MERCOGLIANO, Italy (RNS) — The pews of the Church of the Annunziata in Mercogliano, a town just outside of Naples, were filled with guests wearing lacquered nails, towering wigs and heavy eyelashes.

Across religions, humans have practiced extreme rituals involving piercing, fire, and physical trauma. These acts appear irrational, yet they persist across cultures and centuries. Research shows ...

There ongoing debate around syncretism within the Catholic Church in Durban triggered by two priests whose sabbatical is imminent, overlooks the similarities between African practices and the Catholic ...

WHEATLAND - Parishioners at a small-town church who took part in a secret ritual where they were stripped, hung upside down and whipped were tricked into participating by a Catholic priest seeking ...

In 1928, Father Joseph Steiger, a priest at St. Joseph’s in Earling, Iowa, was approached with an urgent concern. A 46-year-old woman named Emma Schmidt was experiencing blackouts, aversions to holy ...