NEWS STORY
RNS-Clergy-Police: In LA, a rally highlights a divide between clergy on how to bring about police reform
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — Demonstrators sang hymns with Los Angeles police and posed for photos with officers alongside a man holding a large wooden cross with the words “Jesus is Justice and Peace.” Officers handed water bottles and took a knee at the protesters’ requests. The faith-based rally highlighted the different ways clergy and religious leaders are dealing with law enforcement as they seek to end racist policies and police brutality toward black people. By Alejandra Molina. 980 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Brooklyn-Protest: Peaceful church protest in Brooklyn brings disruption, blessing and a call for change
BROOKLYN (RNS) — Organized by The Bridge Church, a 6-year-old ethnically diverse congregation in downtown Brooklyn, the “Prayerful Protest” saw several thousand people from more than 80 New York City churches gather on Tuesday evening (June 2) in Brooklyn to march peacefully in support of Black Lives Matter, and in response to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police. By Roxanne Stone. 845 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Chicago-Protest: ‘The church will not be silent’: Clergy lead thousands in peaceful protest on Chicago’s South Side
CHICAGO (RNS) — Thousands of Chicago’s faithful marched Tuesday evening (June 2) in remembrance of George Floyd and other African Americans who have died as a result of police brutality, systemic racism and injustice. The demonstration was organized by the Rev. Chris Harris of Bright Star Church and other religious leaders from across the city. By Emily McFarlan Miller. 1200 words. (category: a)
NEWS BRIEF
RNS-Bible-Prop: American Bible Society leader: Don’t use the Bible as a political ‘prop’
(RNS) — The American Bible Society has added its voice to those urging caution about proper use of the Bible in political settings after President Donald Trump held a Bible aloft outside St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington earlier this week. “We should be careful not to use the Bible as a political symbol, one more prop in a noisy news cycle,” said Whitney T. Kuniholm, a senior vice president of the Philadelphia-based society. By Adelle M. Banks and Jack Jenkins. 447 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Teargas-Clergy: Faith leaders: Police used gas that caused tears, coughing when clearing DC park
WASHINGTON (RNS) — On Tuesday evening (June 2), President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign asserted that media outlets had falsely reported that law enforcement used tear gas to disperse protesters and faith leaders outside the White House. However, according to faith leaders who were at the park that day and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, law enforcement used chemicals that are regularly described as tear gas while breaking up the protest. By Jack Jenkins. 1,021 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Vatican-Finance: Pope Francis issues ‘game-changer’ document that aims to overhaul Vatican financial investments
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — As conflict, pollution and a pandemic plague the world, a new document issued by Pope Francis on Monday (June 1) – imposing transparency and efficiency measures within Vatican finances – may seem unimportant. But for observers within and outside the walled city-state, the pope’s move is a “game-changer.” The document completely overhauls the way the Vatican invests its money. By Claire Giangravè. 953 words. (category: i)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Pope-Floyd: Pope Francis condemns “sin of racism” while promoting non-violence as protests mount in the US
(RNS) – Pope Francis addressed the unrest and protests in the United States following the death of George Floyd during his weekly general audience on Wednesday (June 3), where he decried the “sin of racism.” By Claire Giangravè. 500 words. (category: i)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Silk-Oped: Trump makes Nixon look good
(RNS) — Fifty years ago, Nixon felt moved to go to the Lincoln Memorial to commune with demonstrators protesting his decisions about Vietnam, in an episode that can only be called Shakespearean. By contrast, Trump’s stunt is the stuff of “Saturday Night Live.” By Mark Silk. 670 words. (category: k)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Patel-Oped: George Floyd and the Patels: A story in generations
(RNS) — My dad has always wanted to fit in. He knew that meant cozying up to whiteness, and hoping some of it might rub off. But George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis changed my father’s view, bringing it closer to the one my kids’ understand — the fundamental brutality and injustice of the system. By Eboo Patel. 1,400 words. (category: k)
