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…
Unlike American evangelicals, religious bodies from Quakers to Catholics urge care for Palestinians and Jews alike
As Southern Baptists and other evangelicals rally support for Israel in its retaliatory war with Hamas, they are outliers compared to most other Christian groups in America — from Quakers to Catholics. Other denominations and religious leaders have expressed more…
I agree with Pope Francis: True revival will fulfill the Social Gospel
Two disparate events occurred recently disturbed by normal calm. The first was the national news coverage of a revival breaking out at Asbury University in Kentucky. The second event was a social media event where Jordan Peterson wrote a post…
Hopes of peace dim in Congo as rebel fighters once again take up arms against the government
Barely a week after Pope Francis concluded his two-nation, six-day tour of Africa early this year, fighting broke out, engineered by rebel fighters in one of the two nations — the Democratic Republic of Congo. The situation contrasts with the…
What did Pope Francis say, and what did he mean, in AP interview on homosexuality?
What did Pope Francis actually say about homosexuality last week? And what did he mean by what he said? On the surface, the pontiff condemned laws that criminalize homosexuality, urging Catholic bishops who support these laws to be more welcoming…
Pope Francis arrives in Africa on a two-nation tour seeking peace amid decades of conflict
Pope Francis arrived in Democratic Republic of Congo today, marking the first papal visit to the African nation since John Paul visited there in 1985 when the country was known as Zaire. This is the beginning of a six-day, two-nation…
Pope Francis and BWA general secretary join in latest meeting of Baptist-Catholic dialogue
Pope Francis was directly involved in the latest round of dialogue between the Baptist World Alliance and the Catholic Church. The fifth meeting of Phase III of the international Baptist-Catholic dialogue took place Dec. 12-16 in Rome, hosted by the…
An angry tweet about colonialism while others pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth
As the world mourned the Sept. 8 passing of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, her legacy drew mixed reaction from Africa, where at least 15 countries once were held under British colonial rule. The legacy of Britain’s rule lies behind some…
New Netflix docuseries highlights the wisdom of our elders
“To walk toward the future, the past is needed.” That nugget of wisdom from Pope Francis describes in a sentence the mission behind Stories of a Generation, a four-part Netflix documentary series set for release on Christmas Day. The docuseries…