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Mathew Schmalz

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In this Thursday, Dec. 15, 2016 photo, Haloluwage Don Nanayakkara, left, carries a steel rod with another worker as they try to build an enormous, artificial Christmas tree on a popular beachside promenade in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The idea for the tree came from this Buddhist driver at Colombo’s port who makes decorations in his spare time. Hundreds of Sri Lanka’s port workers and volunteers are struggling to put up the towering Christmas tree in time for the holidays. The majority-Buddhist nation is aiming to beat the world record for the tallest, artificial Christmas tree as a show of multicultural respect. But twice the construction deadline was missed, and now organizers hope to erect the tree on Christmas Eve. The Catholic Church has criticized the $80,000 price tag as a waste of money that is better spent helping the poor. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena) (AP)

Who are Sri Lanka’s Christians?

Mathew Schmalz
Paul Ryan (AP/Susan Walsh)

Taxing the rich to help the poor? What the Bible says isn’t what the GOP says

Mathew Schmalz
Local residents wade through flooded streets after Hurricane Harvey (Getty/Mark Ralston)

Are natural disasters part of God’s retribution?

Mathew Schmalz
A large screen for public display shows Pope John Paul II after sunset outside St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2014. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Who becomes a saint in the Catholic Church, and is that changing?

Mathew Schmalz
(Getty/dbvirago)

How the Catholic Church’s hierarchy makes it difficult to punish sexual abusers

Mathew Schmalz
In this July 31, 2016 file photo pope Francis and Krakow cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, right, are arriving in a navy blue Volkswagen Golf car to celebrate a Holy Mass there. The car, along with two other similar VW Golf care that Francis was driven in in Poland has been put on auction by a Polish Catholic Church charity to raise funds for a mobile clinic for Syrian refugees in Lebanon and for a shelter for the disabled in Poland. (AP)

Catholicism at a crossroads: What does it mean now that Pope Francis gave priests the ability to forgive abortions?

Mathew Schmalz