Tuesday's News & Ideas - 4/1/2025

Pope’s doctor calls recovery ‘miraculous,’ says Francis wanted to keep fighting
Crux: Pope Francis’s primary doctor during his hospitalization has said it was the pope himself who chose to keep trying different therapies when his life was most at risk, and has attributed the pontiff’s “miraculous” recovery, in part, to prayer.

The ADL quietly eliminated its anti-bias educational program
Religion News Service: In the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, the ADL shifted its focus to combating antisemitism.

What to make of miracles*
The Atlantic: In a new book, Elaine Pagels searches for the narrative origins of Jesus’s most wondrous acts.

Judge disregarded bankruptcy trustee’s recommendation and punished New Orleans clergy abuse survivors
The Guardian: Molestation survivors were removed from the committee in settlement talks after a lawyer was accused of improperly identifying school chaplain as child sexual abuser.

New film tells story of Audrey Evans, Episcopalian doctor who co-founded Ronald McDonald House*
The Christian Century: “Audrey’s Children” is a feature-length biopic about Audrey Evans, a pioneering British American pediatric oncologist and a devout Episcopalian who co-founded Ronald McDonald House Charities.

The Spark

The makeup artist Donald Trump deported under the Alien Enemies Act
The President has invoked the law to send Venezuelans to prison in El Salvador without due process — and, in many cases, under false pretenses,* The New Yorker says.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers