The Houston Chronicle’s “Abuse of Faith” newspaper series about sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention likely would not have been possible without an earlier expose of the Roman Catholic Church published by the Boston Globe, that paper’s former editor…
A controversial horror film embodies the real-life horrors of church abuse
There’s a thin line between reading a memoir written by somebody who grew up in conservative Christianity and watching a horror movie. As Christa Brown, a frequent contributor to Baptist News Global, releases her new memoir Baptistland: A Memoir of Abuse,…
A Catholic NGO details atrocities against priests and religious persons in 2023
Amid the world’s troubles, clergy face extreme risks in some regions, according to a new report by Aid to the Church in Need, a Catholic foundation. “In 2023, many Christians, and especially clergy and religious, paid a heavy price for…
Some traditionalist bishops revolt after Vatican allows ‘blessing’ same-sex couples
Pope Francis may have authorized non-liturgical blessings for same-sex couples, but not everyone in the Catholic hierarchy is going along. Traditionalist bishops, particularly in Africa and Asia, already are revolting and defying the pope’s supposedly unquestionable authority. In a recent…
Vatican declaration approved by Pope Francis allows priests to bless same-sex couples, but not marriages
Less than a week before Christmas, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith released a theological declaration approved by the pope allowing Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples. The document, titled Fiducia supplicans, outlines “the pastoral meaning of…
She was the only Baptist and only woman fraternal delegate at a Vatican synod
For two weeks in October, Elizabeth Newman served as the only woman and only Baptist representative to the Vatican’s international Synod on Synodality. One of the many lessons the ethicist and theologian learned in Rome was how to explain to…
Why did Walter Reed administrators cancel Catholic pastoral care contract during Holy Week?
Officials with Walter Reed National Military Medical Center have not explained their controversial decision to end a longstanding contract for Catholic pastoral care services at the beginning of Holy Week. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese for Military Services strongly criticized the…
Of pronouns and postures among Baptists and Catholics
On Feb. 15, reports of an Arizona Roman Catholic priest’s assumed liturgical blunder — using “we” rather than “I” in baptisms over a decade — flooded news feeds across a wide spectrum. I was not surprised that Religion News Service…
High court says New York doesn’t have to offer a religious exemption to vaccine mandate
After nearly two years of largely favoring the free-exercise-of-religion claims brought by conservative Christians during the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Supreme Court drew a firm line against such claims Dec. 13. Presented with a request for an emergency injunction…