(ANALYSIS) It was the kind of quote that, when said by the right person under the right conditions, would inspire bold headlines. “Your country ... has families with three, four or five children,” Pope Francis told President Joko Widodo of Indonesia. “Keep it up, you’re an example for everyone, for all the countries that maybe ... these families prefer to have a cat or a little dog instead of a child.”
Read More(PHOTO ESSAY) The U.S. president has the Secret Service as protection. The pope has the Swiss Guard. Who are these men donning multi-colored uniforms designed during the Middle Ages who march around St. Peter’s Square? Religion Unplugged takes you behind the Vatican walls for a closer look at the military unit.
Read More(REVIEW) “The Front Room” tries to say something important about faith, but its social commentary is too silly to take seriously and the thrills aren’t good enough to be silly fun. In a post-Christian society, it’s inevitable that movies will increasingly find creative ways to reflect and wrestle with this religious change. Hopefully, more of them will do so in a more intelligent (or at least entertaining) way than “The Front Room.”
Read MoreAfter spending almost nine months in a Nicaraguan prison, 13 pastors and attorneys associated with the Texas-based Mountain Gateway ministry were released on Thursday. They were part of 135 unjustly detained political prisoners released on humanitarian grounds, according to a White House statement.
Read MoreA church in Wisconsin has announced it will disaffiliate from the Network, a nondenominational network of churches accused of operating like a cult. Citing an inability to “address issues and resolve concerns,” the church is the first to leave the controversial group since recent allegations of misconduct.
Read MoreProvidence Baptist Church has an elder making a mockery of the term “remote work.” Over the last several months Barry Wilmore has proven that long distances shouldn’t keep one from being an active church member. And we’re talking looooong distances. About 250 miles into space.
Read MoreThroughout the United States, Christian nationalism has left in its wake broken communities and churches. Both those who subscribe to it and those who disagree are often left hurt and embarrassed. As the movement grew within his own church, Pastor Caleb Campbell set out to understand Christian nationalism’s appeal and how to help Christians minister to their friends and family committed to it.
Read MoreSOF Missions helps veterans who — like retired Air Force Lt. Col. Damon Friedman — struggle with PTSD and other challenges from military service. At the 23rd anniversary of 9/11, many of those who served their country overseas still fight a war at home. “I’m telling you, I was going to become a statistic,” Friedman said.
Read MoreThe city is preparing for a jubilee year, a time when the Catholic Church invites pilgrims to Rome. The events, which will officially began on Christmas Eve this year and end on Dec. 28, 2025, constitute a special time dedicated to prayer and pilgrimage. Italy’s capital, which already draws an estimated 25 million visitors each year, could see that number increase to 32 million in 2025.
Read More(OPINION) Without a doubt, Charles Spurgeon and later Billy Graham were gospel preachers rather than social justice warriors. Yet, both addressed some of the greatest social evils of their day without for a moment diluting their Jesus-centered messages.
Read MoreThe exemption, the appellate court affirmed, does not violate the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law or the First Amendment’s establishment clause, which prohibits the government from establishing a particular religion.
Read MoreFive weeks after resigning their pastoral positions at Gateway Church, James and Bridgette Morris, the son and daughter-in-law of disgraced megachurch pastor Robert Morris, announced they’re starting a new church and seeking supporters.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In my “On Religion” column — “Jonathan Haidt: It's time for clergy to start worrying about smartphone culture” — I focused on what the author of “The Anxious Generation” had to say about the decisions faced by religious believers in the age of digital-screens culture.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On Monday, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will host a broadcast to celebrate the “life and teachings” of Russell M. Nelson, its president and prophet. One of his initiatives made an impact that rippled far beyond the church. In 2018, he surprised observers by declaring the use of the word “Mormon” a “major victory for Satan.”
Read MoreReports showing sustained increases in food and home prices alongside a cooling labor market highlight a continuing challenge for churches.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In 1961, Auburn University turned down the Gotham Bowl because the date of the bowl (Dec. 2) conflicted with Auburn’s end-of-quarter exams. Ohio State University (OSU) rejected a bid to play in the Rose Bowl because faculty feared the school was turning into a “football factory." Them days are long gone.
Read MoreOse Ehimare was 24 weeks pregnant when she boarded a plane from Nigeria to the U.S. Fourteen years later, Ehimare and the quadruplets — Alyssa, Bibiana, Noah and Valencia — made the 6,000-mile journey again so that the four teenagers could be baptized among the family that helped them come into the world.
Read MoreOne of the world’s most important newsrooms just offered a finely detailed profile of Catholic convert J.D. Vance and, imagine this, the feature focused on the emotions and ideas that led him to swim the Tiber. This included his intellectual and spiritual attraction to the work of St. Augustine, one of the most important minds in Western culture.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Exorcism movies are making a comeback — and the reasons are more interesting than you might think. The likely reasons actually say a lot about the present and the future of religion in America and its intersection with the future of mass media. Here's a deeper look at why Hollywood is going all in on the genre.
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