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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 […]

Court allows giant statue of Virgin Mary to be built in Brazil

São Paulo State’s Court of Appeals has reversed a 2019 decision that stopped the building of a giant steel statue of the Virgin Mary in Aparecida, the city where Brazil’s major Catholic shrine is located. Now, the 164-feet stainless steel sculpture portraying Our Lady of Aparecida – taller than Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer […]

3 million Filipino families experience “involuntary hunger”: Survey

An estimated three million Filipino families, or 11.8% of Filipino families, experienced involuntary hunger in the last quarter of 2021. A survey done by pollster Social Weather Stations (SWS) shows an 11.8% hunger rate in December 2021, higher than the 10%, or about 2.5 million families, in September 2021. It is, however, lower than the […]

Bishops around the world will join Pope Francis in consecration of Ukraine, Russia

Pope Francis on March 25 consecrated Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and Catholic bishops from around the world have already announced they answer his request for them to join him in the consecration. March 25 is the feast of the Annunciation, and a solemnity on the church calendar. The celebration took […]