Kong was tense and festive when I arrived for a small 1997 conference about religion coverage in global media. The reason for the odd atmosphere was obvious: In a few days, on July 1, Great Britain would yield control of that great city to the People’s Republic of China.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Most of all, people in the valleys between the ridges wanted to find ways to be together — somehow. The traditional 12-day season, ending on Jan. 6, gave them more time for travel and simple festivities.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Ask yourself this question: Based on the mainstream news coverage you have seen in the past decade of two, which is the bigger news story — growing churches or dying churches?
Read MoreThe question is not whether Trump is relevant in many of these stories. This is, after all, an age in which faith, culture and religious doctrines are frequently linked to debates about hot-button political issues. The question is whether Trump is placed front and center in every story, warping discussions of issues that were important long before he entered American politics.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Late in the movie “Shadowlands,” the C.S. Lewis character describes the role that books can play in real life. The famous Oxford don and author, played by Anthony Hopkins, notes, “We read books to know that we are not alone.” But Lewis never wrote those memorable words.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Needless to say, these old-school, pro-First Amendment liberals are not the kind of public intellectuals that cultural and religious conservatives have, in the past, valued for their insights into public life. However, they have created a multi-media space in which all kinds of voices — including strong, vocal Christians (Paul Kingsnorth, leaps to mind) — have been able to reach millions of new readers and listeners.
Read MoreCertain corners of the Orthodox internet are not just conservative or traditionalist, but openly racist and antisemitic, with several far-right figures converting in recent years. In the South, there is a strain of neoconfederate Orthodoxy that marries white supremacy and Orthodox practice. Matthew Heimbach, who organized the notorious Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017, had been excommunicated from the Antiochian Orthodox church but joined another branch.
Read MoreCollections of Christmas music often include a few popular Advent hymns sung in Protestant services and even in Christmas parties, such as “Joy to the World,” “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” and, especially, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” Many Catholic Advent hymns focus on the role of Mary, the mother of Jesus, such as "Rorate Caeli (Drop down, Ye Heavens).”
Read More(ANALYSIS) After several years of conversations while traveling nationwide, Father Andrew Stephen Damick is convinced these ancient prayers are painfully relevant to many converts surging into the small, but now growing, Eastern Church in America. It is no longer unusual to meet converts who have worshipped other gods and spirits.
Read MoreConflicts like these are not common, but they can happen. I moved them into present tense for reasons that will become obvious, as I connect them to news coverage we discussed in this week’s “Crossroads” podcast, focusing on tensions between a few Christian schools and Turning Point USA.
Read More(ANALYSIS) For Orthodox Christians in America, the 20th century was shaped by waves of believers fleeing wars, revolutions and persecution in lands such as Greece, Syria, Russia and Romania. These days, the catechumenate class numbers are staggering. While some Orthodox parishes are shrinking, many clergy are struggling to handle congregations that have doubled or tripled in size.
Read MoreOnce again, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops gathered for debates and votes with serious implications for the current occupant of the White House and his supporters.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Trying to combine Christian faith with serious rock music created a dilemma when Keaggy entered what record-industry pros have long called CCM — Contemporary Christian Music. Most of his over 55 albums were first sold in Christian bookstores instead of mainstream music chains.
Read MoreThe bottom line: There have been important, newsworthy trends taking place on the “religious left” as well as the “secular left.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo had every reason to be emotional as he stood in a shallow grave containing the corpses of 11 members of his Nigerian church. Responding to pleas from Republicans in Congress and religious conservatives, President Donald Trump warned the United States may soon intervene.
Read MoreWhile most episodes of “Crossroads” focus on religious issues in news coverage, this week’s podcast was quite different. The hook for my discussion with host Todd Wilken was a New York Times interview in which Hopkins described, in often cryptic language, an “epiphany” that made him the man and movie legend that he is today.
Read MoreObviously, Trump knows he has enemies who want to help him spend eternity in real estate infinitely hotter than South Florida. The president believes God saved his life for a purpose. That's interesting, considering his history of remarks doubting whether he is worthy of heaven.
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