Religion News Service

Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops Jan. 5 to recognize a 36-hour truce throughout Ukraine during the Orthodox Christmas holiday weekend. The announcement came in response to an appeal by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, who called for a cease-fire lasting from noon Jan. 6  through Jan. 7.

In the West, the Epiphany is about the Magi. In the East, it is about the baptism of the Lord. But it is also about the second coming of Christ.

The religious makeup of the new Congress bucks the trends seen in American religious life, a new report finds.

After the Second Vatican Council open discussion was suppressed by Joseph Ratzinger under the papacy of John Paul. If you did not agree with the Vatican, you were silenced.

Benedict XVI's great failing was surrounding himself with acolytes who would never challenge him and would insulate him from challenge.

Conservatives, reading the Second Vatican Council's documents like biblical fundamentalists, miss what it meant to participants.

Over 1,000 U.S. faith leaders are calling for a Christmas cease-fire in Ukraine 10 months after Russia invaded its neighbor. The leaders, who represent a broad range of faiths, said they hoped a temporary truce could lead to the negotiation of permanent peace.

This December, Christian congregations will belt “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” and priests will wax poetic about Old Testament prophecies. As they do so, a group of Jewish, Christian and Muslim educators is calling on them to examine where antisemitic ideas might be lurking undetected.

A "biblical backstager," the new audio drama "Almelem" features "a small group of con artists and true disciples fumbling toward the greatest story ever told."

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff opened a White House roundtable on antisemitism Dec. 7 by declaring his steadfast commitment to his Jewish identity and to fighting the scourge of hatred toward Jews.

The pope's recent interview in America magazine comes across as a first draft in need of editing.

Tensions between LGBTQ students and administrations endure at many of the hundreds of U.S. Catholic and Protestant universities. The Christian teachings they ascribe to differ from societal values over gender identity and sexual orientation, because they assert that God created humans in unchangeable male and female identities, and sex should only happen within the marriage of a man and a woman.

"There was only one person who could really fulfill that requirement, and that was Amy," Kennedy Center's board chair, in an interview, said of "long overdue" recognition.

The meeting of Ye, Nick Fuentes and Donald Trump was a win for an extreme, Catholic-leaning subset of Christian nationalism.

Fr. Thomas Reese: Advent is supposed to be a time of anticipation and hope, but the threat of global warming brings me anxiety and fear.

A window for filing new lawsuits under a 2019 California law for decades-old abuse will close Dec. 31.

"It's important that we unify, and we work together, and share the teachings to protect our sacred areas because once God, once our sacred and holy places are gone, we will no longer exist. Our religion will be gone forever," said one Native American activist.

'The government protects historical churches and other important religious landmarks, and our site deserves no less protection,' Apache Stronghold founder Wendsler Nosie Sr. said.

It is doubtful that whatever the bishops say will have much effect on the 2024 election. It is sad that the church does not have a prophetic word to say when our country and the world are in crisis.

The bishops waged a long war against Roe v. Wade and won this past June with the Dobbs decision. As the bishops gather in Baltimore this week, will they acknowledge the collateral damage caused by their tactics?