Thursday’s News & Ideas - 9/18/2025
- AI-generated Charlie Kirks
- Rescuing Gaza’s archeology
- What young adults want from church
- Nuns flee from retirement home
- Will Vatican welcome LGBTQ women?
- Finishing the Sagrada Família
Charlie Kirk’s AI resurrection ushers in a new era of digital grief
Religion News Service: AI-generated versions of the conservative Christian activist are popping up online after his killing — as well as in church services.
A rushed rescue saves Gaza archeological items before an Israeli strike on a warehouse
The Associated Press: With an Israeli airstrike looming, aid workers carried out a last-minute rescue mission to salvage thousands of priceless artifacts from a Gaza warehouse before the building was flattened.
What do people in their 20s want from church?*
The Christian Century: Churches try all kinds of tricks. But new research indicates that the answers are surprisingly traditional.
Defiant nuns flee care home for their abandoned convent in the Alps
BBC: Three Austrian nuns in their 80s have run away from the retirement home where they were placed and gone back to their former convent.
The Vatican welcomed LGBTQ+ Catholics — can it do the same for women?
Religion Dispatches: A gender imbalance has been both consistent and persistent at LGBTQ+ Catholic events and communities over the years.
The Spark
The Sagrada Família takes its final shape
In the century since Antoni Gaudí died, his wild design has been obsessively realized, creating the world’s tallest church* — and an endlessly debated icon, The New Yorker says.
*access is limited for nonsubscribers
