It was quite a week for Javier Milei. Not only did he visit Israel in a show of support; the recently-elected Argentine president then flew to Vatican City, where he made peace with Pope Francis. While Milei is a Catholic, he hasn’t been shy about criticizing the pontiff in the past while also flirting with the idea of converting to Judaism.
Read MoreForget celebrating Valentines Day with cards, red roses and chocolates, the eastern English country of Norfolk has a very different custom dating back centuries. This mysterious, sometimes mischievous, character placed little gifts on doorsteps, knocked and then disappeared before the door was opened. Enter Jack Valentine.
Read MoreNot everyone will be enjoying chocolate this Valentine’s Day. For the first time since 2018, Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day fall on the same day. In fact, this rare occurrence is taking place once again in less than a week. It has happened three times in the last century — 1923, 1934 and 1945 — and will happen again in 2029.
Read More(ESSAY) The priest showed Nutsa the coffin holding the body of a revered Orthodox saint named Father Gabriel, whose remains were continuously sent around to various churches to provide miraculous healings. Georgians reported being healed of diseases ranging from burns to birth defects to cerebral palsy to brain cancer upon touching it. The local priest told Nusta she would be healed if she kissed Father Gabriel’s coffin. Nothing came of the ritual. Nutsa became an atheist a year later.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The big question: Is the Rupnik case one of the scandals that “vaticanista” journalists have handled with a "delicacy" that was recently praised by Pope Francis?
Read MoreIn Italy, a country that exudes centuries-old traditions rooted in Christianity, there exists a holiday that captures the imagination of both young and old alike every Jan. 6. The holiday — known as La Befana — is a unique blend of religion and folklore that marks the end of the Christmas season.
Read MoreIt 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.
Read MoreZoroastrianism — 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.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreNorwegian 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.
Read MoreCientos 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.
Read MoreCatholics 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.
Read More“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.
Read MoreFor 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.
Read More(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.
Read MoreMetropolitan 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.
Read MoreA 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.
Read More(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.
Read MoreOnly 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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