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…
Infant mortality rates higher in areas dominated by conservative Protestants, study says
Conservative Christians may not be as pro-life as they believe. Newly published research has found that American counties with higher proportions of conservative and fundamentalist Protestants experience higher rates of infant mortality. The study, “Religion and Infant Mortality in the…
Americans feeling ‘warmer’ toward Mormons and Muslims — but not evangelicals
Maybe Mitt Romney should have waited one election cycle to run for president. Romney was dogged by negative perceptions about his Mormon faith during his unsuccessful 2012 bid for the presidency. But new research shows attitudes about Mormons are warming,…