James McKendree Wall, who served as editor and publisher of the Christian Century from 1972 to 1999, died March 22 at the age of 92. He is remembered at the Century for his ecumenical interests, his stabilization of the magazine’s financial picture, and his encouragement of some new directions for the Century’s pages.
The second woman to be ordained a priest in the Anglican Church of Kenya, Emily Awino Onyango, has been appointed to serve as assistant bishop in the Diocese of Bondo. She will be the first female Anglican bishop in East and Central Africa.
Onyango currently teaches church history at St. Paul’s University, a private, ecumenical school just outside Nairobi. She is chair of the African Centre for Biblical Equity and is a founding member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians.
Just before Easter, rapper Lil Nas X revived a bit of the “satanic panic” of the 1980s with the release of the music video for his song “Montero (Call Me by Your Name),” which is rife with satanic imagery.
In the video, Nas, who is openly gay, is depicted as being thrown out of heaven before descending into hell, where he gives Satan a lap dance, kills him, and assumes his horns for himself—all while singing about his painful journey to self-acceptance.
Catholic social justice lobby Network has chosen Georgetown University law professor Mary Novak to take over the group after longtime leader Simone Campbell retires.
Novak joins Network after serving as associate director of mission integration at the Georgetown University Law Center, where she also works as an adjunct professor. She also boasts a background in Catholic advocacy: she was the founding board chair of Catholic Mobilizing Network, helping lead advocacy efforts to abolish the death penalty.
Luis Palau, an evangelical pastor who was born in Argentina and went on to work with Billy Graham before establishing his own powerhouse international ministry, died March 11. He was 86.
The Luis Palau Association said he died at his home in Portland, Oregon. He had announced in January 2018 that he had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
Martina Viktorie Kopecká, a 34-year-old priest in the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, has been named a goodwill ambassador by the Czech Republic’s minister of foreign affairs.
In an interview with the World Council of Churches, Kopecká—who moderates the WCC’s youth commission and is also president of Meeting Brno, a festival focused on encountering different cultures, opinions, and religions—said her new role will parallel the ecumenical work she already does.