Ultra-Orthodox Jewish teens attend the funeral for Rabbi Mordechai Leifer in Ashdod, Israel, Oct. 5, 2020.

Sacred Nation

"The Sacred Nation" is a two-year project that closely examines a key intersection between religion and international events. It focuses on the interaction between religious organizations, faith leaders and followers of nationalist movements around the globe.

Supported By

The Henry Luce Foundation
Tsafrir Abayov/AP
Sacred Nation
Evangelical churches flourish among Indigenous communities in Ecuador
6:20
Sacred Nation
In one of the world’s most secular countries, some Gen Z Christians are finding faith again — but not at church
7:04
Sacred Nation
A rapper finds peace and a channel for his activism through hip-hop and Islam
7:31
Sacred Spaces
Tibetans in Massachusetts celebrate 14th Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday
5:33
Sacred Nation
Immersive shrine installation comes with chanting and controversy
4:57
Sacred Nation
In the city of its birth, Jews reject Zionism
6:56
Sacred Nation
In Haiti, a pastor helps his shattered community heal
9:15
Sacred Spaces
Colombia churches push for dialogue in the wake of renewed political violence
5:36
Sacred Nation
Some Russians push back against a church building spree in Moscow
7:10
Sacred Nation
This family in Syria has kept the centuries-old tradition of Sufi whirling dervishes alive
5:03
Sacred Spaces
A family remembers a relative who died in the Holocaust with a ‘stumbling stone’ in her German hometown
17:04
Sacred Nation
After Assad’s fall, a revered Shia shrine in Syria faces a new era of uncertainty
6:34
Sacred Nation
Christians in historic town in Syria reflect on new moment in the country
6:40
Sacred Nation
How Pope Francis’ legacy will influence the selection of the next pope 
6:08
Global Politics
The tug-of-war over an anti-Nazi pastor’s legacy
5:15
Conflict & Justice
‘I can do what I can to save people’: This chief rabbi stayed in Ukraine to help people and honor his son who died in battle  
5:39
Sacred Spaces
For more than a century, a synagogue known as the ‘Carnegie Hall of Brooklyn’ has been home to the US’ greatest cantors
5:35
Borders
In Mexican border cities, the migrants are gone
4:00
Sacred Nation
Ukrainian military chaplains tend to soldiers and others at risk amid the ongoing fighting
6:09
Sacred Spaces
How a deeply Buddhist Bhutan keeps religion and politics from mixing
5:49
Sacred Spaces
A Baha’i temple in Uganda’s bustling capital offers a rare respite
4:34
Sacred Nation
Crimean Tatars mark Ramadan while in exile from the Crimean Peninsula
5:50
Japan in Focus
Japan moves to shut down the Unification Church 
3:57
Japan in Focus
30 years since Japan’s worst domestic terrorist attack, the cult group behind it is ‘ongoing problem,’ officials say
8:17
Sacred Nation
In wartime Ukraine, Jews embrace their Ukrainian-Jewish identity
6:02
Sacred Nation
Many Argentine Catholics pray for long-awaited papal visit 
6:17
Japan in Focus
How a former gang member in Japan found a new path through Christianity
5:15
Sacred Spaces
What South America’s largest Buddhist temple says about the religion’s growing influence in Brazil 
5:00
Sacred Nation
New discoveries shed light on some of the earliest humans to settle in Taiwan
8:11
Sacred Nation
In South Korea, shamans are shunned — and revered 
5:45
Sacred Spaces
Conservators scan Ukraine’s wooden churches to help preserve them
6:38
Sacred Spaces
This aging Buenos Aires stadium continues to be the undisputed ‘temple of soccer’
4:22
Sacred Spaces
Kolkata’s Jewish population is dwindling
6:24
Sacred Spaces
On this remote isle, an icon of the Virgin Mary has endured the flames of war
4:25
Sacred Spaces
Mapuche sports help Indigenous Chileans revive culture
4:17
Sacred Spaces
Holy Catholic relics from shuttered institutions are preserved on a New York campus
4:41
Sacred Nation
As Catholic faith ebbs in Spain, missionary priests come to the rescue
6:27
Sacred Nation
Armenian Christians of Jerusalem say their centuries-old community faces an existential threat    
8:16
Sacred Spaces
‘Love you, then, well’: London’s National COVID Memorial Wall pays tribute to the country’s 240K lives lost to COVID-19
6:43
Sacred Spaces
This 100-year-old synagogue tells a unique story about Jews in Finland 
5:09
Lifestyle & Belief
Environmental concerns impact beloved Hindu festival in India
5:42
Sacred Nation
‘It so clearly discriminates against Muslims’: India rolls out faith-based test for citizenship
5:10
International students in the US face many challenges as they adjust to new cultural norms.
Sacred Nation
Chaplains open doors for international students on campus
5:59
Rows of people kneeling in prayer
Israel-Hamas war
Tens of thousands attend Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem
Striped red-and-white flags adorn a sacred grove in a quiet neighborhood in Ranchi in India. The ubiquitous flags are an assertion of tribal identity.
Sacred Nation
Adherents of Sarnaism try to preserve their identity and culture by pushing for more recognition of their faith in India
A construction crew works on Ram Mandir, a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Ram in Ayodhya, India, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024.
Sacred Nation
‘Religious triumphalism’: A grand Hindu temple opens on a controversial site in India 
sanctuary
Sacred Nation
‘I just got completely blasted by love’: People in the UK attest to the ways that spirituality is evolving 
The exterior of the Ancient Church of the East in Baghdad, Iraq, Aug. 27, 2023.
Language
A newly launched news channel in Iraq tries to preserve the ancient Syriac language
A couple embrace during a protest in Trafalgar Square, London, Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023. They are demanding the release of all hostages allegedly taken by the militant group Hamas.
Sacred Nation
‘A link with my ancestors’: Britons reconnect with Jewish roots for EU passports
Women in a small group holding signs with text written in Spanish
Sacred Nation
This tiny country is home to Europe’s toughest abortion ban
Hundreds gather at a rally outside New Scotland Yard demanding police to do more to protect London's Jewish citizens.
Sacred Nation
Jewish London on edge amid spike in antisemitic attacks
Pope Francis arrives for leading a prayer for peace inside St. Peter's Basilica, at The Vatican, Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. 
Sacred Nation
Roman Catholic Church remains inconclusive about reforms for women, LGBTQ after monthlong meeting wraps
Intricate carvings adorn the marble pillars inside a Jain temple in Ahmedabad, western India. Jainism is an ancient religion whose followers often renounce the world to lead a life of extreme austerity. Most of them are women, some as young as 8.
Sacred Nation
‘Happiness is in your hands’: Young Jain women continue to renounce the world
Two young Panamanians view the solar eclipse.
Sacred Nation
‘The cosmovision of our ancestors’: Panama witnesses first solar eclipse in 25 years
sanctuary
Sacred Nation
Costa Rica is Catholic by law, but the president is courting evangelicals
During a recent morning mass, Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church, in Lviv, Ukraine, is packed.
Sacred Nation
Ukrainian Greek Catholics lament lack of support by Vatican amid war with Russia
Traveling monks work on a sand mandala at Lake Street Church in Evanston, Illinois.
Sacred Nation
Tibetan monks on tour in US as China continues to restrict religion in Tibet
The shrines of Imam Husayn and his brother Aba Fadl Abbas in Karbala, Iraq, 2022.
Sacred Nation
‘I can get close to God’: Millions from around the globe participate in religious Arbaeen walk in Iraq
People demand the release of students who had taken refuge at the Jesus of Divine Mercy church amid a barrage of armed attacks, during a protest near the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua, UNAN, in Managua, Nicaragua, Saturday, July 14, 2018.
Sacred Nation
Nicaragua seizes Jesuit university in latest clash between president and Catholic Church
podium
Religion
World’s faith leaders convene to ‘fight against authoritarianism’