Erasmus

IT MAY not quite be a schism, but it is certainly a significant event in the high politics of the Catholic church. Earlier this year, in a move that seemed to many non-Catholics like a concession to humanity and common sense, Pope Francis cautiously opened the window to the possibility of people who divorce and remarry being admitted to the Eucharist, the church’s most important rite or sacrament.

To clarify: this is a problem that arises only for those who have obtained a civil divorce, but not gone through the burdensome procedure of getting a marriage religiously annulled. In the eyes of the church, they are still wedded to their initial spouses.

ON A recent Saturday evening, dozens of residents trickled into a converted school in Salt Lake City, Utah for their weekly devotions. Many wore traditional Hindu garb but some were dressed more casually in jeans and leggings. Leaving their shoes at the door, they entered a long auditorium decorated with divine images and took their places in fold-up chairs. Soon a group of musicians on a small stage began serenading the worshippers with a familiar, hypnotic chant:

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna/ Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama / Rama Rama, Hare Hare

SHADI HAMID is one of the most interesting and provocative figures on the circuit of Islam-watchers and Middle East pundits in Washington, DC. A senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, a think-tank, he has been raising his voice recently to make two assertions which seem, at first sight, to run in different directions. One is suggested by the title of his recently published book, “Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle over Islam is Reshaping the World”. Very broadly, it argues that Islam differs from Judaism and Christianity in having a natural propensity to shape systems of government.

WHAT exactly is Salafism? In continental Europe, the word is now used as a catchall for extreme and violent interpretations of Islam. This week for example, authorities in the German state of Hesse raided five premises including a mosque; it was the latest move in a crackdown on ultra-militant forms of Islam all over Germany which began last week. “Extremist propaganda is the foundation for Islamic radicalisation and ultimately for violence,” said the interior minister of Hesse, Peter Beuth, by way of explaining the latest raids. “The Salafist ideology is a force not to be underestimated,” he added. 

AMERICAN Catholic voters may have opted, by a small margin, for Donald Trump. But leaders of the Catholic church, whether in Rome, the United States or Latin America, are gearing up to resist some important parts of the president-elect's declared agenda. One bone of contention is global warming. While Mr Trump has threatened to pull out of the global climate-change deal struck in Paris last December, Pope Francis sent a powerful message of encouragement to the diplomats who have been meeting in Morocco with a view to translating the Paris accords into further action.

WHEN Donald Trump settled on Michael Pence as his running-mate, it looked as though one of the main motives was to reassure religious conservatives, and to make up for his own wobbly grasp of theology. Mr Trump may not be the first occupant of the White House to have an uncertain relationship with faith, but his attempts to present himself as minimally religious have always been inept, to put it mildly. To take one of many examples, he seemed not to understand a public question about asking forgiveness from God and rambled instead about going to church to “drink the little wine and...

LUTHERANS and Catholics of any previous generation would have been utterly astonished by the emollient character of the commemorations of the Protestant Reformation that began this week and will continue for a year. It is 500 years since Martin Luther, an intensely pious German monk, issued his “95 Theses” of protest against the practices of the Catholic clergy, in particular the sale of “indulgences” by which believers could effectively buy forgiveness for their sins. Tradition holds that he nailed the document to a door of a church. This event transformed Europe’s history.