Thursday’s Religion News Roundup: NRA Catholics * Adventists anniversary * Latino Reformation

The bishops may support new gun rules, but NRA Catholics oppose them. Seventh-day Adventists mark an anniversary that wasn't supposed to be. Time Magazine devotes a cover story to Hispanic evangelicals.

The latest Time Magazine cover story on Hispanic evangelicals.

As the Senate takes up a heated debate over gun control, RNS shines a light on a little-known group of Roman Catholics that oppose all gun rules despite the bishops’ vehement support for efforts to curb firearm regulations. Reporter Aaron Schrank calls them the NRA Catholics.

Speaking of guns, Rick Warren’s son, Matthew, was “probably not” the owner of the weapon he used to shoot himself, the Los Angeles Times reports.

You might expect Seventh-day Adventists to celebrate their success while marking their church’s 150th anniversary this May. There’s just one problem, reports our own Dan Burke: The church wasn’t supposed to last this long.


A White House advisory council of religious leaders called for a global fund to address human trafficking and urged a new labeling system to help identify consumer goods that were not created with slave labor.

Is Pope Francis the first Protestant pope? Jonathan Merritt wonders.

Remember Jeremiah Wright, President Obama’s controversial former pastor? His daughter was indicted on Wednesday on charges of money laundering and lying to federal authorities, a U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman said.

More clergy contretemps: Lutheran Bishop Bruce Burnside of the South-Central Synod of Wisconsinn (ELCA) was driving drunk Sunday when he struck and killed a jogger, then fled the scene and was corralled by citizens at a nearby gas station.

A photo of the Time Magazine cover on Hispanic evangelicals

The latest Time Magazine cover story on Hispanic evangelicals.

Time Magazine features a cover story on Latino evangelicals with the provocative headline: The Latino Reformation.

North Carolina (full disclosure: my home state) is making news again. Last week it was GOP lawmakers attempts to create a state religion. Now a N.C. lawmaker is equating any prayer to the Islamic God with terrorism.

Legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson broke the game’s color barrier. The Forward reports he also fought bigotry in other forms, including anti-Semitism.


Private religious schools perform better than public schools, and public charter schools performed no better than regular public schools, according to a new study.

The lone survivor of a 1963 Alabama church bombing that killed four black girls said Wednesday she wants millions in compensation for her injuries and won’t accept a top congressional award proposed to honor the victims. Sarah Collins Rudolph lost an eye in the Sept. 16, 1963 bombing at Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church.

Professor Peter Higgs said recently that there is no God and so people should stop referring to the theoretical partial that bears his name as the “God particle.” Higgs was referring, of course, to the Higgs boson, a particle he theorized holds the universe together.

Watch that IP address: The Huffington Post says someone at the Vatican is watching porn.

Two in every three white evangelicals (63 percent) now agree that women should be eligible for ordination, according to a Public Religion Research Institute poll.

The Orthodox rabbi of the Western Wall said he would not oppose a proposal to create a new area of prayer for Jews wishing to worship in a less traditional, more egalitarian style.The proposal comes after a spate of arrests of women who had sought to pray wearing shawls customarily limited to men.


Speaking of women, in Syria they are taking an increasingly active role in the bloody uprising there. The New York Times says women are guarding checkpoints and running security operations in support of the army. On the rebel side, they are smuggling weapons, sometimes fighting alongside the men, and even forming their own brigades.

Not only in Syria. At RNS, women take active roles in bringing you the latest religion news. Keep up with us. Sign up for the daily roundup. It’s free.

Donate to Support Independent Journalism!

Donate Now!