Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina is now Pope Francis, the 265th successor to St. Peter, after his election in the Sistine Chapel by the 115 electors of the College of Cardinals. This edition of ReligionLink provides resources and regular news updates for reporters covering this historic event.
Too much work and too little pay, too much stress and too little pray. Many religious leaders today find themselves overwhelmed by their jobs, and can succumb to the very ills that they try to help their congregants overcome. Along with growing evidence of the toll from clergy burnout are efforts to combat it.
Seminaries are welcoming students back to school this fall, but both the students and these institutions are facing pressures that are transforming the way clergy are trained. Schools are struggling financially, enrollment is declining, and many seminarians face increasing debts. Other factors, however, could make a seminary education more accessible.
Even as public attention focuses on the legalization of gay marriage in New York and related battles across the country, religious communities are continuing to struggle with the role of homosexuals. Presbyterians voted in May to allow openly gay clergy, and in June a Methodist church court convicted a pastor for performing a same-sex union.
The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops met in June in Seattle to revise policies approved nearly a decade ago in response to the clergy sexual-abuse crisis. Many argue that recent developments show the bishops have even more work to do.
It’s a new academic year and a new crop of seminarians — indeed, this year’s incoming class may be larger than most, as the recession appears to have sent many people back to school. But will they be trained to deal with the hot-button topics of sexuality that roil American denominations in good times and [...]
Women who experience domestic violence have not always found compassion and help in their houses of worship. Some pastors, referring to a Bible verse, said women should submit to their husbands. Others likened women’s suffering to that of Jesus’ on the cross. Some counseled forgiveness or suggested that a marriage must be saved at any [...]
Leadership – the ability to inspire, motivate, discern and envision in a faithful quest to follow God’s will – is the most critical issue facing churches today. Challenges abound in the number, quality, age and diversity of people pursuing – and staying in — pastoral ministry. The effects on communities across America are profound. They [...]
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