Cardinals, archbishops and other clerical leaders of the Catholic Church from around the world have penned a flurry of letters and official statements in the wake of the ground-breaking McCarrick report that concludes while many in the Vatican hierarchy had known for years about sexual abuse allegations against ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick and not removed him, Pope Francis was not complicit.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In the biggest escalation in tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan since their war’s end in 1994, Armenia’s Christian clergy are standing firm with both soldiers and civilians, as they always have, while Azerbaijan’s troops continue to push back Armenia’s line of defense.
Read More(OPINION) The Oct. 16, 2020 terrorist beheading of French schoolteacher Samuel Paty has galvanized France and led to increased international tensions. French President Macron has portrayed the conflict not as a lone terrorist attack but as a war between Islamists and France that is a conflict of ideologies.
Read More(OPINION) Now, more than 25 years after the rather unclear resolution of a 1994 conflict—and emerging in the notoriously painful year 2020—the Armenia/Artsakh vs. Azerbaijan conflict has flared up again. And this time—tragically—Turkey’s Islamist President Tayyip Erdogan has powerfully entered the fray.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The disoriented juxtaposition of Catholic Church teaching on marriage with the comments of Pope Francis on civil unions of same-sex couples was not lost on Catholic leaders worldwide, who expressed concern, confusion and anger in response.
Read More(OPINION) The United Nation’s International Day of the Girl Child uplifts young girls in countries where they are historically oppressed, many of them as religious minorities, to rise above gender-based violence, harmful practices and HIV and AIDS. This turns them away from harmful practices like child marriage.
Read More(ANALYSIS) What was a nominally a little-known conflict regarding the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region — also known as Artsakh — claimed by both Armenia and Azerbaijan has erupted into a full-scale war with an estimated thousands of soldiers on both sides killed in intense fighting.
Read MoreBart Weetjens believes training CEOs and entrepreneurs to connect with something in the universe bigger than the bottom line will make them better and happier human beings who will then create happier, more compassionate employees, too. His own study of Zen Buddhism led him to create and sustain a successful landmine clearance project across Asia, using trained rats.
Read MorePopular pilgrimage destinations like Jerusalem and Rome have seen a massive drop in religious travelers, especially during Passover, Easter and this past summer.
Read More(OPINION) Will age play a role in determining the next Pope? Some will say the rule of thumb has moved to older popes, as with the U.S. presidency.
Read MoreThe Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer, a massive public art display dedicated to the Christian heritage of the United Kingdom, was approved for planning earlier this month.
Read MoreAfter the controversial election of President Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus, Christians have staged peaceful protests. Many of them have been arrested, and some say the government has threatened to take away their children.
Read More(OPINION) Why is the faith of soccer superstar Lionel Messi so often ignored?
Read More(REVIEW) While 83-year-old Pope Francis is in good health, that hasn’t stopped speculation over who will come next. In his new book, author George Weigel examines the problems affecting the church and what the next pope will need to do in order to address them. Think of it like a very long to-do memo for the next head of the Catholic church.
Read MoreAt 93 years and 141 days old, Pope Benedict XVI became the longest-living pope in the Catholic Church’s history. His papacy was a tumultuous one, seeing a series of scandals brought to light involving the sexual predation of young boys by members of the clergy and a still on-going battle for transparency within the Vatican Bank.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Netflix will release Sundance 2019 winner “Cuties” on Sept. 9. Ahead of its release, Muslims have criticized the movie for glorifying a growth away from Islam. Muslims and others — including evangelical Christians — have called for boycotts against the movie because of its sexualization of children.
Read More(REVIEW) Norman Lebrecht’s Genius & Anxiety: How Jews Changed the World, 1847-1947 paints a complex portrait of Jewish figures and their relationships to each other. He points out that their brilliance and influence was the result of their collective anxiety.
Read MoreAs greater numbers of Muslims in the West seek Islamic communities outside local mosques, the new website Imam Connect aims to connect the so-called “unmosqued” to Islamic services they want, from match making to art lessons, counseling and funeral and wedding rituals.
Read More(REVIEW) The new movie Fatima, which details the story of three Portuguese children who were visited by an apparition of an angel and six times by the Virgin Mary, is moving, hopeful and inspiring. These are the very qualities in a movie audiences crave, especially during a pandemic.
Read More(OPINION) Lord Alton of Liverpool, peer at the U.K. House of Lords, and the Coalition for Genocide Response hosted an event to mark the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief. Without engaging faith and belief leaders, the issue may remain unanswered.
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