On January 18, Cyntoia Brown-Long was the keynote speaker at OneLife LA, an antiabortion event hosted by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Since her much-publicized release in August from the Tennessee Prison for Women, where she had been serving a life sentence for killing a man who solicited her for sex at age 16, Brown-Long has advocated for incarcerated people and publicly spoken about her spiritual journey behind bars.
On January 14, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI asked not to be mentioned as coauthor of a book scheduled for release in February, according to a close aide. Excerpts from the book appeared to place the ex-pope at odds with Pope Francis on rules over priestly celibacy.
The book in question, From the Depths of Our Hearts: Priesthood, Celibacy, and the Crisis of the Catholic Church, was publicized as being coauthored by Benedict with Cardinal Robert Sarah, who heads the Vatican office for liturgy.
Former Christian Century news editor John Dart died July 3, according to his daughter, Kim Dart Hurwitz. Prior to his 14 years at the Century, Dart spent 31 years as a reporter at the Los Angeles Times, where he specialized in religion and was awarded the Supple Award for excellence in feature writing by the Religion News Association in 1980.
Calling President Trump’s behavior “profoundly immoral,” Mark Galli, editor in chief of the evangelical magazine Christianity Today, published an editorial in December calling for Trump to be removed from office.
“The impeachment hearings have made it absolutely clear . . . that President Trump has abused his authority for personal gain and betrayed his constitutional oath,” he wrote. “This damages the institution of the presidency, damages the reputation of our country, and damages both the spirit and the future of our people.”
On December 19, Gunnar Stålsett, a retired Lutheran bishop of Oslo, was convicted for continuing to employ Lula Tekle, an Eritrean asylum seeker, as a housekeeper after the Norwegian government revoked her legal status in 2011.
The 84-year-old peace advocate told local media that by refusing to dismiss Tekle, he was practicing a form of civil disobedience against “an immoral law” and that he would take full responsibility for his actions.
Ram Dass, a spiritual pied piper who introduced a generation of young Americans to Hindu meditation, died December 23 in Maui, Hawaii, where he lived and taught. He was 88.
Ram Dass was born Richard Alpert to parents who were Jewish, a faith he later said he found “hollow.” By the time he entered Tufts University, he considered himself an atheist.
Archbishop Atallah Hanna, head of the Sebastia Diocese of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, who has been outspoken on political issues of the region, was hospitalized on December 18 after being poisoned, according to a message from the World Council of Churches. According to reports, Hanna was rushed to the hospital after someone threw a gas canister into his church residence.