News Analysis
One nun’s mission to save souls, from death row to the Met opera
By Meagan Saliashvili — October 5, 2023
(RNS) — The story of a killer’s — and Sister Helen Prejean’s — redemption comes to New York.
Pope Francis has stacked the next conclave — but will it matter?
By Claire Giangravé and Jack Jenkins — September 25, 2023
How King Charles’ coronation will be unlike any seen in England
By Catherine Pepinster — April 27, 2023
More Stories
RNS reporters on the big religion stories they expect to cover in 2023
By RNS staff — December 30, 2022
(RNS) — From psychedelics to Christian nationalism, a look at what's ahead for religion in the coming year.
The most significant religion stories of 2022
By RNS staff — December 29, 2022
(RNS) — Faith communities and organizations were at the center of some of the year's most indelible moments.
The 10 most significant Jewish news stories of 2022
By A. James Rudin — December 27, 2022
(RNS) — Though dogged by a pernicious antisemitic wave, the news from the Jewish world had its share of hopeful moments.
The most intriguing books on religion we read in 2022
By RNS staff — December 21, 2022
(RNS) — Pushing the boundaries of what faith can and should be, this year’s best religion and spirituality reads offer everything except predictability.
Horror audio drama ‘Quiet Part Loud’ explores fear and hatred in post-9/11 America
By Jillian Cheney — December 14, 2022
(RNS) — A new audio drama looks at anti-Muslim bias after 9/11 and how it only takes one person in power spewing vitriol to bring about violence.
Starz’s hit series ‘P-Valley’ finds sacred community in a strip club
By Amethyst Holmes — December 2, 2022
(RNS) — The drama series by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Katori Hall shows how profane places can be sacred — and how formal sacred places can be made profane.
In ‘Raising Lazarus,’ Beth Macy summons the stone rollers
By Elizabeth E. Evans — November 4, 2022
(RNS) — A new book chronicles an addiction-recovery movement known as 'harm reduction,' an alternative to strict abstinence that has drawn many people of faith as helpers.
In India, where Hindu majority has complex views, Supreme Court liberalizes abortion law
By Kalpana Jain — October 3, 2022
(RNS) — The judgment will have significant implications for Muslim, Christian and other minority faith groups but will likely face pushback from conservative Hindus.
King Charles is interpreting ‘Defender of the Faith’ for a new Britain
By Catherine Pepinster — September 21, 2022
LONDON (RNS) — Next: how to make the country’s rapidly expanding numbers of nonbelievers feel included
UN cites possible crimes vs. humanity in China’s Xinjiang
By Edith M. Lederer and Jamey Keaten — September 1, 2022
GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights office said that China's discriminatory detention of Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang "may constitute crimes against humanity" in a long-awaited report released Wednesday.
Attack on Rushdie shows divisions among Lebanese Shiites
By Bassem Mroue — August 17, 2022
BEIRUT (AP) — The religious edict, or fatwa, urging Muslims to kill Rushdie was issued in 1989 by Iran's then-spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who accused the author of blasphemy for his portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad in the novel 'The Satanic Verses.'
‘God’s Favorite Idiot’: Proof we need more religious comedies
By Jillian Cheney — June 28, 2022
(RNS) — The show is a reminder that not all stories with a religious message have to be somber or existential. Sometimes they can — and should be — as sweet and simple as pecan pie.
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