As questions about the afterlife resurface in churches and online, Catholic, Protestant and other Christian teachers are publishing new explanations of purgatory and whether the doctrine can be grounded in the Bible, highlighting deep but evolving differences across traditions. In Catholic teaching, purgatory is described as a state of final purification for those who die in
A leaked motion on abortion in the Scottish National Party’s draft conference agenda has triggered a wave of concern from pro-life advocates and church leaders after new analysis suggested abortion has become Scotland’s leading cause of death. The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) published an analysis in August using official abortion figures alongside
Creed frontman Scott Stapp turned a nostalgic rock set into an unexpected moment of public worship during the band’s headlining appearance at the Velocity Festival at the Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville, Iowa, on Sunday night, September 6, 2026. The three-day Velocity Festival returned to the iconic cornfield ballpark over Labor Day weekend, bringing
Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has issued a direct appeal to President Donald Trump to halt mass deportations of Haitian immigrants from the United States. His letter, dated Tuesday, September 8, warns that continuing to send Haitians back in large numbers at a moment of extreme
With a new book set to release on September 8, 2026, Catholic author and Ethics and Public Policy Center fellow Noelle Mering is putting a spotlight on the growing phenomenon of adult children severing ties with parents over political and ideological differences. The forthcoming title, No Contact: How a Seductive Ideology Broke Families and Friendships
In the past several years, a cluster of popular Christian teaching sites has published fresh articles tackling a question that rarely surfaces in formal church statements but continues to interest lay readers: can angels die, and if so, in what sense? Major evangelical apologetics ministries, conditional immortality advocates, and Catholic catechetical resources have all weighed
A growing body of demographic research is drawing attention to how economic uncertainty, delayed partnership and shifting attitudes toward family life are together pushing fertility rates downward in many parts of the world. Analyses of recent recessions in Europe and the United States consistently find that periods of rising unemployment are followed by short-term drops in
The United States is on course to complete the current fiscal year without resettling a single refugee who fled their country because of religious persecution, a prospect Christian aid agencies say would mark a break from at least a quarter-century of practice. Refugee advocates trace the shift to a series of Trump administration decisions that first
A coalition of clergy abuse survivors has launched ProtestantAccountability.org, a national database that compiles public information on more than 2,700 Protestant pastors and church workers who have been publicly accused of sexual abuse or of mishandling allegations in their ministries. The project, announced in an online press conference organized by the Survivors Network of those
New international research is finding that young adults are now reporting the lowest levels of wellbeing, even as religious practice emerges as a powerful predictor of flourishing. Together, the Global Flourishing Study and Gallup’s global polling point to a decade-long rise in unhappiness and a surprising protective role for regular worship attendance. The Global Flourishing Study