A special year-end edition of Weekend Plug-in highlights the best religion journalism of 2023.
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Faith-based films are more prevalent than ever. Whether that’s the growing number of Christians entering the faith-based industry or the larger number of Hollywood filmmakers dealing explicitly with religious issues in their films, it's easier than ever to find films that affirm and celebrate religious worldviews with truth and beauty. Check out which movies were best in 2023.
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As most people take a break to gather and celebrate Christmas with family and friends, for tens of thousands of Africans that have fled threats, wars, turmoil and persecution at home, this is a moment that their homesickness is heightened. Many of them find solace in the church and connecting with relatives on social media.
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(ANALYSIS) Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has been the subject of considerable media attention following his elevation to the post on Oct. 25, 2023. Since his appointment, news reports have highlighted the fact that he was one of the House leaders against certifying the 2020 election of Joe Biden to the presidency, and that he is known to be stridently anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+.
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The Center for Religion, Culture and Democracy at First Liberty Institute, an organization dedicated to defending religious freedom, issued the report. In it, the group ranked all 50 U.S. states, from best to worst, as part of an annual religious freedom index.
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(ANALYSIS) The Hamas attack on Israeli citizens was selected as the year's most important international story by religion-beat journalists, in part because it led to "spikes in Islamophobia and antisemitism" when Israel launched its counterattack on Gaza. Members of the Religion News Association echoed that decision when voting to select the top 2023 religion story in America.
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(REVIEW) “The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory,” a new book written by journalist Tim Alberta, provides an extremely detailed recounting of the past four years in American evangelicalism and how large societal events highlighted the increasing blend of religion and far-right politics.
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To better understand what author Jon Fosse means to literature and faith, we interviewed Norwegian journalist Øystein Lid. Fosse, who converted to Catholicism a decade ago, recently won the Nobel Prize for Literature and his books are available around the world.
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(OPINION) Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI declared that “art and the saints are the greatest apologetic for our faith.” A movement was launched to transform painters into “tacit preachers,” wrote Gabriele Paleotti, archbishop of Bologna. The term tacit means wordless. Tacit preachers sought to move viewers in deeper ways than mere argument. Art provided a way to draw people together instead of tearing them apart.
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Catholics around the world continued to debate the decision by Pope Francis to allow priests to bless same-sex couples. Many rejoiced in seeing the headlines about the decision, while others across the doctrinal spectrum argued it could sow confusion and exacerbate tensions further between progressives and conservatives.
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(ANALYSIS) Pope Francis’ extraordinary Synod of Bishops, consisting of two meetings last October and the concluding session next October, is dealing with “synodality.” What? The media and Catholic activists are all energized about such topics as letting women be deacons, or married men be priests, or softened LGBTQ+ policies, or allowing Communion for divorced members who remarry, or for Protestants.
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(ANALYSIS) On Dec. 9, the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the Genocide Convention) marked its 75th anniversary. The Genocide Convention can be praised for being the first international treaty to define genocide, providing a historic commitment to prevent genocide and punish the perpetrators.
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Former Hillsong founder Brian Houston announced that he and his wife, Bobbie, will launch a new church in 2024. He broke the news that the two would be “starting a weekly online ministry and church” and that he was “excited about building this new community.”
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Pope Francis has approved allowing Catholic clergy to bless same-sex unions — issuing a document on Monday detailing the change in the Vatican’s policy. The document, issued by the Vatican’s Doctrine of the Faith, elaborated on a letter the pontiff had sent to cardinals that was published in October.
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(OPINION) If you knew nothing about a woman who’s the subject of a Post profile, you might imagine she’s enjoyed every advantage — she’s pretty, young, White, popular. You might envy her. If you’re of a certain turn of mind, you might even resent her. And you’d be wrong.
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(REVIEW) “Rebel Moon” reminds us that religion is not just a trope in a sci-fi film, it’s baked into its DNA as a way of re-enchanting us to an often dead-feeling universe. The film, in theaters now, will be available on Netflix starting this Friday.
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King Herod’s storyline is not found in any other biblical texts nor in Roman records. Yet it is pivotal in Matthew’s Gospel, which contrasts Herod’s mission to that of the baby Jesus. So who was the real King Herod and why did Matthew’s Gospel include him?
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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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(ANALYSIS) As an American living in Britain in the 1990s, my first exposure to Christmas pudding was something of a shock. I had expected figs or plums, as in the “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” carol, but there were none. Neither did it resemble the cold custard-style dessert that Americans typically call pudding, a dish with deep Christian roots.
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(OPINION) October’s terrorist attack by Hamas and Israel’s overwhelming response unleashed a humanitarian nightmare that’s gripped the world. Real-time images flood our electronic devices. War shapes our lives, sometimes encouraging violence, verbal and physical. Outside war zones, ordinary citizens find ourselves drawn into taking sides. How can we create a better future for our children, ourselves — even for those we don’t know?
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