A new report from Equipping the Persecuted documents at least 4,216 Christian deaths in Nigeria between Jan. 1 and Sept. 8, describing the figure as a verified minimum amid continuing attacks, kidnappings and displacement. The report, Religious Persecution and Security Failure in Nigeria, calculates an average of 16.8 deaths per day—about one Christian killed every 86
A new survey commissioned by Ligonier Ministries UK found widespread uncertainty about core Christian beliefs among adults in Britain, while also reporting that churches are attracting some newcomers who began attending as adults. The 2026 State of Theology survey, conducted by Whitestone Insight, is the second UK edition of the study since 2018. The research surveyed
Pope Leo XIV has been diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma after surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung during an operation at Rome’s Agostino Gemelli University Hospital. The Holy See Press Office said the surgery was successful and involved a video-assisted technique intended to achieve a “radical resection.” An examination of tissue during the procedure
Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the Catholic Church’s senior pastoral leader for U.S. service members, has urged any Catholic troops assigned to execute former Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan to request exemption from the firing squad. Broglio also called on the Pentagon to reconsider plans to livestream Hasan’s Dec. 3 execution at Fort Hood, Texas. “As I would
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has warned that treating artificial-intelligence systems as spiritual authorities or surrendering human judgment to them presents “a real safety issue,” as recent disputes involving Grok and Anthropic’s Claude intensify debate about AI, religion and moral status. “I am very uncomfortable about people trying to ascribe religious force or a surrender of human
Briley Lechner and her father filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit Oct. 9 against Monroe Public Schools, the Michigan High School Athletic Association and two district officials, alleging that school administrators concealed a transgender athlete’s participation in a 2025 girls’ volleyball match. The Thomas More Law Center filed the case on behalf of the 16-year-old Monroe
A recent theological discussion among Christian writers has focused on a longstanding question: If Christ has already paid for believers’ sins, why do Christians continue asking God for forgiveness? The debate turns largely on the distinction between justification—God’s once-for-all declaration that sinners are righteous in Christ—and sanctification, the continuing process of repentance and spiritual growth. Writing
Catholic charity volunteer Isabel Vaughan-Spruce has entered fresh not guilty pleas to five criminal charges alleging that she breached a legally enforced buffer zone around an abortion clinic in Birmingham, in a case that is set to test how far the United Kingdom’s new abortion “safe access zone” law can reach into silent prayer and
An interdenominational coalition behind the National Week of Prayer is inviting Christians across the British Isles to nine days of united prayer from 10 to 18 October 2026, building on two previous nationwide prayer weeks in 2024 and 2025. On its “Our Story” page, the National Week of Prayer describes what began as “a quiet call
New national survey data indicate that evangelical Protestants in the United States remain among the most religiously observant Christians, even as their share of the overall population continues a gradual decline. The latest Religious Landscape Study from Pew Research Center, released in early 2025, reports that Christianity’s long-running decline has slowed and may even be leveling