Individual liberty versus the common good and the ongoing need for comprehensive immigration reform were among the issues religious groups continued to debate as the High Court’s current term came to a close More →

June 29, 2012

A national debate is underway over the First Amendment, federal law, and whether “reasonable minds can disagree” about what religious freedom means. Watch excerpts from some recent interviews. More →

June 15, 2012

Catholic groups filed lawsuits in federal courts on May 21 to stop the Obama administration from implementing a mandate that would require them to cover contraceptives in their health plans. More →

May 25, 2012

“Rick Santorum is a very particular kind of Catholic…A lot of Catholics don’t see themselves in him, and a lot of people actually don’t even know that he’s Catholic. Most people assume he’s an evangelical,” says Religion News Service editor in chief Kevin Eckstrom.
know that he’s Catholic. Most people assume he’s an evangelical.” More →

March 9, 2012

Trying to balance issues of public health and religious liberty, the Obama administration announced a plan to calm anger over a new rule that would require health insurance plans, including those offered by Roman Catholic hospitals, universities, and charities, to provide free birth control to female employees. Instead, insurance companies rather than religious institutions will be required to offer contraceptive coverage at no cost. More →

February 10, 2012

Catholic Charities in Illinois refuses to accept same-sex couples for adoption or foster parenting. Should the state, which recognizes civil unions, withdraw its funding of the charity? More →

September 30, 2011

Watch excerpts from newly-announced GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s April 28, 2011 speech at the National Press Club. More →

June 6, 2011

“As Muslim societies wrestle with how to treat religious minorities, let them look to our nation,” said Cardinal Theodore McCarrick this week in his congressional testimony on protecting the civil rights of American Muslims. Watch excerpts from the hearing. More →

March 30, 2011

During decades of civil war in Sudan, says John Ashworth of Catholic Relief Services, the church was the only institution on the ground with the people, and because of that it gained huge moral authority. Now South Sudan is voting in a referendum for independence from the Muslim-majority national government in Khartoum. More →

January 14, 2011

Was it worth it? Was it just? Did the good exceed the harm? William Galston and Michael Cromartie discuss the costs and consequences of the Iraq war as the US ends its combat mssion. More →

September 3, 2010