Philadelphia’s long-standing encouragement of religious freedom is rooted in the religious commitment of William Penn, Pennsylvania’s founder. In 1681 Penn, a Quaker, founded Pennsylvania as a haven for religious diversity in the colonies. “The king of the country where I live has given unto me a great province,” he wrote to the Lenape Nation in 1681, “but I desire to enjoy it with your friends, else what would the great God say to us, who has made us not to devour and destroy one another, but live soberly and kindly together in the world?” The First and Second Continental Congresses...
Ever since 9/11, American Muslims have struggled with whether they should stay under the radar or assert their identity. Despite the discrimination that has risen to the surface since that terrible day, their ranks in the U.S. have grown substantially, and there are twice as many mosques operating today as there were in 2000. Yet the majority of those new sanctuaries have burrowed into existing buildings – former churches, synagogues, movie theaters, and storefronts.
As African American churches sell their buildings and move, the ripple effect is being felt in both the neighborhoods where they relocate and those they vacate.
Production companies helping orchestrate the planning of Pope Francis’s visit have to balance the needs of bishops, pop stars, politicians and a million pilgrims.
Pope Francis arrives in the US on Tuesday, September 22nd, for five busy days in Washington, New York, and Philadelphia. Managing editor Kim Lawton asks American Catholics about the beliefs that shape the Pope's view of the world, and Stephen Schneck and Tom Roberts joins host Bob Abernethy in the studio for a conversation about their expectations for the pope's trip. More →
(RNS) As the only openly gay person invited to speak about homosexuality during a Vatican-approved World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, Belgau is taking heat from both left and right.
A Philadelphia artist has been commissioned to welcome the pope with a public art display. She's reinterpreting one of the pope's favorite pieces of art: a baroque painting of the Virgin Mary.
Eric J. Mayer is principal of Westtown Upper School in Westtown Pennsylvania. While teaching high school at Westtown, Mayer created an annotated directory of... Read more about Eric Mayer