China once again has its hackles up over a U.S. report criticizing the country’s violations of religious freedom, and is insisting that America stop interfering in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of defending religious liberty.
A law professor at Jesuit-run Fordham University in New York is appealing for an end to the institution of marriage in America, which he describes as “religious, gendered, and bourgeois.” Ethan J. Leib published his essay in the Fordham Law Review.
More than 1,400 cases of blasphemy were registered in Pakistan in 2014, marking a new record for the prosecution of religious crimes in the country amidst growing protests of abuse and arbitrary arrests of Christians and other religious minorities.
Pope Francis is expressing his esteem for science, but also coming down hard against the “new atheists” such as Richard Dawkins who deny the existence of anything beyond the material world. Francis adds that “the Creator is infinitely greater than our knowledge.”
Pope Francis, who has often said that doctrine is not everything, praised Saint Paul Thursday morning as a model of one who defended doctrine–the doctrine of the greatness of God’s love.
Nigeria’s Boko Haram islamists have reached out to the Somali jihadist organization al-Shabaab, urging it to switch its loyalty to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).
Assyrian Christians living in Sweden have been targeted with a string of threatening messages linked to the Islamic State, including demands that they “convert or die.”
The Archbishop of Aleppo has called on the West to act to save Syria from the “fundamentalist, jihadist mercenaries” who threaten his country, “killing anyone who would speak of freedom, citizenship, religious freedom and democracy.”
After hammering GOP candidates about Planned Parenthood during its Republican debate in September, CNN avoided the topic completely in Tuesday night’s Democratic primary debate, even after Hillary Clinton brought the issue up.
“In the name of the Church, I would like to ask forgiveness for the scandals that have occurred in recent times, both in Rome and in the Vatican,” Pope Francis said at the beginning of Wednesday’s General Audience.
The redoubtable Archbishop of Philadelphia, Charles J. Chaput, told his fellow bishops gathered in the Vatican Synod on the Family that in a world as confused as our own, precise language is critical for keeping the Church united, and unity is key.
A massive, multi-decade project of translating the entire Bible into the Mayan language of Tzotzil has finally been completed, and was commemorated with a Mass celebrated in that language in the state of Chiapas, Mexico.
In the immediate wake of the Vatican sacking of a gay priest who attempted to upstage the Vatican Synod on the Family by “coming out” with his boyfriend the day before it began, Socialist French President François Hollande has withdrawn his proposal of Laurent Stefanini, an openly gay official, for the post of ambassador to the Holy See.
In a Facebook post Monday, Christian evangelist Franklin Graham denounced the world’s silence in the face of a true genocide being carried out by the Islamic State.
On Friday, an unprecedented letter written to Pope Francis by thirteen cardinals taking part in the Vatican synod on marriage and the family was published online, revealing contention regarding the revamped synodal process as well as the suitability of the draft document being used to guide the bishops’ discussions.
The group of religious sisters founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta is shutting down its thirty orphanages in India as a protest, rather than comply with new state regulations requiring that they place children with single parents. It’s a religious liberty case eerily familiar to Americans.
In the lead-up to a major summit on religion, the Chinese Communist party is preparing intensified restrictions on Christian churches, according to the Party’s official newspaper on religious issues, Zhongguo Mingzu Bao.
On Friday, Pope Francis asked the bishops and participants in the Vatican synod on the family to join him in offering midday prayers for the intention of reconciliation and peace in the Middle East.
In the coming days, construction will commence on a new church in Egypt dedicated to the martyred Coptic Christians beheaded by the Islamic State in Libya in February.
Amnesty International’s proposal to legalize prostitution has generated a fierce rebuttal from groups opposed to the exploitation of vulnerable women, who warn that such wrong-headed programs just perpetuate cycles of abuse and mistreatment of women.
Pope Francis returned to one of his favorite topics Friday morning, telling his hearers that the devil seeks above all to become master of their consciences, so they no longer can tell right from wrong.
Embroiled in a financial scandal and hemorrhaging support from members of his own party, the mayor of Rome, former surgeon Ignazio Marino, resigned Thursday evening, saying that he only had “the best interests of Italy’s capital” at heart.
Four Jews have suffered violent attacks in Israel in the last week, spurring Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat to urge all citizens possessing firearms and trained in their use to carry their weapons at all times to defend themselves. “The mayor
In his morning Mass Thursday, Pope Francis reflected on the apparent worldly success of the godless while those who try to do what is right seem to fare poorly.
The ACLU and the Freedom from Religion Foundation has filed a federal lawsuit against the Concord Community Schools for using a live Nativity scene in their annual Christmas concert.
