Leaders & Institutions
13 emerging faith leaders who made their mark in 2023
By Yonat Shimron — December 28, 2023
(RNS) — 2023's rising stars in religion are loud, proud and defiant.
Faith leaders, influencers who died in 2023: Preachers, protesters, writers, singers
By Adelle M. Banks — December 26, 2023
(RNS) — We also bid farewell to some celebrities and influencers whose time on stages sometimes represented public faith or whose lives were strengthened by their personal faith.
As a Muslim, I condemn attacks on all civilians. President Biden should, too.
By Nihad Awad — December 22, 2023
(RNS) — Condemnation of the Israeli government is not the same as — and must never cross the line into — antisemitism.
A South Korean religious sect leader has been sentenced to 23 years in prison over sex crimes
By Jiwon Song — December 22, 2023
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Jeong, 78, is leader of the Christian Gospel Mission in South Korea, which is also known as Jesus Morning Star, or JMS.
Vatican prosecutor appeals verdict that largely dismantled his fraud case but convicted cardinal
By Nicole Winfield — December 22, 2023
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Prosecutor Alessandro Diddi filed his appeal this week of the three-judge tribunal's decision in a complicated financial trial that aired the Vatican's dirty laundry and tested its peculiar legal system.
Activists hope pope’s approval of same-sex blessings could ease anti-LGBTQ+ bias and repression
By Nicole Winfield — December 21, 2023
ROME (AP) —The pope's decision to officially spell out his approval could send a message of tolerance to places where gay rights are far more restricted.
A woman shot with a crossbow and a priest stabbed in a rectory shake a small Nebraska town
By Josh Funk and Margery A. Beck — December 21, 2023
FORT CALHOUN, Neb. (AP) — The brutal killings have shaken residents who have grown accustomed to a certain peacefulness in Fort Calhoun, a single-stoplight town of 1,100 nestled in rolling hills along the Missouri River.
In India’s holiest city, Hindus worship the nation of India
By Richa Karmarkar — December 20, 2023
VARANASI, India (RNS) — The Bharat Mata mandir in India’s holiest city has come to represent an ideology that many in Narendra Modi’s constituency hold — a distinctly religious allegiance to the personified mother goddess of India.
The Vatican financial trial is finally over. What did we learn?
By Thomas Reese — December 19, 2023
(RNS) — The good news is the financial scandals became public and were not covered up by the Vatican as was the practice in the past.
Pope Francis’ 87th birthday closes out a big year of efforts to reform the church, cement his legacy
By Nicole Winfield — December 18, 2023
ROME (AP) — Alongside the synod, Francis this year appointed an unusually progressive theologian as the Vatican’s chief doctrine watchdog.
Cardinal Becciu sentenced to 5 and a half years in prison by Vatican tribunal
By Claire Giangravé — December 16, 2023
(RNS) — Vatican judges found 9 of the 10 defendants in the trial guilty, with sentences including prison time and fines.
One fourth of United Methodist churches in US have left in schism over LGBTQ ban. What happens now?
By Peter Smith — December 15, 2023
The vast majority are conservative-leaning churches responding to what they see as the United Methodists' failure to enforce bans on same-sex marriage and the ordaining of openly LGBTQ persons.
David Wolpe: The college presidents’ testimony was ‘exquisitely painful’
By Beth Kissileff — December 14, 2023
(RNS) — One of the country’s most prominent rabbis concluded the problem of antisemitism at Harvard was beyond the weight of his wisdom and experience.
Black church coalition names reparations, voting, health equity among priorities
By Adelle M. Banks — December 14, 2023
(RNS) — ‘There are so many pressing issues, from the future of COVID-19 and mental health to gun violence and voting rights, that must be addressed,’ said CNBC Chairman W. Franklyn Richardson.
How the presidents of Harvard, Penn and MIT testified to Congress on antisemitism
By Annie Ma — December 13, 2023
WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — Republicans and Democrats alike criticized responses the presidents gave at the Dec. 5 hearing of a U.S. House committee on antisemitism on college campuses.
