Posts tagged coronavirus pandemic
Can 'Super Mario' and Catholic Social Teaching rescue Italy's faltering economy?

(ANALYISIS) Italian economist Mario Draghi is forming a new government at the president’s request after a collapse of the ruling coalition over its handling of the pandemic. How will Catholic Social Teaching factor in helping lockdown-weary Italians — from business owners to the unemployed — achieve economic stability? The answer can be found in a 2013 speech.

Read More
Religious tour operators hope for a better 2021 following coronavirus travel restrictions

Popular pilgrimage destinations like Jerusalem and Rome have seen a massive drop in religious travelers, especially during Passover, Easter and this past summer.

Read More
What you need to know about SCOTUS nominee Amy Coney Barrett's faith

Here’s everything you need to know about Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett’s faith, her past statements regarding abortion and whether religion should impact judicial philosophy.

Read More
Most Catholic voters favor Biden, cite the economy as their biggest concern

The newest EWTN News/RealClear Opinion Research poll on Catholic priorities this election season finds that while former Vice President Joe Biden enjoys a 12-point margin over Donald Trump, the president continues to do best among those who regularly attend Mass on Sundays.

Read More
Yet another book about who will follow Pope Francis examines a church in transition

(REVIEW) While 83-year-old Pope Francis is in good health, that hasn’t stopped speculation over who will come next. In his new book, author George Weigel examines the problems affecting the church and what the next pope will need to do in order to address them. Think of it like a very long to-do memo for the next head of the Catholic church.

Read More
Film about miraculous Fatima apparitions heaven-sent during the pandemic

(REVIEW) The new movie Fatima, which details the story of three Portuguese children who were visited by an apparition of an angel and six times by the Virgin Mary, is moving, hopeful and inspiring. These are the very qualities in a movie audiences crave, especially during a pandemic.

Read More
How Pence’s Faith Gave Trump Credibility Among Conservative Christians

(OPINION) Vice President Mike Pence has the role of firming up Trump’s base over the coming weeks, making sure evangelicals and traditional Catholics pull the lever for the president.

Read More
New thriller 'The Order' makes fiction from Catholicism's doctrinal friction

(REVIEW) Traditionalists versus progressives is the major plot of a new novel called The Order by writer Daniel Silva, who puts these sinister inner workings that highlight this modern-day Vatican political power struggle — albeit a fictional account in this case — into greater focus.

Read More
Biden's faith becomes a campaign issue as anti-Catholic attacks rise

(OPINION) During this time of cultural reckoning, some have tried to lump Catholic saints like St. Damien into the same category as treasonous Confederate generals. That has forced Republicans to come out as defenders of traditional Christian values, while Democrats get dangerously closer to socialism.

Read More
ESPN basketball analyst Jimmy Dykes channels success through Christianity

(REVIEW) Jimmy Dykes’ new book isn’t just one long series of motivational speeches. Instead, he focuses on how people can strengthen their relationships with one another — the perfect recipe for any team’s success — along with serving God.

Read More
Election 2020: Catholic voters in these states could decide the presidential race

(ANALYSIS) For all the fallout caused by the virus (and how various states have handled it) and the divisions in this country around issues like race, the presidential election could — once again — be decided by a handful of majority Catholic counties in four states by voters who care about abortion and religious liberty.

Read More
Catholics divided by BLM ahead of 2020 elections

Progressive Catholics like Martin Gugino see it as their role to help the United States achieve racial equality. Traditional Catholics, however, see Black Lives Matter as part of a sinister force that wants to spread Marxist ideology. While Catholics agree that racism is an issue in American society, the proposed remedies for those ills differ wildly.

Read More
Burundi's President Dies of COVID-19 After Insisting God Would Protect The Country

President Pierre Nkurunziza, who died June 8 at 55 years old, was a study in contrasts. He was known for public demonstrations of his Christian faith, yet his political opponents were often silenced or disappeared mysteriously. However, it was his biggest — and last — contradiction that will remain etched in the minds of Burundians. As the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, Nkurunziza and his officials ignored the virus, but reports now say he may have died from it.

Read More
Class of COVID-19: 3 Commencement Addresses That Highlighted Faith

Like everything else that involves large gatherings, the global pandemic has forced many schools to either hold their ceremonies online or postpone them to a future date. For the colleges and universities that did decide to hold ceremonies this month, the topic of God wasn’t far from the minds of commencement speakers like actor Tom Hanks.

Read More
How a leading Jewish community center is adapting summer plans

As the pandemic alters summer plans and disrupts long-held traditions, the Jewish community in Georgia adapts camps and activities to the new reality.

Read More
COVID-19 is creating new burdens for religious minorities

(OPINION) The chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed governments across the world the liberty to heighten existing religious persecution. Many religious minorities are discriminated against in healthcare provision and some are even being blamed for the spread of the virus.

Read More
Templeton Prize awarded to Francis Collins, pandemic response leader

The geneticist and physician is a leading voice in the conversation about faith and science, and has been a steady voice urging religious communities to have faith in science. His agency is hard at work in the global race to find treatments for COVID-19.

Read More
John Paul II centennial: 6 things you didn't know about the pope's life

Monday marks the centennial birth of Karol Wojtyla, who became Pope John Paul II and was canonized a saint following his death. John Paul II was one of the longest-serving pontiffs in church history, the first non-Italian elected pope in 455 years and spent much of the 1980s ending communism in Eastern Europe.

Read More
Examining the role of Catholic bishops in the 2020 presidential race

Catholic leaders — be it the pope, cardinals, bishops or even your local parish priest — don’t traditionally endorse candidates for political office. Here’s a look at why things may be changing as both the church and voters prepare for another U.S. presidential election.

Read More
If churches don't innovate, they'll go out of business

(OPINION) Nobody knows how long the COVID-19 crisis will last. Simply “waiting it out” is not an option for businesses, and it’s not am option for faith communities. In order to stay relevant in this time of uncertainty, churches need to exercise the same innovation seen in the marketplace.

Read More