All posts tagged: RNS

David E. Anderson, former RNS editor and longtime journalist, dies at 84

David E. Anderson, former RNS editor and longtime journalist, dies at 84

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — David E. Anderson, who was editor of Religion News Service from 1997 to 2004 and a signal voice on the religion beat for two decades as a reporter for United Press International, has died at age 84. His wife, Margaret Hoven, said Anderson, who had been diagnosed with cancer, died Saturday (Feb. 14). “He was knowledgeable, spiritual, witty, & compassionate,” wrote his son Erik Anderson in a Monday post on Instagram. “He loved a good book, writing, watching baseball and football, art museums and music. He was a great father, husband, grandfather and friend.” Erik Anderson said his father died peacefully at his home in Missoula, Montana. Anderson, known for his trademark short ponytail and his lack of pretense, worked at UPI for 24 years, serving as lead religion writer from 1974 to 1991. Earlier in his career he had covered the federal government and national politics, the anti-war and civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s and debates over legal abortion in the 1980s and 1990s. Anderson became RNS’ Washington correspondent …

The RN’s unspoken attraction to MAGA – and gradual ideological alignment

The RN’s unspoken attraction to MAGA – and gradual ideological alignment

Published by Sam Flores

At the “victory party” celebrating the Rassemblement National’s results in the 2024 European elections and the creation of a parliamentary group in the European Parliament, Mormant-sur-Vernisson, France, June 9, 2025, CYRIL BITTON/DIVERGENCE FOR LE MONDE Media training, economics and geopolitics classes, coaching in “cultural wars” and local wine tastings: In early December 2025, two organizations linked to Trumpism and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban brought together several dozen European and American nationalist activists for a three-day “bootcamp for patriots” at a conference center an hour and a half from Budapest. Amid the group of admirers of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement was Thibault François, a well-groomed thirty-something little known to the general public, but a key figure within France’s far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party. The former French MP acts as the diplomat for party leaders Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, managing their European networks and leading the substantial RN delegation in Brussels with a firm hand as its secretary general. He represented the French far right at the studious bootcamp, which was …

Religion in 2026: RNS reporters on what they expect to cover in the coming year

Religion in 2026: RNS reporters on what they expect to cover in the coming year

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — If 2025 felt like a particularly chaotic year for religion news, just wait until 2026. Some of the coming cacophony will be an extension of trends that emerged this year: the first full year of Leo’s papacy, the continued religious pushback to President Donald Trump’s deportation agenda, the fallout from Charlie Kirk’s assassination. But there are also some unusual dynamics that could make 2026 an especially difficult year to predict religious trends: the midterm elections, the tenuous ceasefire in Gaza, the inauguration of New York City’s first Muslim mayor. Those are just a few of the news stories on their radar as RNS reporters look ahead to the coming year. They also expect to cover religion on a more intimate level: from the much touted (but debated) Generation Z revival, to evolving faith practices within immigrant diasporas, to religion on TikTok. Plus, the country’s 250th anniversary. Adelle M. Banks After writing about the 250th anniversary of the U.S military chaplaincy this year, I hope to explore the 250th anniversary of the country from a religious …

RNS’ top 10 religion and spirituality books of 2025

RNS’ top 10 religion and spirituality books of 2025

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — In a year marked by political violence and collective unease, writers on religion and spirituality offered reflections on faith where it is most contested — in national histories and in communities shaped by conflict and loss —  and where it is most intimate: in marriages and families, in spiritual practices and in the body itself. The books that RNS covered this year, along with several honorable mentions, reflect not only what people believed in 2025, but how those beliefs shaped lives, institutions, news and culture. Some of the titles challenged long-held assumptions or explored spirituality beyond congregational walls, including some broader cultural shifts that have made organized religion feel increasingly, as one author put it, “obsolete.” Together, they offered readers tools for understanding the history, power and costs involved in holding religious ideals. At the same time, 2025’s standout religion and spirituality books did not abandon hope. Whether through theology emerging from Palestinian Christian communities or personal narratives of spiritual awakening, these works suggest that faith remains a source of creativity, resistance and …