Roman Catholicism

“The Vatican on Monday published a letter Francis wrote to the cardinals on July 11…. In it, Francis suggests that such blessings could be studied if they didn’t confuse the blessing with sacramental marriage.” - RNS

“The summit will bring 464 Catholic clergy and laypeople, including women, to the Vatican to discuss hot-button issues ranging from sexual abuse to LGBTQ inclusion and female ordination.” - RNS

“42% now identify as Protestants (a large majority being evangelical Christians) while 39.9% identify as Roman Catholics, according to the results of a survey conducted by M&R Consultores.” - Evangelical Focus

“In this video, Credo Fellow Gavin Ortlund expresses the Protestant concern about the bodily assumption of Mary and responds to 6 common defenses of this dogma” - Credo

“The statement frames abortion as a personal choice in keeping with Catholic teaching regarding freedom of conscience and suggests restrictive abortion laws may violate the separation of church and state.” - RNS

“Much evangelical superficiality depends on a one-sided, sentimental, or flattened reading of the ‘slice’ of Roman Catholicism that one is most familiar with, without taking into account the reality of the ‘whole’ ” - Evangelical Focus

“More than 450 Catholic clergy in Illinois sexually abused nearly 2,000 children since 1950, the state’s attorney general found in an investigation released Tuesday, revealing that the problem was far worse than the church had let on.” - RNS

“under the new changes, five religious sisters will join five priests as voting representatives for religious orders.” - NPR

Also… Pope Francis clears way for women and lay Catholics to vote in upcoming bishops’ meeting - RNS

“By contrast, the share of Latinos who identify as Protestants – including evangelical Protestants – has been relatively stable, while the percentage who are religiously unaffiliated has grown substantially over the same period.” - Pew

“It is a peculiarity of Catholicism and the issue of last rites that consigns suicide to the category of the unforgivable sin…. it is surprising how deep-seated that view of suicide is among Christians.” - Ligonier