Weekly religion news roundup (April 10-16, 2026)
Photograph by Utsav Srestha via Unsplash
Hannah Estifanos
Agriculture secretary’s religious Easter message to all employees sparks internal backlash and a formal complaint. A “Christ is Risen” Easter message sent by the secretary of agriculture has sparked backlash inside the department, angering some of its nearly 100,000 employees and prompting a formal complaint against the secretary for the religious message. (CNN)
Popes have spoken out on politics before. But with Trump and Pope Leo it's different. The ongoing war of words between President Trump and Pope Leo XIV is unparalleled in modern history. It's not new for popes to speak out on political issues, historians of religion say, but Trump's insults toward the pope are without precedent. (NPR News)
The church where MLK gave his final speech is getting a $1.2 million renovation. Standing in the spot where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his final speech at the Mason Temple in Memphis, Church of God in Christ leaders said Monday that a $1.2 million federal grant will be used to modernize the treasured piece of the Civil Rights Movement. (Religion News Service)
Antisemitic attacks in 2025 led to highest number of deaths in decades, study finds. A new study says that 2025 saw the highest number of deaths from antisemitic attacks in over 30 years around the world. (ABC News)
Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of Easter ceasefire violations. Russia and Ukraine accused each other of violating a Kremlin-declared Easter ceasefire Sunday, as Orthodox Christians gathered to celebrate the holiday despite Moscow's 4-year-long war against its neighbor. (PBS News Hour)
Image of Trump as Jesus healing a man is too much even for evangelicals. Donald Trump erased the line between savior and president last Sunday evening by posting an AI-generated image of himself as Christ healing a bedridden man with white people looking on in awe and prayer as paratroopers descend from the sky. That post quickly backfired, however, as even some of Trump’s staunchest allies came out of the woodwork to condemn the image posted on Truth Social. (Baptist News Global)
Each week in The Christian Citizen, we publish a Religion News Roundup with summaries of religion news stories and links for those who want to read more.
As Sudan war enters its fourth year, Christian leaders say some signs of hope emerge. The country’s Episcopal archbishop is back in Khartoum as more people return to rebuild the capital. (Religion News Service)
From ‘BuddhaBot’ to $1.99 chats with AI Jesus, the faith-based tech boom is here. The rush to create faith-based generative AI is unsurprising, given the popularity of chatbots for everything from therapy and medical advice to companionship and romance. They range from alleged Hindu gurus and Buddhist priests to AI Jesuses and chatbots akin to OpenAI’s ChatGPT for Catholics. (Associated Press)
Pope Leo visits Algeria in sign of Africa’s growing importance to Catholic church. Pontiff makes first papal visit to country as he starts 11-day tour that will also include stops in Cameroon and Angola. (The Guardian)
Taxpayers seek to intervene in Oklahoma Jewish charter school case. A group of seven mostly Jewish taxpayers has filed a legal action opposed to the establishment of a virtual Jewish charter school in Oklahoma. (Baptist News Global)
After Deadly Floods, New Texas Camp Rules Threaten Summer Traditions. Running a youth camp in Texas has never been easy. And it’s getting harder, thanks in part to well-intended legislation passed in the wake of last year’s deadly floods. Measures meant to make camps safer may instead cause some to close permanently. The legislation comes as a result of last year’s flood at Camp Mystic that resulted in 27 deaths at the popular Christian camp. (Religion Unplugged)
Hannah Estifanos is the copyeditor of The Christian Citizen.
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of American Baptist Home Mission Societies.
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