Sightings Articles
Canonizations — Martin E. Marty
Yesterday, the Roman Catholic world and many other worlds celebrated the canonization of two new saints, Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II. Non-comatose readers ofSightings need no further attention to be paid to the details and the drama of the ...
April 28, 2014
Habemus Sanctum: Catholic Church Recognizes Two Former Popes as Saints — Matthew Petrusek
On April 27th, Pope Francis will canonize two new saints, both former popes: Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II. The event will likely draw millions of the faithful (and the curious) to Rome to witness the ceremony. To formally recognize some...
April 24, 2014
British Priesthood Uptick — Martin E. Marty
Do you know what “wonga” is? I didn’t, but my research assistant, Dr. Google, helped me learn. An Australian English word of aboriginal origin, “wonga” is slang for money in certain parts of Britain. Why care? Because the staid Economist (April 19, 2...
April 21, 2014
Activist Barbara Ehrenreich on "Living With a 'Wild' God" — Betty M. Bayer
Online, radio, and print news is abuzz about Barbara Ehrenreich’s new book, Living with a Wild God, with the paradoxical subtitle, A Nonbeliever’s Search for the Truth about Everything. And, yes, this is the “fourth-generation atheist,” Barbara Ehren...
April 17, 2014
Pope Asks for Forgiveness — Martin E. Marty
Holy Week in the Western Christian calendar is a time for Christians to confess their sins, ask for forgiveness, and seek to amend their lives. A billion believers will be doing all that in the five days ahead. Some may do it in their churches, some ...
April 14, 2014
Have Digital Devices Become Modern Fetishes? — Rory Johnson
In the first season of the television series Revolution a show about a post-apocalyptic Earth where electrical devices cannot function Maggie Foster, played by Anna Lise Philips, carries a defunct cell phone in hopes that one day the power will retur...
April 10, 2014
Business Ethics — Martin E. Marty
Fifty Catholic academic-ethicists wrote President John Garvey of the Catholic University of America (CUA), protesting the university’s acceptance of $1 million from the Charles Koch Foundation to support programs on “principled entrepreneurship.” S...
April 7, 2014
Science vs the Bible: Reasons Why This Debate Will Never Be Settled — Peter Han
On March 17 (2014), scientists announced new findings consistent with the Big Bang Theory. Gravitational waves dating back to instants after the universe came into being, 13.7 billion years ago, were detected by telescope. Regardless of mounting e...
April 3, 2014
Science vs the Bible: Reasons Why This Debate Will Never Be Settled - Peter Han
On March 17 (2014), scientists announced new findings consistent with the Big Bang Theory. Gravitational waves dating back to instants after the universe came into being, 13.7 billion years ago, were detected by telescope. Regardless of mounting e...
April 3, 2014
Hobby Lobby — Martin E. Marty
At the end of its current session, probably in June, the United States Supreme Court will hand down rulings on a case coded by many as a “religious freedom” issue. Religious America, or, if you prefer, Secular America, through its media and popular e...