News & Ideas

Friday's News & Ideas - 2/21/2025

  • Israel disputes returned hostage
  • PCA removes resource on deportation
  • TX ACNA church joins TEC
  • Oscar nominees & God
  • Sepsis rates in TX
  • Chile’s ‘disappeared’

Israel says body returned by Hamas not that of hostage
NPR: The Israeli military said Friday that the body of a hostage returned a day earlier is not the mother of two young boys whose bodies were also released by the Palestinian militant group Hamas under a ceasefire deal.

PCA removes webpage giving advice on how to avoid deportation
Ministry Watch: The archived webpage published on Jan. 9 by Mission to North America started by framing the issue with a question, “Did you know? The average undocumented person has been present in the US for more than a decade.”

Texas ACNA congregation becomes second to join Episcopal Church
Religion News Service: Resurrection South Austin’s rector, Shawn McCain Tirres, said his congregants “wanted rootedness and wanted to feel connected to something ancient and global” in joining the long-established form of American Anglicanism.

This is the year the Oscars found God — but can they keep the faith?
The Guardian: From “Conclave” to “The Brutalist” to “A Real Pain,” films about religion are unusually well represented at the Academy Awards — some with decidedly unorthodox themes

Texas banned abortion. Then sepsis rates soared.
ProPublica: The rate of sepsis shot up more than 50% for women hospitalized when they lost their pregnancies in the second trimester.

The Spark

Grave mistakes: The history and future of Chile’s ‘disappeared’
A brutal regime hid hundreds of people’s remains. Can new forensic science help find them — and regain public trust? Undark Magazine asks.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers



Sign up to receive religion news every weekday in the free News & Ideas newsletter

Signup options

Most recent News & Ideas

Thursday’s News & Ideas - 7/3/2025

  • Religion in higher ed
  • Fast for Gaza crisis
  • Divided opinion on evolution
  • Ultra-Orthodox Jews
  • Dalai Lama succession plan
  • Black Pheonix

Wednesday’s News & Ideas - 7/2/2025

  • Clergy struggle to visit detainees
  • Jimmy Swaggart dies
  • Ethics of brain-dead pregnancy
  • Gun laws after Charleston
  • Ultra-Orthodox Jews & politics
  • What makes someone cool?

News & Ideas - 7/1/2025

  • Religious attacks surge
  • Officials address religious conference
  • SCOTUS decision hurts pluralism
  • Dalai Lama turns 90
  • Church roof tells story
  • Woman frees mom from prison
Reading the lectionary

New lectionary search tool 

Easily find scripture passages and resources for any lectionary week with Zeteo’s new search feature. You can even filter by your preferred lectionary version: Revised Common, Catholic or Narrative.

Learn More