Nearly all U.S. adults say it is important to have a president who lives a moral and ethical life, and almost half say it’s important for the president to have strong religious beliefs. Here’s a guide to this year’s presidential candidates, their religious affiliations and notable statements they’ve made about faith.
Read MoreAmong the parade of priests and nuns who stroll in and around Vatican City, there is a special breed of journalist who is tasked with explaining the pope and the Roman curia to the world. These people are known as Vatican watchers — a “Vaticanista” in Italian — and they've been around since the 1960s. Even in the digital age, these journalists have become essential to understanding the church.
Read MoreLocal residents and the Catholic order have engaged in a years-long court battle after the church tried to evict them from their ancestral land on the outskirts of the capital Harare. The more than 1,000 families, however, were relieved when a court agreed to halt, for now, a move by the Jesuits to evict them from their land that the church wants to turn into an urban residential area.
Read More(EXPLAINER) Riots have erupted across the United Kingdom over the past week as far-right groups launched attacks against hotels housing asylum seekers and mosques. A heavy security presence on Wednesday and a series of arrests across Britain has prevented a repeat of widespread rioting involving racist attacks targeting Muslims and other migrants that started late last month.
Read MoreA large majority of U.S. Catholics have a positive view of Pope Francis — although his popularity has slipped since he became pontiff in 2013, a new poll has found. Furthermore, when it comes to whether priests should be allowed to marry, among other hot-button issues, Catholics in the United States remain divided primarily along political lines.
Read MoreMuslims around the world welcomed the holy month of Ramadan on Sunday with some trepidation given the war in Gaza and political and religious turmoil taking place across the Middle East. Ramadan — the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar — is a period observed by Muslims worldwide.
Read MoreFast food aficionados and practicing Catholics alike are often familiar with the Filet-O-Fish story and how the sandwich was born as a result of Lent. Catholics aren’t the only religious group chain restaurants cater to because of faith and dietary restrictions. Here’s a look at some of the biggest menu options from around the world.
Read MoreAuthorities said a woman opened fire with an AR-15 on celebrity televangelist Joel Osteen’s Texas megachurch — one of the largest in the country — before two-off duty police officers shot and killed the suspect. The officers’ actions, police said, averted what could have been a bigger tragedy.
Read MoreDave Canales is ready to start his journey as head coach of the Carolina Panthers nearly two years after co-authoring a book with his wife Lizzy about working through problems with infidelity, addiction to pornography and binge drinking. Canales credits his wife’s support and Christianity for helping him improve his life.
Read MoreIndia’s Christian community has emerged as a proactive force in the battle against mental health challenges. Through initiatives such as national helplines, counselor training programs and pastoral support, they are working towards building a more mentally resilient society.
Read MoreA Christian group that has called the seaside town of Ocean Grove in New Jersey home for over 150 years is in a battle with state officials over beach access on Sundays. The town has kept its beach closed on Sundays from 9 a.m to noon — a total of 45 hours a year — each summer so that residents can attend church services. But New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection has issued a violation letter stating the town is disobeying the law by cutting off access to the ocean.
Read MorePope Francis joined tens of thousands of pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square on Thursday at a funeral Mass for Benedict XVI, an unusual gathering for a dead pontiff presided by a living one. The Vatican, enveloped in a thick fog, featured heads of state and bishops from around the world who came to Rome to mourn Benedict’s death and remember his papacy.
Read MoreAlthough the Czech Republic is the most atheist country in the world, people still practice religious traditions today. Simultaneously, there are many factors contributing to the change of religious food culture in the Czech Republic, like globalization, tourism and immigration.
Read MoreMuslim tourists and locals in Prague find solace in their accessibility to Middle Eastern, halal food along with tourist hot spots. What’s special about such accessibility is that digital media now promotes “halal tripping” or “halal tourism.”
Read MoreOld Prague’s Jewish quarter was once a walled-off ghetto where the bulk of Bohemia’s Jewish community resided apart from the Christian majority, partly for their own protection. It is now little more than an open-air museum.
Read MoreAs I researched media content, it became quite clear to me that churches find their place in the news primarily (if not only) when the subject is business or economics related — church properties and estates — as if shaking away the communist past; political and/or financial correlations. Looking at the local religious life — it barely ever is a subject of media focus.
Read MoreAlmost all of the pieces are religious, taken from churches, basilicas and private chapels. They are echoes of a glorious religious past — one that contrasts with the fact that most of the Czech Republic’s population today is religiously unaffiliated.
Read MoreBeing born in the final decades of the Communist Czech government, Mašková feels lucky. By that time, its hold had already weakened, she recalls. Just a couple of decades ago, her parents and grandparents were risking a lot more than being expelled from school by practicing their religion.
Read MoreIn a midterm election highlighted by issues such as inflation, crime, abortion and threats to democracy, it turned out that recreational marijuana use has emerged as a new hot-button issue in the culture wars following staunch opposition by Catholic bishops.
Read MoreA majority of Catholic voters in six key battleground states say they plan to vote for Republican candidates in the upcoming midterm elections, a new poll reveals. A majority of voters in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada listed the economy, jobs, inflation and rising interest rates as their top concern.
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