In reality, most Roman Catholic exorcists recognise the danger of encouraging a person suffering from auditory hallucinations to believe that these are demonic.
Vinita Srivastava, The Conversation dan Boké Saisi, The Conversation
The Vatican has repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery, a 500-year-old decree used to justify settler colonialism. Scholar Veldon Coburn explains this symbolic victory and what still needs to happen.
A scholar of constitutional law and American religious history explains how the abortion issue has been historically rooted in religious beliefs, giving a moral certainty that law cannot provide.
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.
A papal apology, if done in ‘a good way,’ could help remove barriers to transforming harmful relationships between Indigenous Peoples and the Catholic Church.
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.
The idea of organized satanic witchcraft was invented in 15th-century Europe by church and state authorities, who at first had a hard time convincing regular folks it was real.
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.
The influence of Notre Dame Cathedral extended into every part of the life of Paris. The cathedral school was the training ground for medieval thinkers and the place of birth of the first university.
Pope Francis has been a staunch voice for a world free of nuclear weapons. But should he be involved in defence politics at all? And how does the Pope’s message resonate among the European public?
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.
For scholars, researching the Catholic Church can mean a laborious process involving several years. And talking to survivors of clergy sex abuse can carry its own pain and personal toll.
Meister Eckhart was a 14th-century Dominican friar, who gave sermons on the direct experience of God. His words are finding resonance among today’s spiritual seekers.