Thursday’s News & Ideas - 6/11/2026
- Pilgrims at the World Cup
- Pope’s encyclical & colleges
- SBC bans women pastors again
- Survey on Gen Z Christians
- Dissatisfaction with democracy
- Missing vultures
Pilgrims and holy wars at the World Cup
ARC: Soccer’s corrupt governing body may discover that the faithful still believe in the game — but not in its priests
What Pope Leo’s AI encyclical means for Catholic colleges and universities
Religion News Service: Our institutions are at risk of becoming transactional degree factories where students become dehumanized.
Southern Baptists pass a ban on women pastors again. This time, they hope it sticks.
Religion News Service: The proposed ban on churches with women pastors or those that allow women to preach was approved by three-quarters of church messengers gathered in Orlando.
Survey: Gen Z prefers a generic ‘Christian’ label over ‘Protestant’*
Christianity Today: Younger Americans, even evangelicals, now favor the broader term — but self-identified Protestants have more stable, engaged lives of faith.
Americans are more dissatisfied with how their democracy is working than people in other high-income countries
Pew Research Center: Around seven-in-ten U.S. adults (69%) say they are dissatisfied with the way democracy is working in their country.
The Spark
Humans killed millions of vultures. Now people are paying the price.
As vultures* vanished, dogs multiplied, and rabies spread. Humans are living with the consequences, The Washington Post says.
*access is limited for nonsubscribers
