Wednesday's News & Ideas - 12/11/2024

Most congregations avoid discussing politics, new study shows
Religion News Service: Even if members are politically active and many leaders are often outspoken about issues and candidates they support, most congregations make great efforts to keep politics out of the church when they gather.

Rural resurrection: A Greek village leans into faith in fight against demographic collapse
The Associated Press: Fourna’s fortunes have been reversed by an unlikely and tireless partnership. The local schoolteacher, a Ph.D. student studying artificial intelligence, found common cause with the Rev. Constantine Dousikos, a burly Orthodox priest and former lumber machine operator who was ordained shortly before turning 50.

Mr. President, we need more than a pardon
ARC: In his administration’s waning days, Biden has the opportunity to exalt a politics of compassion on criminal-justice issues.

The pope is up to something*
Slate: He’s on a roll of year-end power moves.

Two inveterate US clergy abusers preyed on same victim in New Orleans
The Guardian: Legal records show Lawrence Hecker and Gilbert Gauthe targeted the same altar boy in 1970s before being convicted of other crimes.

The Spark

A bionic leg controlled by the brain
A new kind of prosthetic limb* depends on carbon fiber and computer chips—and the reengineering of muscles, tendons, and bone, The New Yorker says.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers