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2. U.S. nun, 83, kidnapped in Burkina Faso

3. Christopher Howse: Why the destruction of Ukraine’s churches matters

In the first month of the war, the Ukrainian ministry of culture listed 59 religious sites badly damaged, most of them Orthodox churches, but some evangelical churches, and synagogues too. At Mariupol, for example, the church of the Archangel Michael, overlooking the Sea of Azov, was reported to be ‘severely damaged’. And here we come to a difficulty.
Mariupol has been devastated, but it has been hard to get news or pictures out. One English charity worker with good contacts in Ukraine told me: ‘Having presented himself as the defender of Christians as part of his public persona in Russia, it would not be good PR for Putin if pictures of a church destroyed by Russian missiles went global.’

4. The unexpected way some people are helping Ukrainian refugees

5. Times of Israel: Bennett says security forces recently foiled more than 15 terrorist attack

He said that more than 200 suspects have already been arrested and dozens of raids have been carried out, and more than 400 individuals with connections to Islamic State or other “extreme jihadist organizations” have been identified. The attacks in Beersheba and Hadera were claimed by IS adherents.
“It seems to me that there is no citizen in the State of Israel who does not feel the massive reinforcement of the police and security forces in the country,” Bennett said Tuesday. “The feeling of security is for us a very, very important goal.”

6. Washington Post: Pope Francis kisses Ukrainian flag from ‘martyred’ Bucha

“They are victims whose innocent blood cries up to the sky and implores that this war be stopped, and that the weapons be silenced. Stop disseminating war and destruction.”
He held up a dirtied Ukrainian flag that he said had arrived Tuesday at the Vatican from Bucha, where evidence has emerged since the Russians pulled out of what appears to be intentional killings of civilians.
Kissing it, the pope said: “This flag comes from the war, from that martyred city Bucha. … Let us not forget them. Let us not forget the people of Ukraine.”
And gesturing to the children, Francis said: “These children had to flee to arrive in a safe place. This is the fruit of war.”

7. Andrea Picciotti-Bayer: The Supreme Court Can End a Century of Anti-Religion Discrimination

For more than a century, Maine has had a program that allows parents in remote areas of the state to send their children to the public or private schools of their choice. But in 1981, it decided to restrict parents’ options by declaring that no money should go to “sectarian” schools. Meaning, of course, Christian ones.
Now, finally, Christian parents in Maine are pushing back against the state’s attempt to stigmatize their religious beliefs.

8. Sarah Harding: Protecting Children From Sextortion

Today, children are rarely abducted by strangers in public places. Child sex abusers have new highly effective tools to find their victims. Technology allows the abuser to gain virtual access to a child and obtain sexually explict images that are then distributed online in a matter of seconds, a crime called sextortion, which the FBI says is on the rise. In one study of 2,731 minors between the ages of 12 and 15, 15.6% of girls and 9.3% of boys reported that they had been sexually solicited online, and 8.2% of girls and 7.4% of boys reported they had sexualized interactions with adults online. Gaining an understanding of how online predators operate can help parents more effectively prepare their children for the dangers they will encounter online, including how to detect sextortion.

9. Crux: Ukrainian parish in Rome becomes center of support for homeland

Since the invasion began on Feb. 24, over 1,200 tons of aid has been sent from the church to Ukraine.

10. Crux: Court allows giant statue of Virgin Mary to be built in Brazil

Now, the 164-feet stainless steel sculpture portraying Our Lady of Aparecida – taller than Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer – which was donated in 2017 by the artist Gilmar Pinna to the municipality as part of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the apparition, can finally be finished.
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But the work was interrupted due to a lawsuit filed by the Brazilian Atheists and Agnostics Association (ATEA), which claimed that public funds were being used to pay for religious symbols, which is forbidden by the Brazilian constitution.
However, Pinna said almost all elements that integrated the project had been donated, including the sculpture.

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