NEWS STORY
RNS-Mission-Fire: Man charged in San Gabriel Mission blaze that destroyed rooftop of historic church
SAN GABRIEL (RNS) — A man has been charged in connection to a fire last July that destroyed the rooftop of a church at the historic San Gabriel Mission, the fourth in a series of missions across California that Father Junipero Serra founded during the Spanish colonization era. By Alejandra Molina. 760 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
UMC-Podcast: United Methodist pastor’s podcast ‘Cross Over Q’ challenges QAnon, comforts its victims
(RNS) — In late January, Vicar Derek Kubilus, who leads a small United Methodist Church in northeastern Ohio, launched a podcast called “Cross Over Q” to open a conversation about QAnon with his fellow Christians, who number among Q’s adherents. By Emily McFarlan Miller. 900 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Pittsburgh-Libeskind: Tree of Life names renowned architect Daniel Libeskind to design future synagogue
(RNS) — Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life congregation has chosen internationally renowned architect Daniel Libeskind to design its new building, more than 2.5 years after 11 Jews were gunned down in its sanctuary — the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history. Libeskind, who is Jewish, is the son of Holocaust survivors from Poland. By Yonat Shimron. 500 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Ramadan-Juice: To break Ramadan fast, many Muslims turn to apricot drink with ‘lunar’ name
(RNS) — At the end of a day of fasting during Ramadan, observant Muslims aren’t looking for just any snack. What’s needed at sunset is a jolt that will raise the blood sugar without asking too much from yearning stomachs. In the Arab world, one of the most popular is an apricot juice drink known as Qamar al-Din, or “moon of the religion.” On the street corners of Cairo, Alexandria and other Egyptian cities, men with towering metal dispensers perched on the back of their carts offer steel cups of Qamar al-Din to passersby. By Joseph Hammond. 690 words. (category: a)
NEWS BRIEF
RNS-Refugee-Ceiling: Biden raises refugee ceiling and faith-based groups brace for rebuilding work
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Faith-based refugee resettlement groups are celebrating President Joe Biden’s decision to raise the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. for the remainder of the federal fiscal year to 62,500, even as they acknowledge they need to rebuild their capacity after years of having few people to help. By Emily McFarlan Miller and Jack Jenkins. 1,048 words. (category: a)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Riess-Oped: Mormons’ petitions help to save historic artwork in Manti Utah Temple
(RNS) — the church announced it has changed its plan again and will now save the murals in their entirety inside the temple, where they were designed to be seen and used. Many are breathing a sigh of relief that Teichert’s murals, as well as other irreplaceable pieces of art and history, will be saved from destruction. By Jana Riess. 650 words. (category: k)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Prior-Oped: The evangelical sexual abuse crisis is the spiritual warfare of our time
(RNS) — As hard as it is to see the deeds of darkness come to light, there is solace in knowing that these secret sins are being revealed and that in being revealed are losing some of their power. The wrestling reveals, too, who is for the victims and who is not, who is being deceived and who is doing the deceiving. By Karen Swallow Prior. 1,085 words. (category: k)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Reese-Oped: The Biden Communion stories are stupid
(RNS) — A handful of American Catholic bishops have issued statements recently questioning whether anyone who supports abortion rights should be receiving Communion, and journalists immediately pounced: Will President Joe Biden, they wanted to know, be denied Communion because of his pro-choice position on abortion? But the bishops’ conference denying Communion to Biden is as likely as the National Governors Association impeaching the president. By Thomas Reese. 1,010 words. (category: k)