News

Clarissa Jones 1-20-2018
Nuns watch as President Donald Trump remotely addresses the March for Life rally by satellite from the nearby White House Jan. 19, 2018. REUTERS/Eric Thayer

Thousands of pro-life activists gathered Friday for the annual March for Life on the National Mall. The event was heavily attended by members of religious institutions, Catholic school children, and evangelical Christians — but politics took center stage.

Dhanya Addanki 1-20-2018

On Jan. 20, one year since President Donald Trump's inauguration and nearly a year since the world's largest protest in history, thousands gathered in cities across the nation for the Women's March — this year focused on driving people to the polls in 2018. These are photos from the march in Washington, D.C.

Participants attend the annual March for Life anti-abortion rally in front of the Washington Monument in Washington, U.S. January 19, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Thayer  

The Rose Garden event was part of a deliberate strategy to raise the visibility of anti-abortion protesters, who have complained they haven’t gotten as much attention as other Washington protests, including last year’s Women’s March — which specifically excluded women opposed to abortion.

Image via Roger Netwon/Youth Today 

It’s not just the Dreamers who stand to lose if there are no new legislative protections put in place: It could have hefty economic consequences for states like North Carolina. Patrick McHugh, economic analyst for the progressive research and advocacy organization North Carolina Justice Center, said the Cato Institute (a libertarian think tank) predicted that ending DACA could cost North Carolina $7.8 billion in the next decade alone.

Pope Francis (R) greets a member of an indigenous group of the Peruvian Amazon region, at the Coliseum Madre de Dios, in Puerto Maldonado, Peru January 19, 2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero

"The native Amazonian peoples have probably never been so threatened on their own lands as they are at present," the pope told a crowd of indigenous people from more than 20 groups including the Harakbut, Esse-ejas, Shipibos, Ashaninkas, and Juni Kuin.

the Web Editors 1-19-2018
Image via Betsy Blake 

This is not the first time Congregational United Church of Christ has offered their church as sanctuary to undocumented immigrants. Minerva Garcia took sanctuary in the church from June 28 2017 to Oct. 2 2017 A federal judge in Texas vacated her deportation order leading her to claim sanctuary. Garcia came to the U.S. in the 1990s so her son, who is blind, could have more opportunities. She came to the U.S. undocumented because it was too expensive and too time consuming to accommodate her son’s needs while traveling, according to the Triad City Beat. She said her hometown in Mexico was violent because of drug cartels, also propelling her to leave.

Jessica Cobian 1-18-2018
Photo by Rebekah Fulton / Sojourners

Throughout the week, faith leaders and DACA recipients — young immigrants who were guaranteed protection from deportation under an Obama-era program, since rescinded by President Trump — have urged legislators to refuse a vote on a spending bill to fund the government if it does not include a Dream Act. Trump said he would sign the current version of the bill, up for vote in the House as soon as Thursday evening. That version does not include protections for DACA recipients — a potential make-or-break piece that could force a government shutdown Friday.

the Web Editors 1-18-2018
Image via Flickr

Women's, LGBTQ rights, and other physician groups have expressed concern for the heavy implications on patients' access to abortion and treating LGBTQ patients.

the Web Editors 1-17-2018
Thomas Homan addresses the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S. July 27, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

The operation would go after people who have been identified as targets for deportation, including those who have been served with final deportation orders and those with criminal histories, the source said. The number could tick up if officers come across other undocumented immigrants in the course of their actions and make what are known as collateral arrests.

the Web Editors 1-17-2018

“We have been angered about the detention of our undocumented members and allies from the New Sanctuary Coalition,” said Onleilove Alston, the executive director of Faith in NY, a multi-faith and multi-race network of over 70 congregations working for justice in New York City. “We know that God doesn’t create anyone illegal but that everyone is created in the image of the divine. Now is the time for congregations to stand with stranger as the Bible commands, and now is the time for clergy to put their bodies on the line for those in the shadows.”

Pope Francis speaks at the La Moneda Presidential Palace in Santiago, Chile, Jan. 16, 2018. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi  

Pope Francis publicly expressed "pain and shame" on Tuesday over the rape and molestation of children by priests in Chile and later listened, prayed, and cried at a private meeting with victims.

the Web Editors 1-16-2018
Image via MJZ Photography / Flickr

While long quietly politically engaged, many at the school have taken on a noticeably more public stance toward actions from the Trump administration. 

the Web Editors 1-12-2018
Image via  Lorie Shaull / Flickr

What goes unmentioned is that we already have over 1,000 nuclear warheads in our arsenal with low-yield options, to say nothing of the fact that the more nuclear weapons you introduce into the world, the more likely it is that they’ll one day be used.

 

the Web Editors 1-12-2018

An ICE officer told the Daily Camera that Jurado’s detainment is not related to Encalada Latorre’s immigration status or her taking sanctuary. But some, including Encalada Latorre and Janette Vizguerra, a prominent immigrant rights leader who was previously in sanctuary, believe that this is a tactic to put pressure on Latorre to leave sanctuary.

the Web Editors 1-12-2018
A man is silhouetted near logo of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) in this photo illustration taken in Sarajevo March 11, 2015. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo

The controversial decision came in the wake of the House rejecting bipartisan efforts to enforce privacy limits on the NSA, as well as contradictory tweets by President Donald Trump on Thursday morning, hours before the vote. 

 

the Web Editors 1-11-2018
Image via Sojourners

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained immigrant rights activist Ravi Ragbir on Thursday after a routine check-in in New York City. Ragbir is the executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York and has been nationally recognized for his work.

the Web Editors 1-11-2018
Chairman Ajit Pai drinks coffee ahead of the vote on the repeal of so called net neutrality rules at the Federal Communications Commission in Washington. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), along with the support 40 co-sponsors, have amassed the 30 votes necessary to seek to reverse the net neutrality repeal through the Congressional Review Act. 

the Web Editors 1-11-2018
A nurse listens to nine month old Marion Burgess's heartbeat at the Dornbecher Children's hospital in Portland, Oregon, U.S. December 6, 2017. Burgess suffers from a chronic heart condition. Picture taken December 6, 2017. REUTERS/Natalie Behring

The stall in funding for CHIP, federally-funded program that covers moderately low-income children in the U.S., leaves nearly nine million children and their families in a worrisome limbo. 

Image via World Vision/Kari Constanza

During his tenure, World Vision grew to collect $1 billion in annual revenue in 2017, making the 67-year-old ministry No. 15 on Forbes’ list of the nation’s largest charities. The agency’s statement on Stearns cites its “two million supporters, child sponsors, and partners and says it is on track to serve 30 million children by 2022.”

That track was nearly derailed in March 2014, however, with a blowup in Christian evangelical circles over how World Vision would deal with LGBT employees.