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Pastoral advisor Manfred Becker-Irrnen speaks during his sermon at the “Blessing for All” service at Cologne Cathedral. Several hundred people celebrated a blessing service also for same-sex couples in front of Cologne Cathedral. Sascha Thelen/dpa via Reuters Connect.
Eight Catholic priests held a ceremony blessing same-sex couples in front of the Cologne Cathedral in western Germany on Wednesday evening, in protest against socially conservative Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, the archbishop of Cologne.
Outtakes from the photoshoot for Rich Mullins’s debut, eponymous album. Original photos by Mark Tucker, courtesy David McCracken.
As I looked closer, I realized these weren’t just funny stories about the songwriter of “Awesome God.” Mullins wasn’t just witty among friends. He also used his humor as a tool to share his sharp criticisms, deep contemplations, and controversial ideas with largely evangelical audiences that were increasingly looking for Christian music to be a space that confirmed their assumptions.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer smiles from behind a mock U.S. Treasury check as he holds a press conference on the expanded Child Tax Credit payments at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., July 15, 2021. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
During the pandemic, something peculiar happened: The child poverty rate in the U.S. fell, reaching an historic low of 5.2 percent in 2021. The decline was largely a result of the federal spending in social safety nets like Medicaid, SNAP, and the Child Tax Credit, as well as direct payments to families. Anti-poverty advocates celebrated the win.
Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis arrives to address the Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee’s 2023 Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., Sept. 15, 2023. REUTERS/Leah Millis
Former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made their cases to evangelical voters who gathered in Washington, D.C., for a pair of events on Friday, seeking an edge with a voting bloc likely to play a pivotal role in selecting a 2024 presidential nominee.
Five former Memphis police officers who have been charged in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols appear during an arraignment hearing at Shelby County courthouse in Memphis, Tenn., February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Karen Pulfer Focht
Five former Memphis policemen were charged in federal court on Tuesday with violating the civil rights of Black motorist Tyre Nichols by beating him to death after a traffic stop and engaging in a cover-up.
Lab-grown chicken from GOOD Meat is grilled by Chef Daniel Lugo at Jose Andres's China Chilcano, in Washington state, July 13, 2023. REUTERS/Leah Millis
Lab-grown meat can be labeled kosher and halal as long as its cells are derived in methods compliant with religious standards, according to two panels of experts commissioned by the nascent industry.
Pope Francis attends a meeting with bishops of the Synod of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church at the Vatican, Sept. 6, 2023. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERS
Ukraine’s Eastern Rite Catholic bishops bluntly told Pope Francis at a meeting on Wednesday that some of his comments about Russia had caused great pain and were being used by Moscow to justify a “a murderous ideology.”
A child’s legs, wearing leg braces, on a blanket. Via Alamy.
The arrival of a child into a religious community usually sets off a flurry of activity. Someone usually organizes a meal delivery. A pastor might visit the hospital. Older parents often reach out with words of advice to the younger, sleep-deprived new parents. But when that child is born with a severe or chronic medical condition, families need more than the church can give, said Matt Steinhauer, a retired minister with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, former insurance broker, and the parent of a son with Down syndrome.
A white sign on a wooden post reading: “Wheelchair users will need assistance to use the ramp in the church.” Image via Alamy.
Becky McMains spends most of her life in “advocate mode.” Her 9-year-old daughter was born with spina bifida and requires substantial medical intervention and special education services. She uses mobility aids to get around and has speech delays. In doctors’ offices and schools, Becky’s questions, recommendations, and even pushback have led to change, not just for her daughter, but for other children as well. But when McMains brings her advocacy to church, she said, the response is different.
Activists take part in a pro-climate demonstration march in Lausanne, Switzerland on September 27, 2019. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
In the year 2050, when today’s 3-year-olds will be 30-year-olds, climate scientists expect the height of the slowly unfolding climate disaster to have arrived. The specifics vary slightly, but most experts warn that some regions will face extreme drought while others are entirely flooded with sea level rise. Dangerous heat and humidity — as some regions of the U.S. have faced this summer — combined with poor air quality will make it dangerous to be outside for a growing portion of the year in many places.
Kevin Hargaden, theologian, and Ciara Murphy, environmental biologist, authors of The Parish as Oasis: An Introduction to Practical Environmental Care are seen in the polytunnel in the garden behind Gardiner Street Parish in Dublin. Their book is a resource for parishes responding to Irish bishops's request that parishes conserve 30 percent of their property for pollinators and biodiversity. (Courtesy of Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice)
With 1,365 parishes that include 2,646 churches across 26 dioceses on the island of Ireland, the initiative has the potential to make a difference to local biodiversity as well as create awareness of global conservation efforts, particularly the agreement of countries at the 2022 United Nations conference on biological diversity (COP15) to return 30 percent of land to nature. It also strives to increase awareness of church teaching on ecology and highlight the role of people of faith in protecting creation.
St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Davis, Calif., became carbon neutral in 2021. The church has made efforts to remove grass and plant native, low-water plant species across its 2.6-acre campus. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service
Then, when the heat went out, so did the reluctance to put an end to the parish’s dependence on fossil fuels. The parish installed an all-electric heat pump system, replaced functioning gas-powered appliances with electric versions and installed a third solar array. By 2021, St. Martin’s had become carbon neutral and was certified by Interfaith Power & Light as a “cool congregation.”
Sam Joeckel, an English professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida, is seen at his North Palm Beach home on Feb. 21, 2023. Joeckel’s contract with the Christian university has been terminated early after a parent complained about a racial justice unit he taught in one of his courses. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel/TNS via Alamy)
Professor Sam Joeckel’s 21-year tenure at Palm Beach Atlantic University ended after a single complaint from a parent who stated that Joeckel was indoctrinating his students. What started out as a typical day in February soon became a nightmare for Joeckel as the dean and provost of the university waited for him outside his classroom to inform him his teaching contract wouldn’t be renewed.
A photo of protesters in the Netherlands. Courtesy The Nuclear Report.
Dutch military police arrested 25 people nonviolently protesting against nuclear weapons and carbon dioxide emissions at Volkel Air Base about 80 miles south of Amsterdam on Aug. 8 and 9, according to Dutch News and Nukewatch.
Tennessee Democratic state representatives Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, who faced expulsion over their participation in gun control protests, and Gloria Johnson, who retained her seat, speak to members of the media following their meeting with President Joe Biden (D) at the White House in Washington, D.C., April 24, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Justin Pearson ran against Jeff Johnston, and Justin Jones ran against Laura Nelson. According to The Tennesseean, Jones won nearly 80 percent of the vote in Nashville, and Pearson won more than 90 percent in Memphis.
People gather at a makeshift memorial a block from the scene of last Saturday's shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue, in Pittsburgh, Penn., Nov. 3, 2018. REUTERS/Alan Freed
A federal jury on Wednesday voted to sentence Robert Bowers to death for killing 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history, the New York Times reported.
Pope Francis accompanied by Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (R) at the end of a meeting at Belem Palace in Lisbon, Portugal, Aug., 2, 2023. The Pontiff will be in Portugal on the occasion of World Youth Day (WYD), one of the main events of the Church that gathers the Pope with youngsters from around the world, that takes place until Aug. 6. ANDRE KOSTERS/Pool via REUTERS
Pope Francis promised on Wednesday to continue to “stir things up” in the church as he arrived in Portugal to preside at a mass gathering of young Catholics aimed at energizing a new generation of believers.
A young boy reads a Bible. Samantha Sophia via Unsplash.
Joshua was one of the star students in his Sunday school class at a Black Baptist church he and his family attended; his teacher raved about Joshua’s helpfulness and engagement. But when it came to preschool, Joshua’s parents were perplexed.
“Every day the preschool teacher has something negative to say about [him,]” Joshua’s father later told researchers.
An LED lightbulb on a pink background. Michał Turkiewicz via Unsplash.
Around 2017, Hamline Church United Methodist, in St. Paul, Minn. contracted an energy audit for its nearly 100-year-old building in the hopes of learning how their building might save energy and reduce emissions. Diane Krueger, a lay leader of the church’s “EarthKeepers” team, said contractors recommended the church insulate their heating pipes and change many of their lightbulbs to LEDs.
Protests at the Supreme Court of the United States on the day Roe v. Wade was overturned. June 24, 2022. Ted Eytan / Flickr.
For the 49 years that Roe v. Wade protected legal abortion across the country, religious groups, including Catholic bishops and conservative evangelicals, became some of its loudest and best-known opponents. And when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, many Christians claimed it as both a political and spiritual victory.