Italy’s lockdown to contain the coronavirus interrupted a Raphael show of more than 100 of the artist’s paintings and drawings. The exhibit ironically marks the 500th anniversary of the Renaissance artist’s death by fever at the age of 37. A private tour of the Vatican Museum last week gave one of the last peeks into the now-closed Rafael show, among other treasures of the art world in Vatican City.
Read More(REVIEW) Best-selling author and NY Times op-ed contributor Timothy Egan lets us tag along on his journey from Canterbury to Rome in his latest book, A Pilgrimage to Eternity. He’s on his camino – the Via Francigena, an ancient pilgrimage of over a thousand miles beginning from the English world’s oldest church and ending at St. Peter’s Square.
Read MoreBen Affleck’s new film, The Way Back, takes a classic trope and exploits the old cliche for a slightly new take on an old tale: the film focuses less on the redemption of the team and more on the redemption of the coach.
Read MoreDavid Eubank and his wife have raised their children in some of the world’s most dangerous places. Their Christian faith calls them to it, they say.
Read MoreA new documentary explores four current examples of movements that have embraced or pushed anti-Semitic tropes and attitudes.
Read MoreNed Bustard is inspired by his Christian faith to create art and build a publishing company. An upcoming book will explore the modern art, and ancient faith, in the Vatican museums.
Read MoreThe 2019 documentary, now airing on PBS, follows a Somali father’s quest to understand why his American-born son tried to join ISIS in Syria.
Read More(OPINION) “Race Against Time,” which hits bookstores Tuesday, reflects the deep Christian faith of veteran Mississippi journalist Jerry Mitchell, whose stories have helped put four Klansmen and a serial killer behind bars. (“Weekend Plug-In” is a column by veteran religion writer Bobby Ross Jr. Look every Friday for analysis, insights and top headlines from the world of faith.)
Read More(REVIEW) R.R. Reno is one of America’s most prominent Roman Catholic public intellectuals. In his new book, he writes an eloquent but unAmerican defense of American populism.
Read More(REVIEW) Seventy-five years after the liberation of Auschwitz, the film Holy Silence focuses on the pontificate of Pius XII and whether the pope did enough to help Jews from Nazi persecution during World War II.
Read More(REVIEW) There is a Hollywood fascination with all that’s morbid about religion. It has traditionally had a profane approach when it comes to the Catholic church. That it loves to dramatize reality into what can sometimes be an ugly trope, this is exactly what we get with HBO’s new TV mini-series.
Read More(OPINION) “Weekend Plug-In” is a column by veteran religion writer Bobby Ross Jr. Look every Friday for analysis, insights and top headlines from the world of faith. This week: Longtime “Jeopardy” host Alex Trebek has touted the value of prayer in his cancer fight, but details about his specific faith are complicated.
Read MoreAfterward is a Jewish woman’s personal quest to understand Holocaust perpetrators and her own position in trauma’s legacy in her native Israel.
Read MoreThe Travels of Guðríður Símonardóttir tells the little-known story of an Icelandic woman in the 17th century who was captured by North African pirates. She was enslaved at a harem in Algiers until ransomed, then married Iceland’s most famous poet. His hymns, inspired by the couple’s suffering, are still sung in churches and at funerals.
Read MoreHindu nationalists are trying to stop a Catholic parish’s proposed 114-feet-high granite Jesus statue atop a hill in rural South India, sparked by a large Christmas land donation from a Hindu politician. The archbishop of Bangalore sought the state chief minister’s intervention this week to continue the $1.5 million project.
Read More(OPINION) In the new movie about the life of Fred Rogers, his spirituality shines through. The religious foundation of that spirituality is ignored.
Read More(REVIEW) In the new book Welcoming the Unwelcome, 83-year-old American Tibetan Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön moves past her usual style of writing in poetry and strict spiritual guidance and instead into a vulnerable teaching about how to overcome the pain of the world by explaining how she was led to do exactly that.
Read MoreThe museum’s famed nativity creche, currently on display through January 6, features the baby Jesus with a radiant halo surrounded by figures that range in size from 12 to 15 inches in height.
Read More(OPINION) Bible stories aren’t enough to convey to children what the biblical narrative is really about. They need to be able to see their place in it, argues Phil Vischer.
Read More(REVIEW) A new book about Bishop Lesslie Newbigin’s family – by his feminist daughter – exposes the collateral damage of ministry and questions Christian duty to the church over one’s family.
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