News and Prophecy Staff

The Washington National Cathedral, “The most visible Episcopal church in the U.S. is hosting its first openly transgender priest [Cameron Patrick] this month” (Washington Times, June 9, 2014). “The Right Rev. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal priest… [will] be presiding the same service” (ibid.).

Radical Sunni militants known as ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) have taken over several major cities in Iraq while government security forces laid down their arms and walked away.

Recently in Wisconsin, two twelve-year-old girls attacked and brutally stabbed their twelve-year-old friend 19 times (CNN, June 4, 2014). A cyclist found the victim and she is now in stable condition. The two suspects apparently planned the attack since February. They have been charged as adults (ibid.).

In a recent West Point commencement speech, “President Obama said that the U.S. will remain the one indispensable nation in the century to come… ‘America must always lead on the world stage… If we don’t, no one else will’” (Washington Post, May 30, 2014).

On Pentecost Sunday, Pope Francis hosted an unprecedented “prayer meeting” with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres (CNN, June 9, 2014).