Pope Francis’ Synod on Synodality is attempting to move the church toward a more dialogue-based model of authority, a scholar of Catholicism explains.
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An obscure Mexican engraver named José Guadalupe Posada created the satirical skull in the early 1900s and sold it for a penny. But after he died, it took on a life of its own.
A memorial at the site of the 1911 fire remembers those who died; a cadre of young Jewish women helped push for change in the wake of the tragedy.
Politicians have used their assumptions about Gazans to support their policies. But the people in Gaza experience these policies far differently, writes a scholar of Islamism.
Vaccine policies fall on a spectrum, from mandates to recommendations. Deciding what to use and when is not so much a science but a balancing act between personal autonomy and public good.
Much of the tourism industry that’s sprung up around Amish areas says more about Americans’ own identity than Amish values, a scholar writes.
Ruth’s headline-grabbing home runs helped his sport recover from scandal, while his own story helped combat anti-Catholic prejudice.
In minority faith groups that already face hate, women who have experienced harassment sometimes fear bringing negative attention to their community.
Advanced artificial intelligence is new, but a similar idea has been around for hundreds of years: the power of a just-right sequence of numbers, letters or elements to animate matter.
Over the past decades, many Chicana artists have used Guadalupe to emphasize issues of justice around immigration.
A scholar who studies alternative expressions of spirituality visited secular, atheist and psychedelic churches and interacted with attendees. Here is what he found.
The Al-Aqsa mosque, a flashpoint in Hamas’ recent assault against Israel, hosts daily prayers and Friday gatherings. It lies adjacent to important Jewish and Christian religious locales.
Narges Mohammadi is the second Iranian woman, after Shirin Ebadi, to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She remains locked up in Evin, Iran’s most notorious prison for political detainees.
Efforts are being made to develop the capacity of Native tribes to manage bison and bison habitats. An Indigenous scholar explains their sacred significance.
Integral ecology, a holistic way of looking at problems the world faces today, is key in the pope’s writings about the environment.
As the Synod of Bishops meets in Rome, a Catholic theologian explains the preparations that went into the consultative process and what it says about Pope Francis’ vision for the future church.
Medieval monastics were often discouraged from owning companion animals, which were viewed as a distraction, a religion scholar explains.
The College of Cardinals is an important part of the church’s governance structure. Its members elect the next pope and help develop future policies for the church.
If you’ve decided to look for coffee that’s better for the earth or the people making it, you might need some help translating all the industry lingo.
Catholicism, ‘Frenchness’ and secularism are often conflated in French culture, a scholar writes, while non-Christian traditions are viewed with suspicion.
The government’s use of the Hindi word for ‘India’ revives debates over whether Hindi should be the national language – and reopens some old wounds.
In some conservative countries, the abaya is part of expected dress. But in countries where Muslims are in the minority, the abaya can be a way for women to connect with their religious identity.
Like many Jewish practices, the harvest festival of Sukkot largely takes place at home − meaning families can incorporate many meaningful traditions.
The ‘Shepherd of Hermas’ has been accused of being pedantic, even boring. In the first few centuries of Christianity, though, it was a hit.
An Indigenous sacred site, Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks has served as a military barracks, a fairground and, more recently, a golf course.