Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI sits in St. Peter’s Basilica Dec. 8, 2015. A long-awaited report on sexual abuse faulted his handling of four cases.
AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia
A German report accused retired Pope Benedict XVI of mishandling several cases of sexual abuse in the 1970s and 1980s. Here are a few of our related articles on the Catholic Church’s crisis.
Law enforcement officials outside Congregation Beth Israel synagogue on Jan. 15, 2022, in Colleyville, Texas.
AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
Myths related to Jewish conspiracies to control the world have long circulated in the US and continue to fuel hatred.
Thomas Aquinas, Pope Innocent III and Italian mathematician Bonaventura Francesco Cavalieri.
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A scholar of democratic virtues explains why Dominican monk Thomas Aquinas’ thoughts on hope are relevant today.
President Lyndon B. Johnson, right, talks with Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders in his White House office in Washington, D.C., Jan. 18, 1964.
AP Photo
MLK’s vision for nonviolence included abolishing what he called triple evils – racism, poverty and militarism.
You can start these conversations simply, like saying, “I need to think about the future. Can you help me?”
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When you prepare to talk about end-of-life decisions and the legacy you want to leave behind, try thinking about them as gifts you bestow to family and friends.
The number of women religious leaders is growing, but the 2018-2019 National Congregations Study, which surveyed 5,300 U.S. religious communities, found that only 56.4% of these communities would allow a woman to “be head clergy person or primary religious leader.”
AP Photo/Young Kwak
Three female academics discuss how women are forging new pathways in faith leadership throughout religions that traditionally have been patriarchal.
Organizations can apply to have their flag temporarily replace the Boston city flag, shown on far right, in front of City Hall.
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Shurtleff v. Boston, a case argued before the Supreme Court on Jan. 18, raises important questions about free speech and religion in public spaces.
Table-tipping workshop with mediums Jane and Chris Howarth in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 2014.
© Shannon Taggart. Courtesy of the Artist.
Alternative beliefs like spiritualism seem to experience resurgences in times of crisis. Taggart has spent the past 20 years exploring the oft-misunderstood religion.
A table set for the celebration of the Persian festival of Yalda.
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People stay up all night, telling stories and eating dried fruits, in addition to watermelon and pomegranate, to celebrate the sunrise soon after the longest night of the year.
Lots of families wrestle with how – and whether – to celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas.
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Figuring out whether to celebrate holidays, and how, is tricky for lots of interfaith families – but thoughtful communication makes a difference.
Opportunities are expanding for Orthodox Jewish women to formally study Jewish texts. This event in Jerusalem celebrated women who completed the 7 ½-year cycle of daily study of the Talmud.
AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov
Religious leadership roles for Orthodox Jewish women are expanding, including community scholars and guides on Jewish law.
What should a marriage look like? Religious leaders’ ideas have shifted for centuries.
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LDS leaders still stress that men should ‘preside’ over their families. But in recent years, messages about marriage have stressed more equal partnership.
A group of protesters stands inside the Utah State Capitol in 2016, criticizing a proposal to make polygamy a felony again.
Rick Bowmer/AP
Fear of prosecution and a history of distrust toward the government have contributed to some fundamentalist groups’ views of medicine.
Theologian Molly Marshall preaching at the Southern Baptist Women in Ministry meeting, June 9, 1985.
Baptist Women in Ministry
Many Southern Baptist women who left the denomination took leadership roles in other churches, educational institutions and organizations.
Rabbi Diana Villa, center, with colleagues at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, in Jerusalem, in 2013.
AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner
A scholar of gender and US religious history explains how women are trying to make religious communities more inclusive. Women’s ordination is only one piece of this ongoing work.
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.
The lighting of the National Menorah in Washington, D.C. in 2012.
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
Every president since Jimmy Carter has recognized Hanukkah with a special menorah lighting ceremony.
A Jewish woman lights a candle for the festival of Hanukkah at the Western Wall Plaza in Jerusalem.
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The Jewish festival of Hanukkah, which in 2022 begins on the evening of Dec. 18, focuses on the story of the male Maccabees. But women are also heroes in histories from that era, including Judith and Hannah.
People wait at O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa on Nov. 26, 2021, as many nations moved to stop air travel from the country.
AP Photo/Jerome Delay
Should countries require COVID-19 vaccination for entry while vaccines remain globally scarce?
Carson v. Makin comes on the heels of other SCOTUS cases about aid to students in religious schools.
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Carson v. Makin, a case from Maine about aid to students attending religious schools, goes to the Supreme Court on Dec. 8, 2021.