On this International Women's Day, here are five women of faith to remember who were pillars for building their societies: Sojourner Truth, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, Prathia Laura Ann Hall, Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Zilda Arns.
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Along with local nonprofits and private initiatives, the Romanian Orthodox Church is at the front line of the response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis. The church established a base at the Siret border crossing from the first day of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24.
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This week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the religion angles key to understanding the Russia-Ukraine war. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
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(OPINION) Desta Heliso, an Ethiopian-British lecturer on early African Christianity, used to believe in Western intervention in Africa. Today he does not. Here’s why.
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Orthodox churches around the world are all preparing for Easter, a celebration of Christ defeating death, by reflecting on Judgment Day. Despite this relative unity in worship, the Orthodox schism between Moscow and Constantinople that broke open in 2019 is cracking further. What is good and what is evil in the war in Ukraine is far from agreed upon.
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In the last couple years, Ukraine has been in the center of the Orthodox schism between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Moscow Patriarchate over independence of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Many Orthodox theologians argue that the war in Ukraine will determine the future of the OCU. Cyril Hovorun is one of them.
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As an American missionary and Ukrainian Christians say tearful goodbyes and cross borders, some stay behind and appeal to Russian troops, ‘Lay down your weapons, stop shooting.’
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(OPINION) As the author of a recently published book on anti-Jewish violence in Ukraine and a historian of the Holocaust, Jeffrey Veidlinger knows why the accusations of Nazism and genocide have resonance in Ukraine. But he also understands that despite episodic violence, Ukrainian history offers a model of tolerance and democratic government.
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ReligionUnplugged.com interviewed Serbian ambassador Darko Tanaskovic to understand the role of diplomacy at the Vatican and the potential for further Catholic-Orthodox cooperation.
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From Oklahoma to New Jersey to Nairobi, faith communities are taking up collections, helping refugees and voicing opposition to the military invasion of Ukraine. Many recognize that part of the motivation is for the Russian Orthodox Church to gain power in the Orthodox world. And Putin, at age 70, is making a desperate move to regain territory Russia once held during the Soviet Union. Both motivations create waves of anger, fear and the will to resist such totalitarian behavior.
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For the past century, America’s conservative Christians and politicians were united in the belief that the communist USSR — and later, Russia — was anti-American, anti-God and a threat to the world. But recently, some Christian nonprofits have consistently praised Russia as a global beacon of hope for families and the survival of Christianity.
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Christians across Ukraine woke to the sounds of explosions as their Russian neighbors began a bombardment of the Eastern European nation. Some had made plans to house refugees making their way west, but the Feb. 24 attacks were reported in cities east and west, further complicating their situation.
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Students from Lithuania’s LCC International University, 20% of whom are from Ukraine, rallied to express support for Ukraine against Russian aggression this week. LCC is a novel, faith-based university that brings Russians, Ukrainians and many others together to learn and interact.
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About 50 Christians with ties to Ukraine gathered for an afternoon of prayer at the North Davis Church of Christ in Arlington, Texas. Less than 48 hours after the prayer service, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of the breakaway republics and ordered his military to “maintain peace” in the disputed areas.
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Following days of rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine, Pope Francis called on Christians around the world to fast and pray for peace this coming Ash Wednesday. Before ending his general audience at the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, the pontiff said believers should fight “the diabolical senselessness of violence” that has engulfed the Russian-Ukraine border.
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The State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations will take over naming imams in all mosques from the Caucasian Muslim Board if amendments to the religion law awaiting their second reading in Parliament are approved. The amendments would also give the committee the leading role in reappointing all imams every five years.
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(ANALYSIS) The focus the past few weeks has been on Germany and the involvement of Benedict XVI in the handling of some abuse cases, decades before he became a key church official in Rome and, eventually, pope. This was also long before the church adopted stricter policies on how to handle cases of clergy sexual abuse.
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(OPINION) Ukraine's ecclesiastical history, like its political history, is highly complex. Whether the nation faces a military invasion or less bloody subversion and hoped-for domination, journalists these next few years will need to understand and depict the religious aspect of Ukraine’s nationalism and resistance against Russian expansionism.
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(OPINION) As Russia amasses troops on the Ukrainian border in preparation for a potential invasion, tensions between the two countries are also playing out through a conflict in the Orthodox Church.
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(REVIEW) “Prey” is a meticulously researched book, and Ali offers us page after page of grim statistics to support her thesis that the surge of immigration into Europe in 2015 has led to a surge in sexual violence.
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