Stories highlighting new leadership—from the publishing industry to the pope to Trump's cabinet appointee Pete Hegseth—drew the most attention from PW religion news readers this year. Christian fiction wasn't far behind. And many readers also tuned in when and where ever religion intersected with politics, science, or social issues.

These were the most popular religion stories of 2025.

1. Industry leadership stories drew the most eyes this year, with the most-read story being a profile of Campbell Wharton, SVP of the Christian Division for Penguin Random House, which he launched in fall 2024. In February, he named Madison Trammel as editorial director for the division focused on evangelical and those Wharton calls "Christian Curious." Another major evangelical house, David C Cook, named Linda Howard as executive publisher.

2. The death of Pope Francis in April prompted a look at his 12 years of writing and speaking on the most urgent topics of the Catholic Church and society. In the wake of his death, people were interested in learning about the conclave, a complex election process to choose his successor—and were even more curious when Chicago Cardinal Robert Prevost stepped into the public eye as newly named Pope Leo XIV. PW noted this triggered a stampede by Catholic publishers to publish biographies of the first U.S.-born prelate chosen to lead the global church.

3. Industry readers always want to know what's selling. For the second consecutive year, the Association of American Publishers’ StatShot program showed that the religious book category saw the greatest percentage jump in sales in the first 10 months of 2025. Publishers cited Bible-related books as the primary driver.

4. Christian fiction provided welcome entertainment for many. High among the PW religion listings was a profile of 90-year-old prolific author Janet Oke, who wrote scores of novels, many dramatized in Hallmark movies. Not far behind the story on Oke was one on the annual Realm Makers Conference for writers of faith-based speculative fiction. PW also eyed a growing trend among novelists to weave biblical characters into new stories.

5. Christian Nationalism, a hot topic in recent years, remains so today. While there are no notable books defending this movement, Emma Wenner found several new titles that track its rise and the dangers authors say it poses to the nation.

6. Bibles are always big attention-getters and three stories showed why. Ann Byle wrote about Baker publishing its first Bible with commentary by its bestselling Bible Recap author Tara-Leigh Cobble. PW also looked at publishers' new ways of designing and presenting scripture to enhance the reading experience. And a sidebar looking at progressive approaches to kids' storybook Bibles prompted Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president Al Mohler to denounce them as undermining biblical truth.

7. Two French mathematicians, neither of them religion scholars, stormed Europe and the U.S. with their book claiming to offer scientific proof that God exists. But they told PW that such proof doesn't necessarily lead to religious faith.

8. The day after President Donald Trump's inauguration, during a prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, he sat stone-faced as Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde urged him to show "mercy" on immigrants and LGBTQ+ people. The resulting headlines prompted an immediate sellout of Budde's book, How We Learn to Be Brave (Avery), and a deal for two more titles.

9. Everyone loves a winner. The religion publishing awards that attract the most attention may be the ones from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. This year, the ECPA honored books in 13 categories and named John Mark Comer's Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus. Become Like Him. Do As He Did (WaterBrook) as its Christian Book of the Year.

10. Trump's appointment of a Fox News host Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense brought attention to his views in his five books that the Christian faithful should carry their convictions into the public square. For example, in his best-seller The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free (Broadside), he writes that women are disqualified from military leadership because a "Christian ethos for God's creation" dictates that men and women don't have the same roles and purposes.