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Just as the sun was rising over the U.S. Capitol building on Friday morning, several prominent Christian leaders gathered across the street for a prayer vigil. This event marked the second anniversary of the insurrection that followed the electoral defeat of then-President Donald Trump.

“Christian nationalist” once summoned images of fiery extremists — stark racists concerned with keeping immigrants out of the United States or politicians who argued that the Ten Commandments ought to coexist in law with the Constitution. Then came Jan. 6, and suddenly the term became a culture-war acid test.

Pope Francis joined tens of thousands of faithful in bidding farewell to Benedict XVI at a rare requiem Mass Thursday for a dead pope presided over by a living one, ending an unprecedented decade for the Catholic Church that was triggered by the German theologian’s decision to retire.

Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops to recognize a 36-hour truce throughout Ukraine during the Orthodox Christmas holiday weekend. Russia’s gesture comes almost 11 months into the invasion that has cost more than 6,000 civilian lives.

The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting at the request of the Palestinians and other Islamic and non-Islamic nations to protest the visit of an ultranationalist Israeli Cabinet minister to a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site and demand an end to Israeli extremist provocations and respect for the historic status quo at the site revered by Muslims and Jews.

This issue of A Public Witness will introduce you to the controversial career of Catholic Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò before looking at his role in a post-election crusade. Then it will consider the danger of the new call to fast and pray for the Jan. 6 defendants.

The religious makeup of the new Congress bucks the trends seen in American religious life, a new report finds. The Pew Research Center says the Senate and House members are “largely untouched” by the continuing increase in the share of those who say they do not have a religious affiliation.

As the second anniversary of the insurrection arrives later this week, we are still grappling with what happened that day. So in this issue of A Public Witness, Brian Kaylor looks at the efforts of activists to baptize their political movement and what this teaches us about claiming God’s name.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews "Better Religion: A Primer for Interreligious Peacebuilding" by John D. Barton. This book provides a set of tools that can help us move toward a greater understanding of one another without jettisoning the distinctiveness of our faith traditions.

The delays are just the latest frustration for former students who have publicly accused the school of physical, mental, and sexual abuse. The school, which has been subject to intense social media pressure from activists and at least 20 lawsuits, remains open and has vehemently denied allegations of wrongdoing.