Doctrine & Practice
Divine intervention? Ivorians say God is on their team’s side after ‘miracles’ at Africa Cup
By CiarÁn Fahey — February 8, 2024
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — At the Chapelle de l’externat Saint Paul for a service hours before the match, many worshippers wore the national team's distinctive orange jersey.
Every week is World Interfaith Harmony Week for devotees of Swami Vivekananda
By Richa Karmarkar — February 7, 2024
(RNS) — As religious conflict and disharmony rage on elsewhere in the world, the interfaith teachings of Swami Vivekananda are evergreen to these devotees.
Jesuits in US bolster outreach initiative aimed at encouraging LGBTQ+ Catholics
By David Crary — February 6, 2024
NEW YORK (AP) — Pope Francis, a Jesuit who has met with Martin and sent letters of support to Outreach, has made clear he favors a more welcoming approach to LGBTQ+ people.
At National Prayer Breakfast, Biden speaks of praying, working for peace
By Adelle M. Banks — February 1, 2024
(RNS) — ‘We're all blessed to live in a nation where we can practice our many faiths and practice them freely,’ Biden said at the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall.
With bonfires and hope, Iran’s minority Zoroastrians celebrate Sadeh and the end of cold winter days
By Associated Press — January 31, 2024
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Around the fire, people listened to bands playing music, theological lectures as they milled about eating and celebrating.
The opening of India’s new Rama temple made waves – but here’s what the central ritual actually meant
By Vasudha Narayanan — January 31, 2024
(The Conversation) — A scholar of Hinduism explains the importance of the consecration ritual, which is believed to bring the presence of the divine into the temple.
Nazi genocides of Jews and Roma were entangled from the start – and so are their efforts at Holocaust remembrance today
By Ari Joskowicz — January 29, 2024
(The Conversation) — Many young people today know little about the murder of European Jews during the Holocaust, and even less about the murder of Romani communities.
Who was St. Brigid and why is she inspiring many 1,500 years after her death?
By Peter Smith — January 29, 2024
The commemorations come a year after Ireland began honoring her with an annual public holiday — the first Irish woman to be recognized with one.
New member of Mormon church leadership says it must do better to help sex abuse victims heal
By Deepa Bharath — January 24, 2024
The Utah-based faith has stuck by the system despite the criticism and increasing scrutiny from attorneys and prosecutors who argue it is inadequate to quickly stop abuse and protect victims.
Religious but not spiritual? Meet the skeptics favoring ritual over the supernatural
By Kathryn Post — January 23, 2024
(RNS) — Ten percent of Americans can be categorized as religious but not spiritual, according to a December 2023 study from Pew Research Center.
Ruth Wilson stirs up trauma of Magdalene laundries in ‘The Woman in the Wall’
By Alicia Rancilio — January 22, 2024
(AP) — In an interview with The Associated Press, Wilson spoke about learning of these Magdalene laundries, her complex thoughts on religion and how Sinéad O’Connor left her mark on the project.
Church without God: How secular congregations fill a need for some nonreligious Americans
By Jacqui Frost — January 19, 2024
(The Conversation) — A sociologist of religion explains how atheist churches are helping people find meaning and community – serving many of the same purposes as religious churches.
How a leaderless Chabad movement led to an illegal tunnel brawl
By Yonat Shimron — January 18, 2024
(RNS) — The tunnel’s discovery was just the latest in a 30-year clash among factions of the Hasidic group led by the late Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who died 30 years ago.
The Vatican’s top expert on AI ethics is a friar from a medieval Franciscan order
By Frances D'emilio — January 18, 2024
ROME (AP) — Benanti is the Vatican's go-to person on the technology and he has the ear of Pope Francis as well as some of Silicon Valley's top engineers and executives.
Jehovah’s Witnesses go to trial against Norway after state registration is revoked
By Kathryn Post — January 16, 2024
(RNS) — ‘It’s certainly the most important trial about a religious freedom issue in Norway in decades,’ said Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers.
