Religion News Service

Signs of the Times: Pope Francis was at his prophetic best on his recent papal trip. He is standing up for the marginalized who have been bloodied by war, starved by famine and displaced by persecution. 

Though anti-Muslim sentiments grew in the wake of 9/11 — and continue — that concerned phone call from a friend across faith lines exemplifies another legacy of that historic day: the evolution and advancement of interfaith cooperation in the United States.

Bishop John Shelby Spong, a bestselling author and cleric known for his progressive theology and his support of LGBTQ clergy in the Episcopal Church, has died. He was 90.

In another sign Donald Trump is eyeing a run to regain the White House, the former president and his religious advisers announced the launch of a national faith advisory board on Sept. 2, apparently aimed at reinvigorating his conservative Christian base.

Signs of the Times: The U.S. bishops are working on a document on the Eucharist, which could be very helpful if they do it right. The chances are slim. But I have six suggestions on what should the bishops say in their document on the Eucharist.

This October, Pope Francis will inaugurate a three-year preparation process for the 2023 synod, which will focus on reforming the synodal process. The preparation process and the synod have the potential to revolutionize the way decisions are made in the Catholic Church and promote a more decentralized structure of authority.

Kondo describes aspects of her spiritual brand as inspired by Shinto, but the ideal KonMari lifestyle is presented as one in which we adopt and adapt whatever practices "feel right."

Indigenous leaders fear their scattered rural communities will be overlooked by aid agencies in aftermath of hurricane.

The Academy for Jewish Religion California has rented space in several locations during its 21-year existence as a transdenominational seminary that trains rabbis and cantors. For a while it was housed in an office building in downtown Los Angeles, then at Hillel, the Jewish campus organization at the University of California Los Angeles. But beginning Oct. 1, in an arrangement both novel and pathbreaking, the academy will move to Loyola Marymount University, a private Catholic school founded by the Jesuit and Marymount orders.

A new book on the history of the Vatican's international relations shows how Pope Francis is only following in his predecessors' footsteps in standing up to the United States.

Jeannie Gaffigan collaborated with Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles to host a virtual panel on Aug. 31 directed specifically at Catholic audiences. The panel, titled "Vaccines Are a Life Issue," examined the most widespread pieces of vaccine misinformation and walked the audience through responses to each.

The trajectory of Spears' career and public persona can be understood, some scholars of evangelicalism argue, through the rise and decline of the evangelical purity movement. 

As tensions rise in Afghanistan following the takeover by Taliban forces in mid-August that threatens the small Christian community in the country, a Catholic priest managed to flee with a group of disabled children and nuns on Aug. 25.

Israel's Chief Rabbinate has written a letter to Pope Francis conveying its “distress” at comments he made suggesting Jewish law, as written in the Torah, is obsolete.

There is a burgeoning conversation about racism happening at the highest levels of academia, particularly in divinity schools, theology departments and religious studies programs. Black religion scholars say their work is routinely undervalued and their advancement blocked by a bias that sees the study of Black religious experience as secondary to white theology

For the Rev. James Baron, pastor of Holy Apostles Catholic Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, it’s the responsibility of the church to advocate for the conscience of others. That’s why Baron’s parish, on its website and its Facebook page, shared a link to a template made available for priests to sign “if a Catholic wants a written record that they are seeking (COVID-19 vaccine) exemption on religious grounds.”

Signs of the Times: In Vietnam, we saw every insurgent as part of a worldwide communist conspiracy against the United States. In Afghanistan, we saw every Taliban as a terrorist who wanted to attack the United States. In both countries we ignored the deep resentment of their populations to foreign occupation.

"We've been screaming from the rooftops for months now that we need to get these allies to Guam or another U.S. territory," says a leader of one of the faith-based agencies contracted with the U.S. government to resettle refugees.

San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy has sent a letter instructing priests in his diocese that there is no basis in Catholic teaching to offer a religious exemption for COVID-19 vaccinations as more employers and schools enact vaccine mandates.

A message from the Twitter account of Cardinal Raymond Burke, a conservative prelate and outspoken skeptic of the COVID-19 vaccine, confirmed Aug. 14 that he had been placed on a ventilator after testing positive for the virus.