NEWS BRIEFS

Christmas shoe box collection to begin

From Monday through Nov. 19, volunteers throughout central Arkansas will collect donations for Operation Christmas Child, a nonprofit that collects gifts of shoe boxes filled with small toys, school supplies and hygiene items for those in need worldwide.

Immanuel Baptist Church, 501 N. Shackleford Road in Little Rock, will collect items from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. each weekday, and from noon to 2 p.m. Nov. 17-18; and Park Hill Baptist Church, 201 E. C St. in North Little Rock, will accept donated items from 2-6 p.m. through Friday, from 2-5 p.m. Nov. 17-18, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 19. First Baptist Church of Maumelle, 100 Valencia Drive in Maumelle, will also collect items for the drive; contact the church at (501) 851-3547 for collection times.

For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, contact (615) 962-7145 or visit samaritanspurse.org/occ.

-- Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

More bones found on Vatican's land

VATICAN CITY -- More bones were found on the grounds of the Vatican embassy in Italy, adding grisly new evidence to the growing mystery over who was buried on Holy See territory -- and why.

As police returned to the compound Tuesday, coroner Giovanni Arcudi said preliminary examinations of bones found last week indicated they belonged to a woman likely in her 30s, "not an adolescent."

The finding is significant since speculation has focused on whether the bones were Emanuela Orlandi's. She was the daughter of a Vatican employee who disappeared in 1983 at age 15.

Despite the age of the bones, the Orlandi family lawyer, Laura Sgro, told the ANSA news agency her clients are waiting for DNA results. Some have hypothesized Emanuela wasn't killed immediately, but instead held for years against her will.

-- The Associated Press

2 Muslim women elected to House

Americans for the first time sent a Muslim woman to Congress -- actually two: Palestinian American Rashida Tlaib, of Michigan, and Somali American Ilhan Omar, of Minnesota.

Tlaib won Michigan's 13th Congressional District and Omar won Minnesota's 5th Congressional District, replacing the first Muslim member of Congress, Keith Ellison, who on Tuesday became the state's attorney general.

The women show a bit of the diversity of Muslims in the United States, one of the country's most diverse groups. No single racial or ethnic group accounts for a majority among Muslim immigrants, according to the Pew Research Center. Omar is reportedly the first refugee elected to Congress.

Tlaib is a 42-year-old Detroit native. Her campaign platform included pledges to secure a $15 minimum wage, preventing cuts to welfare programs such as Medicare and Social Security, as well as stopping tax relief to large corporations, according to Al Jazeera.

Omar, who came to the United States at age 14, is also a progressive, and she focused on universal health care and tuition-free colleges.

Both women have served as state lawmakers.

-- The Washington Post

Religion on 11/10/2018

Upcoming Events