In the fall of 2024, the cardinal who is now Pope Leo XIV sat at a large round table inside the Vatican, discussing the challenges that face the Roman Catholic Church with a cardinal from Ethiopia, archbishops from Cameroon and Kenya, a cardinal posted to Mongolia, and bishops from Texas and Liberia. Joining them at…
There are so many unfamiliar faces, cardinals are wearing name tags. The Vatican guesthouse for out-of-towners coming to choose the next pope is overbooked. Daily Vatican meetings have taken on the feel of theological speed-dating sessions. “The cardinals don’t know each other so well,” said Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Sweden, who has spent recent days…
The cardinals who have traveled to Rome to elect the next pope at a conclave next week sometimes look as ideologically polarized as many secular voters around the globe. At first glance, they appear to split along the kinds of left-right lines that characterize political contests elsewhere. Many conservative Roman Catholic Church leaders disagreed with…
In just the last month, the Supreme Court has heard three important religion cases, culminating in yesterday’s argument over a Catholic charter school in Oklahoma. Judging from the justices’ questioning, the side pressing religious-freedom claims seemed likely to prevail in all three. That would extend a remarkable winning streak for religion at the Supreme Court….
Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille, France — considered a contender to be the next pope — has been jokingly referred to for years as John XXIV. He owes the nickname to his physical resemblance to the stocky, amiable former church leader, Pope John XXIII, who was a hero to many liberal Catholics for his efforts…
The happiness curve is collapsing. For decades, research showed that the way people experienced happiness across their lifetimes looked like a U-shaped curve. Happiness tended to be high when they were young, then dipped in midlife, only to rise again as they grew old. But recent surveys suggest that young adults aren’t as happy as…
Pope Francis’ critics represent a minority of the American church but a powerful one. Ruth Graham, a reporter covering religion, faith and values for The New York Times, describes how his papacy galvanized a tide of conservative resistance in the American church hierarchy, in Washington and in the pews. Source link
It has been almost three years since the Supreme Court last heard arguments in a case that turned on one of the religion clauses of the First Amendment, a curious lull in what had been a signature project for the court led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.: to bolster the place of faith…
While the country holds its breath for the Supreme Court’s responses to the Trump administration’s serial depredations, it’s hard to focus on anything else. Nonetheless, a case set for argument next month before the court merits more attention than the little it has received, given its destabilizing potential for public education. The central question is…
Everything clicked when Peter Thiel gave the speech about God. The occasion was a 40th birthday party for Trae Stephens, who is Mr. Thiel’s venture capital partner as well as one of the founders of Anduril Industries, a maker of high-tech defense systems and weaponry. It was a multiday affair, held in 2023 at Mr….