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.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Pope Francis
Displaying 1 - 20 of 169 articles
Popes wear white to represent Christlike purity and red to symbolise compassion.
Pope Francis’ papacy is anchored on what he calls a “revolution of tenderness”.
‘I see the church as a field hospital,’ Pope Francis once said – not a place where superficial solutions will do much good.
Those who exclude any groups of people from God’s kingdom choose to ignore the teaching of Jesus.
Pope Francis will be part of a peace mission to South Sudan, where thousands have been killed in ongoing violence.
He will have a joyful welcome but a difficult task - to challenge negative values while enabling a more African Catholic church.
Catholic leaders’ attitudes toward LGBTQ people have shifted dramatically – but the actual theology behind them, not so much.
A specialist in Catholic liturgy and rituals explains that while several popes have been canonized, it is a long process that may take several years to examine and uncover any hidden flaws.
African Catholics are growing in number. They are also reinventing and reinterpreting Christianity.
Canada’s recent resolution to label the Indian Residential School system as genocide (and not cultural genocide) is not a mere alteration of words, it is a significant and consequential change.
The majority of the world’s population identifies with a religion – could their faith be used to save the planet?
Pope Benedict XVI led the Catholic Church at a crucial time and had to confront a growing sexual abuse scandal.
Catholics disagree over how to adapt the church’s doctrine and practices, especially marriage, to different cultures.
From the earliest years of Christianity, some people have been recognised as having lived exceptionally holy lives.
Christianity is the second-largest religion in Kazakhstan, with 26% of the population practicing the faith. But many Christians, especially in the smaller denominations, have experienced persecution.
Queen Elizabeth II encouraged tolerance in a multifaith United Kingdom. To appreciate the significance of her efforts, it is important to understand the country’s complicated religious history.
The Pope’s apology could mark a new way forward if the Catholic Church makes genuine reparations for the evils it perpetrated.
Visiting Indigenous people on their land was a step in the right direction, but the pope’s visit was full of tensions over both what was said and what wasn’t.
Longer life span, air travel and social media have all changed the modern papacy and challenged cherished Catholic traditions along the way.
Top contributors
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Professor of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross
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Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross
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Professor of Public Theology and Director of The Bernardin Center, Catholic Theological Union
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Professor of Management & Organizations; Professor of Environment & Sustainability; Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the Ross School of Business and School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan
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Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University, Villanova University
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Instructor and Associate Director, Case Western Reserve University
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PhD Candidate, Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies, University of Bath
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Associate Professor of Law, University at Buffalo
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President, Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
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Professor of Theology, Australian Catholic University
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Associate Professor, Adelaide Law School, University of Adelaide
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Director of the Yarra Institute for Religion and Social Policy, University of Divinity
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Director of the Digby Stuart Research Centre for Religion, Society and Human Flourishing, University of Roehampton
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Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Science, University of Newcastle
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Visiting Professor of Film, Brown University
