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Articles on Catholics

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Pope Francis baptizes 16 infants in the Sistine Chapel on Jan. 7, 2024, in Vatican City. Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images

Pope Francis called surrogacy ‘deplorable’ – but the reasons why women and parents choose surrogacy are complex and defy simple labels

Surrogacy can exploit women, but others may choose to be involved for altruistic reasons. A scholar points out that surrogacy’s ethical value is dependent upon the people and systems who use it.
AI-created sermons have proved controversial for some religious leaders. Daniel Vogl/picture alliance via Getty Images

Can chatbots write inspirational and wise sermons?

Not quite, writes an expert on Christian worship. Chatbots do not have human experience of love – and, above all, they lack a soul.
People pray over the body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster at the abbey of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, near Gower, Mo., in April 2023. AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

What is incorruptibility? A scholar of Catholic worship explains

People are congregating in Missouri after news spread that the exhumed body of a nun had not decayed four years after her death. There is a long history to these claims.
Last week, Pope Francis repudiated a 500-year-old-decree justifying colonialism. This image is from last summer: at Lac Ste. Anne, Alta., in Canada. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

The Vatican just renounced a 500-year-old doctrine that justified colonial land theft … Now what? — Podcast

The Vatican has repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery, a 500-year-old decree used to justify settler colonialism. Scholar Veldon Coburn explains this symbolic victory and what still needs to happen.
The National Shrine of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini in Chicago recently offered indulgences. Myriam Renaud

The Catholic view on indulgences and how they work today

The Catholic Church practice of granting indulgences, criticized by Martin Luther in the 16th century, still exists, as part of the doctrine – but in a different form.
The Catholic hymn, “Te Deum” – which says, “You, God, we praise” – has been used for centuries in Catholic worship for thanksgiving. Iconotheca Valvasoriana Author Jean Marot via Wikimedia Commons.

How medieval Catholic traditions of thanksgiving prayers and feasting shaped the Protestant celebration of Plymouth’s pilgrims

The Pilgrims who started the first Thanksgiving tradition after they landed in Plymouth were following the customs they had grown up with, originating in medieval times.

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