Divergent may have been the No. 1 movie at the box office this past weekend, but the movie everyone is talking about is the independent faith-based movie God's Not Dead.

Pulling in $8.5 million on the first weekend and amassing an impressive $10,979 per-screen average, the movie stands as further proof of the desire to see faith-affirming movies on the big screen.

God's Not Dead is a movie about Josh Wheaton, a freshman college student who is forced to defend his Christian faith against an angry philosophy professor. Starring Kevin Sorbo as the atheist professor, David A.R. White as a priest who encourages Josh and guest appearances by Duck Dynasty stars Willie and Korie Robertson, the movie also ends with a performance from the Newsboys as they perform their song "God’s Not Dead."

Freestyle Releasing co-president Mark Borde, who distributed the Pure Flix Entertainment movie, states, “While this huge opening may be a surprise to the industry, it is not so much to us. The in-house tracking, the legitimate 1 million Facebook fans, the very high trending on Twitter and Fandango among many other platforms, and the huge positive reaction from the hundreds of screenings over the many past months, gave us hope for a significant opening.”

With Son of God already pulling in $55 million domestically and several other-faith based films slated for the next month, including Noah and Heaven Is for Real, it seems quite clear that more than ever, God is working in the hearts and minds of Americans through the medium of movies.

Click here to read Movieguide's review of God's Not Dead.

Pope Francis has signaled that the Catholic Church may tolerate some forms of same-sex civil unions, though he affirmed the Church’s opposition to gay marriage.

According to a translation by Catholic News Service, the pope said in an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera that “matrimony is between a man and a woman” but that moves to “regulate diverse situations of cohabitation [are] driven by the need to regulate economic aspects among persons, as for instance to assure medical care.”

Uwe and Hannelore Romeike came to the United States in 2008 seeking political asylum. They fled their German homeland in the face of religious persecution for home schooling their children.

They wanted to live in a country where they could raise their children in accordance with their Christian beliefs.

The Romeikes were initially given asylum, but the Obama administration objected, claiming that German laws that outlaw home schooling do not constitute persecution.

Suspected Boko Haram gunmen attacked villages and a town in the Madagali and Michika Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Adamawa State in north east Nigeria on 26 February.
 
Exact casualty figures are as yet unknown, since many people are reported to still be in hiding in the bush. However, unconfirmed reports indicate that at least 28 people may have been killed and several others were injured.