Tuesday’s News & Ideas - 7/7/2026

Catholic legal aid group for immigrants nears collapse as US withholds funds
Religion News Service: The El Paso Diocese-run nonprofit is one of the largest providers of legal services for unaccompanied children. It says the US is defying a court order.

The July 4 white supremacist march exposes an uncomfortable truth about our country
Religion News Service: If we take our nation's long history of exclusionary politics seriously, it illuminates how white supremacist groups frame themselves as patriots. They believe they are not viruses to the American project, but white blood cells.

Dorothy Day never spoke of her abortion*
The Christian Century: A century later, I refuse to stay quiet about mine — despite the Catholic Worker movement’s tradition of silence, Laura Lasuertmer writes.

How a 198-year-old New Orleans synagogue became one of America’s fastest-growing Jewish communities*
Forward: A Reform synagogue on the Mardi Gras route — with no dues and fluid denominational lines — is a catalyst for Jewish life after catastrophe

What to know about the Society of St. Pius X, the schismatic group excommunicated by the pope
NPR: A group of traditionalists directly defied Pope Leo XIV by ordaining four new bishops without his consent, calling it their “sacred duty” during a ritual-laden ceremony at the society's seminary in the Swiss village of Écône.

The Spark

My almond archive
In southeastern Italy, almond groves hold centuries of local history, Longreads says.

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