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  NEW: I spoke to Sen. Warnock last month, and he told me his recent meeting with Speaker Mike Johnson touched on a theological debate that has emerged in Congress. Namely: how to interpret Matthew 25, when Jesus calls on disciples to care for the "least of these." “He told me that Matthew 25 was about individuals, and not nations,” Warnock told me, referring to Johnson. “The text actually says nations.” https://religionnews.com/2026/07/01/in-congress-a-growing-divide-over-matthew-25/

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  NEW from me: At protests and church services, I’ve noticed something odd amid America’s 250th anniversary: Debate over the political — and religious! — legacy of Thomas Paine, the “Forgotten Founding Father,” championed by progressives and dismissed by Christian nationalists and their allies. https://religionnews.com/2026/05/13/meet-the-nations-founder-christian-conservatives-wont-claim-and-progressives-celebrate/

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  A rare triple-on-location-byline here from @religionnews: Trump allies lead thousands in prayer to “rededicate” America to God on National Mall https://religionnews.com/2026/05/17/trump-allies-lead-thousands-in-prayer-to-rededicate-america-to-god-on-national-mall/

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  It appears Pope Leo’s first encyclical, focused on AI, will drop May 25: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2026-05/pope-leo-xiv-first-encyclical-magnifica-humanitas.html

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  This is your regular reminder that if you have a story idea, want to leak something or want share what you're seeing inside the government and/or your faith community, you can reach me via Signal here: jackmjenkins.60 There are also other ways to reach me in my bio.

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  NEW: When Pope Leo drops his new encyclical focused on AI next week, a co-founder of Anthropic, a leading AI company, will be there to help promote it. Why? Turns out, there was a decade-long effort by the Vatican and the tech world to forge a relationship — with Anthropic at the center. https://religionnews.com/2026/05/22/why-anthropic-is-helping-unveil-the-popes-new-encyclical-on-ai/

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  RE: https://mastodon.online/@jackmjenkins/116619718211101600 A wild thing buried in here: faith leaders have seriously raised the idea to #Anthropic — in real meetings, with real staff — that maybe the #AI model #Claude should be offered something like the concept of confession, since the AI is trained on the internet, which is "very lacking in forgiveness.” #religion #Catholicism

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  RE: https://mastodon.online/@jackmjenkins/116619718211101600 Another thing: intentional or not, there's a political subtext that will inevitably paint the Vatican’s decision to involve #Anthropic in the unveiling of Pope Leo’s new encyclical on #AI next week. Many take issue with the Vatican tying itself to *any* AI company, but Pope Leo has been critical of Trump, and Anthropic is arguably the AI company the Trump admin dislikes the most. #Catholicism #Claude

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  What are you reading this weekend?

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  Via @religionnews: In his first encyclical, Pope Leo XIV says AI must serve humanity, not the powerful few https://religionnews.com/2026/05/25/in-his-first-encyclical-pope-leo-xiv-says-ai-must-serve-humanity-not-the-powerful-few/

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  Low-key funny that none of the tech news websites I follow have published stories about the Pope's new encyclical yet, because of course they haven't — why would any of them have a Vatican reporter? Just a reminder of the *structural* distance between these worlds, even as they talk to each other.

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  NEW via Aleja Hertzler-McCain and myself: Pope Leo calls just war theory 'outdated' in new encyclical https://religionnews.com/2026/05/25/in-new-encyclical-pope-leo-calls-on-catholics-to-move-beyond-just-war-theory/

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  If you're wondering why Chris Olah, the cofounder of AI company Anthropic, was sitting on the stage with Pope Leo today as the pontiff unveiled his new encyclical on #ai, well ALLOW ME TO EXPLAIN. https://religionnews.com/2026/05/22/why-anthropic-is-helping-unveil-the-popes-new-encyclical-on-ai/

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  NEW from me: In new findings, researchers from a group of religious schools (BYU, Notre Dame, Baylor and Yeshiva) say popular AI models have a bias towards Catholicism when asked questions about conversion. https://religionnews.com/2026/05/26/ai-has-a-bias-toward-catholicism-researchers-say/

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  NEW from Claire Giangravé and myself: The five main takeaways from Pope Leo’s encyclical on AI https://religionnews.com/2026/05/27/the-five-main-takeaways-from-pope-leos-encyclical-on-ai/

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  So you know Delaney Hall detention center, where Sen. Andy Kim and others were pepper sprayed this week? Sr. Susan Francois, a Catholic nun, has volunteered at a hospitality center outside that facility for the past year. Learn more about her in this powerful mini-doc from my @religionnewssvc colleague Fiona Murphy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2_W-iaTUAU

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  NEW: When Sen. Andy Kim was hit with pepper spray/smoke outside the Delaney Hall detention center, standing next to him was a UU minister. She was hit too, as were at least two other faith leaders — a rabbi and the head of a Catholic group — standing nearby. They're part of a group of faith leaders who've been there for roughly a year. https://religionnews.com/2026/06/04/pepper-sprayed-yet-undeterred-faith-leaders-keep-ministering-at-delaney-hall/

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  NEW: Two prominent evangelical groups have produced a report warning that Trump’s deportations could leave 1.3 million people "torn apart" from their families. The head of National Association of Evangelicals described it as one of several "biblical concerns." https://religionnews.com/2026/05/04/evangelical-organizations-warn-that-trumps-policies-will-leave-more-than-1-million-families-torn-apart/

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  NEW from me: Pentagon-Vatican meeting latest flash point in Trump's clash with religious leaders https://religionnews.com/2026/04/08/pentagon-vatican-meeting-latest-flash-point-in-trumps-clash-with-religious-leaders/

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  NEW from me: In a ruling from the bench this morning, a federal judge granted Minneapolis clergy access to immigrants detained by DHS in a federal facility as the case proceeds, allowing the faith leaders to provide pastoral care after denying them for months https://religionnews.com/2026/03/20/federal-judge-sides-with-minnesota-faith-leaders-grants-access-to-immigrant-detainees/

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  Low-key big news via Bob Smietana: Judge rejects Johnson Amendment settlement, keeping ban on pastors endorsing candidates https://religionnews.com/2026/03/31/ban-on-pastors-endorsing-candidate-remains-in-place-after-judge-rejects-johnson-amendment-settlement/

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  Via myself and Aleja: In a new brief, Catholic bishops call Trump’s assault on birthright citizenship an affront to Catholic teaching https://religionnews.com/2026/02/27/usccb-calls-trumps-attempt-to-end-birthright-citizenship-an-affront-to-catholic-teaching/

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  What are you reading this weekend?

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  RE: https://mastodon.online/@jackmjenkins/116111697141911206 lol I muted a post on Threads and finally came back to it to find a community note attached that…very much proves my point! Roughly a quarter of hospitalized patients (per a study) see a chaplain? That’s huge — and makes their absence from medical dramas even more galling!

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  RE: https://flipboard.com/@washpost/politics-5lk2u4b7z/-/a-Et1iQSlyQ4--RaJVftlfrA%3Aa%3A419161690-%2F0 Talarico’s religious appeals are framed as a reach across the aisle here, but I think that’s an inaccurate analysis. It’s likely Talarico’s religious references will skew broader in the general to appeal to a wider net. But his slogan in the primary was “let’s flip some tables” — a theological argument aimed directly at the Democratic base, not Republicans. This is actually pretty common: fa...

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  There's been lots made of a story involving "Armageddon briefings" in the US military. There's also lotsa skepticism around it, mainly bc it seems none of the first-hand sources spoke to reporters. If you're a member of the military who HAS experienced these briefings, my Signal is: jackmjenkins.60

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  What are you reading this weekend?

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  Via NYTimes: U.S. Tomahawk Hit Naval Base Beside Iranian School, Video Shows —> https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/08/world/middleeast/iran-minab-school-strike.html

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  Lots in here, but an upshot I’ll be thinking about for a bit: the internet as we know it was a product of a very specific time in world history, when the US was arguably at the peak of its power. This author argues that as that shifts, so, too, will the internet. https://www.techpolicy.press/internet-protocols-power-and-the-rebirth-of-the-border/

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  Via Aleja Hertzler-McCain: Hundreds of United Methodists rally to dismantle ICE outside Capitol https://religionnews.com/2026/02/25/hundreds-of-united-methodists-rally-to-dismantle-ice-outside-capitol/