Japan's ‘hidden Christians’ maintain faith

President Obama & Marilynne Robinson: A conversation in Iowa
New York Review of Books: In the first of a two-part interview, the president discusses faith, democracy and small-town life with the Pulitzer-Prize-winning novelist, whom he awarded the National Humanities medal in 2013.

Cardinals’ secret letter to Francis warns of plot to rig reforms
Religion News Service: Tensions already roiling a high-level Vatican summit spilled into the open with the publication of a letter allegedly sent to Pope Francis from 13 conservative cardinals — including Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York — warning of plots by progressives to hijack the proceedings.

On guns and religious liberty, Ben Carson is ‘not an authentic Adventist’
Religion Dispatches: You’d never know it from Ben Carson’s exhortations for Americans to arm themselves against perpetrators of gun violence, but a central belief of his religion, Seventh-day Adventism, is in non-violence, writes Sarah Posner.

Spectrum: An open letter to Ben Carson from a fellow Adventist: Stop the Islamophobia
Britain's only openly married gay vicar elected to Church of England synod
The Guardian: Andrew Foreshew-Cain, the vicar of St Mary with All Souls, Kilburn and St James, West Hampstead, said he will use his position to “advocate for a church that faces up to issues of sexuality in a honest and compassionate way.”

Driven underground years ago, Japan's ‘hidden Christians’ maintain faith
NPR: From the Roman Empire to the Cold War-era Soviet Union, many Christian groups throughout history have concealed their faith to survive government persecution. But some of Japan's kakure kirishitan, or “hidden Christians,” have remained closeted for nearly 4 1/2 centuries -- long after the threat of persecution had lifted.