A mural in Kyiv depicts the Virgin Mary cradling a U.S.-made anti-tank weapon, a Javelin, which is considered a symbol of Ukraine’s defense against Russia.
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
Many religions have been used to prop up nationalism, and Catholicism is no exception, as a Jesuit priest and scholar explains.
Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, center, and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, right, at the consecration of the Cathedral of Russian Armed Forces outside Moscow, June 14, 2020.
Oleg Varov, Russian Orthodox Church Press Service via AP
World War II has a central place in Russian nationalism. Its importance is written all over a new cathedral dedicated to the armed forces.
A Ukrainian service member takes a photograph of a damaged church after shelling in a residential district in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 10, 2022.
AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka
Religion plays an important role in expansive views of Russian nationhood. But faith has played a role in Ukrainian nationalism, too.
Vladimir Putin speaks to Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill (center) in Samolva, Russia, on Sept. 11, 2021.
Alexei Druzhinin/Pool Photo via AP
The war in Ukraine is just the latest chapter in a long, tangled relationship between the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church.
Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, center, attends a ceremony consecrating the Cathedral of Russian Armed Forces outside Moscow.
Andrey Rusov, Defense Ministry Press Service via AP
To understand Russia’s war in Ukraine, look to the blend of religious and militaristic nationalism under Putin – on full display in the Church of the Russian Armed Forces.
Politics, social justice and faith come together each week in many religious leaders’ sermons.
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
Race, politics and religion have a long and tangled history in the US. And it all comes together each week in sermons across the country.
Members of the LGBT community attending the annual Gay Pride march in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2017.
EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook
The author set out to understand how the faith of displaced LGBT people in South Africa has evolved over time, and how religion has shaped their experiences of displacement.
Pope John Paul II met with President Ronald Reagan in Miami in 1987.
AP Photo/Arturo Mari, File
Joe Biden may be only the country’s second Catholic president, but a long line of U.S. leaders have met with popes over the years.
Indonesia has reopened tourism after intensified vaccination campaigns have helped control the spread of COVID-19.
Feature China/Barcroft Media via Getty Images
COVID-19 has intensified wanderlust – but also the need for mindful, ethical travel.
Many churches propped up white supremacist beliefs through pulpit rhetoric and segregationist policies.
AP Photo
Race and religion have intertwined since the earliest days of the US. Critical race theory can explore how white supremacy has operated through religious establishments.
Many of the organizations helping refugees resettle are faith-based groups.
AP Photo/Airman 1st Class Kylie Barrow
Faith-based organizations have been central partners in resettling refugees in the United States. But there are signs that support may be waning.
Megachurches can be megarich.
Allan Baxter/Getty Images
Megachurches and the men who lead them can be superrich. So why don’t the IRS and local authorities see a cent in taxes? A scholar explains.
Members of Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, protest an order to either socially distance or wear a face mask in public.
Geoff Crimmins/The Moscow-Pullman Daily News
A controversial pastor is aiming to convert a town of 25,000 people as part of grand expansion plans. A scholar says the congregation’s influence is growing.
Christian nationalists are pushing for ‘In God We Trust’ to be omnipresent.
Joe Longobardi Photography via Getty Images
‘In God We Trust’ became the national motto of the US on July 30, 1956. Since then, it has been used to forward a conservative Christian agenda.
Young evangelical Christians are facing a dilemma whether to follow in the footsteps of their parents or pursue other choices.
Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images
Disaffected young evangelicals and those who left the church describe an out-of-touch institution not in line with their political beliefs, a scholar found
A diminished voice in the union?
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
Northern Ireland’s Orange Order will take to the streets on July 12 to commemorate a Protestant military victory. A scholar explains why this year the risk of unrest is heightened.
Younger evangelicals are openly questioning the religious and political traditions of their parents and grandparents.
Julie Bennett/AP
Growing numbers of young evangelicals and ‘Exvangelicals’ are pro-LGBTQ, support #BlackLivesMatter – or are fed up altogether with mixing faith and politics.
The Vatican has warned U.S. bishops not to deny Communion to President Biden.
L'Osservatore Romano/Pool photo via AP
A debate over whether President Biden’s views on abortion disqualify him from taking Communion serves to expose a rift between US bishops and the pope, and is a threat to the church itself.
Above the Tennessee State Capitol, only skies. In it, any atheists?
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
Anti-atheism is ingrained in American politics. A refusal to remove outdated language from state Constitutions perpetuates this prejudice.
AAP/Sam Mooy
Yes, religion plays a more prominent role in political life in Australia than it once did – but it’s not just because of the prime minister’s faith.