Beliefs

Beliefs

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Beliefs episodes

  • Anglican Bishop Martin Warner and Brexit: Approaching the final hour

    The United Kingdom is weeks away from a forced exit from the European Union that will bring unknown changes to the economy, politics, logistics, and everyday life. In advance of the Church of England General Synod in London, producer Jonathan Woodward speaks with Bishop Martin Warner of the West Sussex Diocese of Chichester. 

    Why do the bishops generally support the Remain campaign, while 66% of Anglicans voted Brexit?

    What changes, responsibilities, and concerns does the church anticipate meeting?

    Is this the first time the Isles have parted ways from the power structures on the Continent?

     

    20 min
  • This Week From Religion News Service
    From Religion News Service:
    Three significant branches of the Christian faith are engaged in high stakes Assemblies of their leaders. Each are wrestling with issues that involve issues of self-identification and internal policies, as well as issues that reveal how deeply the secular world is instigating evolution in churches worldwide. 
    ***  Pope Francis opened a highly anticipated four-day meeting on his church’s ongoing sex abuse crisis. Francis called on assembled bishops and other Catholic leaders to “hear the cry of the little ones who plead for justice” and be “concrete.” 
    Francis opened the conference the featured episcopal presidents of the more than 150 nations and nearly 20 clerics by distributing 21 “reflection points” for consideration by church leaders. The recommendations included preparing a handbook for local churches to follow in abuse cases, establishing protocols for handling accusations against bishops and raising the minimum age for marriage to 16. 
    Abuse survivors and supporters staged a rally and march in downtown Rome included sharp responses to an admission by a German cardinal that the church has destroyed files documenting sexual abuse abuse by its priests. 
    The vague disclosure on the third day of the Vatican’s summit on sex abuse, the theme of which was transparency, infuriated advocates for abuse victims.   
    ***United Methodist Church is meeting this weekend in St. Louis to decide on an internal rift  and possible schism on sexuality. 
    The special session of the United Methodist Church General Conference runs Sunday to Tuesday in St. Louis. The session seeks to determine the official, permanent Methodist position on clergy’s sexual orientation. Currently, the denomination’s rulebook, the Book of Discipline, includes language that bars gay and lesbian members from ordination and marriage. 
    Changing that language has been debated at every General Conference since 1972.  *** The Church of England’s most senior leaders are discussing the handling of Brexit at the church’s General Synod. In a special motion at synod, just weeks before the Brexit deadline, the archbishops of Canterbury and York urge politicians to do more to heal divisions in society. 
    The archbishops calling for 5 days of prayer for Parliament members and the government.
    3 min
  • This week's religion news headlines
    From Religion News Service: 
    ***  Former U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has been defrocked. Vatican officials found McCarrick guilty of soliciting for sex while hearing confession, and sexual crimes against minors and adults. 
    McCarrick is the highest-ranking churchman to be laicized, as the process is called. He can no longer celebrate Mass or other sacraments, wear clerical vestments or be addressed by any religious title. 
    McCarrick rose to the heights of church power, Despite the apparent common knowledge in church circles of his sexual behavior. He even acted as the spokesman for U.S. bishops when they enacted a “zero tolerance” policy against sexually abusive priests in 2002. 
    ***The embattled pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel, has been fired by the Chicago megachurch he founded three decades ago. 
    James MacDonald’s departure follows years of controversy over his leadership style and the church’s finances. MacDonald was removed as Senior Pastor for behavior Elders called contrary and harmful to the best interests of the church.” 
     *** Julián Castro officially launched his candidacy for president, stressing his Catholic faith. Castro served as U.S. secretary of Housing and Urban Development during President Obama’s second term. Analysts say Castro has the potential to galvanize a growing national Latino vote. Hispanic Catholics make up 34 percent of all American Catholics, and roughly 64 percent of them are Democrats or lean Democratic.  
    ***A third-party investigation into a controversial January encounter between a Native American group and students from a Kentucky Catholic high school concluded that there is “no evidence” of racist or offensive statements by the students. 
    Yet the same report also conceded that some students from Covington Catholic High School responded to a Native American man drumming and singing by performing the “tomahawk chop” used by some sports teams — an action many Native Americans find offensive.
    3 min
  • Elizabeth Peale Allen on the life and legacy of her father, Norman Vincent Peale

    Norman Vincent Peale was one of the most famous ministers of the 20th century as one of the first radio, and later television, preachers.  His program "The Art Of Living" aired for 54 years.  Peale was very much at the intersection of religion and politics.  He was a close friend of Richard Nixon, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan, and many presidents spoke well of him.  

    Donald Trump attended his church, Marble Collegiate, with his parents.  Both he and his two sisters were married there.  Reportedly, he cited Peale as a formative influence on his life.  

    Who was this famous preacher and author?  We're joined by someone who should know.  His daughter Elizabeth Peale Allen, Chairman of the Board of Guideposts, The Blanton-Peale Institute and Counseling Center and other not-for profit organizations. 

    25 min
  • David Gibson on women priests and the growing unaffiliated community of believers

    The Fordham Center on Religion and Culture was established to confront the questions arising at the intersection of religious traditions and contemporary culture. Director David Gibson came to the helm of the Center last year after a long and distinguished career as the one of the nation’s top religion reporter.  

    Beginning with his first beat working in Rome for Vatican Radio, Gibson wrote for various magazines and national media, such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and for Catholic publications like America magazine and Commonweal.

     

    29 min
  • Jack Jenkins and the Rise of the New Charismatic Christians

    Charismatic Christians are spiritually related to Pentecostals through certain spiritual practices, including divine healing, prophecy and speaking in tongues. Pew Research Center estimates there are just over 300 million Charismatics worldwide.   

    Religion News Service reporter Jack Jenkins has been following Charismatics as their rituals and beliefs evolve into a modern political/spiritual hybrid.  Jenkins joined producer Jonathan Woodward via Skype;  talking through developments in the rise of a politically strengthened Charismatic movement. 

    29 min
  • "Inaccurate, Unfair, Misleading" - Peter Steinfels on the PA Grand Jury Report

    Acclaimed religion reporter for the New York Times, Peter Steinfels recently authored an article in the publication Commonweal. In it he makes an impassioned, meticulously developed case that a recent grand jury report on sexual abuse in Pennsylvania was, quote, “Inaccurate, Unfair, and Misleading”.  

    Steinfels claims the report was surrounded by journalistic laziness, misrepresentation of the efforts made by the Catholic Church to address the crisis, and a dramatic roll-out of accusations that were not supported by the report. 

    Host Bill Baker speaks to Steinfels to unpack his criticisms of the report.

    22 min
  • American sharia paranoia - with Re-Sight Islam podcast host Qasim Rashid Esq.

    Qasim Rashid is a critically acclaimed author, attorney, activist and host of the Religion News Foundation podcast, Re-Sight Islam. Drawing on the recent events in Texas involving an attempt to oust a local Republican Party operative specifically because of his Muslim faith, Beliefs producer talks with Qasim about the vibrancy of this public religious discrimination and the pernicious concept of 'stealth jihad'.

    20 min
  • Author Michael Sean Winters on the state of the Catholic Church

    It's been another foundation-shaking year in the Catholic Church as revelations of sexual predation and abuse by its most senior clerics are seemingly unending. Author Michael Sean Winters writes for the National Catholic Reporter and The Tablet. Host Bill Baker and Winters sat down to puzzle out some of the paths forward for the Church in 2019.

     

    22 min

About Beliefs

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An exploration of ideas behind the news of religion.