The Vatican plans to set up an ‘observatory’ to investigate apparitions of the Virgin Mary. A scholar of global Christianity explains why this is a major shift in how apparitions are authenticated.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put a spotlight on the views of the Russian Orthodox Church. A scholar of Russian religion explains the structure and history of Orthodox Christianity.
Prayers and symbols have the power to bind people together, writes a religion scholar, and so it is important to understand the history and context of Good Friday prayers.
Italian teenager Carlo Acutis, who died at the age of 15, is on the path to becoming a saint. A scholar explains the long history of child saints in the Catholic Church.
Early Christians were urged to ‘supervise’ one another. In the present times, that theology is often used by the Vatican for a religious investigation a known as the apostolic visitation.
Seven US bishops have been removed for covering up clergy sexual abuse since 2015 after decades of no accountability. An expert explains how Catholic movements and whistleblowers forced this change.
The Catholic survivor movement in the United States was founded by two women: Jeanne Miller and Marilyn Steffel, in the late 1980s. It has taken close to 30 years for the Vatican to take action.
Pope Francis has been accused of a cover-up in the sex abuse scandal involving Theodore McCarrick, a former archbishop. Experts explain why it’s hard for the Catholic Church to hold clergy accountable.
In the wake of new revelations about clergy sex abuse and cover-up in Pennsylvania, civil lawsuits brought by abuse victims may be the only effective way to hold Catholic church officials accountable.
In response to the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Australia, conservative clergy have hardened their stance against it, causing even more pain for same-sex Christian couples.
A liturgy expert explains that until the 12th century local bishops made decisions on Catholic liturgical practices even though the Catholic Mass was celebrated in Latin until 1970. How did that change?
The hierarchy of the Catholic Church requires nearly absolute obedience. This makes it difficult to speak up against superiors. And by the same token, superiors too can protect offending priests.