The New York City Council has voted to remove the statue of Thomas Jefferson from the council chambers at City Hall. A group of iconoclastic lawmakers argued that the likeness was “a constant reminder of the injustices that have plagued communities of color since the inception of our country” and that Jefferson embodied some of the most “shameful parts of our country’s history.” The progressive movement to remove statues is not going anywhere. What began with Confederate statues was never going to stop with them—because in many ways, the modern iconoclasts are not angry with the Confederacy so much as with the history of imperfect humanity itself.

POPE FRANCIS TO CONFER NEW LAY MINISTRIES FOR FIRST TIME IN ST. PETER’S BASILICA
The Vatican has announced that Pope Francis will confer the ministries of catechist, lector, and acolyte upon lay men and