Religion News Service

Analysts argue Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò's controversial letters — and the international media firestorm they sparked — are a sign of the National Catholic Register's growing influence alongside its parent organization, the Eternal Word Television Network, which also owns the Catholic News Agency. 

Signs of the Times: Most bishops do not oppose making Catholic clergymen mandatory reporters except when it comes to what a priest hears in the sacrament of confession. 

Signs of the Times: "Grossly misleading, irresponsible, inaccurate, and unjust" is how former New York Times religion reporter Peter Steinfels describes last August's Pennsylvania grand jury report in its sweeping accusation that Catholic bishops refused to protect children from sexual abuse.

Cardinal Walter Kasper practically bounds down Borgo Pio as he heads to lunch at a favorite trattoria a few blocks from the Vatican, a broad smile on his face.

When the 116th Congress was sworn in, it became one of the most religiously diverse delegations in American history. But the incoming class of legislators is predominantly Christian — even more so than the country itself.

Shortly before Christmas, Pope Francis declared in response to the sexual abuse crisis that "the church will spare no effort to do all that is necessary to bring to justice whosoever has committed such crimes."

In a few days, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew, the foremost leader in the Eastern Christian church, is scheduled to recognize the newly founded Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake, a 5-year-old nonprofit organization, has gathered volunteers, often across the religious spectrum, to work on restoration projects, ripping up pavement, installing water gardens and, yes, planting trees.

Review: The new documentary "Magisterium of the People" turns the term on its head. The film opens with Notre Dame Sr. Beth Davies, an elderly nun who lives in St. Charles, Virginia, deep in the heart of Appalachia, talking about her work with coal miners.

Because Coptic Christians follow the Julian calendar, they celebrate Christmas Eve on Jan. 6, and feasts are held on Christmas Day, Jan. 7. Some now argue this ancient community should change the dates to Dec. 24-25 as a sign of global Christian unity. 

A group of evangelicals are drafting a bill to protect both religious freedom and LGBTQ rights. But other prominent evangelicals have already begun to criticize the effort.

For the first time in nine years, Asia Bibi will be with her husband on Christmas. But many of her fellow Christians in Pakistan are afraid of a backlash this holiday season.

Nothing chases a person out of the Catholic Church and away from Christ faster than a bad priest. The priest does not have to be a child molester. He may simply be arrogant, patriarchal, insensitive or just stupid.

More than a dozen residents of the northeast Indian state of Assam have killed themselves amid fears of imprisonment or deportation as the government carries out a massive exercise to drive out people it says are in the country illegally.

All U.S.-based provinces of the Society of Jesus are releasing the names of clerics they say are credibly accused of child sex abuse, joining other Catholic institutions that are embracing increased transparency as they rush to respond to the resurgence of the Catholic sex abuse crisis.

For creator Harry Lennix, the new movie "Revival!" — a retelling of the Gospel of John with a mostly black cast — is a film whose time has come.

Avenue Hoche, one of the tree-lined roads radiating out from the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, seems like an ideal place to locate a church for foreigners. But that location also put the street in the middle of France's often turbulent politics.

When evangelical voters cheer on President Trump in the United States or newly elected leader Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, probably the last thing on their minds is that they might be creating problems for fellow evangelicals elsewhere in the world.

Sometimes, the most profound truths about humanity — and God — are revealed when we take a small step back. Or rocket ourselves about 238,000 miles into space.

The Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. is best known for hosting global diplomats and prominent dignitaries in its lavish facilities. But on Dec. 7, one of the hotel's many glimmering ballrooms was transformed into a sanctuary.