‘Jesus People’ born from Haight-Ashbury's ‘Summer of Love’

Pope to gay priests: Be celibate or get out

Putting Lent back into Christmas
Bearings: Gerald W. Schlabach has a modest proposal to rescue the Christmas season from sentimentality on commercially peddled steroids: Let's put the "Lent" back into Christmas.

Bush funeral blended symbols of church and state, seemed non-communal
National Catholic Reporter: The funeral of President George H.W. Bush was a moment for our secular culture to recognize the degree to which, in the face of death, the Christian church has something meaningful to say, some comfort to bring, some hope to proclaim.

Under pressure, Museum of the Bible moves charismatic Christian conference off-site
Religion News Service: The change of venue is only the latest skirmish with scholars who claim the museum privileges the Protestant Bible and is intended to advance a broader evangelical agenda.

Pope to gay priests: Be celibate or get out
Religion News Service: What is remarkable about Francis' comments is not that he is cracking down on gay priests but that he is applying the same standards to gay and heterosexual priests

Matters of life and death: Rowan Williams and John Gray in conversation
New Statesman: Two of our greatest thinkers tackle humanity's key questions.

Los Angeles archdiocese adds 54 names to list of accused priests

Los Angeles archdiocese adds 54 names to list of accused priests: In a departure from how other dioceses have handled such listings, Archbishop Jose Gomez instructed that the names of deceased priests with uncorroborated but plausible allegations be included
Sacramento bishop suspends retired priest accused of abuse: Bishop Jaime Soto directs Msgr. Murrough Wallace "to withdraw from ministry until more facts can be gathered" after anonymous accuser uses press conference to make allegations
Dismissal of charges sought in baby-parts videos case: Motion filed to dismiss all racketeering, conspiracy, and fraud claims in Planned Parenthood v. Center for Medical Progress
UC-San Francisco loses $2 million contract over fetal tissue concerns: National Institutes of Health won't renew contract to conduct research into therapies for various ailments, including AIDS and Parkinson's disease, over concerns about use of fetal tissue

Religious sisters may have spent embezzled money on travel and casinos: Two sisters who retired from St. James Catholic School in Torrance earlier this year told parents school was operating on a shoestring budget, while allegedly embezzling as much as $500,000

Mass of the Americas to premiere at San Francisco cathedral: Mass is a simultaneous tribute to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception and to Our Lady of Guadalupe

George H.W. Bush’s ‘quiet faith’ remembered

George H.W. Bush’s ‘quiet faith’ remembered at cathedral funeral
Religion News Service
All the presidents at the Bush funeral service together recited this core prayer. Except one
The Washington Post *
Trump praises death penalty for Chinese fentanyl ‘distributors and pushers’
CNN
Aid for immigrants on desert trek stirs religion-freedom fight
The Wall Street Journal *
Indiana’s religious left flexes its political muscle
NPR
ACLU of Nebraska argues death penalty case in Supreme Court
Lincoln Journal Star *
Some Republicans want to oust a Muslim doctor from his GOP leadership role — because he’s Muslim
The Washington Post *
Einstein’s ‘God letter’ fetches $2.9M at auction
The Associated Press
 

International Headlines

Irish parliament passes bill to legalize abortion
BBC News
Francis to become first pope to visit Arabian peninsula
Reuters
Philip Wilson, ex Australian archbishop, has conviction for covering up child sex abuse overturned
CNN
Despite Netanyahu’s pressure, EU doesn’t link anti-Semitism to anti-Zionism
Haaretz *
Egyptian court hands Muslim Brotherhood leaders life sentences: sources
Reuters
Rohingya: End of monsoon prompts fresh wave of boats fleeing Myanmar
The Guardian
‘We can’t go anywhere’: Myanmar closes Rohingya camps but ‘entrenches segregation’
Reuters
Philippines arrests U.S. priest accused of abusing altar boys
The Associated Press
 

Analysis & Commentary

Pushing back the darkness in Pittsburgh
The Atlantic
Trump wants it both ways on criminal justice reform and the death penalty
CNN
How the ‘Jewish American Princess’ became America’s most complex Jewish stereotype
Vox
‘7th Heaven’ duped me into believing in a Christian family fantasy
BuzzFeed
 

* Some websites may require a paid subscription

5 Biggest Dangers Of A Long-Term Pastorate

Pivot

The 5 Biggest Dangers Of A Long-Term Pastorate – And How To Avoid Them

No pastor should ever stop learning – not if we hope to stay effective.

Read More

Kids’ Discipleship

How to Do Kids’ Discipleship in the Woods Creation care does more than conservation. It cultivates faith formation, says A Rocha. Interview by Kelli B. Trujillo

In the world of high-energy, high-entertainment Vacation Bible Schools and summer kids camps, “Wild Wonder” stands out as an un-flashy alternative, incorporating quiet activities like bird watching and nature observation alongside music and games. Developed by the Christian conservation ...

Read More

The Strange Journey of Christian Rock and Roll

Book Review The Strange Journey of Christian Rock and Roll Randall Stephens’s history pays attention to political and cultural flash points—without losing focus on the music itself. Joel Heng Hartse

Every few years, it seems, what some call the “mainstream media” rediscover Christian rock. Sometimes it’s treated with reverence and respect, as in John Jeremiah Sullivan’s now-classic 2004 account of tagging along at a Christian music festival for GQ. More often, it’s treated like a sociological oddity: a strange footnote in the history of American pop, a foreign culture to be explained with an anthropologist’s rigorous eye. Just this September, The New Yorker’s ...

Read More

Why I left the church, and what I'm hearing about it

George H.W. Bush's 'quiet faith' remembered at cathedral funeral
Religion News Service: The elder Bush's eldest child, former President George W. Bush, gave an emotional tribute to his father, noting his dedication to faith and family.
America: George H.W. Bush and the extinction of the Country Club Republican

On the first night of Hanukkah, I returned to my Pittsburgh synagogue
The Atlantic: Beth Kissileff hadn't been back to the synagogue where her husband is a rabbi since the shooting in October.

Why I left the church, and what I'm hearing about it
National Catholic Reporter: Melinda Henneberger explains why she couldn't continue to help prop up an institution that she has loved her whole life.

It's time for a grand compromise on religious freedom and contraceptives
America: Why should religious freedom advocates compromise when they are winning? The truth is that their victory is on shaking ground.

Indiana's religious left flexes its political muscle
NPR: The religious right in Indiana has long been a powerful political force. But now a progressive interfaith movement, called Faith in Indiana, is trying to challenge that foothold.

Are We Prepared to Tell God’s Story?

Are We Prepared to Tell God’s Story?

Regis Nicoll
 

It seems peculiar that the gospel reading for the first Sunday of Advent centers not on Christ’s first coming, but his second. In all three liturgical years, the gospel passage is taken from the Olivet Discourse—Jesus’s lengthy response to the eschatological curiosities of the disciples. But maybe that is not as peculiar as it seems. […]

Read More

New Film Documents Porn’s Harmful Effects

K. V. Turley
 

The film series Brain, Heart, World has just been released. It consists of three episodes each about 30 minutes long. Each episode explores a different realm in which pornography causes harm: the individual, human relationships, and society as a whole. There are some depressing facts to be learned from Brain, Heart, World. For a start, […]

Read More

Median age for leaving the church is 13

Median age for leaving the church is 13: At a symposium prior to the Santa Clara Faith Formation Conference, researchers from St. Mary’s Press discussed findings from their study “Going, Going, Gone: the Dynamics of Catholic Disaffiliation”
Bill requiring California’s public universities to provide abortion pill re-introduced: Similar bill was vetoed in October by outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown, who said the measure was unnecessary; Gavin Newsom has said he supports the idea
Thousands honor Our Lady of Guadalupe in Oakland: Participants marched 7 miles in a procession with floats, musicians and costumes that culminated with Mass at Cathedral of Christ the Light