Religion News Service

But if change is slow, the direction is clear, and Francis, like popes before him, is slowly filling the American hierarchy with bishops who reflect his values and priorities.

Plans for a proposed debate between liberal Christian leaders and representatives from Liberty University, a theologically conservative evangelical Christian school, have stalled, with participants unable to agree on a topic or a date for the event.

As someone who believes that women have a right to birth control but also believes that government should respect people’s religious beliefs, I see this controversy as both a tragedy and a farce. If there had been goodwill on both sides, litigation would not have been necessary. In fact, each side was suspicious of the other and any kind of deal became impossible.

The Abrahamic Faiths Initiative group united 25 religious leaders representing millions of Christian, Muslim and Jewish faithful to discuss practical ways of promoting peace and fraternity at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome Jan. 14-16.

If we want to know what the baptism of Jesus and our own baptisms are all about, we need to look to the prophet Isaiah, from whom the Gospel writers borrow in describing Jesus’ baptism.

The 16 United Methodist bishops and advocacy group leaders who negotiated a recent proposal to split the denomination explained their reasoning at an event that was streamed live by United Methodist News Service.

Spiritual author Marianne Williamson has ended her campaign seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, saying that the experience challenged her faith but that she leaned on her spiritual beliefs for strength.

Paula White, a Pentecostal preacher and longtime adviser to President Donald Trump, has been tapped to head the White House's Faith and Opportunity Initiative, a successor to previous administrations' faith-based office that coordinates outreach to religious communities.

Signs of the Times: As the only major denomination with almost equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats, the Catholic Church is in a unique position to respond to today's toxic politics.

A federal judge in Maryland heard arguments Jan. 8 in a lawsuit by three faith-based organizations against the U.S. government over a recent executive order allowing state and local officials to block refugee resettlement.

At the end of October, members of Brazil's Catholic black lay associations gathered in the northern port city of Salvador to discuss their centuries-long history and the challenges facing the new network they have formed.

In the run-up to President Bill Clinton's impeachment 21 years ago, Christians across the political spectrum engaged in heated debate over the ethics of the president's sexual misconduct with an intern and the official charge of lying about it under oath.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, whose funding runs out on December  21, could be reauthorized by week's end if Congress passes an omnibus bill that includes a section recommending it stay in business.

Scientists tell us that oceans are rising. Cities will be inundated. Weather patterns will change. Millions of people will suffer. The damage we are doing to Mother Earth may be impossible to heal.

The Rev. Martha Morales said the church's intention was not to be controversial or political. Instead, she said, the church is trying to be faithful to its calling to do God's work.

Several hundred people celebrated the Virgin Mary this week by taking part in a 2.5-mile pilgrimage that ended with a hike up a mountain.

President Donald Trump's new executive order directing the government to consider race and national origin when investigating anti-Semitism has been met with mixed reviews from American Jews, mostly along liberal and conservative lines.

Actor Mark Ruffalo said he's had a hard time melding his activism with storytelling.

In one of the most significant appointments of his papacy, Pope Francis has chosen the Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle to head the Vatican office that deals with most of the dioceses in Africa, Asia and Oceania. As prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, he will help shape the church in these territories.

The political atmosphere in our country has become so toxic that it becomes a news story when the speaker of the House says she does not hate the president.