(OPINION) As news releases about growing Christian prosecution cases in China by the Communist Party, Ochab questions its similarity to the Uyghur crisis. On January 13, 2021, Open Doors, an international NGO advocating on behalf of persecuted Christians, released their annual World Watch List which assesses 50 countries where Christians face the most severe types of persecution. China is in the top 20.
Read MoreThe pandemic has exacerbated the discrimination and social isolation Dalits face. And while many Dalits are on the forefront of essential sanitation work, they are also struggling to survive. Even without contracting COVID-19, many Dalits say with irregular wages and employment uncertainty, they’re concerned about feeding their families.
Read More(OPINION) Clergy need – somehow – to find "personal" time, along with face-to-face contact with loved ones. That challenge became more difficult in the age of smartphones, texting and emails. Then came the COVID-19 lockdowns and the pressures on clergy zoomed to a whole new level.
Read More(OPINION) As a nation, Ethiopia is facing twin challenges. First, the impact of misleading and negative information about the nation following the war in Tigray; and second, the long-standing imbalance in the international water politics of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The aim of this article is to call for veracity, justice and compassion.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Mister Rogers must be posthumously pleased with the recent decision by Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Congregation to hire “starchitect” Daniel Libeskind to remodel the synagogue complex desecrated by a White supremacist gunman in October 2018. After three years, life may begin to return to normal in Squirrel Hill, Mister Rogers’ all-American neighborhood where love and tolerance used to trump the bile of hate and racism.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in explores news coverage over whether President Biden, a Catholic, might be denied Communion because of his support for abortion rights. Plus, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read More(OPINION) Many Americans imagine the stimulus money as manna from heaven. That isn’t quite true. Metzger explores how many Christians who don’t need the $1200 will receive it, while those that need it — namely unemployed Hispanics — will be left without it.
Read More(OPINION) Since the COVID-19 pandemic, searches have increased greatly for prayer. How does faith — and disbelief — play into the fears of people?
Read MoreThe National Day of Prayer on May 6 featured more prayer and less politics, aiming for unity, but political division arose in the commentaries afterward. Even the live stream frayed into two competing events. And after critics pointed out President Joe Biden left God’s name out of his proclamation issued from the White House, in his evening address, Biden mentioned God twice.
Read More(REVIEW) Sufjan Stevens completed the release of his five volume project “Convocations,” meant to work as a cycle of grief. The album honors his biological father, who passed away last year, and makes nods to a year of grief with COVID-19 and other tragedy. The album is entirely instrumental and electronic, expanding on his previous work.
Read More(OPINION) It should be noted that secular newsrooms don’t dislike organized religion like many may believe. Instead, they just don’t like religious leaders who attempt to defend traditional dogmas that govern said faith. Therefore, news coverage is often framed this way: Biden can be both “very Catholic” and pro-choice.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Many Catholic bishops believe that President Joe Biden should not be allowed to take Communion because of his stance on abortion. But mixed responses within the Church point to a widening divide.
Read MorePopular social video app TikTok has become a hotspot for Christian leaders in the age of virtual church. Many are repurposing memes created on the app for a Christian specific audience and offering short sermons, prayers and Bible readings. Others are using the unconventional platform to attract an unconventional crowd — like those who have left the church or feel their beliefs aren’t welcome in the traditional church.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The deadly second wave of COVID-19 currently sweeping India is causing a cultural change in the way the country handles the treatment of the dead.
Read More(OPINION) Despite having just 16% of the world’s population, Africa accounts for 52% of all global armed conflicts. Most of these crises have lingered for decades and many are religious conflicts with social and political undertones, making them even harder to curb. These crises have been fueled and sustained by uncontrolled arms movement across the continent.
Read MoreFor many decades, Nigeria's Muslim north has been prone to religious intolerance and violence. Kaduna, where over 20,000 people have died in different religious conflicts since the 1980s, is one of the country's most volatile states. It’s also the hub of interfaith mediation groups working to prevent violence, including a pastor and imam who used to lead violence against each other’s groups, and the region’s first women-led mediation council founded by an Irish Catholic sister.
Read More(OPINION) What happened in the 2020 election? Polls consistently knock down the social-issues theory. Contrary to what some suppose, Catholics as a whole are only slightly more conservative than the general public on abortion and LGBTQ issues, with weekly worshippers moreso.
Read MoreEvery year on Holy Saturday, the day before Pascha (Easter), Orthodox Christians believe that the Holy Fire appears inside the Tomb of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre. They believe this light, captured by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, is the confirmation of the Resurrection. For them, it’s a miracle, a manifestation of Holy Spirit.
Read More(REVIEW) Justin Bieber dropped a surprise EP “Freedom” on Easter Sunday. With gospel influence, it aligns with artists like Kanye West who are making a switch from the secular to the spiritual. It also follows Bieber’s public journey into evangelical Christianity.
Read MoreA recent shooting of a Catholic bishop highlights the dangers of living in South Sudan and the tenacity of clergy who refuse to leave people behind in the region, even while death threats to Christian leaders there are rising. South Sudan has been trying to implement a new peace agreement in a civil war that’s plagued them since 2011, but their national forces are up against civilian rebel groups with even more gun power. More than 50,000 people have died in war and 4 million forced to relocate since 2013.
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