faith

Church membership in 2020 dropped to 47% of the more than 6,100 respondents to a Gallup Poll. It is the first time since the polling firm started measuring church membership in 1937 that a minority of adults said they belonged to a formal religious institution.

The majority of Americans  — 68% — said the pandemic has not changed their personal faith much, but despite the cancellation of religious activities and in-person services, few Americans — only 4% — say their religious faith has weakened as a result of the outbreak.

Reader survey responses will help shape this year's climate coverage.

Commentary: Science fiction is by nature prophetic; fantasy is by nature a spiritual exercise. And we are, after all, a storytelling religion. One character's journey in the animated "Star Wars" series stands as an example to me as a member of the Catholic Church.

Being faithful to God means taking the risk of setting aside one's own needs and plans in order to serve others, Pope Francis said, celebrating Mass for the World Day of the Poor.

A toxic algal bloom makes climate crisis hit home

 

Distinctly Catholic: I make no apologies for Biden's untenable position on abortion, but the reduction of the Catholic faith to this one issue has been a pastoral as well as a political dead-end, a distortion of Catholic moral teaching that must stop.

Everyone, including the pope, experiences trials that can shake his or her faith; the key to survival is to call out to the Lord for help, Pope Francis said.