Equatorial Guinea has a history of infringing on religious freedom dating back to the 1950s. The country is at it again using legislation to forcefully close numerous churches and deny thousands the freedom to worship. Six Pentecostal and evangelical churches were shut down by the government last year alone due to their failure to abide by registration regulations.
Read MoreFallout from the “Last Supper” scene during the Opening Ceremony at the Paris Olympics spilled over into a second week after bishops from around the world — and even the Vatican — issued statements calling out the display as offensive to Christians everywhere. The Holy See said ir was “saddened” by the display, while others called on the IOC to “repudiate this blasphemous action.”
Read MoreMore than two decades ago, a veteran Catholic priest and educator explained some ecclesiastical math to me. The late Father Donald Cozzens was talking about one of the biggest religion-news stories of the past half century — the growing shortage of priests at Catholic altars. To understand the problem, he said, you need to view it through the eyes of mothers and fathers.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Why rake muck? For one thing, it’s biblical. Recall Scripture’s narratives about the venerated King David’s adultery and homicide or St. Peter’s multiple denials of Jesus Christ. It encourages healthy reflection on the forgiveness of sins, the ways power is misused, the dangers of celebrity worship, the ongoing impact of racial evil and the value in continually taking fresh looks at our own attitudes rather than remaining captive to the cultural assumptions in which we were born and raised.
Read More(ANALYSIS) As a specialist in medieval Christianity, I know that Catholic views on the morality of killing have evolved over time. And while Christianity eventually came to defend the idea of warfare for self-defense and the common good, it has also emphasized the value of forgiveness of enemies.
Read MoreThe Holy See’s secretary of state visited the Ukrainian city of Odessa and said that the pope is following the situation there “with so much attention, with so much worry and so much pain.”
Read MoreThe theme of the conference, which took place at the school’s campus in South Bend, Indiana, was “Depolarizing Religious Liberty,” which still depends too much on one's race, faith or nationality. The highlight of the summit was an awards program and gala where the Religious Liberty Clinic was named after Lindsay and Matt Morun, who have supported such efforts financially since its inception.
Read MoreIn accepting the invitation to be Donald Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance could become the nation’s second Catholic vice president, after Joe Biden, should the GOP win the White House this November. Vance is also only the second Catholic GOP veep nominee after Barry Goldwater chose William Miller in 1964. Here’s a deeper look into Vance’s faith and how it has influenced his evolving political philosophy.
Read More(ANALYSIS) As the sporting world and fans await the opening ceremonies of the 2024 Paris Olympics and the Paralympic Games, eight Catholic dioceses in Greater Paris have already ignited their own Olympic flame by organizing the “Holy Games.” The project is a collaboration between the Archdiocese of Paris and the French Bishops Conference.
Read More(ANALYSIS) After he decided to kick heroin, the young Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tried to think about daily life in a totally different way. Rather than trusting his willpower to do the right thing for a whole day, he began dividing each day into 40 or more decisions. After 14 years of addiction, Kennedy said he tried to act as if each decision was a moral test. This was a leap of faith, since his addiction attacked the Catholic faith of his childhood.
Read MoreThe government of Uganda officially recognized the Muslim martyrs who were killed on the orders of a local king starting in 1874 — and allocated $52,926 to organize this year’s Muslim Martyrs’ Day commemorations. This is the first time Muslims in Uganda organized an official commemoration for the Muslim martyrs. In the past, only Catholics and Anglicans participated in official celebrations.
Read MoreThe Vatican on Friday excommunicated the outspoken Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, its former ambassador to Washington, finding him guilty of promoting schism after repeatedly questioning Pope Francis’ authority. The Italian prelate had in recent years become one of Francis’ harshest critics.
Read MoreThe Alliance of Christians in Cuba (ACC) denounced the country’s human rights and religious freedom violations at its 2024 meeting, the third time it has done so since its 2022 founding and the latest in a string of such statements internationally. The ACC, a multi-denominational group of about 60 Christian leaders, called for the immediate release of religious prisoners and prisoners of conscience, the protected legal right for new churches to organize and function, and other rights included in Article 18 of the International Bill of Human Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Read More(ANALYSIS) When members of the Society of Jesus gather at Borgo Santo Spirito, their headquarters near the Vatican, they worship surrounded by the relics of Jesuit saints and works of sacred art. This includes the work of Father Marko Ivan Rupnik, who the Jesuits expelled last year after investigations into allegations he sexually and emotionally abused up to 30 women in religious orders. The Vatican had excommunicated the priest in 2020, but quickly withdrew that judgment.
Read More(ANALYSIS) When Pope Francis addressed a group of top international comedians on June 14, he called them artists and stressed the value of their talents. To many Catholics, this meeting came as a surprise. Traditionally, the themes of detachment, sacrifice, humility and repentance appear far more frequently in religious writing and preaching than the spiritual benefits of a good laugh.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Ireland is sometimes dubbed the “land of saints and scholars.” A Google search reveals a fair number of Irish scholars, but there really haven't been that many Irish saints, at least not since the advent of papal canonization. In fact, when St. Oliver Plunkett — the final known Catholic martyr to die under English persecution — was canonized in 1975, he became the first new Irish saint since 1225. That's a gap of three-fourths of a millennium.
Read More(OPINION) On June 14, U.S. Catholic bishops apologized for the mistreatment and trauma caused through the church’s role in American Indian boarding schools. While the apology is all well and good, it is very little and very late for thousands of Indigenous families in America.
Read More(REVIEW) “The Exorcism” is a beautifully shot and smartly conceived meta-take on the exorcism genre. Unfortunately, instead of developing or paying off its ideas, it abandons them in favor of an unreflective string of the very cliches it spent the rest of the movie deconstructing. Russell Crowe stars as Anthony Miller, a washed-up actor out of rehab trying to reconnect with his troubled daughter.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The son of an Italian father and a Black mother, Mazzulla is an outspoken Catholic whose pregame routine includes pacing through an empty arena, praying with a rosary made with wood from the court of the original Boston Garden. While his faith has drawn many cheers across social media, it also attracted some criticism.
Read MoreJoe Mazzulla woke up on Tuesday morning an NBA champion. It has been a very long and unlikely success story rooted in faith. Mazzulla — whose only head coaching experience before taking over the Boston Celtics in the fall of 2022 was at the NCAA Division II level — guided the team to a record 18th NBA championship after defeating the Dallas Mavericks in five games.
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