The Conversation

Why are cardinals sequestered during papal elections? Because it took centuries for the church to develop an electoral system free from manipulations and violence — which should resonate with contemporary politics.

"In 1869, when Pope Pius IX convened the First Vatican Council, no one dreamed of inviting women, but they were nonetheless there," writes Carol E. Harrison, a Professor of History at the University of South Carolina. 

"While debates over the Christian virtues of the candidates may be important for Christian communities, religious freedom is important for American democracy," writes religious freedom scholar Corey D. B. Walker. "The response to Christianity and politics is not more Christianity but more democracy. And religious freedom is key."

"Only a gradual rebuilding of civil society, I believe, may save Nicaragua from that fate," Richard Wood, Director of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at the University of Southern California writes. "The tragedy is what Nicaragua could have been: a thriving democratic society, with a commitment to empowering the poor."

Autonomous AI is still designed by people. So who or what is really responsible for its actions? For centuries, theologians have posed similar questions about mankind and God.

The shroud remains an object of faith, intrigue and controversy that reappears periodically in the public sphere, as it has in recent weeks. As a scholar of early Christianity, I have long been interested in why people are motivated to create objects like the shroud and also why people are drawn to revere them as authentic.

Italian priest Padre Pio was one of the most prayed-to saints in recent times. As Pio's generation ages, the church is turning to Italian teen Carlo Acutis, set to be canonized, to appeal to a new demographic.

"Many revered works of art come from spiritually flawed creators. From my perspective, condemning art, rather than debating how the Catholic Church may have allowed someone accused of abuse to avoid censure for so long, is a diversion at best," writes Virginia Raguin, a Distinguished Professor of Humanities Emerita at College of the Holy Cross.

By strategically using both radical forms of civil disobedience and more mainstream public actions, such as lobbying and state-sanctioned demonstrations, activists can grab the public’s attention while making less aggressive tactics seem much more acceptable.

Religiously affiliated organizations can clash with politicians on humanitarian aid to migrants, raising issues around religious freedom and hospitality to newcomers.

The use of sport as an evangelical tool is not new for the Catholic Church. Pope Pius X welcomed athletes in 1905 for the first international gymnastics competition in the Vatican gardens.

"Strange as it may seem, early germ theorists could tell us a lot about today’s attitudes toward climate change," Rob Barrett writes. 

"Since antiquity," writes Joanne M. Pierce, "many theologians, preachers, monastics and other Christians have embraced the role of humor as a valuable part of Christian spirituality.

A Danielsen Institute research team found taht among a sample of Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders, nearly one-third scored above the clinical cutoff for PTSD symptoms related to work stressors.

The future of some jobs and businesses across the ocean economy have also become less secure as the ocean warms and damage from storms, sea-level rise and marine heat waves increases.

June 4, 2024, marked the 40th anniversary of "Born in the U.S.A.," Springsteen's top-selling album. But its message continues to elude many listeners.

Torn between "the American dream" and fears of an ungovernable "melting pot," Americans have always viewed immigrants ambivalently.

In the 20th century, an engineer from Philadelphia encouraged others to create their own Mary gardens and established a company that sold seeds with Marian plant names.

Over the past decades, many Chicana artists have used Guadalupe to emphasize issues of justice around immigration.

Commentary: The Irish government recently declared a national holiday for St. Brigid. A medieval historian explains her fascinating life and history.