2017 in Review

What's coming for religion in the next 12 months? RNS asked some of the country's top faith leaders, scholars and activists to predict what changes the religious landscape will see.

Foreign trips, a focus on the rights and needs of migrants and refugees and a Synod of Bishops dedicated to young people all are on the 2018 calendar for Pope Francis.

The political ads that aired in the Washington metro region in the fall of 2017 made many stop in their tracks. 

While efforts by congressional Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act over the first half of 2017 dominated the headlines on the health care stage, there were other issues that also merited attention.

The wave of accusations of sexual harassment, misconduct and assault from Hollywood to Capitol Hill and many places in between in recent months has been described as a revolution, a moment and a time for national reckoning.

Distinctly Catholic: The partisan divisions in our culture, which are deeper than mere partisanship and extend to geography, socio-economic status and education levels, must not be allowed to overtake the life of the church.

While much of the focus has been on the Supreme Court, state legislatures, governors and juries in the ongoing fight to abolish capital punishment in the United States, the head of the Death Penalty Information Center suggested that counties may be key.

The ratcheting up of North Korea's missile testing and fears about its quest to launch a nuclear weapon have gotten the attention of leaders worldwide, including Pope Francis.

Distinctly Catholic: President Donald Trump does not know how to deploy his dominance for political ends, only for celebrity status. 2017 was a grim year.

In Puerto Rico, Texas, Florida, California and Mexico City, recovery was slow and deep pain remained from a string of natural disasters as 2017 ended.

President Trump’s embrace of evangelical politics, a shooting at a Texas church, a wedding cake that a Christian baker refused to make and the status of Jerusalem also grabbed headlines.

Distinctly Catholic: There is still a way to go for the reforms introduced by Pope Francis, but the trajectory is much clearer as 2017 comes to an end than it was when the year began.

For the second year in a row, President Trump and his conservative evangelical supporters topped the list of the 10 most important religion news stories of the year.