(ANALYSIS) Finland’s Supreme Court convicted Päivi Räsänen and Bishop Juhana Pohjola over a 2004 booklet on homosexuality, ordering its removal. The ruling, alongside developments in Canada and Iceland, raises concerns about expanding hate speech laws and their impact on religious expression and free speech in Europe and beyond.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Israel briefly barred Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday, citing wartime security and triggering concerns over religious freedom. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reversed the decision, highlighting tensions between security measures and preserving Jerusalem’s sensitive religious status quo.
Read MoreShe walked for days through jungle mountain paths to escape the Myanmar military's campaign of terror. The medical care she needs is out of reach. What keeps her and the more than 600 people around her alive is a fragile web of church donations, local tithes and the tireless intervention of faith-based organizations — a web now stretched to breaking point.
Read MoreVery few superheroes wear their faith on their sleeves like Daredevil. But the Season 2 opener for Disney+ series “Daredevil: Born Again” has pulled back on those elements. If that reflects the rest of the season, it will be to the show’s detriment.
Read MoreThe text tells the story, or “katha,” of the ritual vow, or “vrata,” that women devotees perform to earn the favor of Swasthani, a local Nepali Hindu goddess.
Read More(ANALYSIS) A couple of months ago, the Heritage Foundation released a report entitled, “Saving America by Saving the Family: A Foundation for the Next 250 Years.” You can probably guess the contents of said report from just the title, but to summarize: People aren’t walking down the aisle that much anymore.
Read More(ANALYSIS) March 31 marks 50 years since a landmark decision that shapes American patients’ rights every day: the New Jersey Supreme Court ruling in the case of Karen Ann Quinlan, who had suffered an irreversible coma. Quinlan’s case established for the first time that decisions near the end of life should be made by patients and families, not by doctors and hospitals alone.
Read MoreWhen Americans call President George Washington the “Father of His Country” it’s an honorary title based on politics and history. When modern citizens of the Republic of Georgia refer to Patriarch Ilia II as the “Godfather of Our Land” they are being quite literal, in terms of the rites and traditions of the Eastern Orthodox Christian faith.
Read MoreSecretary of War Pete Hegseth announced two historic changes to the military’s chaplaincy corps this week after previewing those updates this past December. The first was the consolidation of the faith codes associated with chaplaincy and the second was the replacement of rank insignia from chaplains’ uniforms with their religious insignia.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Supreme Court recently announced a major decision in what seems like a quintessential religious freedom case: A Christian preacher charged with violating a city ordinance for sharing his faith in a public park. But outrageous as it may have been, the preacher’s arrest was not actually at the heart of this case.
Read MoreThe affected residents occupy a plot in Kyadondo, West Buganda, under a 49-year lease granted on Sept. 1, 1972, which expired on Aug. 31, 2021. Following the lease’s expiration, the Kampala Archdiocese Land Board formally told occupants to vacate by April 30 to pave the way for what the church describes as a modern estate redevelopment project.
Read MoreA new report from the Pew Research Center found that religious radio stations remain ubiquitous — with 98% of U.S. adults living within the local coverage area of at least one of them. The report found that an “overwhelming majority” of those stations are Christian. Despite the rise of digital media, 45% of U.S. adults say they’ve listened to religious programming on the radio.
Read MorePassover plans this April 1 are a tossup for Israel, including the nation’s 20,000 to 30,000 Christians.
Read MoreIndia’s leading Catholic publisher has been awarded a papal knighthood in recognition of his groundbreaking efforts in developing Catholic editions of the English Standard Version (ESV) and the New Living Translation (NLT), both American Evangelical translations of the Bible.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In an era when religious and moral differences often feel like threats to identity, cultivating an individual ethic of pluralism may be one of the most critical civic tasks before us. Pluralism is not who we are by default. But it can be who we become — slowly, deliberately and together.
Read MoreEven Chuck Norris’s granddaughter bought into the memes that described her Papa as indestructible. He was, as she wrote recently, the man who “counted to infinity twice, the man who got bit by a cobra and the cobra died.” Chuck Norris didn’t do pushups, she added; he “would push the earth down.”
Read MoreWhen “The Faithful: Women of the Bible” trusts the Bible’s voice, it does a great job of giving voice to the women that it portrays. Unfortunately, far too often, the filmmakers shout their own voices too loud for you to hear the real women they claim to be elevating.
Read MoreLosing one’s sight can be difficult, but Christians who are blind in Kenya are finding new hope through solar-powered audio Bibles. Koki Ann, who works with the Montana-based “Your Network of Praise” in Nairobi, said: “Getting to reach people who are visually impaired was such a great breakthrough and pure providence.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) Cesar Chavez, revered labor leader and co-founder of the United Farm Workers, built a legacy of nonviolent activism rooted in the Catholic faith. New allegations of decades-old sexual abuse now challenge his image, raising questions about power, morality and how society should reassess historical figures and their complicated legacies.
Read MoreKendra Duggar, wife of former “19 Kids and Counting” TV star Joseph Duggar, has been arrested in Arkansas. Both she and her husband are now facing misdemeanor child endangerment and false imprisonment charges.
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