Report | Catholic Attitudes on Gay and Lesbian Issues: A Comprehensive Portrait from Recent Research
Catholics are more supportive of legal recognitions of same-sex relationships than members of any other Christian tradition and Americans overall. Nearly three-quarters of Catholics favor either allowing gay and lesbian people to marry (43%) or allowing them to …
read moreNew Evangelical Partnership Releases “A Call to Christian Common Ground on Family Planning, and Maternal, and Children’s Health”
Worldwide, about 125 million women face social, emotional, and spiritual trauma – and for some, the life-threatening risk – of not having access to family planning. As a result, one in four births worldwide is unplanned, leading …
read moreWhy a Bible belt conservative spent a year pretending to be gay
Timothy Kurek, a graduate of the evangelical Liberty University, decided to 'walk in the shoes' of a gay man and emerged with his faith strengthened
Timothy Kurek grew up hating homosexuality. As a conservative Christian deep in America’s Bible belt, he had been taught that being gay was an abomination before God. He went to his right-wing church, saw himself as a …
read moreWhy Not Wear Purple on Friday?
Friday, October 19 is a big day for Catholics, especially for Jesuits and their colleagues. It is the Feast of the North American Martyrs, which commemorates such spiritual giants as St. Isaac Jogues, St. Jean de Brébeuf …
read moreFilmmaker asks whether hell is real, and who goes there
(RNS) It’s something that has haunted Kevin Miller ever since he became a Christian at age 9 at summer camp: hell. Now 41, Miller says he has no idea what happens to people after death. But …
read moreAnnouncement About Staff Changes
This has been a year full of new beginnings! Our newest transition has to do with our staffing. Deshna Ubeda has recently stepped down from her demanding position as Associate Director. She has decided that she wants to …
read moreBreakaway group offers more progressive form of Catholicism
FAIRFAX, Va. (RNS) About 30 people are gathered in a dark, makeshift sanctuary at St. Anthony of Padua Church as the sun dips into the horizon. The service follows the familiar pattern of a Catholic Mass, but something is …
read moreFifty years on, Catholics still debate the meaning of Vatican II
When Pope John XXIII called the Second Vatican Council half a century ago, he said he wanted to “open the windows” of his almost 2,000-year Church to the rapid changes in the modern world. Within a few …
read moreCalifornians To Cast A Life Or Death Vote On Prop 34
Above: California voters will make a life or death decision this election, when they vote on Proposition 34. The proposition to repeal the death penalty comes at a time when executions are declining and capital punishment has …
read moreAfter Riots, Buddhists Call for Peace
DHAKA, Bangladesh – Anxiety has yet to die down over a week after crowds of Muslims torched more than a dozen temples and scores of houses in southeast Bangladesh, leaving thousands of Buddhists with the unshakeable premonition that …
read moreCatholic bishops rebuke Biden over contraception mandate claims
WASHINGTON (RNS) In a rare public rebuke, Catholic bishops chided Vice President Joe Biden for saying during Thursday’s vice-presidential debate that Catholic hospitals and institutions will not be forced to provide contraception coverage to employees. Without mentioning …
read more‘Young Earth’ Baloney on the House Science Committee
A Republican congressman has dismissed evolution, the Big Bang theory and embryology as “lies straight from the pit of hell.” Representative Paul Broun (R-Ga.), whose speech at Liberty Baptist Church in Georgia last September was posted on YouTube …
read moreReligious leaders respond to the rise of the “Nones”
As we noted yesterday, the number of Americans who have no religious affiliation has hit an all-time high, according to a new study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. One in five adults does not belong …
read moreCatholic theologian preaches revolution to end church’s ‘authoritarian’ rule
Hans Küng urges confrontation from the grassroots to unseat pope and force radical reform at Vatican
One of the world’s most prominent Catholic theologians has called for a revolution from below to unseat the pope and force radical reform at the Vatican. Hans Küng is appealing to priests and churchgoers to confront the Catholic …
read moreNumber of Protestant Americans Is in Steep Decline, Study Finds
For the first time since researchers began tracking the religious identity of Americans, fewer than half said they were Protestants, a steep decline from 40 years ago when Protestant churches claimed the loyalty of more than two-thirds …
read moreNon-Catholics less likely to credit Columbus with discovery of America
Is there no end to the things that divide people by religious categories? Here’s a stat for your Columbus Day (Observed) edition: Eighty-seven percent of Roman Catholics credit Christopher Columbus with discovering America, according to a 2010 …
read moreCampaigns’ faith outreach centers on economy
On the Democratic side, the top issues listed on Obama’s faith platform are “economic recovery,” followed by “tax fairness” and “Wall Street reform.” Citing the Apostle Paul, the platform says that “President Obama’s belief that we are all connected …
read moreSally Quinn Declares Romney Debate Winner for Mentioning God
In the Washington Post’s On Faith section, Sally Quinn, whose last noticed piece of writing was a much-ridiculed lament about the decline of the Washington power dinner party, is out this afternoon with quite possibly one of the most slipshod treatments of religion …
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