(REVIEW) Entering the main gallery is a religious experience of sorts — the sequences of tableaux that punctuate all four sides of the space serve as stations for reflection. Büttner leaves us with a restorative vision of the future, encouraging us to earnestly consider the meaning of faith, hope and love.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Italy’s national airline — known for its near-impeccable safety record and sometimes-appalling customer service — will officially shut down on Oct. 15. The announcement, made this past summer, marks the end of an era for an airline founded in 1946 that became the pontiff’s official airline.
Read MoreCourts and police across Kazakhstan have fined at least 15 people and three organizations so far in 2021 for holding meetings for worship or other religious rituals without state permission. “It is not allowed to pray at any location unless it's approved,” an Aktobe police officer said.
Read MoreAn art piece planned to preserve the Christian heritage of the United Kingdom and profile a million answered prayers is coming to life amid data showing increased interest in spirituality and prayer, especially among young people.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In Montenegro, both the Serbian and Montenegrin Orthodox churches claim the rights to use Orthodox religious sites. But the Montenegrin Orthodox Church is not recognized by any other Orthodox church, and the conflict hits at questions over national identity, church-state relations and even U.S.-Russia relations.
Read MorePope Francis told the media aboard his papal plane that he has never denied Holy Communion to anyone and that he once gave the Eucharist to a Jewish woman in a nursing home. In Catholic Church law, only confirmed Catholics in good standing may receive Communion. But the pope found the encounter to be a positive mishap.
Read More(OPINION) The press gets very, very, very excited when it comes to the election of a new pope. It is, after all, a global news event and a type of power struggle the press thinks that it can cover like it does a political election. That’s something the press understands better than complicated things such as doctrine, tradition and history.
Read MoreOfficials are threatening Pastor Vyacheslav Goncharenko and other members of New Life Pentecostal Church in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, with administrative and criminal charges for continuing to hold meetings for worship in the open air in the church’s car park.
Read MoreJehovah's Witnesses and Muslims in Russia jailed on "extremism"-related charges for exercising freedom of religion or belief face years of restrictions and stigma after the sentence ends, including blocked bank accounts, restricted movement and voting rights, harsher penalties for another offense and more. This means that the religious lives, health, reputations and finances – of people who have not engaged in any violent activity or infringed upon the human rights of others – could be adversely affected for well over a decade.
Read MoreOften called Europe’s last dictator, President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has continued to jail human rights defenders and his regime is targeting those protesting against election falsification and regime violence, including priests that the government has expelled from the Belarusian Orthodox Church. The regime also tried to ban singing of the hymn “Mighty God” and prayers for political prisoners, organizing instead a pro-regime "prayer day".
Read More(REVIEW) A new PBS documentary on the life of Pope Francis that premiered on June 20 presents an hour long overview from his childhood to his papacy. It paints Francis as a reformer of the Catholic Church and a pope who cares greatly for other people.
Read MoreThe controversy and context surrounding the 2020 Tokyo Olympics pose an opportunity to think about the Games through a lens of faith. From a Muslim track and field athlete to Israel’s first surfer, here is a guide to the Games for the religiously-minded.
Read MoreA small Yiddish music workshop in the 1990s became a wild success. So composer Alan Bern founded what is now known as Yiddish Summer Weimar, a five-week summer institute and festival for the study, creation and performance of Yiddish culture and music in the heart of Germany.
Read More(OPINION) Whether you’re a Catholic or just like to root for the underdog — or both — then you’ll be watching Croatia at this summer’s European Championship.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Despite Berlin’s reputation as Europe’s most secular city, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many Berliners have sought solace in religious communities and their rituals as a means of connection and control in a time of isolation and confusion.
Read MoreA new Holocaust Museum in Porto, Portugal tells the story of the more than 100,000 Jewish refugees who passed through Porto and Lisbon desperate to book passage from the neutral country to the United States during WWII to escape the Nazis.
Read More(OPINION) John Stott, who served as the Queen's chaplain, shepherded Her Majesty in her faith, sold millions of books, was named one of Time Magazine’s most 100 influential people, and yet, remained a humble man. Here’s why his centenary is being celebrated by churches and organizations on every continent.
Read More(OPINION) April 24 has long been observed worldwide as Armenian Genocide Memorial Day. In 2021, President Joe Biden chose to formally acknowledge that the systematic murder of more than a million Armenian Christians by the Ottoman Empire was, in fact, a genocide.
Read MoreThe monastery Visoki Decani is one of the holiest sites of the Serbian Orthodox Church and is now considered endangered by Europe’s leading heritage site preservation organization.
Read More(OPINION) In Scotland, old blasphemy laws are being discarded — only to be replaced with harsher ones. The bill introduced is opposed by many faith and secular groups.
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