Self portrait with a letter.
Musée Rodin / Pallant House Gallery
Gwen John was very much her own woman and followed her own artistic instincts, producing small, intimate, idiosyncratic paintings that resonate.
A still from the film ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ showing Russell Crowe as the real-life Vatican exorcist.
Sony Pictures
How did blockbuster horror films such as ‘The Exorcist’ help the church warm to the controversial ritual?
Russell Crowe as Fr Gabriele Amorth in The Pope’s Exorcist.
Jonathan Hession/Sony Pictures
In reality, most Roman Catholic exorcists recognise the danger of encouraging a person suffering from auditory hallucinations to believe that these are demonic.
Mary is often depicted weeping, a reminder of the ‘Seven Sorrows’ the Bible recounts her suffering.
pratan ounpitipong/Moment via Getty Images
Investigating supernatural claims is a delicate task for the church, and Catholic leaders rarely label them as authentic.
A mural in Derry commemorating the TV show ‘Derry Girls,’ which follows the lives of teenagers growing up amid Northern Ireland’s troubles.
Dominic Bryan
Twenty-five years after the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement, Northern Ireland is still resisting the culture of violence.
The AI-generated images of Pope Francis that fooled much of the internet.
Created by Midjourney
Popes wear white to represent Christlike purity and red to symbolise compassion.
Cesar Chavez salutes the crowd on the steps of the California State Capitol.
AP Photo
A scholar of religion looks at how faith helped guide the labor rights icon in his organizing endeavors.
Pope Francis at Martyrs Stadium in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, in February 2023.
Guerchom Ndebo/AFP via Getty Images
Pope Francis’ papacy is anchored on what he calls a “revolution of tenderness”.
Pope Francis attends his weekly general audience in Vatican City on Feb. 15, 2023.
Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images
‘I see the church as a field hospital,’ Pope Francis once said – not a place where superficial solutions will do much good.
Pope Francis leads the second vespers service at St. Paul’s Basilica on Jan. 25, 2023, in Rome.
Alessandra Benedetti/Corbis via Getty Images
Catholic leaders’ attitudes toward LGBTQ people have shifted dramatically – but the actual theology behind them, not so much.
AAP Image/Jenny Evans
Pell, often described as a conservative Catholic, was jailed for child sexual abuse in Australia in 2019 but maintained his innocence and was acquitted the following year.
Public Christmas trees, like Rockefeller Center’s famous tree, didn’t start appearing in the U.S. until the 20th century.
Nicholas Hunt/WireImage via Getty Images
Evergreens have long served as symbols of life during the bleakness of winter. But Queen Victoria spurred the tradition that has become a global phenomenon.
The National Shrine of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini in Chicago recently offered indulgences.
Myriam Renaud
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.
A woman prays in front of a statue of the martyred Catholic archbishop of El Salvador, Oscar Romero, known for his embrace of liberation theology.
Vlady Chicas/picture alliance via Getty Images
The influential movement, which is still controversial both inside and outside Catholicism, must be understood in the context of Latin American history.
Rosaries are meant for praying anywhere and anytime.
Anderson Mouzinho/EyeEm via Getty Images
Rosaries are meant to be used wherever, whenever – and each one tells a story.
Volunteers laugh during a 2020 meeting of Jolt, a nonprofit that works to increase civic participation of Latinos in Texas.
Mark Felix/AFP/AFP via Getty Images
If you think of Latino voters as left-leaning Catholics, think again.
John Locher/AP/AAP
A substantial majority were concerned about the prevalence of abuse, racism, and sexism in church contexts, and many raised issues relating to transparency and accountability.
German Bishop Georg Bätzing talks with members of various Catholic youth organizations holding up umbrellas reading “Consecration for All” and “Jesus had two fathers.”
Sebastian Gollnow/Picture Alliance via Getty Images
The Catholic Church’s membership numbers are growing fastest outside Europe and the Americas, and Catholics’ priorities look very different across the world.
Pope John Paul I greets the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican in August 1978.
Keystone/Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Popes’ roles have changed over time. Some periods produced plenty of saintly popes, while others are notorious for the opposite.
Priests from several religions pray for the victims of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki upon the 60th anniversary.
Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images
As Japanese victims struggled to process the nuclear attack, many turned to religion. The way they understood the horror still has consequences today.