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A Church (Further) Divided: Putin’s Patriarch Now Faces a Rebellion From Within the Russian Orthodox Church

By Katherine Kelaidis

…monweal, the Church of Bulgaria, the Church of Serbia, and the Church of Jerusalem seem uncertain who the aggressor is, while Metropolitan Hilarion, the head of the independent, US-based, Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), decided to use his statement to make comments that seemingly undermine Ukrainian sovereignty. Still, many Orthodox Christian leaders, including the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, have been explicit in th…

Honey, I Shrunk the Church: The Vatican Manages Sexual Abuse, Canonization and the Nuns

By Mary E. Hunt

…evaporated. It’s now a country of 109 acres, roughly an eighth the size of New York’s Central Park, with a population of about 600, many of whom are posted abroad. Did someone cast a spell? Was there a natural disaster that I missed in the news? No, the Holy See signed some United Nations’ treaties and now, when confronted with abiding by them, is scrambling for legal cover. The gentlemen are claiming that they meant for the treaties to apply to t…

Francis the Jesuit: a Philosopher-Pope?

By J. Michelle Molina

…ave provided is a key for pope-watchers on all sides of the political spectrum to read the style, the attitude, the “how” of Francis’ papacy. As this Jesuit’s sense of self in the world continues to unfold, it will be critical for anyone who wishes to engage the man to be attuned to the processes through which he has come to know himself. Understanding these terms might well provide a source from which persuasive power can be drawn. The specifics…

How “Race Tests” Maintain Evangelical Segregation

By Joshua L. Lazard

…ot to say “But, I’m not…” in a meeting or from a pulpit when faced with accusations of prejudiced, biased or even racist behavior? This is the fulcrum on which the balance of power is located in many of the white evangelical churches—as well as the historically mainline denominations. The institutional Black Church, as we know it, was formed as a response to white institutional spaces and the exclusionary tactics of whites that began during slaver…

The Bishops Did Send a Message with Their Vote on Biden and Communion; Are We Sure It Was The One They Intended?

By Daniel Schultz

…s to receive has flopped, more or less as I predicted. Contrary to the New York Times, I never thought this was an effort to deny Biden communion itself. As the Times and any other intelligent observer knows, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops can’t set policy for the reception of sacraments. That’s done by the bishops in their respective dioceses, and carried out (sometimes not) by individual priests presiding in worship. Certainly no one un…

LDS Church Praised for “Good Sense and Sanity” on Immigration Policy

By Joanna Brooks

This week, the New York Times editorial page praised the LDS Church-influenced and endorsed Utah Compact on immigration as a model of sane and compassionate policy making. Wrote the Times: “A clearer expression of good sense and sanity than Utah’s would be hard to find.” (Hooray!) Also this week, the LDS Church joined with leaders from the Catholic, Protestant, Sikh, Orthodox Jewish, Anglican, and other faiths in a statement entitled “The Protect…

The Apocalypse Is Upon Us, Ted Cruz Endorsement Edition

By Sarah Posner

…mon, (and this one is still accessible on the internet), “The Battle for Jerusalem: Litmus Test for the End-Time Church,” which Bickle delivered at IHOP’s annual Israel Mandate Conference in June, Jesus is described as “the head of the army” and “politically the head of the nations.” The armies of the world will gather in Jerusalem, Bickle claimed, “to make war against Jesus.” The world’s “kings” and their armies “will be killed with a sword that…

Inside the American Family Association

By Sarah Posner

…at the Nazi Party was largely created by ‘homosexual thugs.’” That, in the Times piece, is a “disputed theory,” rather than a conspiracy theory made up by anti-gay zealots. AFA’s Fischer regularly contends that Muslims and gays and others are America’s enemies on a collision course with besieged Christians. He tells the Times: “I don’t think we are exaggerating the dangers to the country, the culture, the American family.” Or, as Wildmon’s fears…

Paul Crouch, Architect of Prosperity Gospel Televangelism, Dead at 79

By Sarah Posner

…n-Christians alike. Last year, when the network acquired studio space in Jerusalem, Crouch said on his Behind the Scenes program, “the harvest is coming in so fast. People, the messianic congregations are growing like you can’t believe.” Crouch maintained the purchase was of a “prophetic” significance, claiming that it would reach both the Jewish and Arab residents of the city. Crouch’s son Matthew, speaking from a Jersualem balcony with his fathe…

Barbara Ehrenreich’s ‘Wild God’ is Not Here to Help

By Angela Bonavoglia

…is that we are able to walk through space, right into a three-dimensional world—when suddenly, the world did something utterly inexplicable: it set itself on fire. “[T]he world flamed into life,” writes Ehrenreich. There was just this blazing everywhere. Something poured into me and I poured out into it…It was a furious encounter with a living substance that was coming at me through all things at once, and one reason for the terrible wordlessness…