Two thousand years ago, a family took part in a census. Over the coming weeks in schools, churches, high streets, and venues across this country, the Christmas story that began with Mary and Joseph’s journey for a census will be enjoyed and celebrated by millions of people. But of what story are we a part? Read more
Being a resilient minority in a hostile culture is a challenge, says Greg Sheridan. But he loves a challenge. It’s not every day that you find a secular journalist addressing a room full of Catholic media professionals on the topic of God. Yet that’s what Sheridan does. When he made the resilient minority comment, he Read more
Pope Francis called for Church unity at Mass on Tuesday, commemorating the Second Vatican Council’s 60th anniversary. Known as Vatican II (1962-1965), the Council taught the Church to see the world around it, Francis said. In his homily, he described the special Mass an act of love toward God and a remedy to the acute Read more
Imagine being at your parish church this Sunday celebrating the Eucharist. Just as your pastor finishes his homily, gunfire erupts from the back of the church. As you quickly turn around, you see several armed men firing their weapons into the assembly. And with added horror, you see numerous fellow parishioners lying dead. Amid screams Read more
Despite the sins of its members, the Christian faith is far greater than opinion polls in the news. It shouldn’t surprise, given the 2021 census results concerning religion, those critical of Christianity and the Catholic Church have used the fall in numbers to suggest religion is moribund and no longer relevant to Australian society. With Read more
The Grand Imam of al Azhar says religious differences between Christianity and Islam have never been the basis of wars. Instead, the two religions had been exploited to make it appear so. “We believe with certainty that Islam and Christianity have never been the origin of wars and conflicts, but rather religious faiths represent the Read more
Christians in the communist nation of Laos continue to face discrimination, harassment and ridicule over their beliefs. “They say in our village that there is no Christian god and that our ancestors were all animist,” a villager living in mountainous northern Laos recently told Radio Free Asia. Christianity is little understood among many Laotians, most Read more
Fifty years ago, many observers of American religion assumed that secularization would gradually wash traditional Christianity away. Twenty years ago, Christianity looked surprisingly resilient, and so the smart thinking changed: maybe there was an American exception to secularizing trends, or maybe a secularized Europe was the exception and the modernity-equals-secularization thesis was altogether wrong. Now Read more
An ancient faith is disappearing from the lands in which it first took root; the Middle East. At stake is not just a religious community, but the fate of pluralism in the region. The call came in 2014, shortly after Easter. Four years earlier, Catrin Almako’s family had applied for special visas to the United Read more
Perceptions of Christianity in New Zealand get shaped by the most extreme voices. So who else could the media go to for comment? Quick, name the most prominent New Zealander you can think of who is a Christian. Chances are if you follow the news at all, that the first name that comes to mind Read more