News Briefs

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America on Aug. 10 approved "Declaration on the Way: Church, Ministry and Eucharist," a document that tracks progress over 50 years of Lutheran-Catholic dialogue and maps remaining steps to full unity. • Pope Francis hosted 21 Syrian refugees at the Vatican on Aug. 11, including the refugees brought back to Rome with him from Lesbos, Greece, in April. • Rosaline Costa, 67, a Catholic and for 30 years the editor of Hotline Bangladesh, a chronicle of corruption, crime and religious violence, was warned "be careful" so often she decided in July to flee from her native Bangladesh to New York. • Bishop Michael C. Barber announced that a Cristo Rey high school will open in the Diocese of Oakland in fall 2018, though much work remains ahead “to make this dream a reality.” • Bishop Edward Daly of Derry—well known first because of a photograph of his efforts to evacuate a wounded man during Bloody Sunday in 1972 and later for his tireless advocacy for peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland—died on Aug. 8 at the age of 82.