Friday’s News & Ideas - 9/5/2025

Gaza’s Christians refuse to abandon churches before Israeli attack
Al Jazeera: Two of Gaza City’s churches are in areas where Israel has ordered Palestinians to leave before a planned attack.

Pope Leo and Vatican insist on 2-state solution to end Gaza war during meeting with Israel president
The Associated Press: Pope Leo XIV and his top diplomats told Israel’s president Thursday that a two-state solution was the “only way out of the war,” as the Vatican called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages and entry of humanitarian aid to famine-stricken Palestinians there.

How religion declines around the world
Pew Research Center: From 2010 to 2020, the share of the population that was affiliated with any religion dropped at least 5 percentage points in 35 countries, according to a recent Pew Research Center study.

Vatican puts Pope Francis’ ecological preaching into practice with vocational farm center
The Associated Press: The Vatican is inaugurating an ambitious educational center inspired by Pope Francis’ ecological legacy, a 55-acre utopian experiment in sustainable farming, vocational training and environmental schooling for kids and CEOs alike on the grounds of the papal estate on Lake Albano.

The real housewives of church history
ARC: A conversation with Beth Allison Barr on how pastors’ wives use power and submission.

The Spark

Arundhati Roy on how to survive in a ‘culture of fear’
As we get older, we often struggle to understand the impact our parents* have had on our lives. For the author Arundhati Roy, that process resulted in her new memoir, “Mother Mary Comes to Me,” The New York Times says.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers