Monday's News & Ideas - 10/14/2024

Gateway sexual abuse investigation nearing its end, church says*
Chron: Nearly 25% of members have left the North Texas church since its former senior pastor Robert Morris resigned after being accused of child sexual abuse.

Vatican synod is opening the door a bit wider for Catholic women − but they’ve been knocking for more than 100 years
The Conversation: At the current synod, whose purpose is to address “communion, participation, and mission” in the church, women’s role is on the agenda. But Catholic women have historically found ways to speak to and about their church leadership, even when they have been excluded from its proceedings.

The California community caught between a powerful megachurch and far-right extremists
The Guardian: Shasta residents voted out an anti-establishment leader in favor of a business owner who attends the enormously popular yet controversial Bethel church

Can Hillel listen to its Jewish community?
Religion News Service: If not, new Jewish spaces are emerging to welcome students who may dissent from its strict stance on Israel and the war.

Vatican sent Italian children born out of wedlock to America as orphans
CBS News: From 1950 to 1970, the Vatican sent 3,500 Italian children to America on something called an orphan visa. The trouble was most were not orphans.

The Spark

The tiny potato at the heart of one tribe’s fight against climate change
Wetlands absorb carbon from the atmosphere. The Coeur d’Alene’s restoration would do more than just that, Vox says.

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