NEWS STORY
RNS-Woelki-Break: Pope Francis suspends German cardinal for failures in handling sex abuse cases
(RNS) – Pope Francis accepted the request by German Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki to take a six-month pause from his duties as Archbishop of the Dioceses of Cologne, wrought by sexual abuse scandals, due to his “grave mistakes” in handling the crisis. By Claire Giangravè. 900 words. (category i)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Trent-Podcast: J. Dana Trent turns her drug-dealing childhood into a podcast about poverty and faith
(RNS) — J. Dana Trent is best known for a series of books in which she has expounded on faith, love and grief from the perspective of a Southern minister eager to win over readers with inspired messages about finding meaning, slowing down and mourning loss. But in a new podcast, this ordained Baptist minister and instructor in world religions strips away the polished facade to reveal a childhood growing up in small-town Indiana to parents who sold and used drugs. By Yonat Shimron. 900 words. (category: a)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Patel-Oped: Muhammad Ali was cocky, cruel and obstinate, until Islam changed him
(RNS) — The epic eight-hour documentary on Muhammad Ali, by Ken Burns, his daughter Sarah Burns and her husband, David McMahon, airing now on PBS, is worthy of the man. Don’t miss a minute of it. The pacing, the photos, the music, the fight scenes, the expert interviews amount to a work of art; the raw, brutal and beautiful honesty in which it deals with a raw, brutal and beautiful human being. By Eboo Patel. 850 words. (category: k)