Thursday's Briefing: A Court Shields Illinois Nuns as AI Anxieties Fill the Headlines
A federal judge halted Illinois' assisted-suicide mandate against Catholic clergy and nuns, while a religious-liberty appointment, worries about artificial intelligence and debates over church life ran through the rest of the day.
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Thursday's Briefing: A Court Shields Illinois Nuns as AI Anxieties Fill the Headlines
Good morning. Anglican Ink reported that a federal judge, with the agreement of the state of Illinois, ordered the state not to enforce its assisted-suicide mandate against Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, two orders of Catholic nuns, and a small-town Illinois pharmacist. The outlet framed the order as a reprieve rather than a settled outcome.
Questions of religious liberty ran on through the day. Religion News Service reported that Cissie Graham Lynch, a granddaughter of Billy Graham, has been tapped to serve as ambassador for religious freedom — an office RNS said has been unoccupied since the start of the second Trump administration, and one her appointment would require the Senate to confirm. Charisma News reported that a Christian mother in Oregon, Jessica Bates, a widowed mother of five, reached a settlement allowing her to continue a foster-care adoption process she says the state had denied over her beliefs about gender identity; Charisma said she first sought certification in March 2022.
Artificial intelligence drew three separate pieces. Religion News Service published an essay arguing that the present moment is an "AI apocalypse" in the biblical sense, distinct from the one described by technology leaders. Charisma News reported that UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said the United Nations stands ready to take a central role in overseeing AI development. Charisma News also reported on a green glass sphere presented to Pope Leo XIV, casting it as a symbol of the larger question of who governs increasingly powerful AI.
Several outlets turned to the practice of faith itself. The Lutheran Witness made the case for memorising words and songs rather than relying on a search engine, arguing that what we store up shapes us. The Gospel Coalition released a podcast featuring Jen Wilkin on reading children's books as a part of discipleship. Religion News Service interviewed journalist Sarah Stankorb about her new book on why women are leaving churches, published earlier in the week.
Politics and the wider world featured as well. Charisma News reported that former Vice President Kamala Harris plans to appear next week alongside Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Michigan's Senate seat. Religion News Service, citing The Forward, reported that Mamdani, who once vowed to arrest Netanyahu, will not join protests against his visit. RNS also reported on Israelis abroad facing long journeys home to vote, since Israeli law requires voters to be present on Election Day. In a separate commentary, Anglican Ink sharply criticised the archbishop, Dame Mullally, over the victims of terror.
Finally, drawing on The Conversation, Religion News Service noted that historical texts show even the Buddha found meditation difficult — a reminder that the practice is not right for everyone.
Zoom out: The day's reporting gathered around two threads — the state's reach into religious practice, and the church's unease about artificial intelligence.
What we're following
- Religion News Service: This is not your tech oligarchs’ AI apocalypse Read it
- Charisma News: Kamala Harris to Team Up with Radical Senate Candidate Abdul El-Sayed Read it
- Anglican Ink: Illinois won’t conscript Catholic nuns into assisted suicide – not yet Read it
- Lutheran Witness: Why Memorize When You Can Just Google It? Read it
Sources
- This is not your tech oligarchs’ AI apocalypse Religion News Service
- Kamala Harris to Team Up with Radical Senate Candidate Abdul El-Sayed Charisma News
- Illinois won’t conscript Catholic nuns into assisted suicide – not yet Anglican Ink
- Why Memorize When You Can Just Google It? Lutheran Witness
- Why Kids’ Books Matter (with Jen Wilkin) The Gospel Coalition
- Cissie Graham Lynch, granddaughter of Billy Graham, tapped for religious freedom ambassador Religion News Service
- UN Moves to Seize Global Control of AI Development Charisma News
- Pope Leo XIV Receives Mysterious Sphere as AI Warning Intensifies Charisma News
- The amateur Archbishop’s betrayal of the victims of terror: Dame Mullally, Bin Laden & Imam Ashrafi Anglican Ink
- Why are women leaving churches and where are they going instead? A journalist explains. Religion News Service
- Oregon Rejected This Christian Mom’s Adoption Application. Then She Fought Back Charisma News
- Mamdani once vowed to arrest Netanyahu. Now he won’t join protests against him. Religion News Service
- For Israelis abroad, a high-stakes election means a long trip home Religion News Service
- Even the Buddha experienced challenges with meditation: Historical texts reveal its potential downsides Religion News Service
Summarized from the linked reports by the FaithDaily desk. Verify against the original sources before citing.
Previous briefings
All briefings →- 16 Sept 2026Wednesday's Church Briefing: A Jailed Father, Faith in the Courts, a Region's First VoteFrom Hong Kong to Manila, Wednesday's reporting followed faith communities pressing against state power — through a son's plea, through lawsuits, and at the ballot box.
- 15 Sept 2026Tuesday's briefing: a religious-freedom nominee, AI's costs weighed, and a Synod race opensA high-profile nomination to a religious-freedom post led a day in which churches also reckoned with artificial intelligence, a fresh Church of England campaign, and hard questions over life, policy and the wider world.
- 14 Sept 2026Westminster rejects assisted dying as a crowded Monday tests the churchesMPs voted down the assisted dying bill for England and Wales, while Anglican leaders addressed relations with British Jews, a bishop's safety in Nigeria and honours at Lambeth Palace.
- 13 Sept 2026A Ninth Embassy in Jerusalem Leads the Day's Church NewsA South Pacific nation's embassy in Jerusalem leads a day that also brought a congressman's new book, an English village weighing secession, a 9/11 prayer walk, and one writer's testimony.
- 12 Sept 2026Church Briefing: An Archbishop's Interfaith Meeting, and Leadership Changes Across the CommunionLeadership changed hands across the Anglican Communion, while other outlets weighed faith's place in politics and technology.