It should never be illegal to be who you are. Yet lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people continue to face high levels of violence and discrimination across the world. 72 countries criminalise male homosexuality, with 45 also criminalising female homosexuality. In the Commonwealth, 36 of its 53 countries maintain laws that make same-sex intimacy between men Read more
When Billy Graham died in February at the age of 99, commentators offered dueling perspectives. Was the world-famous evangelist “the last high-profile bipartisan evangelical,” as some eulogized? Or had America’s Preacher started a strain of Gospel-infused white nationalism that still exists today? But if Graham is either the foil or forefather of current evangelical politics, Read more
Five questions on chemical weapons with Johnny Nehme, a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear expert at the International Committee of the Red Cross: In your view, why are chemical weapons banned? Their indiscriminate nature. They could kill or maim any person, whether that person is participating in a given conflict or not. A second issue is Read more
Rising seas and new technology to mine beneath them are forefront concerns these days for Cardinal John Ribat of Papua New Guinea. During a 12-day U.S. trip along the East Coast that concludes March 22, the head of the Port Moresby archdiocese on the South Pacific island nation has in numerous settings expressed his worry Read more
Long-maligned Mary Magdalene now seen as stalwart disciple Mary Magdalene’s image gets a new look in the modern age, now seen as a strong, independent woman. If there’s a feminist figure from the Bible for the #MeToo era, it could very well be Mary Magdalene. The major character in the life of Jesus was long Read more
The first thing that jumped out at me in Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation on holiness, Gaudete et exsultate, is how much he has put women in the foreground. Women are usually in the background of papal statements, if they appear at all. Not here. They are upfront and visible. Right at the outset (para 3), Read more
Conversion to Catholicism are on the increase in some unexpected places. In 2016, Fr Joseph Enkh Baatar was ordained in St Peter and Paul Cathedral in Ulaanbaatar. Like so many buildings in Mongolia’s capital, the cathedral is modeled after the yurt – a round tent made of animal skin in which the peoples of the Read more
Rejoice and be glad Jesus tells those persecuted or humiliated for his sake. The Lord asks everything of us, and in return he offers us true life, the happiness for which we were created. He wants us to be saints and not to settle for a bland and mediocre existence. The call to holiness is Read more
The decline of marriage is upon us. Or, at least, that’s what the zeitgeist would have us believe. In 2010, when Time magazine and the Pew Research Center famously asked Americans whether they thought marriage was becoming obsolete, 39 percent said yes. That was up from 28 percent when Time asked the question in 1978. Read more
The Vatican felt obliged this week to reaffirm that Pope Francis believes in a central tenet of Catholicism, that there is a hell. That odd declaration came after the newspaper La Repubblica published a front-page article on Thursday by an atheist, left-wing and anticlerical giant of Italian journalism, who reported that during a recent meeting Read more