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Federal policemen patrol by a concrete wall placed by Iraqi security forces to surround the Our Lady of Salvation Church during preparations for the Pope's visit in Mar Youssif Church in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. (AP/Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Commentary: The pope’s Iraq visit will make headlines. Can it make life better for religious minorities?

By Knox Thames | Religion News Service | February 26, 2021, 9:31 p.m.

FILE - In this Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021 file photo, people are reflected on a puddle as they walk in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican. The Vatican is taking Pope Francis’ pro-vaccine stance very seriously: Any Vatican employee who refuses to get a coronavirus shot without valid medical reason risks being fired.
A Feb. 8 decree signed by the governor of the Vatican City State sparked heated debate Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021 since its provisions go well beyond the generally voluntary nature of COVID-19 vaccinations in Italy and much of the rest of the world. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

COVID-19 pandemic has Vatican bracing for $60 million deficit in 2021

By Claire Giangravé | Religion News Service | February 19, 2021, 6:38 p.m.

Pope Francis sprinkles a member of the clergy with ashes during the Ash Wednesday mass leading Catholics into Lent, at St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. (Guglielmo Mangiapane/Pool photo via AP)

On Ash Wednesday, Pope Francis says Lent is an ‘exodus from slavery to freedom’

By Claire Giangravé | Religion News Service | February 17, 2021, 6:48 p.m.

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2021, file photo, Doug Emhoff, left, Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden, and first lady Jill Biden, stand during a performance of the National Anthem during a virtual Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service, in the State Dinning Room of the White House in Washington. Biden is expected to address the National Prayer Breakfast, a Washington tradition that calls on political combatants to set aside their differences for one morning. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Biden signs executive order reestablishing White House faith office

By Jack Jenkins and Adelle M. Banks | Religion News Service | February 16, 2021, 1:02 a.m.

FILE - In this May 29, 2020 file photo, images of Ravi Zacharias are displayed in the Passion City Church during a memorial service for him in Atlanta. A law firm's investigators have released a scathing report on their four-month investigation of alleged sexual misconduct by Zacharias, who founded a global Christian ministry that bears his name. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

Report: Ravi Zacharias was guilty of sexual misconduct. RZIM board apologizes.

By Bob Smietana | Religion News Service | February 12, 2021, 9:23 p.m.

FILE - In this May 14, 2020, file photo, a person carries a sign supporting QAnon during a protest rally in Olympia, Wash, USA. The social media company Twitter said Tuesday Jan. 12, 2021, it has suspended more than 70,000 accounts associated with the far right QAnon conspiracy theory following last week's U.S. Capitol insurrection. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

Survey: More than a quarter of white evangelicals believe core QAnon conspiracy theory

By Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | February 11, 2021, 11:40 p.m.

In this Dec. 8, 2020 file photo, Pope Francis delivers his message during the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, on the Immaculate Conception day, at the Vatican. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, file)

Pope Francis tells Catholic journalists he has hope for ‘courageous’ U.S. church

By Claire Giangrave | Religion News Service | February 2, 2021, 10:17 p.m.

Jehovah’s Witnesses shift away from door knocking amid pandemic

By Noelle Phillips | The Denver Post via AP | December 10, 2020, 2:04 a.m.

FILE - In this Tuesday, April 14, 2020 file photo, a man wearing face mask walks past Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Officials say restorers at Paris’ fire-damaged Notre Dame cathedral have completed key preliminary work by successfully removing all the perilous roof scaffolding. It was thought that the scaffolding might have melded to the cathedral in the fire, and be keeping it in place. When the Notre Dame fire broke out on April 15 last year destroying the spire, the cathedral was already under restoration. The scaffolding previously installed resisted collapse, “but was deformed by the heat of the fire” Notre Dame restoration officials said in a communique. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)

Restorers remove dangerous Notre Dame cathedral scaffolding

By The Associated Press | November 24, 2020, 10:13 p.m.

FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015 file photo, Pope Francis addresses a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, making history as the first pontiff to do so. Listening behind the pope are Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio. President-elect Joe Biden, a lifelong Roman Catholic, spoke to Pope Francis on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020, despite President Donald Trump refusing to concede. Trump claims — without evidence — that the election was stolen from him through massive but unspecified acts of fraud. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Vatican calling: Pope congratulates Joe Biden on election

By Will Weissert and David Crary | The Associated Press | November 12, 2020, 10:12 p.m.

(Massimo Sambucetti | AP file photo) U.S. Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick, archbishop of Washington, D.C., shakes hands with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, Feb. 23, 2001. A report by the Vatican released Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020 implicates Pope John Paul II in elevating McCarrick despite allegations of sexual misconduct.

Vatican investigation faults many, including two former popes, for Theodore McCarrick’s rise despite sexual misconduct

By Nicole Winfield | The Associated Press | November 10, 2020, 9:39 p.m.

(Alessandra Tarantino | AP) Director Evgeny Afineevsky left, talks to Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the dicastery of Communication, during the Kinoe Movie for Humanity award ceremony, at the Vatican, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. Director Evgeny Afineevsky was awarded with Kineo prize Thursday for the movie "Francesco".

Vatican breaks silence, explains Pope Francis’ civil union comments

By Nicole Winfield | The Associated Press | November 3, 2020, 3:03 a.m.

Archbishop Alexander Sample conducts an exorcism to rid the city of evil influences in the North Park Blocks of Portland, Ore., during a rosary and exorcism for peace and justice in the city on Oct. 17, 2020. In popular culture, exorcism often serves as a plot device in chilling films about demonic possession. Recently, two Roman Catholic archbishops showed a different face of exorcism. They performed the rite in well-attended outdoor ceremonies to drive out any evil spirits lingering after acrimonious protests. In Portland, Oregon, Archbishop Alexander Sample led a procession of more than 200 people to a city park, then conducted an exorcism rite. The event followed more than four months of racial-justice protests in Portland. (Ed Langlois/Catholic Sentinel via AP)

Exorcism: Increasingly frequent, including after US protests

By David Crary | AP National Writer | October 31, 2020, 5:30 p.m.

FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020 file photo, Pope Francis puts on his face mask as he attends an inter-religious ceremony for peace in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, in Rome Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020. Pope Francis’ decision to forego wearing a face mask has been noticed, with some concern, by the commission of Vatican experts he appointed to help chart the Catholic Church’s path through the coronavirus pandemic and the aftermath. The Rev. Augusto Zampini, one of the key members of the pope’s COVID-19 commission, acknowledged Tuesday that at age 83 and with part of his lung removed, Francis would be at high risk for complications if he were to become infected with COVID-19. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

With rising COVID-19 cases inside the Vatican, pressure mounts for Pope Francis to don a mask

By Claire Giangravé | Relion News Service | October 27, 2020, 10:08 p.m.

Pope Francis, center, makes the sign of the cross during his weekly general audience in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020. Pope Francis endorsed same-sex civil unions for the first time as pope while being interviewed for the feature-length documentary “Francesco,” which premiered Wednesday at the Rome Film Festival. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Plot thickens over origins of pope’s civil union endorsement

By Nicole Winfield | The Associated Press | October 22, 2020, 9:13 p.m.

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett testifies during the third day of her confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. (Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

Religious identity and Supreme Court justices — a brief history

By Nomi Stolzenberg | The Conversation | October 20, 2020, 9:59 p.m.

Pope Francis and Bartolomew I, Patriarch of Constantinopolis, attend a inter-religious ceremony for peace in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, in Rome Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020 (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Masked pope, faith leaders pray for peace and pandemic’s end

By Nicole Winfield | The Associated Press | October 20, 2020, 9:54 p.m.

(Vatican News via AP) Pope Francis, right, sits at a table with Cardinal George Pell on the occasion of their private meeting at the Vatican, Monday, Oct. 12, 2020. The Pope warmly welcomed Cardinal for a private audience in the Apostolic Palace after the cardinal’s sex abuse conviction and acquittal in Australia.

Pope Francis warmly greets redeemed Cardinal Pell after abuse trial

By Nicole Winfield | The Associated Press | October 12, 2020, 10:09 p.m.

Vice President Mike Pence looks at Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., as she answers a question during the vice presidential debate Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020, at Kingsbury Hall on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, Pool)

The top three faith moments in the Harris-Pence vice presidential debate

By Paul O'Donnell and Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | October 8, 2020, 11:11 p.m.

(Gregorio Borgia | AP) Cardinal Angelo Becciu talks to journalists during press conference in Rome, Friday, Sept. 25, 2020. The powerful head of the Vatican's saint-making office, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, has resigned from the post and renounced his rights as a cardinal amid a financial scandal that has reportedly implicated him indirectly.

Pope commits to clean finances amid scandal in backyard

By Nicole Winfield | The Associated Press | October 8, 2020, 9:53 p.m.

(J. Scott Applewhite | AP) The Supreme Court is seen in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020, as the justices continue arguments in a new term without their colleague, the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Supreme Court wrestles with Muslims' suit over no-fly list

By Mark Sherman | The Associated Press | October 7, 2020, 3:59 p.m.

(Vatican Media via AP) Pope Francis celebrates Mass in the crypt of the Basilica of St. Francis, in Assisi, Italy, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020. Pope Francis travelled to the homeland of his nature-loving namesake on Saturday to sign an encyclical laying out his vision of a post-COVID world built on solidarity, fraternity and care for the environment.

Pope criticizes lack of unity in world’s response to coronavirus

By Jason Horowitz | The New York Times | October 5, 2020, 2:53 a.m.

(Erin Schaff | The New York Times) President Donald Trump on Wednesday night, Sept. 30, 2020, at a reelection campaign rally in Duluth, Minn. Trump revealed early Friday morning, Oct. 2, 2020, that he and the first lady, Melania Trump, had tested positive for the coronavirus, throwing the nation’s leadership into uncertainty and escalating the crisis posed by a pandemic that has already killed more than 207,000 Americans and devastated the economy.

Faith leaders offer prayers as President Trump tests positive for COVID-19

By Bob Smietana, Jack Jenkins and Adelle M. Banks | Religion News Service | October 2, 2020, 11:19 p.m.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett listens as President Donald Trump announces Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court, in the Rose Garden at the White House, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

If Barrett joins, Supreme Court would have six Catholics

By David Crary | AP National Writer | September 26, 2020, 10:22 p.m.

(Steve Helber | AP file photo) Rev. Jerry Falwell Jr., right, and his wife Becki during after a town hall at a convocation at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., on Nov. 28, 2018.

Liberty University official says Jerry Falwell Jr. agreed to resign, then reversed course

By Sarah Rankin and Elana Schor | The Associated Press | August 25, 2020, 3:47 a.m.