The speech came as the Trump administration, just 2 weeks old, is already facing lawsuits arguing that it violated the religious freedom of Christians in the U.S.
Five findings from Public Religion Research Institute surveys illustrate the dire threats to a pluralistic democracy we will continue to face no matter who wins the presidential election, writes PRRI president Robert P. Jones.
Catholic voters must negotiate a balance between what the church teaches and how their other values contribute to their voting decisions. Nowhere is that more evident than around the issue of legalized abortion.
As the yearslong synod on synodality inches toward its Oct. 27 conclusion, the resistance has effectively gone silent, a stark contrast to last year's summit, as well as to Pope Francis' earlier synods.
"In 1869, when Pope Pius IX convened the First Vatican Council, no one dreamed of inviting women, but they were nonetheless there," writes Carol E. Harrison, a Professor of History at the University of South Carolina.
The pope just announced a new consistory that will take place Dec. 8 appointing 21 new cardinals from around the world. Eleven of these new cardinals are from religious orders. Only one of them is older than 80 so will not be eligible to vote in the conclave.
"Campaign coverage this year has certainly been light on attention to the religious lives of the candidates and their running mates," writes Mark Silk, Professor of Religion in Public Life at Trinity College. "The journalistic posture has pretty much been: 'If you don’t tell, we won’t ask.'"
Trump's speeches for years have hewed to divisive "us" versus "them" messaging, but tying those themes to specific religious Americans who oppose him is out of line and even dangerous, according to rhetoric experts, religious leaders and academics.