This was a very busy year on the Catholic beat. A decade after Pope Francis replaced the then-retiring Benedict XVI, the consistently progressive pontiff has very much been the focal point of plenty of news coverage in 2023. Expect more of the same in 2024.
Read MoreIn a special year-end edition, Weekend Plug-in counts down the Top 10 most popular ReligionUnplugged.com stories of 2023.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Despite the holiday seasonâs calls for joy and peace, religious strife continues in many places. While the United States has a great deal of litigation and controversy over religionâs place in public life, it has largely avoided violence. Yet our society often seems unprepared to talk constructively about this contentious topic, especially in schools.
Read More(ANALYSIS) One thing Iâm going to try and be intentional about in the new year is focusing on religion data outside the United States. Any casual reader of this Substack knows that almost all the posts here are focused on religion and politics in the this part of the world. But I have tried to branch out and try something different.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Traditional values have become a fixture in far-right movements around the world, some of which see Russia as a model of the future they desire. In Russia and beyond, many conservative Christians in these movements have focused on LGBTQ+ populations, whom they portray as threats to their vision for society â and are not deterred by antidemocratic politics, if its figures voice support for their social goals.
Read MoreA special year-end edition of Weekend Plug-in highlights the best religion journalism of 2023.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has been the subject of considerable media attention following his elevation to the post on Oct. 25, 2023. Since his appointment, news reports have highlighted the fact that he was one of the House leaders against certifying the 2020 election of Joe Biden to the presidency, and that he is known to be stridently anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Hamas attack on Israeli citizens was selected as the year's most important international story by religion-beat journalists, in part because it led to "spikes in Islamophobia and antisemitism" when Israel launched its counterattack on Gaza. Members of the Religion News Association echoed that decision when voting to select the top 2023 religion story in America.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Pope Francisâ extraordinary Synod of Bishops, consisting of two meetings last October and the concluding session next October, is dealing with âsynodality.â What? The media and Catholic activists are all energized about such topics as letting women be deacons, or married men be priests, or softened LGBTQ+ policies, or allowing Communion for divorced members who remarry, or for Protestants.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On Dec. 9, the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the Genocide Convention) marked its 75th anniversary. The Genocide Convention can be praised for being the first international treaty to define genocide, providing a historic commitment to prevent genocide and punish the perpetrators.
Read MoreKing Herodâs storyline is not found in any other biblical texts nor in Roman records. Yet it is pivotal in Matthewâs Gospel, which contrasts Herodâs mission to that of the baby Jesus. So who was the real King Herod and why did Matthewâs Gospel include him?
Read More(ANALYSIS) As an American living in Britain in the 1990s, my first exposure to Christmas pudding was something of a shock. I had expected figs or plums, as in the âWe Wish You a Merry Christmasâ carol, but there were none. Neither did it resemble the cold custard-style dessert that Americans typically call pudding, a dish with deep Christian roots.
Read MoreThis weekâs Weekend Plug-in highlights the top religion news of 2023, as voted by the Religion News Association. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Among high income folks, the ones who are the most generous are those living in two places â the South and the Mountain West. Arkansas has the highest rate of charitable giving at 6.7% of adjusted gross income. Utah is right behind at 5.8%. There are several other states that are north of 3%, though. They include: Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Idaho, and Washington state and Washington, D.C.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Another month, another scandal. That seems to be the case these days with former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. Itâs also the case when we talk about Vatican life in the tense era of Pope Francis. The most-recent drama in Rome involves Luca Casarini, who recently took part in the Synod on Synodality as a special nominee of Pope Francis.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Dec. 12 is a special day for millions of Catholics around the world, especially those of Mexican descent. Known as el Dia de la Virgen Guadalupe, it is a popular feast day that celebrates the Virgin of Guadalupe: a brown-skinned, Indigenous vision of Mary that Catholics believe appeared to a peasant in 1531.
Read More(ANALYSIS) It was 31 years ago that a mob of nearly 150,000 Hindu extremists descended on the Babri Masjid, a 500-year old mosque in Indiaâs Ayodhya city. Leading The mob were politicians from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, who rallied members of notorious Hindu nationalist paramilitary groups to participate in the violence and later replace the mosque with a Hindu temple.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Hanukkah is a minor festival in the Jewish liturgical year, whose major holidays come in the fall and spring â the High Holidays and Passover, respectively. Because of its proximity to Christmas, however, Hanukkah has been culturally elevated into a major celebration.
Read MoreThis weekâs Weekend Plug-in looks at Hanukkah amid the Israel-Hamas war. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read More(ANALYSIS) White Catholicsâ move toward the Republicans is one of the eraâs most important political developments (and, as our own tmatt has stressed for years, something appears to be brewing with Hispanic Catholics). Their margin for the GOP is modest but increasingly dependable, and in states like Florida that really matters.
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