https://politicalresearch.org/ The latest research related to pope francis en https://religiondispatches.org/2025/04/25/what-roman-catholic-church-needs-wholesale-reset-not-new-pope The death of Pope Francis, after a very public diminishment, closes a signal chapter in Catholic history with absolutely no certainty about who or what comes next. Rather than reflexively corralling the cardinals into a Conclave to elect his successor… Fri, 25 Apr 2025 05:35:59 EDT Mary Hunt d76881e4-5f1e-4fc9-b458-2f9a16f927c8 https://religiondispatches.org/2025/04/21/francis-roman-catholic-churchs-first-latin-american-pope-leaves-behind-complicated As you probably know by now, Pope Francis has died. (Mere hours after meeting with—how is this real life—US Vice President James Donald Bowman, aka James David Hamel, who prefers to be called JD Vance .) We’ll be offering more… Mon, 21 Apr 2025 03:47:49 EDT Megan Goodwin 8a79192d-333b-4a59-92b8-ae765d8c33e0 https://religiondispatches.org/2025/02/06/freedom-q-shaman-and-justice-leonard-peltier-are-mutually-exclusive One of President Biden’s final acts as US president was to grant clemency to American Indian Movement (AIM) activist Leonard Peltier (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe), who will be released into home arrest sometime this month. The 80-year-old Peltier, who suffers from… Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:49:12 EST Dana Lloyd cfcb7737-89eb-41fa-ab90-c249ad957b18 https://religiondispatches.org/2024/07/12/women-are-still-fleeing-church-and-cause-still-pretty-clear Eight years ago here at RD I noted that women were fleeing organized religion —as measured by attendance at religious services—faster than men, a trend that showed no sign of letting up. Historically, women have been a good deal more… Fri, 12 Jul 2024 02:30:30 EDT Patricia Miller 2b13db25-3d8a-4c68-8b59-314617af8e11 https://religiondispatches.org/2024/05/02/comparing-gender-transition-and-surrogacy-war-and-human-trafficking-vaticans-dignitas The good news about the Vatican’s recent document, ” Dignitas Infinita : on Human Dignity” is that most people will not read it. This shoddily written, self-referential, unresearched paper wouldn’t get most first-year graduate students in theology a passing grade… Thu, 02 May 2024 02:11:11 EDT Mary Hunt df41cf4f-cc81-4ed1-a66f-5b57eb07ff6e https://religiondispatches.org/2024/02/21/both-joy-and-uproar-over-popes-blessings-lgbtq-catholics-are-small-potatoes-compared-age Roman Catholicism is in precarious shape when blessings are controversial. Just before Christmas, and on the heels of the Synod — a gathering of bishops and some lay people to discuss church policy — Pope Francis issued an unexpected statement… Wed, 21 Feb 2024 09:48:20 EST Mary Hunt 78aab5a1-90c7-4eb9-816f-e0c93f94c75a https://religiondispatches.org/2023/12/01/documenting-struggle-and-suicide-young-woman-dear-alana-podcast-raises-questions-about In advance of the Catholic Church’s recent global gathering, Pope Francis raised the hopes of LGBTQ Catholics that progress may be on the horizon through a series of letters and reports that hinted at possible advancements through the Synod on… Fri, 01 Dec 2023 10:25:45 EST Abigail Battles dc543d70-9c7e-4a34-9cde-2d3a70c5fa01 https://religiondispatches.org/2023/11/01/queer-catholic-woman-i-had-high-hopes-2023-catholic-synod-synodality When the summit on the future of the Catholic Church began on October 9, I allowed myself for the first time in many years to feel optimistic. I smiled at pictures of Pope Francis welcoming LGBTQ Catholic advocates Sr Jeannine… Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:48:12 EDT Emma Cieslik 5cd773f8-5d0f-4db5-a40d-ef4d187e47ec https://religiondispatches.org/2023/07/21/why-roman-catholic-church-should-not-ordain-women-deacons For the first time in centuries the ordination of women is on the table in the Roman Catholic Church. It has arisen as a real possibility through the Synod on Synodality , which was launched by Pope Francis in October… Fri, 21 Jul 2023 04:00:54 EDT Father Anne 913748d1-4682-429a-91f3-64ab6e22b539 https://religiondispatches.org/2023/04/27/repudiation-its-devastating-doctrine-discovery-vatican-masks-history-and-responsibility What are the responsibilities of the Catholic Church when considering the historical realities of settler colonialism in what we now call the Americas? This question lies at the heart of recent conversations about March’s joint statement from the Vatican repudiating… Thu, 27 Apr 2023 04:39:04 EDT Elisha Chi a89152df-1bed-41fa-bedc-bcce9c41a348 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/09/29/far-right-embrace-knights-templar-isnt-just-about-faith-tradition-or-history-its-about In 1302, the island of Arwad, off the coast of Syria, fell to Mamluk forces. The Templar garrison died in the assault. The Templar had lost their last stronghold in the Holy Land, and while the other major military orders… Thu, 29 Sep 2022 03:36:35 EDT Thomas Lecaque ace1a30c-cd14-4926-a64d-b479dec8536c https://religiondispatches.org/2022/03/24/holy-father-youre-not-helping-problem-popes-plan-consecrate-russia-and-ukraine March 25th is the Feast of the Annunciation, the celebration of the day that the Angel Gabriel is said to have appeared to the Virgin Mary to announce that she would bear Christ. It is a date of great significance… Thu, 24 Mar 2022 04:59:46 EDT Katherine Kelaidis 88513ae6-9435-4296-b082-bb78f6dbd7af https://religiondispatches.org/2022/01/12/scolding-those-who-choose-pets-no-children-pope-misses-rainforest-trees Is not having children—and further, living with cats and dogs—selfish? This is precisely what Pope Francis suggested last week when he told a general audience : “Many couples do not have children because they do not want to, or they… Wed, 12 Jan 2022 03:20:34 EST Sarah A. Bowen cee50c8b-2ee6-425a-acf2-7f9a9e892059 https://religiondispatches.org/2021/12/01/growing-anti-pope-rad-trad-community-poised-become-qatholics-history-isnt-encouraging On Halloween, Rhode Island police announced that they had arrested Father James Jackson , the pastor of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP)’s church of St Mary in Providence, Rhode Island, for possession and transfer of child pornography. The… Wed, 01 Dec 2021 10:46:27 EST Joshua P. Hevert, Thomas Lecaque cf52626b-194a-49a9-9b11-05cfa434551a https://religiondispatches.org/2021/11/01/synod-or-sin-oddly-vatican-encourages-catholics-walk-together-long-hierarchy-leads-way The “Synod on Synodality” which Pope Francis launched with minimal fanfare this month is the Vatican’s latest effort to square a circle. It’s meant to engage the whole church, all billion plus, in a process of “walking together” though no… Mon, 01 Nov 2021 03:07:39 EDT Mary Hunt 0d1bbf73-dacb-4a0c-b0a3-1ece035ebbc9 https://religiondispatches.org/2021/10/19/pope-francis-concern-jews-genuine-until-doctrine-abolished-hell-have-trouble-convincing The hot water into which Pope Francis has put himself regarding his Jewish friends continues to boil. In a recent public audience at the Vatican, Francis stated that the Torah “does not give life” (that is, a share in God’s… Tue, 19 Oct 2021 01:24:23 EDT Paul Knitter 743ce35c-2e75-414c-827f-064c075d0065 https://religiondispatches.org/2021/09/24/setting-low-bar-religious-entities-praised-treating-covid-religious-exemptions Last week, AP published a small, albeit important article, “Many faith leaders say no to endorsing vaccine exemptions,” noting that the leadership of certain Eastern Orthodox churches, Catholic dioceses, mainline Protestant denominations, Mormon leadership, Orthodox Jewish and Muslim organizations, and… Fri, 24 Sep 2021 05:33:39 EDT Chrissy Stroop 349470be-0d05-4a42-aa0c-1e22d313d648 https://religiondispatches.org/2021/09/17/why-nobody-should-be-surprised-pope-francis-made-problematic-comments-about-judaism-and The tenure of Pope Francis has been marked by his support for a host of causes more closely associated with the political left, including climate change , greater regulation of capitalism , and the fate of refugees attempting to reach… Fri, 17 Sep 2021 01:07:40 EDT Ilan Benattar 7a368192-3c64-4b1e-89ee-3716fe027877 https://religiondispatches.org/2021/08/26/anti-vaxx-cardinal-burke-just-ventilator-becoming-living-anti-abortion-martyr Earlier this month Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke announced to the world that he had contracted Covid-19 in a strangely triumphant August 10 tweet “Praised be Jesus Christ! I wish to inform you that I have recently tested positive for the… Thu, 26 Aug 2021 03:49:48 EDT Karen E. Park 004350d2-e43a-41a3-b937-69379e012ef4 https://religiondispatches.org/2021/08/13/latest-diatribe-francis-and-latin-mass-times-launders-history-and-troubling-elements Church councils are never simple things, neither when they’re happening nor in their aftermath. Although often called to confront troubling questions or iron out controversies, they haven’t always been successful in accomplishing those tasks over the past nearly 1,700 years… Fri, 13 Aug 2021 01:39:38 EDT Matthew Gabriele cde509e7-fa50-438c-bd6d-f3efc082c0e0 https://religiondispatches.org/2021/08/10/douthats-criticism-popes-restriction-latin-mass-fascinating-its-also-ahistorical-and-has In a recent opinion piece in the New York Times, fellow Catholic Ross Douthat criticized one of Pope Francis’ most consequential decisions: the July 16 motu proprio—or order—that reimposes restrictions on the Latin Mass preferred by many right-wing Catholics, thus… Tue, 10 Aug 2021 03:57:53 EDT Massimo Faggioli 9afc05b5-3015-42fb-8319-2a7788e9a587 https://religiondispatches.org/2021/07/02/bishops-did-send-message-their-vote-biden-and-communion-are-we-sure-it-was-one-they I hate to say “told you so,” but the opportunity comes along so infrequently I feel obliged to take it when I can. The plan among U.S. Catholic bishops to bludgeon Pres. Biden with a statement on the Eucharist that… Fri, 02 Jul 2021 02:46:40 EDT Daniel Schultz 19be3d14-5789-4306-9188-61eb8350e55d https://religiondispatches.org/2021/05/11/bishops-attempt-deny-communion-biden-will-backfire-even-more-spectacularly-opposition If only President Joe Biden didn’t carry a rosary or quote the popular Catholic hymn “On Eagle’s Wings” in his Inaugural address, it would be easy to categorize him. It would be simple to write him off as one more… Tue, 11 May 2021 03:23:58 EDT Mary Hunt b5e90788-efe3-427b-b9c9-04ce10906b8d https://religiondispatches.org/2021/04/16/catholics-across-globe-reject-vaticans-lgbtq-cruelty-others-blame-sock Not since Thomas doubted the resurrection of Jesus (John 20) has a Catholic dubium caused a stir like the recent Vatican response to its own question about blessing same sex couples. As in the ‘doubting Thomas’ case, history will not… Fri, 16 Apr 2021 11:27:24 EDT Mary Hunt 7e5db86c-8673-4afd-9aca-9a09c1b4e6c9 https://religiondispatches.org/2021/03/16/vatican-doubts-same-sex-love-more-doubt-vatican Beware the Ides of March, the day Julius Caesar went to his reward in 44 BCE. This was the day that the “ Responsum of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) to a dubium regarding the blessing… Tue, 16 Mar 2021 11:54:23 EDT Mary Hunt d2dc4ce3-baa5-483a-991f-ab0d516065aa