Pope Francis has granted his formal approval allowing Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples so long as they do not appear to endorse their marriage, marking the church's most permissive decree yet on the issue of same-sex couples. (Sullivan, NPR)
Read MoreMental breakdown, frustration of things not happening according to the plan, career breakdown, relationship breakdown, and the pressure of attending family events (marriages) became the reason to overthink in 2023. (Sreevidya A, Medium)
Read MoreA bill seeking to “disestablish” the Church of England was presented to the House of Lords last week that, while it has little chance of passing, signals a growing discomfort with the relationship between church and state in the country. (Pepinster, Religion News Service)
Read MoreBobby Gruenewald might know more about how Americans read the Bible than anyone else in the country. For the past 15 years, Gruenewald, an online entrepreneur turned pastor, has run the popular YouVersion Bible app — a free application that has been downloaded more than 700 million times in the U.S. and around the world. (Smietana, Religion News Service)
Read MoreFounded in 2013, Massachusetts-based The Satanic Temple has battled multiple districts, most recently in Pennsylvania, over its legal right to operate its After School Satan Clubs. The church, which is formally recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt religious organization, often opens after-school programs in areas where Christian groups already operate, in an effort to counter Bible-based theology. (Hughes, USA Today)
Read MoreAmerica’s second-largest Protestant denomination is in the final stages of a slow-motion rupture that has so far seen the departure of a quarter of the nation’s roughly 30,000 United Methodist churches, according to the denomination’s news agency. (Graham, The New York Times)
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