UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

A. James Rudin Religion News Service | Dec. 30, 2013

COMMENTARY Here are my picks for the top 10 religion stories of 2013:

1. A pair of popes: Pope Benedict XVI’s surprise resignation and the election of the Argentina-born Pope Francis (hello, Third World!) was easily the biggest story of the year. The new pope’s modest personal style and his extraordinary commitment to social and economic justice has upset some conservatives and given hope to progressives within the Catholic Church.

2. Sunni-Shiite schism: The brutal Syrian civil war and the overthrow of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi shattered hopes for a “kinder, gentler” Islamic world. The ballyhooed Arab Spring spilled over into a series of bitter internal and external conflicts with Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and Shiite-led Iran as major adversaries.

3. Falls from grace: The once glowing reputations of retired Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony…