Wednesday's News & Ideas - 2/21/2024

Texas AG Paxton moves to shut down El Paso’s Annunciation House, alleging migrant aid is “human smuggling” 
El Paso Matters: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking to shut down Annunciation House, an El Paso Catholic nonprofit organization that has provided shelter and other services to migrants and immigrants for decades.

The keeper of the Vatican’s secrets is retiring. Here’s what he wants you to know
The Associated Press: The Vatican has been trying for years to debunk the idea that its vaunted secret archives are all that secret: It has opened up the files of controversial World War II-era Pope Pius XII to scholars and changed the official name to remove the word “Secret” from its title.

Celebration or desecration? England’s cathedrals open doors to silent discos
The Guardian: Events can help cover cathedrals’ huge daily running costs, but they have faced strong opposition from some Christians

What does it mean to say ‘Jesus is Palestinian’?
Sojourners: To say that Jesus is Palestinian is to fight back against revisionist narratives about the history of Palestine and the view that Jesus’ Jewish identity must be pitted against his identity as a Palestinian.

As a rabbi, philosopher and physician, Maimonides wrestled with religion and reason
The Conversation: Faith and reason might seem like an either-or — until we read Maimonides. For Maimonides, a 12th century theologian, philosopher, rabbi and physician, there is no true faith without reason.

The Spark

The judgment of São Miguel
A Catholic priest, an evangelical pastor and the battle for souls in the deepest Amazon,* The Washington Post writes.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers