North America

(ANALYSIS) In a region known for its tumultuous change, one idea remained remarkably consistent for centuries: Latin America is Catholic. The region’s 500-year transformation into a Catholic stronghold seemed capped in 2013, when Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected as the first Latin American pope. Once a missionary outpost, Latin America is now the heart of the Catholic Church.

(ANALYSIS) (ANALYSIS) So, there’s this verse you sometimes hear in an evangelical worship service. It’s from 2 Thessalonians 3:10: “For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”

The question is not whether Trump is relevant in many of these stories. This is, after all, an age in which faith, culture and religious doctrines are frequently linked to debates about hot-button political issues. The question is whether Trump is placed front and center in every story, warping discussions of issues that were important long before he entered American politics.

When nuns listed a vacant Catholic girls’ school for sale in this sleepy French village in 2017, American Jerry Jones saw an opportunity to expand Christian influence and higher education in Europe. But his British wife, Zoobi Jones, gave a quick, succinct reply to his suggestion that the couple use their savings to buy La Maison de Perrine — “The House of Perrine” in English.

In the afterlife, your wife of 65 years must choose between you and her first husband — a war hero who’s waited 67 years to see her again. That’s the intriguing plot of “Eternity,” a new romantic comedy starring Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen and Callum Turner.

Despite cannabis's central role in Rastafarian worship, adherents face persistent criminalization and face a minimum 10-year prison term for simple possession. Police raids on tabernacles remain routine across Kenya, with officers confiscating plants, destroying drums and sometimes forcibly cutting dreadlocks. Now, adherents are trying to legalize it.

(ANALYSIS) Obituaries preserve what families most want remembered about the people they cherish most. Across time, they also reveal the values each era chose to honor. In a study published in the journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,” we analyzed 38 million obituaries of Americans published from 1998 to 2024.

(ANALYSIS) Late in the movie “Shadowlands,” the C.S. Lewis character describes the role that books can play in real life. The famous Oxford don and author, played by Anthony Hopkins, notes, “We read books to know that we are not alone.” But Lewis never wrote those memorable words.

(ANALYSIS) On his recent visit to Turkey and Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV met with political and religious leaders, celebrated Mass and visited historical sites. The trip also marked the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, which resolved core doctrinal differences, with the aim of advancing Christian unity at the time.

The cause of the Nov. 10 plane crash that killed a Christian evangelist and his daughter in Coral Springs, Florida, remains a mystery following the release of a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

Churches and cathedrals around the U.K. hold works of art by some of the most important and exciting artists of the past 100 years. But unless you know where to look, many can be hard to find. High-profile examples include significant commissions by Elisabeth Frink, John Piper and Graham Sutherland at Coventry Cathedral.

(ANALYSIS) Needless to say, these old-school, pro-First Amendment liberals are not the kind of public intellectuals that cultural and religious conservatives have, in the past, valued for their insights into public life. However, they have created a multi-media space in which all kinds of voices — including strong, vocal Christians (Paul Kingsnorth, leaps to mind) — have been able to reach millions of new readers and listeners.

Red post boxes are one of the most well-known and iconic British symbols — but at Christmastime, they take on a very different ambiance, often virtually overnight. Posting Christmas cards becomes even more fun as you never know quite what might appear on top of the post box in many part of the U.K.

(ANALYSIS) Living in a culture that largely closes down each Dec. 25, many Jews have found ways of making meaning in the day — be that sharing family time over beef and broccoli, followed by a holiday blockbuster, or working to make sure that more of their colleagues can have a family day. And those, too, are Christmas traditions.

(REVIEW) “The Case for Miracles” attempts to encourage all of these groups with belief in the miraculous. Unfortunately, it tries to do too much and please too many potential audiences. The result is that, though its heart is in the right place, almost everyone, even those who agree with it, will likely go away unpersuaded and unsatisfied.

For the fourth time in six years, Isaiah 41:10 was the most downloaded Scripture of the year on the YouVersion family of Bible apps, which according to its founder has been installed on one billion devices nationwide. “I think this verse keeps rising to the top because it addresses one of our deepest needs, the assurance that we’re not alone,” YouVersion Founder and CEO Bobby Gruenewald said.

One of Christianity’s last strongholds in the Middle East is rapidly losing Christians, who are fleeing the country after years of wars and economic failures. Pope Leo XIV visited Lebanon earlier this month to encourage the nation’s young Catholics. But local young adults say it could be too little, too late.

(ESSAY) These traditions, dating back to the Middle Ages, were born out of the darkest time of the year to symbolize the return of light to the world. Remembering them today confirms for me that God is present in beauty and in the effort we make to create peace for one another.

Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes appeared to acknowledge that “at least” 6 million Jews were killed in Nazi Germany, in a tense interview with broadcaster Piers Morgan on Monday. Yet, he doubled down on his past statement that Adolf Hitler was “f—ing cool” and claimed that the true “genocide” is against white Christians.

When Julian Voloj heard about the first Jewish Comic Con, he had to meet its creator, Fabrice Sapolsky. Voloj had authored a number of graphic novels, including “Ghetto Brother,” the story of former gang leader Benji Melendez. Voloj and Sapolsky connected at the 2016 convention and realized they shared a vision: A comic recounting diverse Jewish stories.

We come into the world helpless, and we leave it helpless. If we’re teachable, this gradual, inevitable decline imbues us with humility before we’re gone, which in turn leads us toward grace.

After decades of falling religious affiliation and participation, key measures of religiousness in the United States have leveled off in recent years — although no revival has been detected among young people. The findings from the Pew Research Center suggest that a period of relative stability — first observed around 2020 — has continued five years after the pandemic.

The insurance company for Gateway Church has filed an action in federal court seeking a declaration that it is not required to defend nor indemnify the church in the civil lawsuit brought by Cindy Clemishire related to sexual abuse committed against her by Robert Morris.

(OPINION) As 2025 comes to a close, let us dedicate ourselves to a radical change in the way we think and act. Let us seize on the concept that every day, God gives us an abundance of chances to bring the “holiday spirit” into the lives of others — whether it’s December, April, June or September. 

Even though Emmanuel Ngona Ngotsi was appointed by Pope Francis as the bishop of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Wamba Diocese in January 2024 and consecrated eight months later by Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, he has yet to fully assume his role. Although Ngotsi is Congolese, Wamba clergy and laity still see him as an “outsider” because he is not a native of the area.

Because Mary herself was from the eastern Mediterranean, the subtle incorporation by Renaissance painters of abstractly rendered Arabic or Hebrew in religious art linguistically linked their sacred subjects to the region’s Biblical past as well as its bounteous wealth.

Film and culture critic Joseph Holmes knows a good film when he sees one, but he hardly ever sees one — or at least that’s the running joke among Religion Unplugged staff.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case involving pregnancy resource centers in New Jersey that have been fighting a legal battle to prevent the subpoena of its donor records.

(ANALYSIS) One of the most important cyclical events in my life as a data analyst of American religion is the semi-regular release of the General Social Survey.