RNS Morning Report: HIAS and refugees; Sessions interrupted; Pence’s Christian rabbi

A Pittsburgh police officer patrols around the Tree of Life Synagogue and a memorial of flowers and Stars of David in Pittsburgh on Oct. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Need to know: Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Pittsburgh suspect’s hatred of Jews, HIAS part of larger anti-immigrant surge

Congregation Dor Hadash, which met in the Tree of Life building, may have been the real target of the massacre: It was on a list of congregations that observed National Refugee Shabbat.

Jeff Sessions speech interrupted by Methodist, Baptist clergy

"I interrupted Attorney General Sessions today because his entire political agenda is antithetical to the gospel of Jesus Christ," one of the pastors said.

Honoring Pittsburgh synagogue victims, Mike Pence appears with ‘rabbi’ who preaches, ‘Jesus is the Messiah’

Loren Jacobs preaches Messianic Judaism, a tradition central to Jews for Jesus, a group condemned by Jewish leaders as a form of Christian evangelism.

Millions of Shiite Muslims make peaceful trek to Iraq’s Karbala

The voluntary Ziara pilgrimage is the first since Iraq's government declared victory over the Islamic State group in January.

In Europe, synagogues are fortresses. Is this the path for the US?

A multilayered defensive doctrine — with armed guards, sterile areas and panic rooms — is the norm in Europe; after Pittsburgh, experts see U.S. congregations heading the same way

Rabbi who tried to save congregants killed in synagogue shooting: “I wish I could have done more”

Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffrey Myers details how a "typical Shabbat morning" turned into a massacre — and shares his own personal regrets.

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Pittsburgh synagogue shooting shakes the city’s iconic Jewish neighborhood

(JTA) — In many other cities, historic Jewish communities have moved to other neighborhoods or to the suburbs, but Squirrel Hill and its immediate environs have remained the home of Pittsburgh’s Jews.

Pope Francis condemns ‘inhuman’ attack on Pittsburgh synagogue

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Francis on Sunday (Oct. 28) prayed that God would help the world 'extinguish the eruptions of hatred that are emerging in our societies.'

Police: Synagogue gunman said he wanted all Jews to die

The shooter was armed with an AR-15 rifle and three handguns in the deadly attack on Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue.

More views from RNS

The Pittsburgh massacre was about refugees

That fact should not be elided.

Catholic bishops end synod with controversy and compromise

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — The synod's report deals with a host of issues of concern to young people: treatment of women in society and in the church, the church’s attitude toward LGBT members, clerical sex abuse, warfare, poverty, migration, human trafficking and corruption. But the work must continue in local churches.

Why Pittsburgh matters

(RNS) — The gunman hated Jews, Judaism and, most of all, Jewish values.

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