Religion Unplugged

12/15/2025

Activists advocating for the repatriation of artifacts “stolen by Pope Pius XI and his missionaries” from Indigenous communities are displeased by Pope Leo XIV’s labeling of the items as a “gift” despite his agreement to return them.

A statement issued by the Holy See and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops on Nov. 15 said that the pope “gifted to the CCCB the 62 artifacts belonging to the ethnological collections of the Vatican Museums” as “an act of ecclesial sharing.”

“Pope Leo XIV desires that this gift represent a concrete sign of dialogue, respect, and fraternity,” the statement noted, explaining that “the Holy Father’s gift” takes place in the context of the Jubilee of 2025 and the centenary of the Vatican Missionary Exhibition.

Activists and academics advocating for the repatriation of artifacts “stolen by Pope Pius XI and his missionaries” from Indigenous First Nations communities are displeased by Pope Leo XIV’s labeling of these items as a “gift” despite his agreement to return them.

12/15/2025

Journalist Graciela Ibáñez can spot a story anywhere — and often, they are hidden in plain sight.

In a recent feature story for Religion Unplugged, she recounted the evolving history and modern struggles of a prominent church in La Paz, Bolivia, founded in 1549, centuries before the country fought for and gained independence from Spain.

The building bore scars from wartime occupations, extensions built during its host city's heyday, and graffiti from modern-day vandalism. San Francisco church is both a witness to the history of the city and an institution still shaping its neighbors' lives and identities.

“Religion Unplugged covers religions around the globe, giving you a broader view of faith,” she said. “In my reporting, I look for religion in art, culture and politics. Religion is more present in our lives than we sometimes think, and it can change our decisions.”

12/14/2025

In a world saturated with sound bites and headlines that often miss the heart of the matter, your support helps us stay committed to something deeper: Thoughtful, well-reported and global stories on faith and spirituality.

Throughout this giving season, we have a unique chance to make your support go even further through the annual NewsMatch program, a matching-gift campaign powered by the Institute for Nonprofit News, and generosity of The Media Project board, that helps newsrooms like ours grow stronger and reach more people.

Now through Dec. 31, every tax-deductible donation you make will be doubled, up to $35,000. That means your gift has twice the power to support independent, high-quality journalism at a time when it’s never been needed more.

Now through Dec. 31, every tax-deductible donation you make will be doubled, up to $35,000. That means your gift has twice the power to support independent, high-quality journalism at a time when it’s never been needed more.

12/14/2025

A Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach turned deadly on Sunday with updated reports of at least 15 dead, including a Chabad rabbi, a Holocaust survivor and a 12-year-old girl.

A Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach turned deadly on Sunday with updated reports of at least 15 dead, including a Chabad rabbi, a Holocaust survivor and a 12-year-old girl. One suspect was killed at the scene and the other was arrested, in a targeted attack on Jews that authorities are ...

12/12/2025

You die and go to … well, it’s complicated.

You wake up on a train. At the station, you follow the crowd. You connect with your afterlife coordinator.

You have a week to decide where to spend eternity.

And, by the way, your wife of 65 years must choose between you and her first husband — a war hero who’s waited 67 years to see her again.

In the afterlife, your wife of 65 years must choose between you and her first husband — a war hero who’s waited 67 years to see her again. That’s the intriguing plot of “Eternity,” a new romantic comedy starring Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen and Callum Turner.

12/12/2025

Kenya's Rastafarian community returned to the High Court in November, pressing for the decriminalization of cannabis in religious worship. They argue that the country's narcotics laws violate their constitutional rights to privacy and faith.

Despite cannabis's central role in Rastafarian worship, adherents face persistent criminalization rooted in colonial-era laws that branded the herb as a dangerous narcotic. Britain's 1922 Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, later entrenched in Kenya's 1994 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, imposes a minimum 10-year prison term for simple possession, forcing Rastafarians to conduct chalice rituals in secret or risk arrest.

Despite cannabis's central role in Rastafarian worship, adherents face persistent criminalization and face a minimum 10-year prison term for simple possession. Police raids on tabernacles remain routine across Kenya, with officers confiscating plants, destroying drums and sometimes forcibly cutting

12/11/2025

The cause of the Nov. 10 plane crash that killed a Christian evangelist and his daughter in Coral Springs, Florida, remains a mystery following the release of a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

12/11/2025

In a study published in the journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,” we analyzed 38 million obituaries of Americans published from 1998 to 2024. We identified the values families most often highlight, and how those values shift across generations, regions and major historical events.

(ANALYSIS) Obituaries preserve what families most want remembered about the people they cherish most. Across time, they also reveal the values each era chose to honor. In a study published in the journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,” we analyzed 38 million obituaries of Amer...

12/11/2025

Churches and cathedrals around the U.K. hold works of art by some of the most important and exciting artists of the past 100 years. But unless you know where to look, many can be hard to find.

Churches and cathedrals around the U.K. hold works of art by some of the most important and exciting artists of the past 100 years. Here's where to look.

12/10/2025

Malina Gindu and Emmanuele Gualandri, who both attended the 2025 European Journalism Institute training program held in Prague, report from the Czech capital on the country’s Christian heritage and what religion means to the people living there today.

Malina Gindu and Emmanuele Gualandri, who both attended the 2025 European Journalism Institute training program held in Prague, report from the Czech capital...

12/10/2025

Red post boxes are one of the most well-known and iconic British symbols — but at Christmas, they take on a very different ambiance, often overnight.

Posting Christmas cards becomes even more fun as you never know quite what might appear on top of the post box.

It is all the fault of eager crafters' “yarn bombing” of post boxes. Instead of traditional red tops, the post boxes are suddenly covered in knitted or crocheted toppers adorned with all manner of Christmas images.

Red post boxes are one of the most well-known and iconic British symbols – but at Christmas, they take on a very different ambiance, often overnight.

12/09/2025

Catechesis is almost as old as Christianity itself. And while many catechisms have evolved over the years, the age of catechisms is rarely seen as a drawback — if anything, knowing that a catechism is tried and true can be what makes people trust it. But Trevin Wax and Thomas West believe it is worth developing a new catechism.

Catechesis is almost as old as Christianity itself. And while many catechisms have evolved over the years, the age of catechisms is rarely seen as a drawback...