In reality, most Roman Catholic exorcists recognise the danger of encouraging a person suffering from auditory hallucinations to believe that these are demonic.
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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.
Popes wear white to represent Christlike purity and red to symbolise compassion.
African Catholics are growing in number. They are also reinventing and reinterpreting Christianity.
Popes’ roles have changed over time. Some periods produced plenty of saintly popes, while others are notorious for the opposite.
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.
The Second Vatican Council made many doctrinal changes possible in the Catholic Church. An expert argues why the church needs another such council.
On the 50th anniversary of Humanae Vitae, an encyclical released by Pope Paul VI calling for prohibition on contraceptive use, a scholar describes the struggles of Catholic women, as well as their activism.
A key to the successful growth of Jesuits were handwritten letters – transported through trade ships from India.
Top contributors
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Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross
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Founding director of the Nuclear Knowledges program, Sciences Po
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Professor and Department Head, Department of Religion and Culture, St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan
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Professor of Law, Director of the Center for Religion, Law & Democracy, Willamette University
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Edward A. Malloy Chair of Catholic Studies, Professor of Theological Studies, Vanderbilt University
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Research Professor, World Christianity and African Studies, DePaul University
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Instructor and Associate Director, Case Western Reserve University
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Senior Lecturer, Nottingham Law School, Nottingham Trent University
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Professor, Roanoke College
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Assistant Professor, School of Political Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
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Centennial Professor of History, Vanderbilt University
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Professor of History, Iowa State University
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Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania
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Lecturer, Cardiff University
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Associate Professor of History, Wesleyan University
