Thursday, October 10, 2024

This Week in Religion - 'Why not me?' Women march for ordination outside Vatican

Lead story

Advocates for women's ordination hold purple fans with slogans such as "Why not me?" and "Ordain women."

Editor's note:

For three years, Catholics around the world met in discussion groups large and small, in parishes and in conference centers, at the diocesan level and the continental one. Out of those discussions came the agenda for a Vatican synod on "synodality," a summit to imagine "a new way of doing church" that's inclusive of more voices and listens to more perspectives. This October marks the second of two such summits at the Vatican, but some of the major concerns of Catholics around the world − LGBTQ inclusion, women's ordination, married priests − have been removed from the discussion table, at least for now. Consigned to study groups, these hot-button issues will remain undecided, prompting many to question the sincerity of the synodal process. For some women who have gathered to march at the Vatican during the synod though, they still see a sliver of hope for a female diaconate. “I definitely see myself as somebody who is like planting seeds,” one advocate told RNS' Claire Giangravé, adding that she will keep doing so even if those seeds never bear fruit in her lifetime.

A headshot of Roxanne Stone, Managing Editor at Religion News Service.
 

Religion News

Cissy Houston, a Grammy-winning gospel singer and Whitney Houston's mother, dies at 91 

Cissy Houston, a two-time Grammy-winning soul and gospel artist who sang with Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley and other stars and knew triumph and heartbreak as the mother of Whitney Houston, has died. She was 91. By Jonathan Landrum Jr. and Hillel Italie/The Associated Press 

Evangelicals for Harris’ anti-Trump Billy Graham ad prompts threat of lawsuit

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, led by the late evangelist’s son the Rev. Franklin Graham, has said it might sue over the ad’s use of clips from a 1988 Graham sermon. By Kathryn Post/Religion News Service

Thousands of copies Donald Trump’s “God Bless the USA” Bible were printed in China, a country he has repeatedly accused of stealing American jobs and engaging in unfair trade practices. Trade records reviewed by The AP show a publisher in China shipped close to 120,000 of the Bibles to the United States in February and March. By Richard Lardner and Dake Kang/The Associated Press 

Sufi shrine on India-Pakistan border promises thread of unity

Thousands of pilgrims arrive weekly to honor the mystic Sufi saint Sheikh Brahm's legacy of peace and harmony. By Priyadarshini Sen/Religion News Service

Women wearing colorful, traditional clothing of the Doukhobors Christian sect.

A faith is on the edge of vanishing in Georgia after being exiled from Russia centuries ago 

Members of a pacifist Christian sect that emerged in 18th century Russia were exiled to Georgia about 200 years ago for refusing to serve in the tsarist army and rejecting Orthodox rituals. Some were sent into exile while others emigrated to Canada; in Georgia only around 100 remain in two remote mountain villages. By Kostya Manenkov/The Associated Press

 

Commentary and Analysis

For the first time in history, a majority of the cardinals at the next conclave will be from outside of Europe. By Thomas Reese/Religion News Service

Many US states and cities have renamed Columbus Day as Indigenous People’s Day. But wrestling over the explorer’s legacy has a longer – and even more fraught – history in Latin America. By Elena Jackson Albarrán for The Conversation

Ancient Maya peoples knew that human beings are not independent from nature but part of it. By James L. Fitzsimmons for The Conversation

Ninety years ago, Greenberg had a momentous decision to make: Should he play baseball on Yom Kippur? By Robert Gudmestad for The Conversation

 
A man blowing a shofar (ram's horn) to mark the beginning of Rosh Hashana. He is standing with his back towards the viewer and the sun is setting.

A man blows a shofar, a ram’s horn, marking Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, overlooking the port of Haifa, Israel, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

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