(OPINION) Social distancing has fractured Muslim gatherings for Ramadan this year. A Presbyterian missionary couple shares the way Ramadan celebrations are interfaith in their neighborhood.
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As the pandemic alters summer plans and disrupts long-held traditions, the Jewish community in Georgia adapts camps and activities to the new reality.
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(OPINION) The chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed governments across the world the liberty to heighten existing religious persecution. Many religious minorities are discriminated against in healthcare provision and some are even being blamed for the spread of the virus.
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(OPINION) Believers draw strength from their faith and support from their communities. The coronavirus is straining the remarkable resilience of medical workers, even those who have the added safety nets that religion provides.
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As COVID-19 locks people in their homes and has put others out of work, more people than ever are relying on charities, many faith-based, to fill basic needs. Tree of Life, based in Virginia, has seen a rise in demand from undocumented persons.
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In the Weekend Plug-in column, Bobby Ross Jr. reports on positive news concerning Associated Press religion writer Rachel Zoll, who is battling brain cancer.
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(OPINION) Expect an increase in agenda-driven messaging about religion’s role in the COVID-19 response and elsewhere in American public life. We should be aware of unbalanced narratives coming from the left and right, and journalists should take extra care in their approach to these issues.
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Catholic leaders — be it the pope, cardinals, bishops or even your local parish priest — don’t traditionally endorse candidates for political office. Here’s a look at why things may be changing as both the church and voters prepare for another U.S. presidential election.
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(OPINION) Restrictions by the Church of England and a “revolving” Body of Christ by a French Catholic priest are two responses to this crisis as clergy struggle to attend to the spiritual needs of their flocks.
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Two separate studies were published recently about how lower mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to more premature death. While one study estimates 75,000 Americans are at risk of dying by suicide, another finds that regular religious services attendance lessens the likelihood of a fatal mental health illness.
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This week’s “Weekend Plug-in” column highlights Pittsburgh Post-Gazette religion editor Peter Smith winning recognition as a Pulitzer Prize finalist — a year after he was a key part of a Pulitzer-winning entry for that same paper.
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Cohen, an 11th grader, beat 72 teenagers from 41 countries. The 14-18-year-old contestants competed remotely from their home countries. The event, broadcast on Israeli state TV, also sparked some controversy this year.
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In this week’s Weekend Plug-in, columnist Bobby Ross Jr. introduces the new president of the independent donor advocate MinistryWatch.com.
Read MoreThe coronavirus pandemic has confronted ministries with an unprecedented triple whammy: declining donations, unexpected expenses for sanitation and remaking workplaces for remote employees, and challenges in delivering their services, some of which are more needed now.
Read More(OPINION) With approximately 30 million members, Muhammadiyah is Indonesia’s and the world’s largest modernist Muslim organization. While the Indonesian government has been slow to respond to COVID-19, Muhammadiyah has drawn on the Prophet Muhammad’s teachings and the Quran to advise Muslims to stay home during Ramadan celebrations, including ritual obligations some may see as essential to their faith.
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(OPINION) The pandemic is adding stressors to an already stressed landscape of faith-based academic institutions. These schools will have to make hard choices about their futures, and that will require evaluating their core missions.
Read MoreFor Holocaust survivors, including some who later lived under Communist rule, COVID-19 has brought a mixed bag of old traumas sparked anew, depression and anxiety, isolation and fear, but also reminders of the traits that sustained them through difficult periods in their lives.
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Nearly a third of America’s public and private universities were already operating at a deficit before the coronavirus pandemic. Now the crisis threatens the survival of the weaker institutions in higher education, and even those that survive will emerge weaker as they struggle with destructive ripple effects for years. Here’s how Christian colleges are coping.
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(OPINION) People of faith will be asking deep questions about said faith as this crisis drags on. Journalists should not sidestep that aspect of this experience, but inquire about it and treat it with the respect it deserves.
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(OPINION) In early April, the U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom called for the release of prisoners of conscience in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. These prisoners are often detained simply for holding beliefs their government does not recognize. But a prison sentence should not become a death sentence due to the virus.
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