Beliefs
Vatican to weigh in on the supernatural, Marian apparitions
By Aleja Hertzler-McCain and Claire Giangravé — May 16, 2024
(RNS) — This Friday, the Vatican will release a document with new norms for discerning Marian apparitions and other supernatural phenomena, the first time those norms have been updated since 1978.
Anitta defends her Afro-Brazilian faith after new music video costs her some followers
By ElÉonore Hughes — May 16, 2024
United Methodists scrap their anti-gay bans. A woman who defied them seeks reinstatement as pastor
By David Crary, Peter Smith, and Holly Meyer — May 16, 2024
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Why the speech by Kansas City Chiefs kicker was embraced at Benedictine College’s commencement
By Peter Smith and Heather Hollingsworth — May 16, 2024
(AP) — The fast-growing college is part of a constellation of conservative Catholic colleges that tout their adherence to church teachings and practice — part of a larger conservative movement in parts of the U.S. Catholic Church.
This, too, could pass: Christian group’s rule keeping beaches closed on Sunday mornings may end
By Wayne Parry — May 16, 2024
OCEAN GROVE, N.J. (AP) — The association, a nonprofit Christian entity that owns the beach and the land under all of Ocean Grove's houses, has long kept people off the beach before noon on Sundays.
Vatican conference on ‘climate resilience’ is the latest in a long line of environment initiatives by Pope Francis and the Catholic Church – 5 essential reads
By Molly Jackson — May 14, 2024
(The Conversation) — Pope Francis and other Catholic leaders committed to raising awareness of environmental issues draw on centuries of tradition.
Asian Jewish Americans have a double reason to celebrate their heritage in May
By Samira Mehta — May 14, 2024
(The Conversation) — This month marks Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, as well as Jewish American Heritage Month.
Why do religious teens engage in less risky behavior? A psychologist explains
By James A. Shepperd — May 14, 2024
(The Conversation) — Research suggests that a clear understanding of what is right and wrong contributes to engaging in less risky behavior.
Lawsuit alleges religious coercion through meditation in Chicago Public Schools
By Richa Karmarkar — May 13, 2024
(RNS) — Chicago public high school students allege they were coerced into participating in a Hindu puja ceremony as part of a multiyear study of Transcendental Meditation's ability to reduce crime from University of Chicago's Urban Labs and the David Lynch Foundation.
Shunned for centuries, Vodou grows powerful as Haitians seek solace from unrelenting gang violence
By DÁnica Coto — May 10, 2024
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Shunned publicly by politicians and intellectuals for centuries, Vodou is transforming into a more powerful and accepted religion across Haiti, where its believers were once persecuted.
How 19th-century Spiritualists ‘canceled’ the idea of hell to address social and political concerns
By Lindsay DiCuirci — May 8, 2024
(The Conversation) — Spiritualists believed that after shedding the body in death, the spirit would continue on a celestial journey and help those on Earth create a more just world.
The number of religious ‘nones’ has soared, but not the number of atheists – and as social scientists, we wanted to know why
By Christopher P. Scheitle and Katie Corcoran — May 6, 2024
(The Conversation) — Social factors, from wealth to politics, may shape whether people who do not believe in God identify as an atheist.
A milestone reached in mainline Protestant churches’ decades-old disputes over LGBTQ inclusion
By The Associated Press — May 6, 2024
(AP) — The United Methodist Church, which stripped out its bans and related social teachings over the past two weeks, is the last of the major mainline church bodies to go through this process.
How ‘apocalypse’ became a secular as well as religious idea
By Erik Bleich and Christopher Star — May 3, 2024
(The Conversation) — Events that the media describe as ‘apocalyptic’ reflect changing anxieties about the future.
3 things to learn about patience − and impatience − from al-Ghazali, a medieval Islamic scholar
By Liz Bucar — April 19, 2024
(The Conversation) — In religious traditions, patience is more than waiting, or even more than enduring a hardship. But what does patience look like? And when should we not exercise patience?
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