NEWS STORY
RNS-Canada-Burnings: Canadian churches on First Nations land are burning
(RNS) — A slew of church burnings across western Canada have left six churches on First Nations land badly damaged or destroyed. The burnings come at a time when Canada is reckoning with the recent discoveries of mass unmarked graves on the sites of former boarding schools for Indigenous children — many of which were run by churches. By Renée Roden. 790 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Pope-Gaza: Aid worker’s father appeals to Pope Francis to gain his son’s release from Israel
(RNS) — A Palestinian man has appealed to Pope Francis to intercede with the Israeli government to release his son, a humanitarian worker with a Christian aid organization, who has been in jail for more than five years on what the father maintains are manufactured charges. By Daoud Kuttab. 488 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Cult-Survivor: ‘Snapping out’ of a cult and sharing her healing with others
(RNS) — ”An Everyday Cult” tells the story of falling under cultic mind control and then, eventually, snapping out of it. Since author Gerette Buglion found her way out in 2014, she has had a fierce drive to share her story and help other survivors share theirs. “I lost years of my contribution to society. I lost 18 years of my life to something that was allowing a cult leader to gain more traction, instead of my own light shining in the world.” By Tracy Simmons. 1,213 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-ECC-Doctrine: Evangelical Covenant Church joins list of Protestant denominations rebuking Doctrine of Discovery
(RNS) — While the Evangelical Covenant Church has been working on its resolution for the past five years, its action came the day after the Cowessess First Nation announced it had found indications of at least 751 unmarked graves near the former Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatechewan. By Emily McFarlan Miller. 800 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Surfside-Jewish A devastated Jewish community in Surfside, Florida, begins burying its dead
(RNS) — As the search for missing people trapped in the rubble of a Surfside, Florida, condo building continued, the town’s large Jewish community buried its first victims Monday (June 28). At least 50 of the total trapped in the collapse are likely Jewish, according to various lists that have been collected in Jewish circles. By Yonat Shimron. 700 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Monument-Colorado: Colorado Memorial Plaque Draws Religious Freedom Concerns
(RNS) —A memorial plaque placed in a cemetery in Monument, Colorado, has attracted national attention due to its reference to Jesus Christ. Organizations ranging from the Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A. and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation have called for the plaque to be removed. The latter of whom is pressing to have the fate of the monument decided in a federal court. By Joseph Hammond. 500 words (category: a)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Silk-Oped: Catholic bishops put eucharistic politics on a slow burn
(RNS) — So how trustworthy is the promise not to create a national policy opposing Communion for pro-choice Catholic politicians? Because the same Committee on Doctrine that set out to develop one is in charge of drafting the document, I’d say not completely. By Mark Silk. 646 words. (category: k)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Reese-Oped: Democrats should support increasing the gas tax
(RNS) — It is a fundamental tenet of economics that if you increase the price of a product through excise taxes, consumption of that product will decline. This is why, in response to global warming, most economists support a carbon tax, which will result in less carbon dioxide emissions. By Thomas Reese. 599 words. (category: k)