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New York Times
23-05-2025
- General
- New York Times
People Long to Believe, Both Inside and Outside Religion
I had a particularly geriatric habit as a fourth grader: I set an analog alarm clock for 5:45 every morning. Without hitting snooze, I'd get up, pour myself a bowl of Special K cereal and sit down in front of the TV to watch the 'Today' show. As a Mormon kid in Arkansas, I found the show to be my portal to other worlds — my way of crossing the boundary between the religious and the secular. For a moment in 2005, though, that boundary seemed to collapse. After the death of Pope John Paul II, the show relocated to Vatican City, where the pageantry of the broadcast (the anchors, their makeup, the outfits) mixed with the majesty of Catholicism (the cardinals, their crosses, the robes). For those weeks, religion wasn't dismissed as peripheral. It was the whole story. That was when I first felt I could become a journalist. I was raised a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I grew up and eventually left my faith, but I couldn't shake my interest in stories about belief. The topic contains so much: people's origins, their longing and their most intimate experiences. Their grief, despair and hope. I felt how potent the stories were in my own life. And I wanted to tell them. Last year, I set out to report Believing, a project from The New York Times that explores how religion and spirituality shape people's lives. I traveled to several countries, interviewed hundreds of people and heard from more than 5,000 Times readers — including those who identified as religious or nonreligious — about their experiences. I also commissioned essays from writers about a significant moment in their spiritual lives. This was a particularly difficult reporting project. It was a big topic: I was attempting to capture the variety and complexity of belief. It was sensitive: I was asking people to tell me some of their most private thoughts and experiences. (For the last 30 years of rapid secularization in the West, most people have avoided sharing those stories publicly.) And it was personal: I have my own deep and complicated history with faith and family. So, where did I start? As journalists, we usually stay out of the story. But in this case, I decided to share my personal experiences with the people I was interviewing, to help create a sense of openness and trust. 'I was raised a devout Mormon in Arkansas, but I no longer practice,' I'd say. 'Still, I understand how significant religion and spirituality can be in shaping a life.' In each conversation, I was clear that I was a reporter, and that I didn't have any agenda. I was just curious; I wanted to understand. Many religious people said they felt comfortable speaking with me because they knew I understood faith. I had lived inside the rituals, obligations and beliefs of a religion. Some nonreligious people, many of whom said they had painful exits from religious communities, said they felt they could share their stories because they knew I had done my own wrestling. I searched for stories everywhere: I sat in silence at Quaker meetings; marveled at the intricacy of Hindu temples; heard calls to prayer at mosques; met with evangelicals in the American South; ate a meal at a Sikh gurdwara in Britain; witnessed an Orthodox Christian feast day in Greece; stumbled into churches in France, Italy and Mexico; observed Shabbat; attended a 'death cafe'; heard soccer fans sing hymns during games; and asked women what drew them to astrology. Above all, I listened. The actor Orlando Bloom explained his conversion to Buddhism at 16. Mitt Romney, the former senator, said Bain Capital had shaped his beliefs. Tishani Doshi, the Indian poet, discussed her pilgrimages to the world's holiest places. The singer and actress Kristin Chenoweth described mixing faith and fame. Colum McCann, the Irish writer, reflected on his bike ride across the American South, searching for a God. The singer Andrea Bocelli played the piano and sang for me before he shared his story of embracing Catholicism. As a young man, he had read the works of Leo Tolstoy and Blaise Pascal and discovered faith. It carried him through his life. In their stories and others, I discovered a powerful, common theme: In a moment of division and disagreement, partisanship and polarization, people long to believe in something. As my reporting continued, that longing also appeared in the data. A few months ago, the Pew Research Center released a study that found that nearly the entire country, 92 percent of American adults, said they had some form of spiritual belief — in a God, human souls or spirits, an afterlife or something 'beyond' the material world. 'We're meaning-making creatures,' the journalist and professor Michael Pollan told me. 'That's never gone away.' Many people express that desire for meaning inside a faith. But many others look for it outside. Religions don't have a monopoly on meaning, and dogmatism isn't just expressed by the faithful. I've seen longing in the crowds of sobbing faces at Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. I've watched it transform President Trump's rallies into revivals. I feel it in people's unyielding devotion to a sports team, to environmental activism, their country or their political party. I discern, in all of these moments, a persistent hope for some form of salvation or transcendence. These are human desires and impulses, appearing in many forms. In Believing, I'm offering a snapshot of how these desires manifest both inside and outside religion. Still, there are so many more stories to tell.
New York Times
18-05-2025
- General
- New York Times
Until 60 Years Ago, New Popes Were Crowned
In the book 'A Reporter at the Papal Court,' published in 1937, Thomas B. Morgan, then the head of The United Press bureau in Rome wrote that Pope Pius XI's inauguration ceremony in 1922 had been 'more dazzling and colorful' that the coronation of the king of England. One wow factor would have been the moment of the coronation of the pope. From the 12th century until Paul VI stopped using a papal crown in 1964, the installation Mass included a solemn moment when the pontiff was crowned with an elaborate gold and jewel-encrusted tiara. The pope would not wear the tiara during liturgical ceremonies 'but only when entering and exiting certain solemn ceremonies,' said Rev. Stefano Sanchirico, co-author of a book on papal rituals. Paul VI stopped using the tiara and chose to wear a miter instead, as his successors have done. The papal tiara ended up in the United States, where it is now in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. In his homily during his inauguration Mass on Oct. 22, 1978, Pope John Paul II noted that popes had been crowned in the past, but said the focus should be elsewhere. 'This is not the time to return to a ceremony and an object considered, wrongly, to be a symbol of the temporal power of the Popes,' he said. Archival footage offers a glimpse of the grandeur of the ceremony. A 1939 film that includes the coronation of Pope Pius XII shows crowds roaring in St. Peter's Square, as he was carried on an elevated throne through the atrium of the basilica. The pope then moved to a balcony and was crowned. A film of the coronation of Pope John XXIII in 1958 shows him being crowned, with the narrator proclaiming him: 'The vicar of Christ on earth.' Doing away with the crown was not the only way in which Paul VI looked to open the church to the modern world: He also moved the ceremony outside to the area in front of the basilica, where was carried through the crowd on a raised throne by sediari, a lay brotherhood that still has a role in the Vatican — they were the pallbearers who carried Pope Francis' coffin.
Daily Mail
18-05-2025
- Daily Mail
How Pope Leo XIV broke a major rule with his popemobile entrance before his inaugural Mass
Pope Leo XIV broke a major rule at his inaugural mass today as he arrived in his popemobile. Royals, world leaders and Catholics are gathered in Vatican City's St Peter's Square to attend Leo's historic Sunday mass service. The newly elected Pope Leo, 69, arrived at around 8.15am and could be seen addressing the crowd from his open-top popemobile. Similarly to predecessor Pope Francis, Chicago-born Leo has chosen to ditch the bulletproof glass protections usually offered to pontiffs. The first 'official' popemobile was a Mercedes-Benz Nürburg 460 Pullman given to Pope Pius XI in 1930, and came with plush silk carpeting and doves embossed on the exterior. Its famous nickname came later in the 1970s. It was introduced as a key way to interact with followers, but after an assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981, it was modified to also act as a defence vehicle. Mehmet Ali Agca was a hitman and former member of Turkish far-right group the Grey Wolves. He was imprisoned for the murder of Abdi Ipekci, who was the editor-in-chief of a Turkish newspaper in February 1979, but escaped and travelled to Vatican City on May 13, 1981 to assassinate Pope John Paul. Bodyguards hold Pope John Paul II after he was shot on May 13, 1981, in St Peter's Square by a Turkish extremist Mehmet Ali Agca Agca opened fire and shot the Pope four times as he was greeting worshippers in St Peter's Square, leaving him seriously injured. The gunman was sentenced to 29 years in jail for the shooting and for murdering the newspaper editor and now lives in Istanbul. After the attack, popemobiles were fitted with bulletproof glass and heavy armour to protect the pontiffs from any further attempts on their lives. The late Pope Francis was the first to turn down the security measures when he was elected in 2013, instead opting for a open-top, unlike Pope Benedict who came before him. In 2014, he told Spanish media he didn't like the glass 'sardine can' as he felt it put distance between himself and his followers. Pope Leo's decision to keep the same exposed design signals another break from tradition after the American pontiff opted to speak English at his first mass in the Sistine Chapel following his election on May 9. English is hardly ever used as the opening language of a papal homily, particularly in such a formal and symbolic moment like the first mass. Addressing the cardinals in his Chicago accent, Leo explained he would sing a new song to the Lord before continuing the rest of his mass in Italian. Pope Leo XIV greets the faithful as people hand him babies as he arrives in the popemobile As he arrived for his inaugural mass today, Leo waved from the back of the popemobile which looped slowly through the square as the crowd waved flags and cheered 'Viva il Papa!'. Born in Chicago, the pontiff spent many years as a missionary in Peru and also has Peruvian citizenship, meaning he is also the first pontiff tied to that South American nation. One person in the crowd shouted out 'White Sox, White Sox,' referring to the Chicago baseball team at the bottom of the American League standings. It was here that Francis took his last popemobile ride on Easter Sunday, and it was on the back of a popemobile that Francis' casket was brought across Rome last month to its final resting place. Leo, an Augustinian missionary elected on May 8 after a 24-hour conclave, seems a bit more timid than Francis. But all eyes will be on how he manages the throngs of pilgrims, tourists and curiosity-seekers, and the babies who will inevitably be passed up to him for him to bless. After the festive public tour in the square, Leo headed into the basilica to begin the solemn ceremony to inaugurate his ministry in a series of rites that emphasise the service that he's called to perform in leading the Catholic Church. He prays first at the tomb of St. Peter, considered to be the first pope, under the basilica's main altar and then processes out into the piazza for the Mass.
Washington Post
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Can Leo, a pan-American pope, boost the Catholic Church's popularity?
VATICAN CITY — In just 10 days, he's brought Chicago-bred English to the hallowed Holy See, given a jolt to White Sox merchandising and hosted a global tennis icon. But as the first American pontiff readies for his sacred inauguration Sunday in St. Peter's Square, the burning question for the globe's largest Christian faith is whether Pope Leo XIV can also fill the pews. There are early signs that Leo is capitalizing on the moment and gaining traction within a divided church: His first Sunday blessing drew 150,000 attendees. At 69, and after a meteoric rise under Pope Francis that saw Leo go from bishop to cardinal to pope within two years, he has brought what observers describe as a more youthful, American brand of energy to an ancient office held for decades by far older men. For now, Leo is enjoying something of a honeymoon. But it is too early to know precisely what kind of pope he will be. Pope John Paul II, who was Polish and became the first non-Italian pontiff in four-and-half centuries, for a time ignited a religious renaissance in Eastern Europe and drew rock-star-like crowds from Rio de Janeiro to Manila. His cause against communism revitalized papal authority, though some of the gains he achieved in church attendance, especially in Europe, eventually petered out. By comparison, Pope Benedict XVI's pontificate was seen as transitional, plagued by mishaps in interfaith relations and encircled at times by scandal. But the German pope still galvanized traditional Catholics while delivering modest annual growth for the church. Francis, the first Latin American pope and a lightning rod for some traditionalists, enjoyed enormous crossover popularity in the secular world (Elton John dubbed him a 'hero'). He drove headlines — if not a mad rush to Mass. In 2013, his first year as pope, he drew more than 7.3 million faithful to St. Peter's Square for his Wednesday and Sunday audiences and public prayers, according to figures supplied by the Vatican. By 2024, that number had shrunk to 1.68 million. Globally, the church still grew, but slightly more slowly than during Benedict's tenure, and it faced mounting challenges including irrelevance in Europe, polarization in the United States and competition from evangelical faiths in the developing world. Enter Leo, who is not just the first American pope but also the second Latin American one, given his naturalization as a dual citizen while serving the church in Peru. On Sunday, before a court of cardinals, global dignitaries and an expected vast crowd at St. Peter's, the pontiff will be fitted with the Ring of the Fisherman, so called because Peter, guided by Jesus, drew a miraculous catch of fish in his nets. 'The beginning has a certain … not mythology, not mythos … but wonder,' said the German Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, a longtime Francis critic who has showered Leo with early praise. Leo is already casting a wide net. While repeating Francis's emphasis on social justice and calling for the dignity of migrants in a keynote speech Friday, Leo also hewed to church doctrine and nodded to traditionalists, saying that societies should be 'founded upon the stable union between a man and a woman.' Inés San Martín, vice president of communications for the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States, a missionary network under the pope, said the important thing is not whether people flock to the church in Leo's first year. 'Will the people stay on in year five?' she asked. Nowhere is the Catholic Church more progressive than in Germany, which earned reprimands from Francis for moving too fast toward reform. Leo has signaled skepticism on some issues dear to the German church — including ordination of women as deacons. But church leaders are already hearing some of what they want. Leo has signaled continuity with Francis's focus on human dignity while displaying personal humility in intimate settings. The German church has also welcomed Leo's early pronouncement of being in line with Francis on synodality — or the late pope's push to bring lay people into the top decision-making process at the Vatican and create a less top-down church. But more than 1.2 million German Catholics have formally left the church in the past three years, for reasons that include abuse scandals, impatience for reform and the economic pinch of the country's mandatory church tax. Leaders of the German church, which is desperately needed by the financially challenged Vatican because of its sheer wealth, are willing to give Leo time — but their patience will also have limits. 'I sincerely hope for Catholics in Germany, 96 percent of whom are seeking reforms and urgently expect movement from their church, that we can see more steps forward. I am aware that solutions will not come overnight. But it would really disappoint us if it stayed the way it is,' said Irme Stetter-Karp, president of the Central Committee of German Catholics. Leo has also earned early applause from Catholics who Francis had alienated by rejecting some traditions. They cite Leo's expected return to the papal residence inside the grand Apostolic Palace, as opposed to the boardinghouse where Francis chose to live simply. Leo made his first appearance as pope adorned in more elaborate papal fashion, as opposed to Francis, who wore plain white. Leo has also shown a propensity for Latin — the ancient tongue of the church embraced by traditionalists, which Francis sometimes uttered but typically eschewed. He has distanced himself from Francis's more apologetic views of Russia, by firmly standing with Ukraine. In his first speeches, Leo has also deployed a word, 'unity,' seen by some as a euphemism for the notion of returning to a more traditional papacy that more strictly embraces doctrine. While sharp critiques of Leo have appeared in some traditional Catholic blogs and outlets, other conservatives have waxed poetic. 'Is anyone else getting the feeling like we have woken up from a 12-year nightmare, and it just seems like what is happening now can't be real?' conservative Catholic writer and self-described 'Christian nationalist' Shane Schaetzel, wrote on X. In the U.S., signs of excitement and enthusiasm are everywhere, from live talk radio to overjoyed social media posts, on the left and on the right. Church attendance since Leo's election has doubled in places, including at Villanova University, the pope's alma mater. Leaders at Catholic schools and foundations have begun talking about how to capitalize on the moment and extend it. 'How do you make sure moments like these become not just a flame but an accelerant to something broader?' said Kathleen Porter Magee, managing partner of the nonprofit Leadership Roundtable, which works to bring best management practices to Catholic institutions. A recently released Pew Research report said while the years-long decline in U.S. Christianity seems to be plateauing, that is not the case with Catholics. For every 100 people who join the church, 840 leave, Pew found. The share of Americans who are Catholic has remained steady for decades — about 20 percent — but that's only because of significant Latino immigration. The U.S. church, perhaps more than any other national Catholic community, is deeply polarized over politics. 'We're coming off a period where polarization was drawing Catholic communities apart,' Magee said. The current moment 'feels different, and that is exciting.' Leo, she added, 'found a way to speak to people across the polarized divides, and that's where optimism is coming from.' Sociologists who study the church said the buzz around the new pope won't last if the institutions — parishes, schools — remain the same. 'The real challenge is, people don't attend [church] regularly. When we ask why, they say they didn't feel engaged or welcome, or they were bored,' said the Rev. Thomas Gaunt, executive director of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. 'What's going to make a difference is whether that local parish is more engaging and more welcoming.' Maureen K. Day, co-author of 'Catholicism at a Crossroads' and a researcher at the University of Southern California's Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, said research tracking U.S. Catholics' views on women's ordination since the 1970s found a connection to papal events. Overall, support for ordaining women climbed until the early 2000s, when it stabilized, and has remained in the low to mid-60s percent, she said. However, support dipped after John Paul's visits to the U.S. and after Benedict resigned. 'We saw that whenever there is this moment that makes the papacy more salient, where Catholic identity peaks, people become quote 'more Catholic' and agree more with Catholic teachings. They become more orthodox,' she said. The fact that Leo is American, she said, and talks about things like playing Wordle, 'can only make Catholicism more relatable,' she said. 'It's a catalyst or a moment,' she added. But the moment, 'without being captured, it will lose whatever momentum it has.' Boorstein reported from Washington. Kate Brady in Berlin and Stefano Pitrelli in Rome contributed to this report.
The Herald
13-05-2025
- Politics
- The Herald
Pope Leo tells Jews he wants to strengthen dialogue
Pope Leo XIV has told the world's Jewish communities he wants to strengthen the Roman Catholic Church's dialogue with them in a message coming after a souring of relations between the Vatican and Israel over the war in Gaza. The first US-born pope sent a letter to Rabbi Noam Marans, director of interreligious affairs of the American Jewish Committee, who posted the letter on the social platform X late on Monday. 'Trusting in the assistance of the Almighty, I pledge to continue and strengthen the Church's dialogue and co-operation with the Jewish people in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council's declaration Nostra Aetate ,' Leo said in the letter. Nostra Aetate was a landmark document in the 1962-1965 Council that repudiated the concept of collective Jewish guilt for the death of Jesus and urged dialogue with non-Christian religions. The brief document revolutionised Catholic relations with Jews after centuries of persecution and mistrust. Dialogue that ensued over the next two decades made it possible for Pope John Paul II to become the first pontiff to visit a synagogue, giving a speech in Rome's main temple in 1986, where he called Jews 'our beloved elder brothers'. After years of often tense relations, the Vatican and Israel signed a 'fundamental agreement' in 1993 and exchanged full ambassadors the next year. A Vatican source said Marans would attend Leo's inaugural Mass on Sunday. More than a dozen other Jewish leaders from around the world were also expected to attend, the source said. It was not yet clear if any Israeli government leader would attend the Mass. While the late Pope Francis often condemned anti-Semitism, relations between the Vatican and Israel soured after the start of the war in Gaza in 2023. The Israeli delegation to Pope Francis' funeral last month was headed by its ambassador to the Vatican Yaron Sideman, which sources said at the time was an intentionally low-level representation because of Francis' comments about Gaza. Francis, who visited the Holy Land in 2014, suggested last November the global community should study whether Israel's military campaign in Gaza constituted genocide in some of his most explicit criticism of Israel's conduct in its war with Hamas. Reuters
