Venezuelan priest Arturo Sosa Abascal, second from right, receives congratulations after being chosen as new superior general of the Jesuits in 2016.
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Dorian Llywelyn, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
The Jesuits are among the Catholic Church’s most influential religious orders but no strangers to controversy.
Apparitions of the Virgin Mary have inspired pilgrimages – and souvenirs – in Lourdes, France, for more than a century.
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Dorian Llywelyn, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
St. Bernadette’s visions of the Virgin Mary in the 19th century inspired the pilgrimage site millions of Catholics flock to each year.
Pope Benedict XVI acknowledges the crowd during an audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Oct.24, 2007. A January 2022 report faulted his handling of several sex abuse cases.
AP Photo/Plinio Lepri
Pope Benedict XVI’s many years of wrestling with the abuse crisis highlight the Catholic Church’s broader challenges addressing it.
Sister Megan Rice answers questions from members of a church group at a home in Maryville, Tennessee, in 2013.
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A Catholic historian writes about nuns who protested against nuclear weapons. Even when convicted of sabotage, they used prison time to serve fellow inmates and push for justice.
Still : Andrew Glouberman, a character in the Netflix's animated comedy Big Mouth watches a condom demonstration from mother.
Dorian Llywelyn, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
To qualify as a Catholic ‘saint,’ someone must have two miracles credited to them. But how does the church define a miracle in the first place?
The leaders of Ireland’s major churches have been cooperating more closely amid challenges like Brexit and the pandemic.
David Ritchie/Church of Ireland Press Office
A church service marking Northern Ireland’s centenary has stirred up debate. But amid the past few years’ tensions, the island’s Christian leaders have coordinated closely.
The Catholic Church’s two-year synodal process formally opened Oct. 10 at the Vatican.
AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia
Pope Francis formally opened a two-year process called a “synod on synodality” for the Catholic Church on Oct. 10.
The story of Walatta Petros, a 17th-century Ethiopian noblewoman who was later made a saint, shows that Christianity has a complex history with abortion and contraception.
A 1721 manuscript/Wikimedia Commons
Abortion and contraception were quite common among premodern Christians, who also celebrated women’s celibacy as superior to marriage and childbearing.
Scrutiny of the Catholic Church’s accountability for systemic harms and abuses perpetrated by and in residential schools has also turned attention on how the church has responded to wider calls to prevent and respond to sexual abuse.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Rossiter
Research on how the Catholic Church has responded to sexual abuse shows it’s not only time for the church to walk the talk, but to change the talk away from a defensive legalistic approach.
Pope Francis has discouraged homosexual men from entering priesthood. Prior to the 12th century, even celebrated priests could write about same-sex desires and the church paid little attention.
Former DRC President Joseph Kabila congratulates President Felix Tshisekedi at his inauguration.
EPA-EFE/Hugh Kinsella Cunningham
While Pope Francis has publicly acknowledged sexual abuse by clergy, the hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church still makes it difficult to report and address cases of abuse.
Metropolitan Epiphanius, head of the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which is newly independent of the Russian Orthodox Church.
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
Ukraine’s Orthodox Church recently broke off from Russia. This dispute has a history that goes back to medieval Christianity, and continues to shape modern-day politics.
Catholic pronouncements about LGBTQ people can be summarized as, “It’s OK to be gay - Just don’t act on it,” a position some Catholics reject.
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Using Catholic doctrine to fire LGBTQ teachers and discriminate against queer students in Catholic schools violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
There is rich Catholic heritage of resistance. Catholic protesters have used powerful religious symbols, including vials of their own blood, as an extension of Christ’s blood, to demand change.