By Jeffrey Walton, Institute on Religion and Democracy A Sudanese woman sentenced to die for her faith, church disputes and friction between religious freedom and LGBTQ causes made news throughout 2014. Below are IRD’s top church news stories for the year. Christian Woman in Sudan Sentenced to Death on Charges of Apostasy, Adultery: A Christian woman…
By Mark Tooley, Juicy Ecumenism blog Pope Francis has offered counsel over the last week that culturally adrift Protestants and Evangelicals especially should heed the timeless truths regarding human life intrinsic to Christian faith and organic to nature itself, not based on Christian scripture exclusively but available to all creation. Yesterday November 17, the Pope,…
There’s a lot to admire about Pope Francis. Last year when the conclave of Cardinals voted Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church, his friend Cardinal Claudio Hummes of Brazil sat by his side. Bergoglio said that Hummes “hugged me, kissed me and said, ‘Don’t forget the poor.’” As a…
Institute on Religion and Democracy WASHINGTON, D.C.–A popular new Pope, church disputes and threats to religious freedom made news throughout 2013. Below are IRD’s top church news stories for the year. New Pope: Both the almost unprecedented retirement of a Pope and the enthusiasm surrounding a young new pontiff was the biggest church story of…
By Adelle M. Banks (RNS) He’s Time magazine’s Person of the Year, the most talked about topic on Facebook and the most popular baby namesake in Italy. No surprise, Pope Francis is also the top Religion Story of the Year and the Religion Newsmaker of the Year, according to a poll of Religion Newswriters members….
By Andrea Madambashi Pope Francis’ installment as pontiff could lead to a major and significant impact not only in the Catholic Church, but also across all religions as well as the political area, a number of Catholic and Evangelical leaders in Latin America have said. According to numerous Latino Christian leaders, Pope Francis could help…
By Allesandro Speciale VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis issued a powerful call for the protection of the environment and of society’s most vulnerable during his formal installation Mass at the Vatican, while qualifying his papal power as a “service” to the church and to humanity. The pope on Tuesday (March 19) celebrated a solemn Mass…
By Alex Murashko The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) congratulated Pope Francis for being elected the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church and said it hopes to continue positive dialogue together. The Rev. Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, secretary general of WEA, which represents more than 600 million evangelical Christians, extended his “warmest congratulations” to the newly…