Pope Francis presides over a special prayer in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on March 25, 2022, before heading out to Malta for a two-day visit.
AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File
Malta’s St. George Preca was canonized in 2007. Pope Francis’ visit to Malta renewed attention on Preca’s life and work and how it could provide guidance for the welfare of refugees.
When is a prayer after a public-school game constitutional?
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The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, a case stemming from a football coach’s prayers on the field, on April 25, 2022.
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill lights candles during the Orthodox Easter service in Moscow.
Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images
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 Ukrainian service member takes a photograph of a damaged church after shelling in a residential district in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 10, 2022.
AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka
Religion plays an important role in expansive views of Russian nationhood. But faith has played a role in Ukrainian nationalism, too.
Nigerian women greet each other at St. Charles Catholic Church in Ngurore, Nigeria, on Feb. 17, 2019.
AP Photo/Sunday Alamba
Women’s contributions to global Christianity are immense, but scholars’ understanding is hampered by limited data.
Jonathan Markovitch, the chief rabbi of Kyiv, Ukraine, arrives with his grandchild at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel.
AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo
A Kyivan Jewish scholar explains the long history of Jews in Kyiv and how they thrived, despite hostilities. They were forced to flee from the city many times – but always came back.
Vladimir Putin speaks to Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill (center) in Samolva, Russia, on Sept. 11, 2021.
Alexei Druzhinin/Pool Photo via AP
The war in Ukraine is just the latest chapter in a long, tangled relationship between the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church.
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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The Jesuits are among the Catholic Church’s most influential religious orders but no strangers to controversy.
Crimean Tatars gathered for a rally commemorating the 70th anniversary of Stalin’s mass deportation, in Simferopol, Crimea, on May 18, 2014.
AP Photo/Alexander Polegenko
A scholar who spent many years living with the Crimean Tatars explains their long history of persecution.
Tsvi Reiter, Yvonne Reiter and Hei Le participate in Yvonne’s bat mitzvah ceremony, which was performed over Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Judith Kaplan became the first American bat mitzvah in 1922. The Jewish coming-of-age ceremony has become more popular for girls ever since.
A Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces member hugs a resident leaving his hometown following Russian artillery shelling in Irpin on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, March 9, 2022.
AP Photo/Oleksandr Ratushniak
Classic literature is full of themes that speak to refugees’ experience today, from the Book of Exodus to ‘The Grapes of Wrath.’
A theater performance during the Purim holiday in Warszawa, Poland.
Photograph by Henryk Kotowski
The Jewish holiday of Purim, being celebrated on March 17 this year, has an interesting tradition of satirizing life in yeshivas.
Some people are drawn to the idea of a natural burial to bring more of the dying ritual into their homes.
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Green burial is not a new concept, but it is gaining interest among consumers, and some religious groups are leading the way. A theologian explains what’s involved and who natural burials appeal to.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, accompanied by Patriarch of Russia Kirill and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (in background), at a monastery outside Moscow in 2017.
Alexey Nikolsky/AFP via Getty Images
The Bible and its laws were complex and not practiced in the way many of us think about laws today.
The flag of Ukraine has been tied around a statue of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ outside a church in Pennsylvania amid the Russian invasion.
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To many Ukrainians, Jesus’ mother has a special relationship with their country.
A woman pays homage at the memorial to victims of the 1941 Nazi massacre of Jews in Babi Yar in Kyiv, Ukraine.
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
Over two days in September 1941, more than 33,000 Jews were murdered by Nazi forces and their Ukrainian collaborators in Babi Yar.
Two men speak in the backyard of a house damaged by a Russian airstrike, according to locals, in Gorenka, Ukraine, March 2, 2022.
AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda
Over centuries, theory on just war has developed six main criteria for assessing conflicts.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been lauded for his resistance to the Russian invasion.
Photo by Laurent Van der Stockt for Le Monde/Getty Images
A political philosopher explains the moral symbolism ascribed to Zelenskyy’s ‘heroism’ and why he offers hope to those who hold democracy dear.
A skateboarder attempts a jump.
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The ‘Spiritual But Not Religious’ are embracing different forms of spirituality – skateboarding may be one of them.
Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, center, attends a ceremony consecrating the Cathedral of Russian Armed Forces outside Moscow.
Andrey Rusov, Defense Ministry Press Service via AP
To understand Russia’s war in Ukraine, look to the blend of religious and militaristic nationalism under Putin – on full display in the Church of the Russian Armed Forces.