Theologians, religion scholars and activists have rushed to aid a theology student arrested while protesting a white supremacist’s appearance in Charlottesville, Va., raising money for his legal fees and calling his demonstration against racism a “model” of “scholar-activism.”

Last fall, as coalition troops broke through the last major strongholds held by the so-called Islamic State, Vice President Mike Pence delivered a speech to the advocacy group In Defense of Christians in Washington, D.C. In what attendees said was an unexpected move, he focused a sizable portion of his remarks on attacking United Nations efforts to assist Iraqi minority religious groups whose ancient, ancestral homes were ravaged by the militants.

The pope’s message in Davos was one of a spate of recent Catholic discussions of a technology that is rapidly making its way into our everyday lives, in virtual assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa, the phones in our pockets and, soon enough, in self-driving cars.

The conversation often circled back to the question of whether Francis was fundamentally altering the church, and if his doing so could result in a “break” or schism.

U.S. Roman Catholic bishops are backing public sector unions in an upcoming Supreme Court case.

The embassy move appears to make an already delicate existence even more complicated for Palestinian Christians.