(ANALYSIS) The pope’s recent appointment of Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernandez as prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has been a very big story this month. The appointment could influence the future direction of the church and Pope Francis’ legacy. This pontiff very much wants to leave a lasting impression on the global church, in part acting through the upcoming synod, and Fernandez could help shape it.
Read More(REVIEW) Joseph Lovett’s “Children of the Inquisition” is a feature length documentary exploring the worldwide Sephardic diaspora and recounting the history of various Jewish families seeking refuge during the Spanish Inquisition.
Read More(ANALYSIS) A new report suggests that the Tatmadaw continues to target religious and ethnic communities. This comes years after the Tatmadaw specifically targeted the Rohingya for annihilation.
Read More(ANALYSIS) As a professor of law who pays particular attention to First Amendment issues involving freedom of religion and speech, I see 303 Creative v. Elenis highlighting tension between two competing fundamental interests — ones that clash routinely in 21st century America.
Read More(OPINION) I don’t take abortion any more lightly than I take lightly the indiscriminate nature of promiscuity that appears to have infested our culture. But I still cannot find it in me, or in Holy Scripture, to support a trigger law or pretend that the removal of 12 cells not a nanosecond following conception could justly be deemed “murder.” Yet anti-abortion adherents often tout the slogan “abortion is murder.”
Read More(OPINION) The bishops of Aleppo, Syria — Metropolitan Paul Yazigi and Metropolitan Yohanna Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church — disappeared 10 years ago while seeking the release of two kidnapped priests. Their car was surrounded by a pack of armed men as they maneuvered through risky checkpoints west of Aleppo. Their driver died in the gunfire, but a survivor later testified that the kidnappers were not speaking Arabic and appeared to be from Chechnya.
Read More(OPINION) Two recent documentary series offer distressing portraits of Christian organizations that, although unrelated, appear eerily similar. Both movements gained prominence in part by instilling fear and shame in their members. Both have reaped abuse, scandal and decline.
Read More(REVIEW) Martin Doblmeier’s documentary, “Sabbath” explores how each of the monotheistic faiths have tackled the restlessness and consistent hurry of modern culture through adopting some variation on what the weekly Sabbath or time of rest looks like in their respective faith cultures.
Read More(OPINION) “Padre Pio” might not be for most folks. They don’t see the “hidden” knowledge of God in our being created as naked and unashamed. They instead associate all nudity with pornography. That’s because we’re a porn-saturated society. It’s estimated that 46%–74% of men and 16%–41% of women in the US are active pornography users.
Read More(REVIEW) “Sound Of Freedom” tries really hard to raise awareness about the very real evils of sex trafficking, but in the process creators forgot to also make a good movie. While the goal is worthy, this is one of the most mind-numbingly boring movies I’ve seen in ages.
Read More(ANALYSIS) One of the biggest religion-beat stories of the year is currently playing out, and most people are probably unaware of it due to lack of mainstream news updates. Maybe this story is too Catholic? I say this because the three-year process that began in 2021 known as the Synod on Synodality is reaching its most contentious and potentially dramatic stage.
Read More(OPINION) It's hard to consider the Big Apple a truly "secular city" when considering the rising number of New Yorkers who are Muslim, Orthodox Jewish, Hindu and evangelical and Pentecostal in Latino, Black, Asian, White and interracial flocks.
Read More(OPINION) Houses of worship are in decline. One reason is Americans’ waning interest in religious institutions. Another may be the change in consumer behavior away from the “average” and toward the large, the online and the small but specialized. Houses of worship can develop hope by learning from the experiences of the retail, financial-services and health care industries.
Read MoreWe’ve compiled a list of some of the top five tributes written since Tim Keller’s death, highlighting the influence and incredible legacy he left on individuals, New York City and the Christian sphere.
Read More(OPINION) I hate to see Christian groups, whether large or small, break up. But they do. Regularly. It seems fitting to put this development into some historical perspective. Church splits aren’t the exception; they’re the rule. The history of Christianity sometimes seems to be one division after another, endlessly, each split as agonizing for those involved as the previous ones were for earlier generations.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the one-year anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read More(REVIEW) “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets” is the latest docuseries from Amazon Prime that focuses on the family and their connections to the nonprofit organization Institute in Basic Life Principles, created by an unordained teacher named Bill Gothard, who was based in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook, Ill.
Read More(ANALYSIS) It’s worth pausing to note a couple of “behind the headlines” moments from the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. If you think there is deep division in the Southern Baptist Convention, you have to ignore a lot of hard data that suggest a strong consensus — on abuse reform, on women pastors, and on cleaning up decades of financial profligacy.
Read More(OPINION) The issue isn’t who is a Baptist and who is not. Church historians struggle to count the number of organized Baptist groups, and thousands of Baptist churches are totally independent. The question is whether the SBC’s DNA has changed in ways that will affect local churches, as well as agencies, boards and seminaries at the state and national levels.
Read More(OPINION) Today, “the longest and deepest hatred of human history” shows no signs of abating. This is especially true online, where the worst aspects of humanity get free expression, where conspiracy theories of the ugliest kind abound, and where the most uncredentialed, unqualified person can gain a following. This is fertile ground for antisemitism.
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