Tag - christianity

 
 

CHRISTIANITY

Pope Francis presides over a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 10, 2024
Pope says Ukraine should have the ‘courage of the white flag’
Pope Francis has reiterated in a new interview that Ukraine should negotiate to end the war with Russia, but this time he used language — adopting his interviewer’s expression, "white flag” — that has drawn attention and raised questions about whether the pope was suggesting that Ukraine surrender.
An ukiyo-e print by Utagawa Kuniteru depicts the assault of Asano Naganori on Kira Yoshinaka, an incident that triggered the tragedy of the 47 Ronin and one that was re-created in the play “Chushingura.”
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Mar 8, 2024
Revenge: A dish seldom served in Japanese history but still cold as ice
When Confucius was asked, "Should we kill those who are evil?" The response came, "What need is there for you to kill?"
Stella Belia (right), a member of the Rainbow Families of Greece, an organization which focuses on LGBTQ parents, poses for a portrait with her son, Yannis, in Athens, on Jan. 30. Greek lawmakers are set approve a historic bill legalizing same-sex marriage and adoption this week, having previously been condemned for anti-gay discrimination by the European Court of Human Rights in 2013, after gay couples were excluded from a prior civil unions law in 2008.
WORLD / Society
Feb 14, 2024
No longer invisible, Greek same-sex couples await landmark law
The issue is a strong taboo for a large part of Greek society — and for the powerful Orthodox Church of Greece.
Paolo Benanti, a Franciscan friar and a professor at the Gregorian, the Harvard of Rome's pontifical universities, in his office at the university in Rome on Jan. 29. Benanti advises the Vatican and the Italian government on navigating the tricky questions — moral and otherwise — raised by artificial intelligence.
WORLD / Society
Feb 14, 2024
The friar who became the Vatican’s go-to guy on AI
Father Paolo Benanti, an ethics professor and self-proclaimed geek, spends his days thinking about the Holy Ghost and the ghosts in the machines.
A flare falls over Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 25, 2023
Palestinians feel 'no joy' as Israel bombs Gaza on Christmas
Festivities were effectively scrapped in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, with few worshippers or tourists on the usually packed streets.
Ukraine passed a law in July to move the celebration of Christmas to Dec. 25 — the day when most of the Christian world marks the birth of Jesus.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 24, 2023
Ukrainians defy Moscow with first Dec. 25 Christmas
The move to celebrate the birth of Jesus on the day most Christians do deviates from the Orthodox Church observance of Jan. 7, seen as Russian heritage.
The Rev. Munther Isaac lights a candle next to an improvised crèche in Bethlehem on Dec. 13. The baby Jesus is lying not in a makeshift cradle of hay and wood, but among the rubble of broken bricks, stones and tiles that represent Gaza’s destruction.
WORLD / Society
Dec 24, 2023
‘God is under the rubble in Gaza’: Bethlehem’s subdued Christmas
The Israel-Hamas war has cast a pall over the birthplace of Jesus.
Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr. visits wounded victims of an explosion that happened during a Catholic Mass in a gymnasium at Mindanao State University, in Marawi, the Philippines, on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 3, 2023
Philippine military on high alert after bombing called terrorism
The blast happened during a regular service at Mindanao State University's gymnasium in Marawi, the country's largest Muslim city.
Argentina's President-elect Javier Milei has frequently referred to both his study of the Torah — the Jewish scripture that is also the first part of the Christian Bible — and his identity as a Catholic.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 30, 2023
Javier Milei's spirituality: Catholicism, Torah and a 'libertarian' God
Argentine President-elect has offered glimpses into how his seemingly contradictory spiritual practices influence his idiosyncratic worldview.
Pope Francis had planned to attend the COP28 conference in Dubai this week, but canceled on Tuesday due to health concerns.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 29, 2023
U.S. bishops cling to fossil fuels, despite Pope's 2015 appeal
Not a single diocese has announced it has let go of its fossil fuel assets since the pope's landmark encyclical on environmental stewardship.
Pope Francis greets people during the weekly general audience in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican on Wednesday.
WORLD / Society
Nov 9, 2023
Transgender people can be godparents or baptized, Vatican says
The Vatican's doctrinal office posted three pages of questions and answers on the topic in response to queries from a bishop in Brazil.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, a pilgrimage site for Christians since the fourth century 
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2023
Many evangelicals see Israel-Hamas war as part of a prophecy
The bloodshed in Israel is seen by some as a sign of Second Coming of Christ, a worldview held by significant number of evangelical Christians.
Due to the small number of priests in the Orthodox Church in Japan, some have to care for as many as five different churches.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Oct 14, 2023
Rev. Stephen Keiichi Uchida: 'Your life has value’
Rev. Stephen Keiichi Uchida serves as a priest in the Orthodox Church in Japan and leads three churches in rural Kushiro, Hokkaido.
A Palm Sunday procession makes its way toward a government-sanctioned Catholic church in Youtong village in China's Hebei province
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2023
The Holy See shows how to deal with China
In China, the relationship between politics and religion is unique, and the Holy See has adopted a sophisticated approach to diplomacy with Beijing.
A document from archives on Pope Pius XII, who reigned from 1939-1958, containing the names of people who were executed during the Ardeatine massacre in Italy in March 1944
WORLD
Sep 17, 2023
Letter shows Pope Pius XII probably knew about Holocaust early on
A letter found in the Vatican archives on the church's knowledge of the Holocaust conflicts with the Holy See's official longtime position.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Family Research Council and FRC Action annual Pray Vote Stand Summit in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 17, 2023
Sinner, savior or both? Trump woos evangelicals and women
Despite the legal, moral and sexual escapades of the Republican front-runner, support among his devotees remains strong.
A ceremony is held in March 2016 in Markowa, Poland, at the grave of the Ulma family who were killed by the Nazis for hiding Jews during WWII.
WORLD
Sep 10, 2023
Polish family killed by Nazis to be beatified in Catholic first
The Ulma family will be the first ever to be beatified, a key step on a possible path to sainthood in the Catholic Church.
Pope Francis attends the Holy Mass in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 3, 2023
Be 'good citizens', Pope tells Chinese Catholics during Mongolia visit
The unscripted comments were Francis's latest attempt to offer a hand to Beijing, which is wary of the Church's presence in its country.
Pope Francis leads the Angelus prayer from his window at the Vatican on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 30, 2023
Few Catholics in Mongolia, but Pope's visit eyes geopolitics
In going to the sparsely populated, Buddhist-majority nation, the pope may be eyeing Mongolia as a way to help build bridges with China and Russia.
The wedded rocks of Meoto Iwa in Mie Prefecture.
JAPAN / History
Aug 20, 2023
Good and evil defined by God … or gods
Much of our understanding of good and evil can be traced to definitions created by religion. Which religion (and definition) depends on where you live.

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A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world