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A woman holds a sign outside the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., on Nov. 24, 2021 after the jury reached a guilty verdict in the trial of the men charged with the February 2020 death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo

The three white men convicted of chasing down and murdering a young Black man, Ahmaud Arbery, as he was out jogging in their suburban Georgia community, were found guilty on Tuesday of committing federal hate crimes and other offenses in the 2020 killing.

Dhivya Sridar 2-17-2022

Original photo of Cedric J. Robinson by Doc Searls via Flickr. Graphic by Candace Sanders and Mitchell Atencio/Sojourners.

The term, “Black radical tradition” was coined in 1983 by Cedric J. Robinson, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Robinson saw the tradition as encompassing a host of movements — from antebellum rebellions against slave owners, to pan-Africanism, and Black Power. He defined the tradition as, “the continuing development of a collective consciousness informed by the historical struggles for liberation” in his book Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition.

Zoya Mirza 2-10-2022

Screenshot from Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker’s testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security. Cytron-Walker — who led the Texas synagogue hostages to safety last month — told Congress there is a need for increased funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.

The rabbi who led hostages to safety during an attack on his Texas synagogue last month said federally funded security training “gave [him] the courage to act.” Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker urged Congress to increase federal funding for a program that would help other religious leaders prepare for such assaults.

Quinn Clark 2-09-2022

Voorhees High School Library via the North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District.

Over the course of three school board meetings in the months that followed, parents argued that the books’ sexual content constituted “pornographic” material that didn’t belong in schools. Many parents cited their Christian values and rights as reasons why they spoke out against the books.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI arrives at the airport for his return flight to the Vatican. Pope Benedict on Tuesday asked victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church for forgiveness but rejected allegations that he was involved in any cover-up. Reuters

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Tuesday asked victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church for forgiveness but rejected allegations that he was involved in any cover-up. The retired pontiff was responding to an independent report, released on January 20, which chronicles decades of alleged abuse and misconduct in the archdiocese of Munich, which he led as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger from 1977 and 1982.

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich S.J., Archbishop of Luxembourg, (in mask) greets Pope Francis at the opening of the Synodal Path at the Vatican Oct. 9, 2021. Vatican Media/­Handout via REUTERS

A prominent liberal cardinal who leads a body representing European bishops has called for “fundamental revision” in Catholic teaching on homosexuality, and said it is wrong to fire Church workers for being LGBTQ.

Mitchell Atencio 2-02-2022

CODEPINK marches with the peace tank during the Deadline for Democracy protest at the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 6, 2021. For this event, a number of social justice organization in the Washington, D.C., area collaborated to shut down access to the Capitol as a means of pressuring Congress to act on key pieces of the Democratic agenda. (Photo by Allison Bailey/NurPhoto)

In the letter, the scholars criticize the budget being set $25 billion higher than President Joe Biden had requested. They write that the country urgently needs to “shift our security and foreign policy strategy” to break cycles of violence, cultivate peace, and practice constructive conflict.

1-31-2022

The Catholic priest Franco Mella talks to the media before delivering a letter addressed to Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, calling on authorities to drop charges against media mogul Jimmy Lai and other political activists jailed or in custody under the national security law, outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong, China, Jan. 31, 2022. REUTERS/James Pomfret

A coalition of Catholics and other Christians on Monday called on Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam to drop charges against media tycoon Jimmy Lai and other political activists jailed or in custody under a China-imposed national security law.

Brian Houston at the Hillsong Conference live at The O2 Arena, worshippers attend the evangelical megachurch event in London, United Kingdom. Via Alamy.

Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston said on Sunday he is stepping down from all ministry responsibilities to prepare to “vigorously defend” against Australian police charges that he concealed sex abuse of a young man in the 1970s.

In August, the 67-year-old Houston was charged with concealing child sex abuse by his late father, Frank Houston, an allegation he strenuously denied.

A general view of the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., Nov. 26, 2021. REUTERS/Will Dunham

Scholars say the court’s 6-3 conservative majority has shown an eagerness to impact abortion, affirmative action, LGBTQ rights, and more.

Pope Francis holds the weekly general audience at the Vatican on Jan. 26, 2022. REUTERS/Remo Casilli

Pope Francis said on Wednesday that parents of LGBTQ children should not condemn them but offer them support. He spoke in unscripted comments at his weekly audience in reference to difficulties that parents can face in raising offspring.

Security measures adopted by Congregation Beth Israel in Houston have included installing surveillance cameras outside its premises. Credit: Briana Vargas for The Texas Tribune

On Jan. 15, a gunman held four hostages in a standoff that lasted around 11 hours at Colleyville’s Congregation Beth Israel, a synagogue northeast of Fort Worth not affiliated with Kutner’s. The FBI said Friday it is considering the incident a terrorist act and hate crime.

Former pope Benedict gestures at the Munich Airport before his departure to Rome on June 22, 2020.

Former pope Benedict gestures at the Munich Airport before his departure to Rome on June 22, 2020. Sven Hoppe/Pool via REUTERS

Former Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged on Monday he had been at a 1980 meeting over a sexual abuse case when he was archbishop of Munich, saying he mistakenly told German investigators he was not there.

Annie Klingenberg 1-21-2022

Attendees hold up a sign reading “I Am the Post-Roe Generation,” ahead of the March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21, 2022. Annie Klingenberg for Sojourners.

Since 1974, anti-abortion activists have gathered each January in Washington, D.C., to protest the abortion rights granted under Roe v. Wade in January of 1973. With the Supreme Court set to issue a major ruling on abortion rights later this year that could overturn the ’73 ruling, attendees are hoping this will be the last annual anti-abortion march while Roe is the law of the land.

Pope Benedict XVI finishes his last general audience in St Peter's Square at the Vatican Feb. 27, 2013. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi/File Photo

Former Pope Benedict XVI failed to take action against clerics in four cases of alleged sexual abuse in his archdiocese when he was archbishop of Munich, a report found on Thursday.

Abraham Bonowitz, director of Death Penalty Action, calls for Congress to pass legislation prohibiting the death penalty at the federal level in front of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 17, 2022. Catherine Buchaniec for Sojourners.

The Abolitionist Action Committee was marking the 45th anniversary of the first execution in the modern era: Gary Gilmore was executed by firing squad on Jan. 17, 1977; he had been convicted of murdering two men in Utah in 1976, and the Supreme Court ruled the death penalty legal that same year.

Pope Francis meets with diplomats from more than 180 countries, at the Vatican, January 10, 2022. Vatican Media/­Handout via REUTERS

Pope Francis on Monday condemned “baseless” ideological misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, backing national immunization campaigns and calling health care a moral obligation.

Gregg Brekke 1-07-2022

On Jan. 6, 2022, hundreds participated in the Candleight Vigil for Democracy event on the first anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection. Photo: Gregg Brekke / Sojourners.

A year after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the District of Columbia remained largely silent. President Joe Biden gave a speech condemning the attack, Democratic members of Congress led remembrances, and different groups held vigils near the Capitol; a small group held a vigil in protest to the incarceration of those who participated in the Jan. 6 attack.

Madison Muller 1-05-2022

A person holding a wooden cross adorned with the phrase “Jesus Saves” marches down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the U.S. Capitol building alongside supporters of former President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021. Madison Muller/Sojourners.

Last January, over two dozen community members assembled near the large Martin Luther statue outside Luther Place Memorial Church in downtown Washington, D.C., for a morning of orchestrated silent prayer. Staggered six-feet apart in the sharp winter air, they were acutely aware that the Capitol was already abuzz with protesters waving Trump flags, holding signs invoking Jesus Christ, and outfitted in insignia from dangerous far-right organizations.

This year, to mark the one-year anniversary of Jan. 6, the church plans to hold a prayer service in reflection of the insurrection that took place less than two miles from their congregation at the U.S. Capitol building.

Mitchell Atencio 1-05-2022
Headshots of Jeremy Courtney and Jessica Courtney, and the Preemptive Love logo. Screengrabs from Preemptive Love website.

Headshots of Jeremy Courtney and Jessica Courtney, and the Preemptive Love logo. Screengrabs from Preemptive Love website.

Preemptive Love Coalition’s board of directors announced on Jan. 4 that the organization’s founders, Jeremy and Jessica Courtney, would not be returning to the organization in any capacity, after an investigation into the Courtneys’ leadership.