Catholic bishops participate in a morning prayer June 11, 2019, during the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ spring 2019 meetings in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Need to know: Friday, June 14, 2019
Catholic bishops stop short of mandating lay involvement in abuse investigations
Some prelates at the USCCB's spring meeting, however, made clear that they support lay involvement regardless.
Closing of American Hebrew Academy marks end of Jewish boarding school experiment
The financial woes that beset the elite school located on a verdant, 100-acre campus in Greensboro, N.C., were not exactly those affecting other Jewish high schools. In its 18-year history, the school was an outlier.
Southern Baptist historic gavel a reminder of racist legacy
The so-called 1872 Broadus gavel, which calls to order a church body that has sought racial reconciliation within its ranks, is named for slaveholder John A. Broadus.
California church sues after removal as polling place over Black Lives Matter banners
The church's lawsuit claims that when it refused to remove its two Black Lives Matter banners, a county election official illegally removed the church from the list of polling places.
Imagine Anne Frank at 90
The story about Anne Frank that you have never heard, Jeffrey Salkin writes.
Pope moves first African-American priest closer to sainthood
Pope Francis decreed the “heroic virtues” of the first African-American Catholic priest, thereby bringing a man who was born into slavery in the 19th century a step closer to becoming the first African-American saint.
Latest news from RNS
What is Quebec’s Bill 21 debate about — and will tomorrow’s vote end it?
(RNS) — For the fourth time in a decade, Quebec is in the midst of a heated public discourse over a deeply controversial bill that would severely limit religious dress and symbols in public places.
Southern Baptists face sex abuse crisis with litany of lament
Following along on large screens around the Legacy Arena, women, men, pastors, lay people and survivors took turns reading words drawn from the biblical books of Psalms and Lamentations.
Boisterous faith leaders and a silent Pete Buttigieg rally against Trump at White House
Despite being repeatedly blocked by federal agents and the mysterious closure of a park across from the White House, the demonstrators still got their message of resistance to the president across.
More views from RNS
Catholic bishops finally tackle the sex abuse cover-up. Now comes the hard part.
BALTIMORE (RNS) — The reforms the Catholic bishops passed this week to deal with the sexual abuse crisis were easy compared with changing the culture of clerical privilege that is at the heart of the abuse crisis.
Black Mormon pioneer Jane Manning James finally gets her due
Jane Manning James was overlooked for much of Mormon history. Now she's finally getting her due in a feature film and a new biography by historian Quincy Newell.
Women as pastors? Not all Baptists say no
The ways the Holy Spirit used women to invite both men and women to relationship with Jesus, establish congregations and offer a witness to his love shows that the calling of women is no new activity in the life of God, writes Paul Baxley.
