While much of the discussion about Christian nationalism focuses on white evangelical Christians, there’s a parallel and equally dangerous movement in Catholicism, Anthea Butler told a group of journalists and scholars Sept. 10. Butler, professor of American social thought at…
The Harrison Butker story is so much weirder than you know
“The headline could just be, ‘Man who kicks ball for a living and has no other job criticizes women who want to be nurses, surgeons and U.N. Secretary General,’” said Brad Onishi on the Straight White American Jesus podcast episode that featured…
Africa’s Catholic bishops reject Vatican doctrine on blessing same-sex couples
A rebellion against Pope Francis is brewing in Africa. On Jan. 11, African Catholic bishops, gathered at a conference in Accra, declared the Vatican’s recent proposal to allow priests to offer non-liturgical blessings for same-sex couples is contrary to their…
A conservative resurgence in U.S. Catholicism?
Many readers of this column will know that in my religious practice I am by now something of a hybrid, attending both Catholic and Baptist churches every week when possible. This is time-consuming, for sure, but it does offer me…
Longing for tradition: The example of Pope Francis and the Latin Mass and what it means for non-Catholics
About two months ago, Pope Francis issued a statement that many readers of Baptist News Global may not have noticed. In Traditionis Custodes, the pope limited the use of what is commonly called “the Latin Mass” or “traditional Latin Mass”…
With a Catholic president in office, America’s bishops threaten to sanction him over abortion
U.S. Protestants are not alone in believing modern-day politics are rending their fellowships in two. American Catholics are fighting about the same things, only this time with one of their own sitting in the White House. Joe Biden’s election as…
America’s second Catholic president faces a vastly different landscape than the first
The first time Americans elected a Catholic as president, Baptists were among those expressing alarm over possible violations of church-state separation. This year, with the imminent inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden as the nation’s second Catholic president, the landscape looks…
Baptists applying some ‘very Catholic’ approaches to racial reconciliation
A small group of Baptist ministers is exploring ways to apply historically Catholic spiritual formation disciplines to the work of racial reconciliation. The exploration is based on the belief that those ancient practices, such as meditation and contemplative prayer, can…
Emerging Gen Z may deliver huge blow to religion in U.S.
It looks like Gen Z, the age group with older members just now graduating from high school, wants as little or less from religious organizations than their Millennial predecessors. That may come as little surprise to churches, nonprofits and businesses…