WCC news: WCC condemns assault at German Christmas market

Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), and Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, WCC moderator, have strongly condemned the act of violence perpetrated against people visiting a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, on 20 December. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC 21 December 2024 Many people were injured, and tragically, at least two lives were lost, including that of a small child, after a car struck a crowd at the Christmas market. “We unequivocally condemn the heinous and senseless attack on innocent civilians,” they said. “This act of violence, targeting a place of joy, unity, and peace, is a stark violation of human dignity and stands in opposition to the spirit of Christmas, which calls us to love, compassion, and goodwill,” added the WCC leaders. Expressing solidarity with the victims and the German people, Pillay reaffirmed the ecumenical steadfast commitment to peace and justice, praying for healing for the wounded and strength for the bereaved. “Together, let us reject hatred and violence in all forms, standing firm as instruments of God’s peace in a fractured world”. Bedford-Strohm added that "the attack last night spread fear and horror and claimed two lives and injured many others. Many people, including myself, are now taking part. We remember the relatives in prayer. We bring our lamentation about such senseless violence before God. We will never resign ourselves to it". WCC member churches in Germany WCC Christmas message See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland

Truth and Action Roundup 12.23.24

View this email in your browser Welcome to the Truth and Action Roundup, a reliable source of information, inspiration, and action for the post-election period. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to continue receiving it. Today is Monday, Dec. 23, 28 days before Inauguration Day. In this week’s Truth and Action Roundup, with Christmas quickly approaching, we offer our “Deep Breaths” spiritual resources at the start of the newsletter, which focuses on the theme of love during this final week of Advent. On the news front, we celebrate President Joe Biden’s commutation of nearly all federal death sentences, report on the narrowly averted government shutdown, and give an update on the next steps in the official process of certifying the winner of the presidential election. Finally, we offer resources on difficult conversations with loved ones during the holiday season and provide a reminder for an upcoming vigil for democracy on Jan. 5 that you can attend in person or virtually. The Truth and Action Roundup will take a break this Wednesday, Christmas Day, and this Friday, Dec. 27. We will return next Monday, Dec. 30. Merry Christmas to you and yours! — the Truth and Action Roundup production team Deep Breaths Advent Readings for today: Psalm 113; Genesis 25:19-28; Colossians 1:15-20 My Big Mama — my paternal grandmother, with her tradition of calling the day before Christmas Eve “Christmas ZZ,” taught me to find joy and anticipation in the simplest moments. Her love and warmth embodied the true spirit of the season — one of hope, peace, and quiet strength. Reflecting on her memory, I’m reminded of Howard Thurman’s “The Sacrament of Christmas.” The poem, published in Meditations of the Heart, beautifully captures these same truths. His words call us to carry joy, trust, and love into the world, no matter the circumstances. Here is one last Christmas playlist for 2024. Enjoy. — Rev. Moya Harris, Director of Racial Justice, Sojourners P.S. You can access previous Truth and Action Roundup playlists and videos here. In the News Here’s what we know at the time of writing: 1) Biden has commuted the sentences of 37 out of the 40 prisoners on federal death row, permanently shielding them from execution. Their sentences have been changed to life without the possibility of parole. A broad array of churches, nonprofits, civil rights groups, and more (including Sojourners) had urged Biden to commute the sentences of all federal death row prisoners given the record number of executions President-elect Donald Trump presided over during his first term. Biden himself had pledged to end the federal death penalty during his 2020 campaign for the presidency. 2) The federal government narrowly avoided a shutdown after passing a modified spending deal early Saturday morning that keeps the government open through March 14. It includes aid to farmers and disaster assistance. After Elon Musk and Trump torpedoed an earlier version last week, the bill passed on a bipartisan basis but did not include the debt ceiling increase Trump had sought. 3) After the Electoral College’s vote last Tuesday at state capitols around the country, the votes from each state’s electors now must be signed, certified, and transmitted to Washington, D.C. by the fourth Wednesday in December, which this year is Dec. 25. The national archivist will then transmit the certificates to Congress on or before Jan. 3, when the new Congress is sworn in. Take Action Resources for difficult holiday conversations about politics, faith, and more. Here are a couple good resources for having difficult conversations with loved ones across political, generational, and other divides: A free 40-minute online course from Braver Angels on Families and Politics. There’s also a printable PDF version. A reflection on dealing with difficult relatives during the holiday season from journalist, author, and regular Sojourners contributor Liuan Huska. Join us at the fourth annual “Faith in Democracy” Interfaith Prayer Vigil streaming and in person on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Sunday Jan. 5 at 3:30 p.m. Co-sponsored by Sojourners, the Franciscan Action Network, and Faith in Peace Concerts, this vigil will feature faith leaders sharing why their faith compels them to pursue democracy, peace, and justice at this critical time in our nation. For more information, to register to attend, or to watch the stream for this event, click here. The Truth and Action Roundup is compiled by Sojourners staff: President: Rev. Adam Russell Taylor Director of Racial Justice: Rev. Moya Harris Senior Research Associate: J.K. Granberg-Michaelson Senior Adviser and Director to the President’s Office: Elizabeth Denlinger Reaves Senior Director of Campaigns and Mobilizing: Sandy Ovalle Martínez Director of Congregational Outreach & Education: Rev. Andrea Saccoccio Digital Communications Associate: Lexi Schnaser Senior Director of Marketing: Sandra Sims Donate Subscribe Unsubscribe or update email preferences Copyright © 2024 Sojourners. All rights reserved. Sojourners | 408 C St. NE | Washington, DC 20002 Email: sojourners@sojo.net | Tel.: 202.328.8842

SojoMail - Preparing for the coming king (no, I don’t mean Trump)

View this email in your browser This week: Preparing for the heavenly king, resisting conspiracy theories, and learning to love, even when it’s hard. Preparing for the Coming King (No, I Don’t Mean Trump) In this week’s SojoMail, Adam Russell Taylor writes that at Christmas we celebrate the birth of a heavenly king — and yet so many Christians mistakenly idolize an earthly one: In this four-week season of Advent, Christians from many traditions anticipate the arrival of Jesus, reflecting upon the themes of hope, peace, joy, and love. Advent comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming” or “arrival” of an anticipated king. This anticipated arrival of a king has profound meaning for our past, present, and future, as it points to Jesus’ birth over 2,000 years ago, our new life now in Jesus, and the promise of Jesus’ eventual return. The baby Jesus, who arrives in a lowly barn rather than a palace, is destined not for an earthly throne but a heavenly one. At Christmas we celebrate the birth of this heavenly king — and yet still so many Christians mistakenly seek and even idolize an earthly one, including in the context of elections. After the results of the U.S. election became clear last month, there was no shortage of celebrations of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory from leaders on the Religious Right. While I don’t share their optimism about what a second Trump presidency will mean for our country (though I continue to pray for the incoming administration and Congress), I can remember what it’s like when the candidate you supported went on to win the presidency; I felt some of that intense hope myself when Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. But there was another theme that ran through many of the post-election celebratory statements from Christian leaders that I find much more problematic: the belief that Trump has been anointed by God to return to the White House. Read the full article Advertisement Our Latest Stories Powers, Principalities, and ‘The Penguin’ (by Joe George) Whether in ancient Rome or Gotham City, you can’t use the master’s tools to dismantle the master’s house. Joe George on Sofia Gigante’s rise to power in a system built against her. Read more Why Does Religion Journalism Matter to Democracy? Ask a Texas Reporter (by Mitchell Atencio) Robert Downen knows the connections between the Texas GOP, David Barton, and the SBC crisis. Read more Christians Must Resist Conspiracy Theories After Hurricanes (by Emily Baez) I live in Florida, so when people spread lies about dangerous weather, it's personal. Read more From the Magazine: Love Is Still a Viable Choice (by Julie Polter) Love requires risk and self-sacrifice. And being brave has never really been my thing. But I’m trying to practice, one day at a time. Read more Advertisements Discover Satish Kumar's Vision of Soil, Soul, and Society In Soil, Soul, Society, renowned activist Satish Kumar reveals how our well-being is deeply connected to the planet’s health. Inspiring and hopeful, this book invites us to embrace mindful living, honor nature, and lead with compassion to create lasting peace and a truly sustainable future. The Risk Of Living Together - Online series by the WCCM New perspectives to recover a humane world. Starting 4 February 2025. More on our website. Justice-Forward Spiritual Direction at Eastern Mennonite Seminary Learn to walk with ministers and activists through a changing spiritual landscape in Eastern Mennonite Seminary’s Justice-Forward Spiritual Direction Program. Develop foundational knowledge and core skills to accompany leaders in peace and justice work. Fully online learning with a flexible pace. Apply now for your first course beginning January 2025. Christ in the Rubble, the Book In this impassioned and incisive book, Munther Isaac challenges mainstream Christians’ uncritical embrace of the modern State of Israel. A prominent Palestinian Christian pastor and theologian, Isaac proclaims a truth rarely acknowledged in Christian circles: Israel’s campaign to eliminate the Palestinian people did not begin after October 7, 2023. Donate Subscribe Unsubscribe or update email preferences Copyright © 2024 Sojourners. All rights reserved. Sojourners | 408 C St. NE | Washington, DC 20002 Email: sojourners@sojo.net | Tel.: 202.328.8842

EarthBeat Weekly: Catholic sisters, Native tribes dialogue over questions of land justice

Catholic sisters, Native tribes dialogue over questions of land justice   EarthBeat Weekly Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change December 20, 2024   Some of the young people of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians in Wisconsin, during an Aug. 30 outing to the Buttonhook Forest property in Chappaqua, New York. The visit of young people was shepherded by the Dominican Sisters of Hope, whose sponsored ministry, the Center at Mariandale, hosted the visitors. (GSR photo/Chris Herlinger) In late summer, the Dominican Sisters of Hope hosted a special group of visitors to their Center at Mariandale in the Ossining, New York, area. The 10 guests were all members  of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians in Wisconsin, but whose ancestral lands include those now owned by the Dominican sisters. Their tribal community was among those forced from the Hudson River Valley following the American Revolution. "I can breathe," Janiyakuha Webster, 23, told GSR international correspondent Chris Herlinger as the young man marveled at the cool expanse of trees, hills and trails on the final day of August. "It feels like home." The weeklong homelands immersion back into their ancestral home was part of efforts by the Dominican sisters to promote land justice: the process of what one advocate described to Herlinger as "centering racial and ecological justice" in how land is used and loved, owned and governed. The congregation's openness to dialogue and hospitality is part of a wider initiative by Land Justice Futures, formerly known as the Nuns and Nones Land Justice Project. The Dominican Sisters of Hope are one of 14 congregations "seeking to build land justice into their property plans." It's a process the Dominicans know is a long one, but one they and other religious congregations are taking seriously. With many congregations engaged with themes of "integral ecology, cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor," sisters are making decisions about land that involve building healing relationships with "those around them," including those who have been disenfranchised, said Brittany Koteles, the co-founder and director of Land Justice Futures. Sisters, she told Herlinger, "are the leading edge of the world's largest private landowner, the Catholic Church. And so the decisions that they make, they have the power to really change culture and set precedent for a deepening of relationship and a healing of a wound that has been unfolding for 500 years." The dialogues with Catholic sisters come amid a moment when numerous Native tribes have sought to reacquire control over their ancestral lands, known as the land back movement. In the past year, governments in New York and California returned thousands of acres of land to Native tribes, as did the U.S. Interior Department over the past decade with nearly 3 million acres in 15 states. Another congregation involved in Land Justice Future's pilot project is the Sisters of St. Joseph, Brentwood, New York, who are growing a relationship with the sovereign Shinnecock Indian Nation on Long Island. "At this transitional moment in the history of religious life, we need to explore other ways to engage in decisions regarding land that are contemplative, creative and just," said St. Joseph Sr. Joan Gallagher. Read the full story: Whose land is this land? Sisters, Native tribes begin process of land justice   What else is new on EarthBeat:   Biden just set a big new climate goal. Can the US achieve it? by Jake Bittle, Matt Simon, Grist The White House announced a new national goal that would see the country's greenhouse gas emissions drop up to 66%, but its fulfillment may fall on states and cities during a second Trump administration. Read more here »   Catholic education could be key to unlock greater climate finance by Griffin Thompson Local and regionally based Catholic universities around the globe could help provide the expertise, innovation and creativity to climate challenges that can benefit developing countries.  Read more here »   In his final weeks, Biden aims to cut off funding for oil and gas projects abroad by Jake Bittle, Grist As President Joe Biden prepares to exit the White House, officials in his administration are working with international partners to push forward an agreement that would see almost all funding for oil and gas projects scaled back from some of the world's largest public funding sources for energy infrastructure. Read more here » What's happening in other climate news:   Biden just set a new climate goal. Trump and other obstacles await. —Maxine Joselow for the Washington Post Biden administration approves California electric car mandate. Will Trump try to revoke it? —Alejandro Lazo for CalMatters  In Florida, a race is on to save the Everglades and protect a key source of drinking water —Dorany Pineda And Rebecca Blackwell For the Associated Press Montana Supreme Court backs youth plaintiffs in groundbreaking climate trial —Ellis Juhlin for Montana Public Radio Insurers are deserting homeowners as climate shocks worsen —Christopher Flavelle for The New York Times Who are climate migrants and what can the world do for them? —Md. Tahmid Zami for Thomson Reuters Foundation UN talks fail to reach agreement on dealing with rising risk of global drought —Sibi Arasu for the Associated Press Final Beat: Be sure to stay tuned to EarthBeat next week as we'll be publishing a few Christmas-themed stories, including one about how Catholics in Vietnam are bringing environmental awareness into their celebration of the season. In the meantime, thanks for reading EarthBeat.    Brian Roewe Environment Correspondent National Catholic Reporter broewe@ncronline.org Instagram: @broewe_ncr     Featured Advertisers       Advertisement