KFOR: Southern Baptist Convention to create live database of accused sex predators. “A year after a report was released on accused sex predators within the Southern Baptist Convention, leadership plans to release their own background check system.”
Reuters: Vatican chastises bishops who stoke division on social media. “The Vatican urged bishops and high-profile lay Catholic leaders on Monday to tone down their comments on social media, saying some were causing division and stoking polemics that harmed the entire Church.”
Lion’s Roar: Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library at Naropa University launches with catalog of over 170 recorded teachings. “The new Chogyam Trungpa Digital Library at Naropa University is offering an online archive of recorded teachings by the late Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in both audio, video, and transcript formats. On April 4, the library released a new batch of content to mark the 36th anniversary of the passing of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, including a seminar, a community talk, and a radio interview.”
Christianity Today: John Stott: ‘Evangelical Traditions Are Not Infallible’ . “The public will soon have access to a digital collection of hundreds of John Stott’s recorded sermons and transcripts spanning five decades.”
News24: Tutu infinity and beyond: Mourning period ends, but Arch’s legacy to live on in ‘Heirloom Project’. “The [Archbishop Tutu IP Trust and the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation] plan to move forward in protecting his work and legacy through a new global digital journey called the Heirloom Project. It will be a single-site, accessible and usable global digital archive called ‘The Heirloom Project’, which will eulogise Tutu in collaboration with South African and international universities associated with him.”
Catholic News Agency: The ‘Random Catholic Dude’ behind the website chronicling the Catholic hierarchy. “He works a full-time computer support job, loves to travel, opens emails with ‘howdy,’ and belongs to the Church of the Holy Cross in Overland Park, a suburb of Kansas City, Kansas. [David M.] Cheney is also the person behind the longest-running online database for information about the bishops and dioceses of the global Catholic Church.”
KUNR: Catholic Church ‘dumped’ abusive priests onto tribal communities, database shows. “Over the past 70 years, 96 priests of the Jesuits West Province of the Society of Jesus have been credibly accused of sexual abuse. Nearly half of them – 47 priests – spent time on tribal lands. That’s according to a database called ‘Desolate Country: Mapping Catholic Sex Abuse in Native America,’ which a pair of researchers built from the Catholic Church’s own list of “credible claims of sexual abuse of a minor or vulnerable adult” by priests and brothers across much of the West dating back to 1950.”
University of Utah: Celebrating the launch of the France Davis Utah Black Archive. “This man marched at Selma. He served as Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church for 45 years. He witnessed crosses being burned on the lawn of his church. He survived a life-changing, devastating burn on 30 percent of his body. And for decades he taught at the University of Utah, the institution that donned him with an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in 1993. So it is only fitting that the J. Willard Marriott Library create a digital archive in the name of Reverend France Davis, retired pastor, father, husband, community leader, civil rights leader, educator.”
Catholic News Agency: Records of Jews who sought Vatican help during Holocaust to go public. “Relatives of Holocaust survivors and victims can now look through the files of more than 2,700 Jews who sought help through Vatican channels to escape Nazi persecution before and during the Second World War. The archives have gone public on the internet at the request of Pope Francis.”
Houston Chronicle: Southern Baptist leaders release secret list of hundreds of accused sexual abusers. “Southern Baptist leaders released a confidential list of hundreds of accused sexual abusers Thursday evening that tracked names, dates and details about a burgeoning abuse crisis — but was kept secret for more than a decade.”
University of Hawaii News: Virtual access to works of the “Cosmic Dancer,” Mitsuo Aoki. “A Preservation & Access Grant awarded by the Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities in 2021 with matching funds from the Mits Aoki Legacy Foundation supported the digitization of Aoki’s papers and videos for the purpose of increasing access and preservation of the resources. The digitization of these collections provides preservation and significantly increases access to the personal and professional papers of a man whose contributions exceeded academia and touched the lives of thousands through his spiritual guidance through a process of melding Buddhism and Christianity.”
Anash: New Website Hosts Hundreds Of “Raw” Videos Of The Rebbe. This concerns Menachem Mendel Schneerson. “A new website offers chassidim the opportunity to watch many hundreds of hours of the Rebbe’s farbrengens, sichos, distribution of dollars, and events with the Rebbe throughout the decades. Unique about the site is the fact that it offers full, unedited videos, with no paywall or hidden videos, allowing any chossid to choose any farbrengen or video of the Rebbe, and truly experience living with the Rebbe.”
Financial Times: The Franciscan monk helping the Vatican take on — and tame — AI. “Over the past three years, [Paolo] Benanti has become the AI whisperer to the highest echelon of the Holy See. The monk, who completed part of his PhD in the ethics of human enhancement technologies at Georgetown University in the US, briefs the 85-year-old Pope and senior counsellors on the potential applications of AI, which he describes as a general-purpose technology ‘like steel or electrical power’, and how it will change the way in which we all live. He also plays the role of matchmaker between what Stephen Jay Gould famously described as the non-overlapping magisteria, leaders of faith on the one hand and technology on the other.”
Anash: New App To Release Thousands Of The Rebbe’s English Letters. “On the new state-of-the-art app, users will be able to view over 5,000 letters addressing every topic imaginable. 2,000 of them are being published on the app for the first time. The app is slated to launch in the beginning of next week, bringing this inaccessible part of the Rebbe’s Torah to thousands in time for the Rebbe’s 120th birthday.” This is one of those items that came with a minimum of context and I couldn’t find more extensive information. I’m 99% sure this app covers the letters of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, and if I’m in error I sincerely apologize in advance.
Jewish News: Rabbi Lord Sacks digital archive launched. “Sections on the website allow visitors to explore Rabbi Sacks’ life and impact, books and audio, Torah teachings, and thoughts on morality and ethics. An extensive series of educational resources will help bring Rabbi Sacks’ teachings into the informal and formal education arenas.”
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