(OPINION) Destructive criticism kills. It tears down without building up. It is loveless and unkind. It uses unequal weights and measures, straining out a gnat while swallowing a camel. It is self-righteous, mean-spirited and lacks a redemptive heart.
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 MoreAs the effects of climate change become more apparent in Africa and in other parts of the world, eco-anxiety is becoming prevalent. This is true especially in Africa, a continent that is home to a disproportionate share of climate change-related disasters but also has limited resources to deal with them.
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 MoreIndonesia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi officially opened on Wednesday the two-day International Conference on Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy aimed at encouraging dialogue between different faith traditions. The conference hopes to strengthen the country’s respect for religious pluralism, while also addressing a variety of topics for reaching out to other faiths through education programs and human rights legislation.
Read MoreReligious leaders from across the world meet in Hiroshima, Japan, to sign the “Rome Call for AI Ethics” — emphasizing the vital importance of guiding the development of artificial intelligence with ethical principles that promote peace.
Read MoreDr. Nina Balmaceda recently finished a project focused on uncovering the story of Peace and Hope International over its first 25 years, emphasizing the spiritual dimensions of social and political renewal in Latin America. Her research has focused on the organization's spiritual understanding of love — deeply rooted in its Christian tradition — through political and social responsibility.
Read MoreAs Hurricane Beryl made its way toward Mexico on July 4, Christians across the Caribbean began the long task of damage assessment and recovery. Two days earlier, the Category 4 hurricane devastated the island of Carriacou, population 9,600, which is part of the nation of Grenada.
Read More(OPINION) I’ve long argued it’s difficult — really, next to impossible — to practice Christianity effectively without becoming (and staying) an active member of a local church congregation. Not only Christianity but the other major faiths are, by intention and maybe by definition, communal pursuits rather than solitary ones.
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 More(OPINION) In the early days of the war, we were united in purpose. I didn’t know what to expect now. My Ukrainian brothers and sisters must be exhausted, I thought. And they have to know that support has wavered in the U.S. — that some politicians have called for my country to drop its financial support for Ukraine. Would I find tired, resentful faces this time?
Read MoreWhen Brad Graves began pastoring Cross Church San Diego in 2007, wildfires forced his evacuation before his moving truck arrived. Afterwards, Graves led the church in disaster relief as San Diego County recovered from a series of wildfires that killed two people. And the adversity he has faced doesn’t end there.
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 More(ANALYSIS) The more we rely on AI, the more we find ourselves yearning for something it cannot provide: authenticity, meaning and opportunities to connect on a fundamentally human level. This is where the church reenters the scene, not as a relic of the past, but as a symbol of the present, a sanctuary of authenticity. At this tipping point of artificiality and superficiality, people start craving transcendent values that algorithms cannot encode.
Read More(REVIEW) “Fleur de Lis” is a sharp-witted and endearing animated hijinks-adventure sitcom with a Christian worldview and a controversial way it’s made: using artificial intelligence. Faith-based films and TV shows are not known for their innovation. Between the running gag of faith-based knockoffs of secular content (such as “Revelation Road” being a knockoff of “Mad Max”) and otherwise playing it fairly safe with its inspirational drama formula.
Read MoreDid everyone in the religious congregation of your choice have a good “Fidelity Month”? That’s a joke, of course. There were probably more churches in America that celebrated Pride Month than those that were aware that “Fidelity Month” even exists. And pride is where it’s at, when it comes to the principalities and powers of corporate America, Big Tech, Hollywood, mainstream newsrooms and the vast majority of our elected officials from sea to shining sea.
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 MoreIt was the fourth of a hot, dry July day nearly 150 years after the fact at Camp Sturgis, a frontier Army post in the 1870s, decommissioned in 1944. Today it’s known as Fort Meade and is used as an Army training ground. Officer candidates from across the nation could have taken the holiday to visit the nearby patriotic Mount Rushmore. Instead they stayed on base to play war games — Civil War-era war games.
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 MoreMinistries continue to distance themselves from Robert Morris, founder of Gateway Church in Texas, in the wake of accusations that he sexually abused a girl for several years, starting when she was 12.
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