The Slingshot: Cardinal Law dies; Sacred crafts; Good Yule!

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FILE – In this Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2002 file photo, Cardinal Bernard Law, right, departs a news conference during the second day of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops annual meeting in Washington. An official with the Catholic Church said Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017, that Cardinal Bernard Law, the disgraced former archbishop of Boston, has died at 86. Law, who recently had been hospitalized in Rome, died early Wednesday. Law stepped down under pressure in 2002 over his handling of clergy sex abuse cases. (AP Photo/Ken Lambert, File)


Need to know: Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Cardinal Law, central figure in church abuse scandal, dies

The disgraced former archbishop of Boston’s failures to stop child molesters in the priesthood sparked what would become the worst crisis in American Catholicism.

Abandoning celibacy won’t stop sexual abuse by priests

RNS columnist Thomas Reese says he supports the ordination of married men, but not because it has anything to do with stopping the sexual abuse of children.

In Christ’s birthplace, olive wood artisans carry on a Holy Land tradition

Christian families that have been carving crosses, rosaries and Nativity scenes for nearly two millennia are struggling because tourists are afraid to visit Bethlehem.

Jewish rituals are the hot new thing in wellness

In an era of wellness retreats and digital detoxes, old Jewish rituals have found a new resonance, unattached — for better or worse — from the strictures of religion.

The roots of the Christmas tree: Pagans celebrate Yule

A photo essay about a winter celebration featuring trees, candles and wreaths that predates Christianity.

Latest news from RNS

Man gets 28 years in plot to behead conservative blogger

BOSTON (AP) — David Wright sobbed as he apologized to blogger Pamela Geller, law enforcement and his family and denounced the terror group, whose horrific acts he used to celebrate online.

Kentucky lawmaker’s funeral in church where he preached

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Family and friends of Dan Johnson gathered for his funeral Monday (Dec. 18) at Heart of Fire church — where he had preached and took a public stand against allegations of sexual misconduct years earlier.

Blue Christmas: Churches acknowledge that the season of joy isn’t always joyous

More churches are recognizing that Christmastime can be the darkest time of year for those who are grieving.

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Humanity finds itself at a major crossroads: Do we choose the path of selfish separatism and inequality based on greed and competition, leading to the destruction of ourselves and planet Earth; or the path of cooperation and sharing leading to global peace and prosperity?

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More views from RNS

Winter inside the Church and the hope of Christmas

(RNS) — My 20 years of confronting and addressing sexual abuse within churches and other faith organizations has convinced me that abuse within the church will only end when professing Christians stop distorting Jesus for the purposes of excusing abusive behavior and silencing the abused.

Allowing guns in church flies in the face of tradition and Scripture

(RNS) — Pistol-packing parishioners may seem like a way to guard against the church shootings that have become so commonplace recently. But there is a long history in Christianity of opposing such strategies.

Creating a new Mormon family after a faith transition

Christmas with family can be hard when you're a Mormon experiencing a faith transition. Guest blogger Mette Harrison says the death of her old beliefs led to new life in the form of a new "family" of close friends who've been there.

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