Angels always have been part of American culture, but a renewed interest and belief in them is sweeping the country, leading to questions about who they really are.

Angels are popular in the United States these days, and you can meet them almost anywhere. They make weekly appearances on Sunday nights in Touched by an Angel, one of the most-watched shows on TV and a program that brings significant numbers of letters from admiring (and thankful) viewers. There are angels in popular movies, such as John Travolta's scruffy, beer-chugging and chain-smoking archangel in Michael and the sentimental, tear-jerking City of Angels with Meg Ryan as a surgeon and Nicolas Cage as the ...