The Conversation

The important question is not whether new technologies are good or bad. What matters far more is whether we can learn to share the responsibility of stewardship – whether we can all be partners in what this new industrial revolution is making possible.

Cardinal Robert Prevost's leadership roles in Chicago and Rome were essential in his formation. But his time in Peru best prepared him to take on the challenges of directing the global Catholic Church.

While the overwhelming majority of Christian religious leaders accept the human-driven reality of climate change, nearly half have never mentioned climate change or humans' role in it to their congregations. Further, only a quarter have spoken about it more than once or twice.

If funding cuts continue, the world could face higher rates of annual new HIV infections by 2030 than at the peak of the global epidemic in 1995.

Conventional wisdom about nonreligious Americans' voting misses some important distinctions.

St. Patrick's Day was once a solemn feast day when you'd be far more likely to see the color blue. In fact, there's even a color known as St. Patrick's blue.

Building a global response to the climate crisis requires us to learn about the many ways people make sense of climate change and learn to live with its consequences. And for most of the world's population, a purely scientific framing is unhelpful.

Vice President JD Vance and several bishops of the U.S. Roman Catholic Church are having a war of words over the Trump administration's flurry of executive orders and highly publicized immigration raids. This debate reflects long-standing tensions among Catholic — and other Christian — thinkers and practitioners about moral obligations to people with whom we have closer versus more distant relationships.

Pope Francis has proclaimed a Jubilee year in the Catholic Church, which began on Dec. 24, 2024, and will continue through Jan. 6, 2026. But what is a Jubilee, and what is this year’s about?

It was important in Cold War America to prove that it was a Christian nation, so a new story was added to the American creation myth: Through the nation's history, all presidents invoked God as part of their oath.

Among the traditional religious activities that can earn one an indulgence — such as pilgrimage to holy sites, acts of charity and saying special prayers — Pope Francis introduced a new option: a call to fast from the internet and social media.

In the future, a program like AI Jesus could be used to hear confessions around the clock. But with no experience of having a human body, it cannot engage or absolve human sins, writes Joanne M. Pierce. 

In the U.S. today, evangelical, charismatic and conservative Christians continue to tap into the martyrdom mythology.

As a Catholic philosopher and avid student of Aquinas, I am always fielding questions about whether this medieval saint is "still worth" reading today, nearly 800 years after his birth.

Even with substantial consensus on many issues, the perception of polarization often drives public discourse. This misalignment can be exacerbated by partisans with something to gain.

Why are cardinals sequestered during papal elections? Because it took centuries for the church to develop an electoral system free from manipulations and violence — which should resonate with contemporary politics.

"In 1869, when Pope Pius IX convened the First Vatican Council, no one dreamed of inviting women, but they were nonetheless there," writes Carol E. Harrison, a Professor of History at the University of South Carolina. 

"While debates over the Christian virtues of the candidates may be important for Christian communities, religious freedom is important for American democracy," writes religious freedom scholar Corey D. B. Walker. "The response to Christianity and politics is not more Christianity but more democracy. And religious freedom is key."

"Only a gradual rebuilding of civil society, I believe, may save Nicaragua from that fate," Richard Wood, Director of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at the University of Southern California writes. "The tragedy is what Nicaragua could have been: a thriving democratic society, with a commitment to empowering the poor."