It is ironic the Czech Republic, a place where religious monuments are enmeshed with public life, that people seem to have little place for faith in their daily routine. In fact, according to the most recent data, almost 50% of the Czech population does not identify with any religious tradition.
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Zoroastrianism — an ancient monotheistic religion that predates Christianity and Islam — found a home in Uzbekistan in the 6th century when Persians established a base in the region. The religion has roots in Persia, and followers are spread out in modern-day Iran, India and Central Asia.
Read MoreThe Czech Republic has one of the largest number of refugees per capita of any European nation. After the beginning of the war in Ukraine, thousands moved to the Czech Republic seeking safety following Russia’s invasion. However, the amount of immigrants from Ukraine was increasing even before the war because people were in search of better jobs and to escape poverty and unemployment.
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The once-powerful cardinal was found guilty on Saturday by a three-judge Vatican panel of embezzlement and fraud in a high-profile corruption case that rocked the Holy See’s hierarchy for the past three years.
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Norwegian writer Jon Fosse was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature on Dec. 10, an honor universally praised as much-deserved for a writer who has been one of Europe’s greatest for quite some time. Fosse, a playwright, novelist and poet, hasn’t always been happy, but he’s been prolific. He’s also a Catholic convert.
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Cientos de miles de católicos en toda España y en algunas partes del mundo hispanohablante aprovecharon la Fiesta de la Inmaculada Concepción del viernes para rezar el rosario en las calles en protesta por la represión del gobierno contra las expresiones de fe en público.
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Catholics across Spain and in some parts of the Spanish-speaking world used the annual Feast of the Immaculate Conception to pray the rosary in the streets to protest the government’s crackdown regarding expressions of faith in public.
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“Treasures from Kings: Masterpieces from the Terra Sancta Museum” will be on exhibit at Portugal’s most famous art museum through Feb. 26, then travels to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, and to the Frick Collection in New York. From there, the international tour may include other key European cultural institutions before returning to Jerusalem.
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For many years, Sotiris Skoufis operated his own business of wholesale fabrics in his native Athens. In 2015, he grew physically ill from back pain. At the same time, he went financially broke by the economic crisis in his homeland. Mentally exhausted, he traveled to Prague in the Czech Republic and his life would be forever changed.
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(ANALYSIS) Catholics are living in a post-Synod on Synodality church where the debates from the month-long meeting that took place at the Vatican last month continue to reverberate, even with the efforts by Pope Francis to put a lid on news coverage of the discussions and speeches that took place during that event. Europe, in particular, has been the epicenter of the action since that meeting of bishops wrapped up on Oct. 29.
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Metropolitan Job of Pisidia is an Orthodox bishop of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. He is the Permanent Representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the World Council of Churches and co-President of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic church and the Orthodox church. These significant posts make him a top diplomat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
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A geologist working for Italy’s Department of Civil Protection made a rare discovery — a description in medieval Hebrew of a previously unknown series of destructive earthquakes in 1446 that rocked the central part of the Italian peninsula — while carrying out research in the Vatican Apostolic Library in Rome.
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(ANALYSIS) In October 2023, the Clooney Foundation for Justice, a nongovernmental organization founded by Amal and George Clooney, filed three cases with the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office, requesting an investigation into crimes committed in Ukraine.
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Only a few scholars and researchers have a comprehensive understanding of the religious aspects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. There are not many Orthodox theologians and journalists who delve into discussions about Orthodox Christianity and its compatibility with Western values.
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Pope Francis led a prayer vigil at the Vatican to recall the plight of migrants and refugees, saying everyone is “called to be neighbors.” The service took place during the Synod on Synodality, a gathering of bishops and laypeople, and comes as large numbers of people have been forced to flee the Global South to places like the U.S. and Europe.
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The Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York will open a new exhibit later this month that explores the rescue in “Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark.” Intended particularly for children and adolescents, the interactive exhibit not only commemorates the event, but asks visitors to confront the question: How would you respond if you heard a cry for help today?
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Two Ukrainian Christians, separated in age by a half-century, experienced the love of Jesus and the horrors of war. Artem Vinogradar, 22, died in mid-August while fighting against invading Russian forces. Two weeks later, longtime church leader and theologian Igor Kozlovsky, who spent nearly two years as the prisoner of pro-Russian separatists, died of a heart attack. He was 70.
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In societies where Muslims constitute a minority, the abaya takes on an added layer of significance. Muslim women can use the abaya as a means to connect with their cultural heritage. But it has also drawn criticism.
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(ANALYSIS) The small Armenian Christian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh — locally known as Artsakh — has long been part of historical Armenia. Since December 2022, Artsakh has been under siege by neighboring Azerbaijan, and the world has largely ignored a prolonged assault on that peaceful community of 120,000 souls.
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In Poland, a country in which 84% percent of the population identifies as Catholic, according to the country’s National Statistical Office, “offending religious feelings” by “publicly outraging an object of religious worship or a place dedicated to the public celebration of religious rites” is a criminal offense under Article 196 of the Polish Penal Code.
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