By Holly Meyer and David Crary |
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By Holly Meyer and David Crary |
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Hello, World of Faith readers.
In our fast-paced, plugged-in world, a small group of young women decide to pursue an ancient way of life and become Catholic nuns. Another small group – Armenian Christians in Jerusalem’s Old City – are struggling to keep the neighborhood's multifaith character intact as wars rage around them. And we share with you a gallery of AP's most compelling religion-themed photos of 2024. |
Zoey Stapleton, a postulant with the Franciscan Sisters, T.O.R. of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother, attends Mass in Toronto, Ohio.. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski) |
Leap of faith: A few young women in US buck the trends by joining the ranks of Catholic nuns |
Less than 1% of nuns in the United States today are 30 or younger. Several of those young nuns speak with the AP about why they made that rare choice of vocation, giving up many trappings of modern life – dating, material wealth and sometimes even cell phones and fashionable clothes. In exchange, they lead a 24/7 religious life in an intergenerational community, at a time when the average age of an American nun is 80. Read more.
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On average the full process to become a Catholic sister takes 7 to 10 years. Commonly one enters as a postulant and lives at least part-time with the order during that early stage.
- The number of nuns in the U.S. peaked in 1965 at 178,740, and declined to 39,452 by 2022, according to a Catholic research center at Georgetown University.
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There are just over 400 communities of women religious in the U.S., and the vast majority have 50 or fewer members.
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As wars rage around them, Armenian Christians in Jerusalem's Old City feel the walls closing in |
As the war in Gaza persists, Syria is liberated, and the Israeli-occupied West Bank seethes, Armenian residents of the Old City of Jerusalem fight a different battle. It's a quieter struggle, they say, but no less existential. The Armenians have lived in the Old City for decades without significant friction with neighbors. Now, the small Christian community has begun to fracture under pressure from forces they say threaten the Old City’s multifaith character. Read more.
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The Armenians’ struggles reflect the difficulty of maintaining a non-Jewish presence in a Jerusalem where life has hardened for religious minorities in the Old City.
One key point of contention: a potential land deal, now the subject of a court case, that would turn a key sector of the Armenian neighborhood into a luxury hotel.
- According to a priest at the community’s church, the Armenian population in the quarter has shrunk from about 15,000 in 1948, the founding of the state of Israel, to around 2,000 now.
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Survivors seek a reckoning as FBI investigates child sex abuse in little-known Christian sect |
A small Christian sect has found itself riven by a very public child sex abuse scandal. In the past year, news stories and a documentary have focused on the misdeeds of predator preachers in the religious community known as the “Two by Twos,” as well as the leaders who sent them to live with unsuspecting families. Survivors say leaders pressured victims to keep quiet and sometimes failed to make legally required reports to police. The FBI is investigating. Read more.
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A website, a hotline and social media pages established by victims have documented allegations against more than 900 abusers, with survivors in more than 30 countries.
The sect, also known to members as “The Way” or “The Truth,” was founded in Ireland in 1897 by William Irvine, who railed against the existence of churches. The only way to spread Christianity, he argued, was to send apostles to live among those they sought to convert.
Unlike the Boy Scouts or the Catholic Church, which have paid out billions to sex abuse victims, the sect’s aversion to property leaves it without apparent assets that might be used to pay settlements.
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