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Crucifix leads an Indonesian Muslim to Catholic faith

Vicky Adam Ubaid Akram had a dream that helped him choose the Catholic faith. In the dream, he walked in an alley that had many houses of worship including mosques, temples and churches on both sides. But his eyes remained fixated on a Catholic church with a cross on top. He then fell down and […]

Pandemic leads Bangladeshi Pentecostal Christian to Catholic Church

Kaushik Hembrom lost his job as a computer operator with an insurance company in Bogura city of northern Bangladesh due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The 35-year-old Pentecostal Christian was forced to return to his native village Dighalchan in neighboring Dinajpur district where he spent more than a year confined to his house without any spiritual […]

Ukrainian refugees find a welcome in Polish convents

Olga and her youngest children are safe in Poland, but she is consumed with worry for her husband and oldest son, who are still in Ukraine. And her heart breaks when the little ones ask questions, including about why Russia invaded Ukraine when so many Russians live in Ukraine and when so many of their […]

Is Putin a ‘Real’ Christian? To Understand This Conflict We Need to Ask Different Questions

Vladimir Putin’s campaign of violence in Ukraine has brought to the fore questions about his longstanding religious connect-ions, prompting scholars and journalists to challenge his well-markete d piety and seemingly deep devotion to Russian Ortho-dox spirituality—the latter of which is often expressed in its deep ties to the post-Soviet Moscow Patriarchate. In the study of […]

Russian Orthodox nun denounces war, but has questions about ‘consecration’

One of the Orthodox scholars who signed a statement condemning as “heresy” the political vision of Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow is a U.S.-born Russian Orthodox nun and scholar of Byzantine liturgy. Sister Vassa Larin, a nun of the Russian Orthodox Church outside Russia, also is host of the popular podcast and video series, […]

Eastern Orthodox Leaders Are Outspoken on Ukraine War, Except One

Last week, more than a dozen religious and political leaders sat on the dais of the Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Volodymyr on the Upper West Side, listening to solemn prayers and fiery speeches denouncing Russia and extolling Ukrainian resistance to the invasion that began two weeks earlier. They gave speeches, one by one: the […]

Canada’s indigenous delegations: ‘Pope Francis listened to our pain’

Following Pope Francis’ two audiences with delegations of Canada’s Métis and Inuit peoples, members of the Métis Nation say the Pope sought to listen to the stories of survivors of residential schools. “Truth, justice, healing, reconciliation.” Those words express the goals which delegations from several of Canada’s indigenous peoples came to share with Pope Francis […]

1st German Catholic diocese allows women to perform baptisms

The Diocese of Essen has become the first in Germany to allow women to perform baptisms, citing a lack of priests. The diocese said in a statement Monday that Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck tasked 18 lay ministers – 17 of them women – with conferring the sacrament of admission into the Church at a ceremony over […]