Signs of the Times

Addicts are children of God. Helping them will fix the drug crisis, not tariffs on Mexico.

(RNS) — Dropping bombs and killing drug dealers may look good on television, but the real war on drugs occurs in treatment programs, which are terribly underfunded.

(Photo by Mart Production/Pexels/Creative Commons)

Thomas Reese
April 2, 2025

(RNS) — President Donald Trump loves tariffs. He uses them to bully countries into accepting his policies — for example, to get Mexico to stop migrants from coming across the border and to crack down on gangs shipping drugs into the United States.

He labeled drug cartels as terrorist organizations and his administration has threatened to use the U.S. military to attack them in Mexico.

Trump’s critics need to acknowledge that his efforts against Mexico have been somewhat successful. Fewer migrants are at our border because Mexico has stopped them at points farther south. This crackdown started under former President Joe Biden and has continued under Trump.

The Mexican government has also been more aggressive in going after drug gangs who make and ship drugs to the U.S. This has been difficult historically in Mexico because the drug lords have bought protection from police and politicians, and those they cannot bribe they threaten with violence.

But every time a gang leader or member is killed or arrested, there are others to take their places. In any case, Mexico will eventually tire of the war on drugs, as it has in the past, and will return to business as usual. And in anticipation of an American military attack, the gangs can easily disperse their drug facilities to make them more difficult to find and destroy.

I am not saying we should give up on trying to stop drugs from entering the U.S., but these attempts will never be very successful.

To deal with drugs, the U.S. needs to acknowledge its role in this crisis. That means dealing with guns and drug addiction in this country.
RELATED: Trump, the destroyer of worlds

The sale of guns is severely restricted in Mexico, with only one gun store in Mexico City, which is controlled by the army. Guns purchased in America and smuggled across the border are helping the very gangs the Trump administration has labeled terrorists.

Data shows anywhere from 68% to 90% of guns traced in Mexico were passed through the U.S., and most were also produced here. Thousands of guns are trafficked to Mexico each year.

If the Trump administration truly believes Mexican gangs are terrorists, then we must stop allowing them to get American-made guns. It could be considered granting material support to a terrorist organization, which is illegal. American gun dealers who sell guns that end up in Mexico are a greater threat to the U.S. than student protesters at Columbia University.

The Trump administration also falsely links drug trafficking with migrants crossing our borders. In truth, most drugs come through government checkpoints at the border in vehicles driven by American citizens. More agents, equipment, drug-sniffing dogs and intelligence are needed at these checkpoints if we are to put a dent in drug trafficking. But the drug traffickers’ response to seized drugs would be to simply ship more.

So, ultimately, the only way to stop the drug crisis is to cut demand. If there were no demand for drugs in the U.S., drug cartels would collapse. It is simple economics: Every addict in recovery is a lost customer for the cartels.

The pain of withdrawal from drugs is excruciating, and few addicts can do it on their own. Methadone and other alternatives to drugs can often help wean a person from drugs by reducing cravings.

Recovering from drug addiction is not easy. Anyone who wants treatment should be able to get into a program immediately and not be delayed because they have no insurance or there is no room. Depending on where you live, whether you have insurance and what type of program you are trying to get into, it can take weeks to get treatment — lots of time to relapse or change your mind.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, the Trump administration announced it was cutting about $11.4 billion in funding for grants for addiction treatment, mental health and other services, as well as staffing.

RELATED: Will Musk and Trump go to Hell for defunding the corporal works of mercy?

Dropping bombs and killing drug dealers may look good on television, but the real war on drugs occurs in treatment programs, which are terribly underfunded. Every addict, regardless of their income or where they live, should be able to get quality treatment. This is the only way we will win the war.

Every person, including a drug addict, is a child of God. They come from every race, every income bracket and every part of the country. They are Democrats and Republicans, believers and unbelievers, urban and rural, rich and poor. It doesn’t matter how they became addicted. They deserve to be treated with dignity and compassion.

The only way to win the war on drugs is to provide good treatment and support to addicts.

How does India's Sadhan village continue to resist religious polarization?

(RNS) — Residents share a belief in a common ancestry that has prevented religious fundamentalism from taking root — even as communal riots have engulfed other parts of India.

Muslims and Hindus gather together for afternoon prayers at a mosque in Sadhan village, Agra district, India, on March 20, 2025. (Photo by Priyadarshini Sen)

Priyadarshini Sen
April 1, 2025

AGRA, India (RNS) — For 83-year-old Riyaz Ahmed Khan, the ivory-white Taj Mahal is more than a symbol of love. The monument, to him, mirrors his village, Sadhan, located about 25 miles away.

“For generations, Hindus and Muslims have lived together in harmony here,” said Khan, a practicing Muslim and a retired teacher of Sanskrit, the sacred language of Hinduism. “If the Taj is an ode to love, our village has many Taj Mahals in it.”

The 17th-century marble mausoleum on the banks of the River Yamuna in the north Indian city of Agra was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in loving memory of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. And in Sadhan, spread over more than 70 acres in plain sight of the Taj Mahal, tolerance of different faiths has endured over centuries. Its 20,000 residents consist of Hindus and Muslims across caste lines, belonging to a farming community that tills lush fields of mustard and wheat.

Historically, residents have shared a belief in a common ancestry that has prevented religious fundamentalism from taking root in the village — even as communal riots have engulfed other parts of India. That rare communal harmony has withstood a rise in polarization across the country that has reached even nearby villages recently.

While Hindus comprise nearly 75% of Sadhan’s population, it’s common to find Muslims with Hindu names in the village, Hindus with Muslim names, mixed-faith families and families that haven’t shunned interfaith unions. That tolerance is nearly unheard of in the country, residents explained.

Riyaz Ahmed Khan, an observant Muslim and a former teacher of Sanskrit — the sacred language of Hinduism — reads from the Hindu epic Mahabharata, in Sadhan village, Agra district, India, on March 20, 2025. (Photo by Priyadarshini Sen)

“People think Taj Mahal is the ultimate symbol of love,” said Kedar Singh, a former wrestler from the village. “But they should see how we’ve made space for love in every form, including our worship practices and interfaith love.”

Singh said the love that has bound the residents together comes from their belief that religious conversions over centuries are a natural phenomenon.
RELATED: Hindu governing body shuts out Muslim vendors from world’s largest religious festival

According to oral tradition, large-scale conversions to Islam took place in Sadhan during the reign of Aurangzeb, the last of the great Mughal emperors of India during the 17th century. However, many residents returned to Hinduism in the early 20th century during a pan-India movement to facilitate reconversion of Hindus who embraced other religions.

“Religious conversions and takeover of religious spaces are causing societies to break up everywhere,” said Taj Khan, a Hindu who said he is proud of his Muslim name. “But what people forget in the process is our shared humanity.”

In contrast, the town of Sambhal, 125 miles from Sadhan, has been witnessing regular breakouts of violence between religious communities since a local court ordered a survey of a 500-year-old mosque last November, after claims the mosque was built on the ruins of a Hindu temple allegedly demolished during the Mughal period.

Moreover, Aurangzeb, who residents say initiated religious conversions in Sadhan, has been one of the latest targets of Hindu extremists, who demand that his grave in western India’s Maharashtra state be demolished.

People visit the Taj Mahal in Agra, India.

 (Photo by Chee Huey Wong/Pexels/Creative Commons)

Over the last month particularly, communal tensions and rioting have seized western India, with some extremists arguing Aurangzeb was a religious zealot who discriminated against Hindus and demolished their places of worship.

“It’s so upsetting to see all the polarization in the name of religion,” said Jameel Jadon, Sadhan’s former village leader. “It runs contrary to what our forefathers wanted since religious differences never mattered to them.”

Jadon said that even though a noted industrialist from Mumbai set up a mustard-colored temple with a green spire in the village in the 1920s to attract more people to return to the Hindu fold, it never flared communal tensions. Since the temple’s inauguration, Hindus have gathered in large numbers to offer their prayers there, while Muslims have peacefully made their way to the adjacent mosque to perform namaz. Sometimes, they’ve even prayed together.

And during weddings and festivals, Sadhan residents take part in each other’s religious and cultural ceremonies, read the Quran and Gita in each other’s homes and discuss ways to resolve disputes amicably during village meetings.

“Faith can bind or break people, so we try not to hurt anyone’s sentiments,” said Shahid Pervez, a Muslim lawyer from Sadhan. “Except male circumcision, halal and burial of the dead, most of our practices are indistinguishable from Hindus’.”

Although women have remained largely in the shadows in the village, they’ve also spoken out against communal violence and targeting of mixed-faith families.

“I was enraged by incidents like the Babri mosque demolition, Bombay riots and Muzaffarnagar riots that fanned the flames of vote-bank politics,” said Farzana Khan, a homemaker who’s a supporter of mixed-faith families in her village, referring to violent incidents in the last few decades.
RELATED: India’s anti-conversion law is fine-tuned to allow policing of Christians

And when communal riots broke out in the neighboring towns of Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Achhnera in 2017 over alleged slaughtering of a cow and accusations of a plot to incite Hindu-Muslim riots, Sadhan remained calm.

“We told people that brotherhood matters much more than narrow identity politics,” said Shishya Pal Singh, a Hindu by faith whose family includes several members who follow Islam. “We tied sacred threads at the Fatehpur Sikri monument and led peace marches in the village to remind people of our history.”

Some residents say local leaders in recent years have tried to create communal frenzies or spearhead Hindu conversion campaigns, promising economic gains to attract people to the divisive movements. Harish Rajput, an 18-year-old law student living in the village, said the conversion campaigns in the last decade or so have been geared primarily toward dividing communities and triggering violence. But as a result, Rajput said, some of Sadhan’s youth are becoming more militant.

“Religious nationalists backed by right-wing organizations want to widen their support bases in our villages,” Rajput said. “Some of our young are attaching themselves to them and becoming more conscious of their religious identity.”

Overlooking Sadhan village in Agra district, India, where Hindus and Muslims have lived together, shared names and religious practices over centuries, on March 20, 2025. (Photo by Priyadarshini Sen)

This year on Holi — the Hindu festival of colors — some residents said police personnel were stationed in the village to give the “perception” that there could be breakouts of intercommunal violence threatening peace and harmony.

“This is what we need to prevent,” said Ganesh, a 53-year-old Hindu priest who turned his modest ashram into a “space of fluidity between Islam and Hinduism,” where both a Muslim saint and the Hindu goddess Kali are worshipped. Ganesh does not use a caste-based surname.

Ganesh has been undertaking pilgrimages on foot to spread communal harmony in the village by reminding people of India’s pluralistic traditions. Under his care, Muslims recite Vedic mantras while Hindus recite verses from the Quran, he said


“We need to preserve our age-old love,” Khan said. “Like how the Taj Mahal has seen love and hate over centuries, we will continue on the path of nonviolence and inclusion.”

Earthquake compounds Myanmar's humanitarian crisis as the death toll passes 2,000

BANGKOK (AP) — Some 700 Muslim worshipers attending Friday prayers were killed when mosques collapsed, said a member of the steering committee of the Spring Revolution Myanmar Muslim Network.

Rescuers work through rubble of a collapsed building following Friday's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo)

David Rising
April 1, 2025

BANGKOK (AP) — The death toll in last week’s massive earthquake in Myanmar has passed 2,000, state media said Monday, as accounts of some people’s last moments emerged: Two hundred Buddhist monks crushed by a collapsing monastery. Fifty children killed when a preschool classroom crumbled. Seven hundred Muslims struck while praying at mosques for Ramadan.

The quake could exacerbate hunger and disease outbreaks in a country that was already one of the world’s most challenging places for humanitarian organizations to operate because of civil war, aid groups and the United Nations warned.

The 7.7 magnitude quake hit Friday, with the epicenter near Myanmar’s second-largest city of Mandalay. It damaged the city’s airport, buckled roads and collapsed hundreds of buildings along a wide swath down the country’s center.

Relief efforts are further hampered by power outages, fuel shortages and spotty communications. A lack of heavy machinery has slowed search-and-rescue operations, forcing many to search for survivors by hand in daily temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

Rescue workers at Mandalay’s collapsed U Hla Thein monastery said they were still searching for about 150 of the dead monks.

Some 700 Muslim worshipers attending Friday prayers were killed when mosques collapsed, said Tun Kyi, a member of the steering committee of the Spring Revolution Myanmar Muslim Network. He said some 60 mosques were damaged or destroyed. Videos posted on The Irrawaddy online news site showed several mosques toppling.

It was not clear whether those numbers were already included in the official toll.

Myanmar state MRTV reported that the leader of the military government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, told Pakistan’s prime minister during a call that 2,065 people were killed, with more than 3,900 injured and about 270 missing.

Relief agencies expect those numbers to rise sharply, since access is slow to remote areas where communications are down.

The United Nations’ Myanmar country team called for unimpeded access for aid teams.

“Even before this earthquake, nearly 20 million people in Myanmar were in need of humanitarian assistance,” said Marcoluigi Corsi, the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator.

Devastation’s full extent is not clear

“We’re really not clear on the scale of the destruction at this stage,” Lauren Ellery, deputy director of programs in Myanmar for the International Rescue Committee, told The Associated Press. “They were talking about a town near Mandalay where 80% of the buildings were reportedly collapsed, but it wasn’t in the news because telecommunications have been slow.”

Groups the IRC works with have reported that some places are cut off by landslides, she said.

The World Health Organization said it has reports of three hospitals destroyed and 22 partially damaged in the region.

“There is an urgent need for trauma and surgical care, blood transfusion supplies, anesthetics, essential medicines and mental health support,” it said.

More than 10,000 buildings are collapsed or severely damaged in central and northwest Myanmar, the U.N. humanitarian agency said. One preschool classroom building collapsed in Mandalay district, killing 50 children and two teachers, it said.

An artificial intelligence analysis of satellite images of Mandalay by Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab showed 515 buildings with 80% to 100% damage and another 1,524 with 20% to 80% damage. It was not clear what percentage of the city’s buildings that represented.

Civil war had displaced millions

Rescue efforts are also complicated by the civil war. In 2021, the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking what has turned into significant armed resistance.

While one group has declared a partial unilateral ceasefire, the government and other armed groups have not stopped fighting.

Government forces have lost control of much of Myanmar, and many places were dangerous or impossible for aid groups to reach even before the quake. More than 3 million people have been displaced by the fighting, according to the U.N.

Ellery with the International Rescue Committee noted that the area worst hit by the earthquake was seriously damaged by flooding last year, and many displaced people sought refuge there.

Since the earthquake, many people have been sleeping outside, either because homes were destroyed or out of fear of aftershocks.

Monsoon rains start in May and finding people shelter will be a major challenge, she said.

Myanmar’s neighbors and allies send aid

International rescue teams from several countries are on the scene, including from Russia, China, India and several Southeast Asian countries.

On Monday, an Indian team jackhammered through slabs of fallen concrete at one site in Mandalay. They could be seen bringing out one body.

The European Union, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and others have announced millions of dollars in aid.

Despite massive cuts and firings at the U.S. Agency for International Development — the body charged with delivering humanitarian assistance overseas — the U.S. Embassy said a team of experts was on its way to Myanmar. The embassy said it would provide up to $2 million through local organizations.

Looking for survivors in Bangkok

A small number of U.S. military personnel were sent to assist in Bangkok, where the earthquake killed at least 18 people, many at a construction site where a partially built high-rise collapsed. Another 33 have been reported injured and 78 missing, primarily at the construction site near the popular Chatuchak market.

On Monday, heavy equipment was temporarily shut down at the site and authorities urged onlookers to be silent as they used machines to try and detect signs of life.


Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt told reporters that signs had been detected Sunday night, though experts could not determine whether it had been machine error.

Watching the crews at work, Naruemon Thonglek said she had “made some peace” with the fact that her partner and five friends there were unlikely to be found alive.

“A part of me still hope they will survive,” she said.

___

This story has been updated to correct that 200 monks were reported killed.

___

Associated Press journalists Jerry Harmer and Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok, and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Opinion

Charlie Kirk doesn't feel safe in Bethlehem. It's his worldview that's to blame, not my city.

(RNS) — To Charlie Kirk, Mike Huckabee and every Christian taught to fear my people and my city — come and see.

People move about their daily lives in Bethlehem in the West Bank. (Photo by Jorge Fernández Salas/Unsplash/Creative Commons)
Fares Abraham
April 1, 2025

(RNS) — During a recent campus Q&A, a Palestinian Christian student discussed U.S.-Israel relations with Charlie Kirk, executive director of evangelical Christian activist group Turning Point USA. Kirk asked the student at one point: “As me as a Christian, do you think it would be safe for me to walk the streets of Bethlehem without armed guards?” When the student confidently answered yes, Kirk rolled his eyes in disbelief.

That moment wasn’t just factually dubious — it was revealing. Kirk’s unspoken suggestion was that Palestinian Muslims are inherently hostile to Christians, ignoring the student’s affirmation — and the reality in Bethlehem — that, in the very town where Jesus was born, Christians continue to worship freely and have maintained an unbroken presence for two millennia. Suggesting otherwise, Kirk exposed a worldview shaped by fear and ideology.

The same posture is echoed by the Trump administration’s nominee to be ambassador to Israel, former Arkansas governor and evangelical pastor Mike Huckabee. At his March 25 confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Huckabee was asked about achieving a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. He responded in part, “There has to be some recognition that there will be a change in the policy of educating (Palestinian) children to hate Jews.”

This is a slanderous distortion that vilifies an entire people. I was raised in the Palestinian education system in Bethlehem, was taught by Christian and Muslim educators alike and grew up forging friendships with people of all faiths, including Jewish and Messianic Jewish believers with whom I now partner in gospel ministry. If the curriculum I learned had taught hatred, it clearly failed.
RELATED: Why younger evangelical Christians are losing their faith in Israel

Contrary to Huckabee’s testimony, and the caricatures often presented in Western media, Palestinian youth in Bethlehem and elsewhere in the West Bank are not raised on a curriculum of hate. Yes, they learn about the Nakba, when Palestinians were forced out of what is now Israel. They learn the history of the reality they know firsthand: the ongoing occupation and the complex realities of checkpoints and land restrictions. But various Palestinian educators make active efforts to cultivate peace, critical thinking and coexistence.

Organizations such as Bethlehem Bible College offer academic and experiential programs to equip young people with the tools of nonviolence, restorative justice and cross-cultural understanding. Musalaha, a ministry rooted in biblical reconciliation, has worked for decades to bring together Israeli and Palestinian youth through camps, leadership development and storytelling. These and countless others are not signs of indoctrination, but signs of resilience and a longing for a just peace.

Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally at Thomas & Mack Center, Oct. 24, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Huckabee’s and Kirk’s statements are not isolated gaffes; they come out of a shared ideological framework that fuses theology with geopolitics. At its core is the belief that Israel is not only a strategic American ally, but a moral extension of the West itself. By contrast, Palestinians are portrayed as inherently antisemitic or culturally regressive, unworthy of equal moral consideration. This binary narrative not only erases the complexities of the region, but it also dehumanizes millions of people — Christians like me as well as my Muslim neighbors — simply because we are Palestinian.

I was born and raised in Bethlehem. I’ve walked its streets my entire life — as a child, a minister, a father and a community leader. It was not my Muslim neighbors or fellow Palestinians I’ve feared, but the Israeli military patrols that entered our neighborhoods: tanks rolling down our streets, soldiers storming homes in the dead of night, armed with automatic rifles and impunity, the so-called “home-mapping operations,” in which soldiers invade Palestinian homes under the pretense of collecting layout data, leaving behind terrorized families and traumatized children.

I’ve seen that violence up close. An Israeli soldier once shot my mother in the back — unprovoked, without warning. I’ve buried teenage friends killed by Israeli fire. These weren’t terrorists. They were kids. They were neighbors. They were human beings. The fear we live with isn’t imagined — it’s lived. And yet we are the ones portrayed as dangerous.

Kirk, if he had any curiosity about Palestinians or Bethlehem, would know that the city is led by a Christian mayor, as are the leaders of several West Bank cities. The Palestinian Authority not only allows this; it mandates Christian leadership in places like Bethlehem to reflect the heritage and dignity of the local Christian population.

Palestinian scouts march during the Christian Orthodox Christmas Eve celebrations at the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, Jan. 6, 2023. 

(AP Photo/ Nasser Nasser)

Christians make up just 2% of the West Bank’s population, but through quiet, faithful presence, our impact reaches far beyond our size. We help operate nearly one-third of all health care services, lead nearly half of the region’s NGOs, and serve in high-level government roles. Today, four Palestinian Authority cabinet members are Christians — including the official spokesman of the PA. Church-run organizations also rank as the third-largest employer in the occupied territories, providing vital services and jobs across communities. Ours is not a story of power, but of perseverance. We are few, but we are faithful, and our witness is undeniable.

Nobody would say Palestinian society is perfect. Our failures include corruption, political stagnation and factionalism, as well as the erosion of democratic life. More grievously, armed resistance has devolved into horrific violence, the killing of innocent Jewish civilians and the terrorizing of entire Israeli communities. These realities have disillusioned our people and betrayed the hope for dignity and justice.

But these internal failures, however serious, must never be used to justify military occupation, collective punishment or the denial of our basic rights. A people’s imperfections do not nullify their humanity. We must face our own brokenness — even as we cry out against the injustice done to us

In the Gospel of John, when Nathanael hears about Jesus of Nazareth, he asks, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip’s reply is timeless: “Come and see.”

To Charlie Kirk, Mike Huckabee and every Christian taught to fear my people and my city — come and see.

Come walk the streets of Bethlehem. Come visit the churches, clinics and classrooms. Come worship with Palestinian believers who still cling to Jesus in the very place he was born. Come meet the Muslim community of Bethlehem, who has hosted countless pastors, Christian leaders and mission teams and welcomed them to speak about Jesus.

Come meet the living stones — not just the ancient ones.

When Kirk says he doesn’t feel safe in Bethlehem, it isn’t a commentary on our city. It’s a reflection of a theology that prefers ideology over incarnation and fear over fellowship.

RELATED: In Bethlehem, a Christian pastor says a year of protest for Palestinians shows few gains

Bethlehem doesn’t need guards. It needs truth-tellers, bridge-builders and gospel witnesses who will refuse to demonize their fellow believers simply because they carry the name Palestinian.

The gospel didn’t begin with political power or military dominance. It began in a manger — in occupied Bethlehem.



Fares Abraham. (Courtesy photo)
(Fares Abraham is a Palestinian American evangelical minister and the president of Levant Ministries and now leads several ministries across the Middle East to strengthen gospel witness and promote peace. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of RNS.)

Declining Eid travel and spending in Indonesia and discrimination in India dampen holiday spirit

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Consumer spending ahead of the biggest religious holiday for Muslims, which was celebrated on Sunday in Indonesia, has declined compared to the previous year, with a predicted slowdown in cash circulation due to fewer travelers.

Niniek Karmini
April 1, 2025

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The usual festive mood of Eid al-Fitr holiday to mark the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan has been subdued in Indonesia this year as people grapple with soaring prices for food, clothing and essential goods.

Consumer spending ahead of the biggest religious holiday for Muslims, which was celebrated on Sunday in Indonesia, has declined compared to the previous year, with a predicted slowdown in cash circulation due to fewer travelers.

Each year in Indonesia, nearly three-quarters of the population of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country travel for the annual homecoming known locally as “mudik” that is always welcomed with excitement.

People pour out of major cities to return to villages to celebrate the holiday with prayers, feasts and family gatherings. Flights are overbooked and anxious relatives weighed down with boxes of gifts form long lines at bus and train stations for the journey

But this year the Transportation Ministry said Eid travelers reached 146 million people, a 24% drop from last year’s 194 million travelers.

The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry projects that money circulation during Eid will reach 137.97 trillion rupiah ($8.33 billion), down from 157.3 trillion last year. The weakening purchasing power is also reflected in Bank Indonesia’s Consumer Confidence Index which dipped to 126.4 in February from 127.2 in January.

Bhima Yudistira, executive director of the Center for Economic and Law Studies, or Celios, said those trends indicate the economy is under strain, driven by economic hardship, coupled with currency depreciation and mass layoffs in manufacturing.

“These have weakened both corporate earnings and workers’ incomes that suppress consumer spending,” Yudistira said, adding he “expects a less vibrant festive season.”

He said the festive spirit has been stifled by harsh economic realities, as soaring prices and dwindling incomes force residents to prioritize survival over celebration.

Traditionally household consumption is a key driver of Indonesia’s GDP. It contributed over 50% to the economy last year, helping push annual growth to 5.11%. However, consumer spending in 2025 is expected to be more subdued, Yudistira said.

Despite the downturn, the government remains optimistic that the Ramadan and Eid momentum will support economic growth in the first quarter of 2025.

“Eid usually boosts the economy through increased spending,” Chief Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto said ahead of the Islamic holiday.

The government recently introduced incentives to stimulate economic activity, including airfare and toll road fee discounts, nationwide online shopping events, direct cash assistance for 16 million households, electricity bill reductions for low-consumption customers, and tax exemptions for labor-intensive sectors.

“With these programs in place, the government hopes to sustain consumer spending and support economic stability,” Hartarto said.

The situation has also affected Endang Trisilowati, a mother of four, who said her family had to scale down their festivities budget.

“Honestly, the economic hardship is affecting us,” Trisilowati said. She described how she used to cook different dishes every Eid and invite neighbors, but now she can only afford a simple meal for her family.

“Many have resorted to just finding a way to eat on that festivity, but the spirit is low,” she said.

Muslims in India grapple with discrimination

In India, Muslims are marking the celebration of Eid with special prayers, family gatherings and festive meals.

The holiday comes as the minority community faces vilification by hardline Hindu nationalists. Muslim groups are also protesting against a proposal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to change laws governing Muslim land endowments.

The government says it wants to weed out corruption and mismanagement in hundreds of thousands of Muslim land endowments. But Muslim groups say the proposal pending approval in India’s parliament is discriminatory.

Muslims, who comprise 14% of India’s 1.4 billion population, are the largest minority group in the Hindu-majority nation.

Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party launched a nationwide initiative called “Saugat-e-Modi,” or “Modi’s gift,” during Ramadan that is expected to provide food and clothes to over 3 million underprivileged Muslims to celebrate Eid.

In New Delhi, thousands assembled in the Jama Masjid, one of the country’s largest mosques, to offer Eid prayers. Families came together early Monday morning and many people shared hugs and wishes.

“This is a day of giving and receiving love. Even if you meet an enemy, meet them with love today,” said 18-year-old student Mohammed Nooruddin.

___

Associated Press writers Aijaz Hussain in Srinagar and Rishi Lekhi in New Delhi, India, contributed to this report.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Eid-al-Fitr 

UN agency closes its remaining Gaza bakeries as food supplies dwindle under Israeli blockade

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel, which later resumed its offensive to pressure the Hamas militant group into accepting changes to their ceasefire agreement, said enough food had entered Gaza during the six-week truce to sustain the territory's roughly 2 million Palestinians for a long time.

Sam Mednick and Wafaa Shurafa
April 3, 2025

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The U.N. food agency is closing all of its bakeries in the Gaza Strip, officials said Tuesday, as supplies dwindle after Israel sealed off the territory from all imports nearly a month ago.

Israel, which later resumed its offensive to pressure the Hamas militant group into accepting changes to their ceasefire agreement, said enough food had entered Gaza during the six-week truce to sustain the territory’s roughly 2 million Palestinians for a long time.

U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Israel’s assertion was “ridiculous,” calling the food shortage very critical. The organization is “at the tail end of our supplies” and a lack of flour and cooking oil are forcing the bakeries to close, Dujarric said Tuesday.

Markets largely emptied weeks ago. U.N. agencies say the supplies they built up during the truce are running out. Gaza is heavily reliant on international aid because the war has destroyed almost all of its food production capability.

Mohammed al-Kurd, a father of 12, said his children go to bed without dinner.

“We tell them to be patient and that we will bring flour in the morning,” he said. “We lie to them and to ourselves.”

For the second consecutive day, Israel’s military warned residents of Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah to immediately evacuate, a sign that it could soon launch a major ground operation. At least 140,000 people were under orders to leave, according to the head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.

Gaza’s bakeries shut down

A World Food Program memo circulated to aid groups said it could no longer operate its remaining bakeries, which produce the bread on which many rely. The U.N. agency said it was prioritizing its remaining stocks to provide emergency food aid and expand hot meal distribution. WFP spokespeople didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said WFP was closing its remaining 19 bakeries after shuttering six last month. She said hundreds of thousands of people relied on them.

The Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian affairs, known as COGAT, said more than 25,000 trucks entered Gaza during the ceasefire, carrying nearly 450,000 tons of aid. It said the amount represented around a third of what has entered during the war.

“There is enough food for a long period of time, if Hamas lets the civilians have it,” it said.

U.N. agencies and aid groups say they struggled to bring in and distribute aid before the ceasefire took hold in January. Their estimates for how much aid reached people in Gaza were consistently lower than COGAT’s, which were based on how much entered through border crossings.

Israeli strikes kill dozens

Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that at least 42 bodies and more than 180 wounded arrived at hospitals over the past 24 hours. At least 1,042 Palestinians have been killed in the two weeks since Israel broke the ceasefire and resumed heavy bombardments.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Hamas is still holding 59 captives — 24 believed to be alive — after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, including hundreds killed in strikes since the ceasefire ended, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t say whether those killed are civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Israel sealed off Gaza from all aid at the start of the war but later relented under pressure from Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, which took credit for helping to broker the ceasefire, has expressed full support for Israel’s actions, including its decision to end the truce.

Israel has demanded that Hamas release several hostages before further talks on ending the war. Those negotiations were supposed to begin in early February. It has also insisted that Hamas disarm and leave Gaza, conditions that weren’t part of the ceasefire agreement.

Hamas has called for implementing the agreement, in which the remaining hostages would be released in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.

Palestinian journalist and family killed by Israeli strike

Palestinians mourned Mohamed Salah Bardawil, a journalist with Hamas-affiliated Aqsa Radio who was killed along with his wife and three children by an Israeli strike early Tuesday at their home in southern Gaza.

Associated Press footage showed the building in Khan Younis collapsed, with dried blood splattered on the rubble. A child’s school notebook, dust-covered dolls and clothing lay half-buried in the ruins. The Israeli military declined to comment.

The journalist is the nephew of Salah Bardawil, a well-known member of Hamas’ political bureau who was killed in an Israeli strike that also killed his wife last month.

Israeli strikes have killed more than 170 journalists and media workers since the war began, the Committee to Protect Journalists has estimated.

___

Mednick reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Fatma Khaled in Cairo and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

___

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Eid-al-Fitr begins with the images of Gaza’s children dressed in death

(RNS) — Eid is meant to be a day of celebration. But this year, it was also a day of mourning.

Relatives mourn 12-year-old Ahmad Abu Teir, who was killed in an Israeli army strike, before his funeral along with seven other Palestinians, including a father, mother, and their three children, on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Omar Suleiman
March 31, 202

(RNS) — Eid al-Fitr is supposed to be a day of joy marking the end of a month of spiritual striving, of fasting, prayer and giving. It’s the day when, after a month of self-denial, the entire community comes together — dressed in new clothes, exchanging gifts, embracing one another in celebration.

This year, joy was elusive.

On the morning of Eid, as we prepared to gather in prayer, news began to trickle in from Gaza. Children had been slaughtered — again. Multiple children had been bombed to death by Israeli airstrikes as the sun rose, ending their Eid excitement and their lives. One image in particular will not leave me: a child dressed in brand-new Eid clothes, now wrapped in a burial shroud clutching a toy with his lifeless hand. What was supposed to be a morning of sweets and celebration had become another chapter in a long, unending nightmare.

Just hours later, I stood at an Eid prayer in America, watching hundreds of children — my own included — running around in colorful outfits, holding new toys, laughing and hugging their friends. The sight should have filled me with joy, but the deaths of the children in Gaza made it almost unbearable.

I wasn’t alone. A doctor from my community in Dallas who is currently volunteering in Gaza messaged me with his own heartbreaking witness. “Today’s been the worst day by far. Bombing most intense at Fajr when people were getting ready for Eid. Children in their Eid clothes and jewelry are in the morgues.”

This is the backdrop against which Muslims around the world tried to celebrate.

What do we do with that kind of sorrow?

Islam teaches that Ramadan is a month of cultivating empathy. Eid is meant to continue that empathy, even into our celebrations. On the morning of Eid, every Muslim is required to pay Zakat al-Fitr — a form of charity designed to ensure that no one is left out of the feast. It is a beautiful practice: a way of saying that joy is only complete when shared, that our celebration is meaningless if others are starving.

How do we fulfill that responsibility when an entire population is being starved intentionally? The blockade on Gaza has made it nearly impossible to deliver aid. Humanitarian convoys are bombed, bakeries are destroyed, access to clean water and medicine is deliberately withheld. Zakat al-Fitr — the alms given by Muslims at this holy time — is supposed to feed the hungry. But in Gaza, even bread is a casualty of war.

And yet, amid the devastation, there was a moment that gave me hope.

A young boy named Adam, a survivor from Gaza receiving treatment here in the U.S., came up to me on Eid morning. He was hobbling on his new prosthetic leg — a reminder of what he had endured. But as he approached, he smiled wide and gave me a huge hug. In that moment, I thought about the children who didn’t survive and prayed that they were now embracing their loved ones in the gardens of paradise, celebrating a different kind of Eid — free from bombs, from fear, from sorrow.

And I prayed that those still with us, like Adam, can have a future that honors what they’ve been through — a future where they don’t have to trade limbs for safety or childhoods for survival.

Eid is meant to be a day of celebration. But this year, it was also a day of mourning. A day of tension between gratitude and grief. And in that tension, we find a deeper calling — not just to grieve, but to act. Not just to celebrate, but to remember.


Because joy, when denied to some, cannot be fully enjoyed by others.

And because children like Adam deserve more than our tears — they deserve a world that never again forces them to say goodbye before they’ve even had the chance to live.

Ohio group gathers personal letters to connect with Muslims in prison for Eid

(RNS) — Eid Letters to Incarcerated Muslims is one of several groups in America sending letters to incarcerated Muslims for the holiday and, ultimately, advocating for prison abolishment.

Volunteers in Ohio participate in an annual Eid Al-Fitr letter-writing campaign organized by Eid Letters to Incarcerated Muslims. (Photo courtesy ELIM)

Reina Coulibaly
March 31, 2025

(RNS) — Muslims in North America are celebrating Eid Al-Fitr, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Around the world, people celebrate by donning their best attire, gathering for prayers and exchanging gifts.

For incarcerated Muslims, though, the holiday looks drastically different. While some can celebrate with other Muslims in their facility, many observe the holiday in isolation.

Earlier this month, Eid Letters to Incarcerated Muslims, an Ohio grassroots project that for the past five years has facilitated an annual Eid Al-Fitr letter-writing campaign for incarcerated Muslims in the state, hosted a webinar about its efforts.

The project aims to connect with incarcerated Muslims and sees advocacy for prison abolishment as an important part of practicing the Islamic faith, according to the group. To volunteers and leaders, letter writing is a form of advocacy work foundational to their spiritual and political commitments.

One of ELIM’s core organizers, Mariam Khan, sees the group’s work as a form of worship that follows in the example of the Prophet Muhammad.

“When I read about the Sunnah (the Prophet Muhammad’s recorded practices) and life of the Prophet, I see him as a community organizer, someone giving the clothes off his back and the money in his pocket to the most needy,” Khan said. “I want to create an Islamic practice that centers around action, around material change through our faith. That extends to our incarcerated brothers and sisters.”

RELATED: For Muslims with eating disorders, Ramadan fasting can present health and spiritual challenges

This year, ELIM volunteers gathered nearly 350 letters through community partnerships and writing events, like the annual webinar. The letters are being distributed to 230 men in two Ohio facilities: Lebanon Correctional Institution and the Ohio State Penitentiary. The recipients were identified through a “fasting roll call,” or a list of people who requested fasting accommodations provided to ELIM by facilities’ chaplains and other intermediaries.

ELIM is one of several faith-based groups across the country reaching those inside prisons through letter writing and resource distribution. Volunteer-run groups like the Philadelphia Muslim Freedom Fund, Sacramento Letters to Incarcerated Muslims and nonprofits like Believers Bail Out share a similar mission, also ultimately seeking prison abolishment. They run independently and focus on their respective locales.

Zumana Noor, a core leader for the Philadelphia Muslim Freedom Fund, said the group’s work is rooted in solidarity, not charity.

“It’s our duty as Muslims to support our brothers and sisters in need, including those behind bars,” Noor said. “That’s really the center of what we do. It’s about compassion, about giving back.”

A Philadelphia Muslim Freedom Fund letter-writing event on June 20, 2024. (Photo courtesy PMFF)

Noor also noted the often intangible impact of such outreach.

“When the system sees that someone is being cared for, that there are people checking in and mailing letters, they’re less likely to pull stuff with them,” Noor said. “They know there are people on the outside who will speak up.”

Kenza Kamal, one of ELIM’s founding members, emphasized that incarcerated Muslims have much to offer.

“The folks inside are highly learned,” Kamal said. “They study and know things that many of us on the outside have not had the focus, discipline or the pressure to learn.”

For ELIM organizers, letter writing is a way to connect with incarcerated people and send a message of hope for the future, with ending incarceration being the ultimate goal.

“Abolition isn’t separate from Islam,” said Ridha Nazir, a newer ELIM organizer. “It teaches us to stand with the oppressed and to never lose sight of justice and to act with mercy. When we write these letters for incarcerated Muslims, we’re doing more than just sending words on a page. We’re extending solidarity, we’re extending care, we’re extending the spiritual connection.”

RELATED: In Algiers, a youth-led gallery offers community through music during Ramadan

Moreover, Nazir said, the prison system “is designed to isolate, and disappear people,” to which Islam stands in contrast.

“For us, letter writing is an act of worship,” Nazir said.

However, the Ohio campaign has at least one new obstacle. A new policy from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, effective Feb. 1, mandates all incoming letters be copied or scanned into an electronic format for delivery and the originals destroyed after 30 days. Inmates can no longer receive original — often handwritten — letters from ELIM.

Fardowsa Dahir, another ELIM organizer, said new restrictions seem to be implemented every year in the state. And, much communication getting into the facilities relies on one person, like an amenable imam or chaplain, Khan added.

“When that person stops communicating with us, that’s the end of our lifeline to administer and organize this project,” Khan said.

The new mail policy also affects the emotional weight of the letters, Nazir said, as the scanning process strips away some of the personal and spiritual intimacy that handwritten letters offer.

“We always want to work in the way of the Prophet (Muhammad), and we’re following the example he set,” Nazir said. “He never turned his back on those who are isolated or imprisoned or struggling. And so, we remember the Quranic verses that tell us to speak truth, to show up and to not be complicit to injustice through silence.”


This article was produced as part of the RNS/Interfaith America Religion Journalism Fellowship.

Research shows that a majority of Christian religious leaders accept the reality of climate change but have never mentioned it to their congregations

(The Conversation) — Churchgoers who think their religious leaders don’t believe humans are driving climate change are less likely to discuss it with fellow congregants or take action to mitigate the effects.

A multi-faith assembly of religious leaders and lay people in Manhattan in 2023 protest investments in fossil fuel. (Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Stylianos Syropoulos and Gregg Sparkman
April 3, 2025

(The Conversation) — Nearly 90% of U.S. Christian religious leaders believe humans are driving climate change. When churchgoers learn how widespread this belief is, they report taking steps to reduce its effects, as we found in our research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

We examined data collected in 2023 and 2024 from a nationwide survey of 1,600 religious leaders in the United States. The sample included religious leaders from fundamentalist and evangelical churches, Baptists, Methodists, Black protestants, Roman Catholic denominations and more – all recruited to match the proportions of churches across the country. The survey assessed religious leaders’ beliefs about climate change and whether they discuss climate change with their congregations.

According to that data, while the overwhelming majority of Christian religious leaders accept the human-driven reality of climate change, nearly half have never mentioned climate change or humans’ role in it to their congregations. Further, only a quarter have spoken about it more than once or twice.

Why it matters

When it comes to climate change, faith communities are often seen as divided. There is an assumption that religious conservatism and climate skepticism go hand in hand. This assumption is based on religious beliefs such as that the Earth was created by God and therefore humans cannot and should not alter it, along with rejection of climate science and diminished concern about climate change.

We then surveyed a sample of Christian Americans from major denominations across the country and found they think roughly half of Christian leaders in the U.S., and in churches like their own, deny that humans cause climate change. Given the actual number is closer to 1 in 10 based on the data we examined, it appears Christians overestimate the prevalence of climate denial among their leaders by around five times the level found in polling.

Churchgoers who think their religious leaders don’t believe humans cause climate change report being less likely to discuss it with fellow congregants and less interested in attending events that aim to address climate change or raise awareness of the issue.

The research also tested what would happen if we informed churchgoers of the true level of consensus among their religious leaders who accept that climate change is driven by humans. In a brief survey, Christians were told the percentage of Christian leaders nationally, and among their denomination specifically, who accepted that human activities cause climate change. As a result, we found, their perceptions and attitudes toward climate change shifted in a variety of ways.

Specifically, churchgoers who were informed about the actual consensus among religious leaders in accepting climate change were more likely to state that “taking action to reduce climate change” was consistent with their church’s values.

Churchgoers who received this information were also more likely to feel it would be inconsistent with their church’s values to vote for a political candidate who opposes actions that could slow climate change.

These findings highlight that religious leaders have a unique power to influence climate action – but only if they let their beliefs be known.

Religious leaders have a unique power to influence climate action.
Mascot/Digital Vision via Getty Images

What’s next

These findings are not focusing on what is going on in specific churches and denominations. We provided churchgoers only with information on the consensus of acceptance of human-made climate change among Christian religious leaders across the U.S. A natural next step is to conduct research with religious leaders to examine the impact of their communication directly with their congregations, including if they convey the consensus described in this work.

Religious leaders, often viewed as moral guides, have the ability to reshape climate discourse within faith communities. If they vocalize their acceptance of human-made climate change, we believe they can correct widespread misperceptions, foster dialogue and encourage action in ways that secular authorities may struggle to achieve.

The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.

Gregg Sparkman receives funding from the National Science Foundation.

(Stylianos Syropoulos, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Arizona State University. Gregg Sparkman, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Boston College. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)

After Khartoum recaptured, badly damaged Anglican Cathedral still stands

NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — ‘The damage is huge. Archbishop’s residence, dean’s house, and offices are all destroyed and looted. Praise God the building is not bombed,’ said the archbishop, days after the city was taken back by the national army.

The All Saints Anglican Cathedral in Khartoum. (RNS photo/Fredrick Nzwili)

Fredrick Nzwili
April 2, 2025

NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — Although the All Saints Anglican Cathedral in Khartoum suffered huge damage in the two-year battle for the Sudanese capital, the country’s archbishop is relieved the structure was never bombed.

Speaking on Tuesday (April 1), days after the Sudanese Armed Forces, the national army, had recaptured the city from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Ezekiel Kondo, the archbishop of the Episcopal (Anglican) Church of Sudan, told RNS he had received information about the state of the cathedral and the damage it had sustained.

“The damage is huge. Archbishop’s residence, dean’s house, and offices are all destroyed and looted. Praise God the building is not bombed,” Kondo, 68, told RNS from Port Sudan, in eastern Sudan, where he had been forced to flee two years earlier. “It will cost millions of dollars to repair the church.

According to the archbishop, Christians are yet to return to the cathedral because the army has not declared the area safe.

“There may be land mines left behind by the paramilitary. Basic services such as water and electricity have not been restored,” said Kondo.

On March 26, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the leader of the Sudanese Armed Forces, announced that his forces had taken the city back from Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and the Rapid Support Forces, raising hopes that the bloody civil war between the two factions of the military government might move on from the area.


Sudan’s military chief, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, center, is greeted by troops as he arrives at the Republican Palace, recently recaptured from the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, in Khartoum, Sudan, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo)

However, a month earlier, in Nairobi, the Rapid Support Forces and allies had announced plans to form a parallel government. The Sudanese Armed Forces now controls the north and the east, while the Rapid Support Forces controls the south and the expansive Darfur region in the West, creating an impression of a split in Africa’s third largest country. Dagalo is a former leader of the Janjaweed, a group of Arab militias widely accused of committing mass atrocities in the Darfur region, recognized by the United Nations as genocide in 2004.

Like other churches and some mosques, the All Saints Anglican Cathedral has been caught in the fight for control of Khartoum and northeastern Sudan.

On April 15, 2023, Kondo, along with other church leaders and their families, had been in the cathedral preparing for the Sunday service when the paramilitary seized the church building and turned it into a military base. This past September, the archbishop told RNS the paramilitary had turned the cathedral compound into a graveyard, chopping pews for use as firewood.

In Sudan, an estimated 5% of the 50 million population are Christians. The rest, 95%, are Sunni Muslims.

While the war has forced the shutting of an estimated 165 churches, some mosques have also been targets. On March 24, the paramilitary allegedly shelled a mosque in Khartoum, killing at least five people and injuring dozens of others.

Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo. (Photo by Anglican Communion News Service)

According to reports, the militaries have also arrested numerous Muslim clerics who have advocated for peace. At least 12 mosques in Khartoum, El Fasher and El Geneina have been affected.

“The religious sites and the clerics are being caught in the crossfire in a war between two generals who are Muslims. It is not a religious war,” said Sheikh Abdullah Kheir, an imam and a senior university lecturer in various Kenyan universities. “When you look at what is happening, it is not only Christians who are suffering, but Muslims too. I have seen Muslim women being bombed as they try to flee.”

Church sources indicate that St. Matthew’s Catholic Church in Khartoum has also been badly damaged, with the interior and exterior affected. However, the structure is still standing. The 1908 cathedral, near the El Mek Nimir Bridge, is the seat of Archbishop Michael Didi Adgum Mangoria of Khartoum. Mangoria is also living in Port Sudan after having been forced out by the war.

“The building is intact, but there are no benches in the sitting area. Instead, there is rubbish,” said the Rev. John Gbemboyo Joseph Mbikoyezu, the coordinator of the South Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference.

Despite persistent calls by church leaders for peace, there is no ceasefire agreement in sight, and the two generals are promising to fight on.

The exact death toll in the Sudan conflict is still unknown, but organizations have put the figure between 61,000 and 150,000 people. The conflict has displaced an estimated 12 million people and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, according to the U.N.

A bishop of the Arctic says goodbye

INUKJUAK, Quebec (RNS) — As Canada’s Anglican church dwindles, its most remote (and most expansive) diocese has shown growth. One bishop responsible for that trend is retiring, leaving his successor to find clergy willing to take on the Arctic’s challenges.

Anglican Bishop David Parsons poses in the village of Puvirnituq, Quebec, in northern Canada. (Photo by Julia Duin)

Julia Duin
April 2, 2025


INUKJUAK, Quebec (RNS) — Outside, on the banks of a chilly river flowing into the blue-black waters of Hudson Bay, it was only 10 degrees.

Inside St. Thomas Anglican Church, in the northern Canadian hamlet of Inukjuak, about 70 people were gathered — one of them an imposing, 6-foot-1 man with a thatch of white hair, a full beard and the long, sweeping red, black and white robes of an Anglican bishop.

Bishop David Parsons, holding up a red paper heart to signify the blood of Jesus, a black one to signify sin, a Bible and a flashlight, said: “This Bible is a light to show us where to go. For 12 years, I’ve worn the robes of a bishop. The robes remind me that I am a sinner.”

Parsons had recently turned 70, the mandatory retirement age in the Anglican Church of Canada, and was taking a farewell tour after a dozen years heading the Diocese of the Arctic. Covering Canada’s northern third, it is the largest Anglican diocese (by area) in the world. Inukjuak, population 1,821, is in Nunavik, a region at the diocese’s far eastern end in the remote northern reaches of Quebec.

Translating for Parsons was his predecessor and mentor, Andrew Atagotaaluk. Wiry and compact, with bushy eyebrows and silvery-black hair, and standing almost a foot shorter than Parsons, Atagotaaluk was the diocese’s first Inuit bishop and one of four translators of the first Inuktituk-language Bible.

Together, the two bishops had created an evangelical outpost with 34,171 members and still growing amid the more liberal ACC that is dropping numbers so fast, the entire denomination may not last beyond 2040.

Anglican Bishop David Parsons, left, preaches about the need for redemption while his translator, retired Bishop Andrew Atagotaaluk, holds a yellow paper heart as a sermon prop, during a service at St. Thomas Anglican Church in Inukjuak, Quebec, in late November 2024. (Photo by Julia Duin)

The diocese’s bishops have consistently voted throughout the years against same-sex unions, gender transition liturgies and other liberalizing trends in the ACC. “The South doesn’t want to support us because we’re too biblical,” the bishop mused. “We believe Jesus is Lord, we’re not interfaith and we don’t have the intelligence to run things on our own without the Holy Spirit.”

If its congregations are growing, however, Parsons’ successor, who will be elected May 9 in Edmonton, will grapple with the never-ending problem of how to attract priests to the Arctic. Only 16 full-time clergy serve the diocese’s 49 parishes, recruited from around the world to serve in 13 hamlets ranging from Kugluktuk to Kuujjuaq. Parsons has used a patchwork of retired clergy, deacons and laity to lead another two dozen churches, leaving 10 parishes with no clergy or lay leader.

Meanwhile, climate change, geopolitics and tourism bring the world farther north every year. The Anglicans, who have been in the region since the late 17th century, and the Catholics, who’ve been there a century, are seeing a bit of competition. Jehovah’s Witnesses and Muslims have established footholds in the Arctic, and independent Baptists and Seventh-day Adventists have also moved in.

To meet that challenge means a constant search for new blood, which is tremendously draining. The onetime corps of missionary Anglican clergy from the U.K. eager to minister in the Arctic no longer exists. Many non-Inuit clergy leave after a few years due to the isolation of the Arctic and easier career opportunities elsewhere.

Add to this the simple wear and tear on the body from constant travel in subzero cold. Born in Labrador, Parsons is used to living up north, but his first post as a lay minister in 1989 in Aklavik was truly remote. Only reachable by plane or ice road, the village, near the Alaskan border, was a trading post for the Hudson Bay Co. and the site of the diocese’s first cathedral.

Dioceses and provinces of the Anglican Church of Canada. The Diocese of the Arctic is highlighted in blue. (Image courtesy of ACC)

Parsons adored his four years there, he said, as there were several clergy within a day’s journey to mentor him. “It was like a party for me,” he said. “I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. These were high-caliber people who treated me if I were one of them.”

One of them, Atagotaaluk, ordained him and sent Parsons to head a parish in Inuvik, a town on the Mackenzie River Delta near the Arctic Ocean. Parsons served happily there until Atagotaaluk announced his retirement in 2012, and Parsons was nominated to replace him. Parsons dithered on whether to keep his name on the ballot.

“Dad,” said Davey Parsons, the bishop’s youngest son, then 30, “how long are you going to run away from everything?”

Parsons’ name stayed. He was elected after several ballots. “The next morning,” he remembered, “a member of the Nunavut government asked me what I was going to do about all the suicides.”

In 2012, after he prayed about how to answer the government official’s question, he realized the key was hiring a youth coordinator for the at-risk teenagers dying by suicide. He hired one and got a $45,000 grant to help train parish leaders in suicide prevention. Then COVID-19 hit. Meanwhile, the youth coordinator married, got pregnant and quit.

Bishop David Parsons prays over Willie Surusilla for healing of a broken leg at a confirmation service at St. Matthew Anglican Church in Puvirnituq, Quebec, in late November 2024. To the right is Mary Tatatoapik, a deacon. (Photo by Julia Duin)

The question of suicide came up at the bishop’s next stop, in Puvirnituq, the largest town on Hudson Bay’s eastern coast and home of the new $4 million (Canadian) St. Matthew’s Anglican Church. Its priest, Esau Tatatoapik, and his wife, Mary, a deacon, met him at the airport and took him to their home beneath skies green with the northern lights.

Just before Parsons’ plane pulled in, the couple had presided at a funeral for a woman who’d been killed by her drunken grandson. Esau averages three funerals a month, but this past week he’d had four. Parsons asked what was killing everyone, and the couple — along with their youth group leaders — responded that the causes were alcohol-related, drug overdoses or cancer.

“Mary and I are so tired,” the priest said. “There have been so many funerals. So many of the clergy have had suicides.”

Anglican Bishop David Parsons greets a child at St. Matthew Anglican Church in Puvirnituq, Quebec. (Photo by Julia Duin)

Parsons had been going all day, but somehow, he had to encourage this dispirited group. “I am soon going to be gone,” he said. “It will be you guys who will need to look for an answer. We need to get people in their 20s. We need to empower a crowd of teenagers. Instead of killing themselves, they need to come alongside each other and build each other up.”

He repeated a prophecy that Anglicans across the north have talked about for years: Through the Arctic, God will revive the South. There have been prophets among their own people, he said, that have said the dying southern half of the Canadian church will be awoken by a resurgent, evangelical, spiritually powerful North.

He repeated this message at an evening confirmation service whose Pentecostal-style hymns were led by a six-piece band. Parsons asked the youthful crowd of 70 how many teens were present without their parents. At least 10 raised their hands.

“Where are the elders?” he asked. “They are home drunk … with busyness.”

His 40-minute sermon reassured his listeners they have a destiny despite their remote locale. “God wants to send the people of the North to the whole world.”

The irony was maddening; here he had plenty of people but not enough leaders, while dioceses in the South have plenty of clergy, but no people.

The next day, Parsons was off for Ivujivik, a scenic village in a tiny fjord off Digges Sound, at the very northern tip of Quebec. The local priest, Peter Ainalik, who would turn 80 in a few days, was one of the men Parsons has talked out of retirement to staff the tiny St. Columba Anglican Church. He met with Parsons for several hours before the service to pray and reminisce.


Anglican Bishop David Parsons confirms Ricky Nayoumealuk, 23, at St. Thomas Anglican Church in Inukjuak, Quebec, in late November 2024. Deacon Allie Ohaituk, right, holds a shepherd’s crook, the symbol of a bishop’s authority. (Photo by Julia Duin)

Ainalik told the bishop that church members wanted a prayer time for all the suicides in town. Thirty-two people — mostly women — made their way through the falling snow for an evening service where one person was confirmed. When Parsons invited people up for prayer afterward, the floodgates burst open. A petite dark-haired woman named Piellie asked for prayer for a broken heart: Her 32-year-old son, Lucassie, died by suicide the year before, she said between sobs. Many others wept as well.

“Some of them cannot heal after suicide,” Parsons reflected afterward. “So many young people are doing it. Many have been lost. It’s hard to find the answer why.”

The next day, Ainalik, engulfed in a mustard-yellow parka, saw Parsons off at the tiny airport. The priest and the bishop shook hands.

“See you in heaven,” Parsons said.

Anglican Bishop David Parsons, seated right, prays with two of his priests, Peter Ainalik, left, and Esau Tatatoapik in a hostel overlooking Digges Sound in Ivujivik, Quebec, in late 2024. (Photo by Julia Duin)

Flunking Sainthood

Sociologist's new book explains why organized religion has lost relevancy

(RNS) — Christian Smith’s research shows traditional religion isn’t just declining. It’s culturally obsolete.

“Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America” by Christian Smith. (Courtesy images)

Jana Riess
April 3, 2025

(RNS) — Traditional religion may be destined for the walls of the Cracker Barrel, a space filled with nostalgic advertisements for products of yesteryear, like Victrolas, lace antimacassars or butter churns. All things, in other words, that have been rendered obsolete by modern life.

According to social scientist and author Christian Smith, a professor of sociology at the University of Notre Dame, “obsolete” describes the situation facing traditional organized religion in the United States. The title of his new book even puts its cultural expiration in the past tense: “Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America.”

The book, based on research that includes more than 200 qualitative interviews, will be released by Oxford University Press on Tuesday (April 8).

“We almost always use the word ‘decline’ when we talk about if things aren’t going well for religion,” Smith said in a Zoom interview with RNS. “And decline is a good word. But what it’s descriptive of is organizational matters and individual religiousness. Organizations can have decline in membership or adherence, attendance, financial giving. That’s decline — it’s measurable.”

His book, however, chronicles something bigger and harder to pin down. It’s about all the cultural changes that precipitated those declines and made organized religion so much less relevant in people’s lives.

“The culture was formed by these big institutional, technological, economic, geopolitical, military, etc., changes,” he said. Those changes include the rise of individualism, the association of religion with violence after 9/11, the third sexual revolution and more.

Smith is quick to point out that culturally obsolete things can still be quite useful for some people. He has DVDs and CDs in his house that he’s not planning to get rid of. But most younger people rely entirely on streaming services for their movies and music, making DVDs and CDs obsolete for them.

There’s a lesson there. No, religion hasn’t been supplanted by a spiffy new technology — though Smith’s book does detail 10 ways the internet “corroded” religion, including by reducing people’s attention spans and diminishing their willingness to engage in in-person communities that come with significant time demands. Nor was there an intentional plot to derail religion, with secularists setting out to cut it down.

RELATED: Decline in American Christian observance has slowed, Pew study finds

Instead, the social changes that have made religion obsolete were “long-term, highly complex and unintended,” Smith said. Delayed marriage, reduced childbirth and voluntary childlessness have all chipped away at the cultural power of religion, but eroding religion was never the aim of those social changes. People embraced them because they felt their lives were better because of them.

There have also been geopolitical changes, such as the end of the Cold War and the neoliberal economic policies that made people more devoted to their careers in order to stay competitive. Both indirectly damaged religion. The end of the Cold War, Smith writes, “was a jolt that helped to trigger the cultural avalanche that plowed over religion in the next two decades.” Americans who had been brought up to believe that what made us better than the Soviets was that they were godless communists suddenly lost their certainty that being American meant being Christian.

Another factor was the rise of religious scandals, particularly the Catholic Church’s priest sex abuse crisis and the evangelical world’s multiple scandals with pastors who covered up sexual assault and were accused of embezzlement. Even though only a small minority of clergy was involved in those scandals, they “polluted” the name of religion in the eyes of millions, Smith found in his research. In this way, religion has had a hand in digging its own grave.

Smith called this convergence of factors “a perfect storm.” All these elements and more create a zeitgeist that is, if not hostile to religion, not particularly receptive to it.

“It’s very generational,” he said. “This is especially post-boomers, especially millennials. Within the culture for that generation, religion was just kind of discredited or polluted, or it didn’t add up.”

Some people within traditional religion may see the book as being down on religion. That’s not the case though, Smith said. The sociologist’s nearly two dozen previous books have chronicled the highs and lows of religion in America for many years. His National Study of Youth and Religion project researched the religious and spiritual lives of American teenagers into emerging adulthood. His book “Passing the Plate” explored the state of charitable giving in America and considered what might be possible if Christians donated more of their money to worthy causes. And Smith is himself a Christian. He grew up Presbyterian and converted to Roman Catholicism about 15 years ago.

In sum, he’s not pining to see religion on the walls of the Cracker Barrel.

“I don’t have an anti-religious agenda in my scholarship at all,” he said. “I’m a sociologist, so I’m here to describe the world as best I can — what’s happening and why — without cheering it on or without condemning it.”

Now, his job is to explain that shift as best he can using research. While religious people are sometimes defensive or appalled by his message about religion’s obsolescence, other times they receive the news with relief. Presenting his data to audiences, he’s encountered pastors “who just think they’ve failed, like they did a bad job” if their churches aren’t growing, he said.

“I said, ‘It’s not you. There’s something bigger going on here,'” he said. The pastors found it liberating to realize their church’s decline wasn’t only happening to them, or it wasn’t because of something they’d done or failed to do.

“If people don’t have an understanding of those social contexts, it’s very easy for them to personalize it and oftentimes blame themselves,” Smith said.

RELATED: More young adults are leaving religion, but that’s not the whole story, say researchers

Smith won’t make a full-on prediction about where religion is headed next, except that just because traditional religion has become obsolete doesn’t mean secularism has triumphed.

“It’s not a binary between religion and the secular,” he said. It’s not the kind of “zero sum game,” but is more nuanced. Most Americans still believe in God, even in younger generations, he added.

Rather, he sees religion morphing into other channels. Interest in the supernatural remains very high in the U.S., which is the topic of another book he’s working on. And he sees an interesting “re-enchantment” happening outside of religious institutions as people explore neopaganism, healing crystals and the like.

“As people left religion, or grew up in a world in which religion was obsolete, they became attracted to this re-enchanted culture. And there’s lots of different entry doors into it,” he said.