US National Day of Prayer observances to feature in-person worship, online petitions
United StatesRNS National Day of Prayer observances, which shifted in size and location since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, will continue this year with virtual events and more in-person celebrations. “With communities being open this year, there are a growing number of people planning in person events in 2022,” Dion Elmore, vice president of […]
Prayer or weapons?: Theologians reflect on non-violence in the context of the Ukraine conflict
JONATHAN FOYE reports on differing perspectives on how theologians view the idea of non-violence in the context of the conflict raging in Ukraine…
Alabama church of ‘Bloody Sunday’ on endangered places list
United StatesAP Like religious congregants all over, the people of historic Brown Chapel AME Church turned off the lights and locked the doors at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic because it wasn’t safe to gather for worship with a deadly virus circulating. For a time, the landmark church that launched a national voting rights movement in […]
Essay: The maternal heart of God the Father
As many around the world mark Mother’s Day this Sunday, MEREDITH WRIGHT says there’s freedom in exploring God’s motherly instincts…
Vatican preparing for possibility of women Swiss Guards
Vatican City Reuters The new barracks of the Vatican Swiss guards will be built to accommodate female members if Pope Francis or his successors allow women to join the elite and colourfully dressed force. Officials of the Swiss foundation that is raising the estimated 45 million Swiss francs ($US46 million) to replace the current 150-year-old […]
Wow!: Pages for pardons? In Bolivia, inmates can cut jail time by reading
MONICA MACHICAO, of Reuters, reports on an innovative initiative inside Bolivia’s prisons…
Feminists rally for Argentine nuns who denounced archbishop
Salta, Argentina AP Feminist groups have rallied to the support of 18 cloistered Carmelite nuns who have filed an unusual complaint of gender violence against the local Catholic archbishop. Dozens of activists gathered Tuesday in the esplanade of the Convent of St Bernard in Salta, some 1,400 kilometres north-west of Buenos Aires. Women protest holding […]