Why religion is becoming an even stronger force within the Republican Party

Ron DeSantis brings volunteer chaplains into schools in the name of religion
Fortune: The only requirements for a chaplain to participate would be passing a background check and having their name and religious affiliation listed on the school website. 

'A NIMBY case': Houston pastor battles downtown real estate developers
Houston Chronicle: Rudy Rasmus, once Beyoncé's preacher at St. John's Downtown, is facing pushback as he helps build a development for people experiencing homelessness.

Why religion is becoming an even stronger force within the Republican Party*
Washington Post: Religion is declining in America overall but in some ways becoming an even more important force within the Republican Party. We have less religion but still very religiously influenced politics, writes Perry Bacon Jr.

 House bill aims to condemn ‘Hinduphobia’ but draws concern from progressive groups
NBC News: The resolution has several points, including that the House celebrates the contributions of Hindus and condemns anti-Hindu bigotry. But progressive groups say “Hinduphobia” was invented by the Indian far-right to shut down criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

Russia is waging a war against religious freedom in Ukraine
The Hill: At least 630 religious sites have been damaged, looted or destroyed due to Russian aggression. Russia’s physical and spiritual pincer movement has wrought incredible destruction upon Ukraine’s religious landscape.

Raising kids in a family unfriendly culture

Dignitas Infinita needed some Familiaris Consortio

By Daniel B. Gallagher on Apr 18, 2024 08:57 pm
The expressed intent of the recent declaration of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is to “illuminate different facets of human dignity that might be obscured in many people’s consciousness” (Dignitas Infinita, Presentation). To [...]
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Major media outlets express predictable dismay over Dignitas Infinita

By Russell Shaw on Apr 18, 2024 05:38 pm
By now, it should be clear that when the Church issues a document addressing several topics, one of which is sex, our major secular media will ignore the rest and concentrate on sex. The latest [...]
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As new altar is consecrated at destroyed Iraq church, former parishioner recalls ‘wonderful days’

By Catholic News Agency on Apr 18, 2024 09:00 am
Chaldean Patriarch Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako presides over the dedication ceremony of the altar of the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Mosul, Iraq. April 5, 2024. / Credit: Fadi Dinkha/ACI Mena CNA Newsroom, Apr 18, 2024 / 06:00 am (C... [...]
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Raising kids in a family unfriendly culture

By John M. Grondelski, Ph.D. on Apr 17, 2024 11:17 pm
HarperCollins, in contrast to so much of the “curated” publishing industry, is promoting real discussion about real issues facing America and her long-term welfare. In February, it published Brad Wilcox’s Get Married!, a book not [...]
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Religious bigotry raise its ugly head at elementary school near Seattle

By Charles J. Russo on Apr 17, 2024 07:47 pm
The recent example of overt hostility, even bigotry, toward students who are Christian occurred in Creekside Elementary School in Sammamish, Washington, about twenty miles east of Seattle. This controversy, it’s worth noting, is playing out [...]
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Radiant in the GULAG and elsewhere

By George Weigel on Apr 17, 2024 04:00 am
In Jesus of Nazareth–Holy Week, Pope Benedict XVI remarked on the striking parallel between the presence of the holy women at the cross of Christ and their role in the first appearances of the Risen Lord: [...]
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Extra, extra! News and views for Wednesday, April 17, 2024

By CWR Staff on Apr 17, 2024 03:00 am
A Fresh Coat of Paint – “While it is far short of the sort of justice that this case demands, we have reached beyond the point in the Father Marko Rupnik scandal when concrete steps [...]
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The theological legacy of Benedict XVI

By Fr. D. Vincent Twomey, SVD on Apr 16, 2024 09:00 pm
Editor’s note: Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) was born 97 years ago today, on Holy Saturday, 1927. In recognition of that day, CWR is reposting this essay, originally published on Jan. 2, 2023, by one [...]
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A valuable guide to the thought and theology of Benedict XVI

By Casey Chalk on Apr 16, 2024 02:32 pm
Joseph Ratzinger didn’t want to be pope. He didn’t even want to be a bishop. When, in 1977, the apostolic nuncio informed him of his appointment as archbishop of Munich and Freising, he first requested [...]
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Cardinal Sarah says contemporary Church is experiencing ‘temptation of atheism’

By Catholic News Agency on Apr 15, 2024 03:30 pm
Cardinal Robert Sarah addresses members of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC) on April 9, 2024. / Credit: NECC ACI Africa, Apr 15, 2024 / 13:30 pm (CNA). A subset of Church leaders have aligned themselves with modern-day value... [...]
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How prayer can strengthen us and help build a culture of life

By Susan Ciancio on Apr 15, 2024 01:00 pm
How many times have you heard people say that prayer does nothing? They often mock us for praying during times of crisis. But when disaster strikes, a person falls ill or dies, or a child [...]
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9 facts about Catholics in the U.S., according to Pew research

By Catholic News Agency on Apr 15, 2024 09:00 am
null / Credit: Shutterstock CNA Staff, Apr 15, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA). The Pew Research Center released a new fact sheet Friday that contains nine demographic and statistical facts about the Catholic population in the United States, based on the... [...]
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Approaching Balthasar

By Richard Clements on Apr 14, 2024 08:40 pm
Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-88) is considered by many to be the greatest theologian of the twentieth century. Balthasar is said to have been Saint John Paul II’s favorite theologian, and he was one of [...]
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Easter and the call to deeper conversion

By Carl E. Olson on Apr 14, 2024 12:00 am
The story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, which immediately precedes today’s Gospel and is unique to St. Luke, is one of my favorite stories in the four Gospels. Like other former Protestants [...]
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Dignitas Infinita: Strengths and Ambiguities

By Fr. Peter Ryan, SJ on Apr 13, 2024 08:07 pm
The claim implicit in the title of the DDF’s recently published Declaration, Dignitas Infinita (DI), has generated considerable controversy. The matter of infinite dignity Do human beings have infinite dignity? Certainly, those who through baptism receive a share in the [...]
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Sudan civil war leaves no seminarians and almost no Catholic Church

By Catholic News Agency on Apr 13, 2024 07:30 am
A priest celebrates Mass in Sudan before the outset of war. / Credit: ACN ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 13, 2024 / 08:30 am (CNA). The third Sudanese civil war has terribly affected the entire country but especially the local Catholic Church, which — a... [...]
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The New Temple: How Easter changes religion

By Dr. R. Jared Staudt on Apr 13, 2024 01:34 am
“Destroy this temple, and I will rebuild it in three days.” This mysterious statement led, in part at least, to Christ’s death, brought forward in the conflicting witness of his trial before the Sanhedrin. This [...]
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The Spiritual Terrain of David Middleton

By James Matthew Wilson on Apr 12, 2024 11:23 pm
About midway into his fifth and most recent book of poems, Outside the Gates of Eden, David Middleton prints an elegy for the late Louisiana naturalist Caroline Dormon. There, he speaks of his “early poems,” [...]
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A thoughtful, faithful guide to understanding suffering

By Sean Salai on Apr 12, 2024 10:35 pm
“Suffering is, in itself, an experience of evil,” Pope St. John Paul II once said. These words open the first chapter of the recent book Suffering: What Every Catholic Should Know. They also set the [...]
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Germany thwarts terror plot: Teenage suspects reportedly planned attacks on churches

By Catholic News Agency on Apr 12, 2024 01:00 pm
German police cars (file image) / Mike Baumeister via Unsplah (CC0) CNA Newsroom, Apr 12, 2024 / 14:00 pm (CNA). German authorities have reported the arrest of four suspects allegedly planning terror attacks in Germany. According to Bild newspa... [...]
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Who’s an evangelical?

Frederick D. Haynes resigns abruptly as leader of Rainbow PUSH Coalition
Religion News Service: Haynes, the pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, had been in the role at Rainbow PUSH for less than a year.

Columbia president holds her own under congressional grilling over campus antisemitism that felled the leaders of Harvard and Penn
The Conversation: Lawmakers grilled Columbia University President Minouche Shafik and three colleagues over antisemitism on college campuses.

Who’s an evangelical? New poll finds Southern Baptists separating from Christian nationalists on some points
Baptist News Global: The question of whether Southern Baptists should be counted among the nation’s conservative evangelicals is not a new one, but it is up for debate again thanks to results from a new Lifeway Research survey on faith and politics.

Episcopal Church’s presiding officers sign documents to create Coalition for Racial Equity and Justice
Episcopal News Service: Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris, The Episcopal Church’s two presiding officers, signed documentation on April 17 to create the new Episcopal Coalition for Racial Equity and Justice as an independent nonprofit incorporated in New York.

In time for Passover, the first Ukrainian-language Haggadah goes to print 
Religion News Service: ‘It is a symbol of how we’ve manifested as Ukrainian Jews, that we are something different, not just Soviet Jews anymore,’ said the translator of the Passover liturgy.

As a landmark United Methodist gathering approaches, African churches weigh their future

6 in 10 U.S. Catholics are in favor of abortion rights, Pew Research report finds
April 12 – NPR

U.S. Catholics more polarized than ever about still-popular Pope Francis, survey says
April 12 – Religion News Service

Majority of U.S. Catholics think abortion should be legal, survey shows
April 12 – Forbes

Congressional committee grills Columbia University president on campus antisemitism
April 17 – ABC News

Italy moves to pass law allowing antiabortion groups inside clinics
April 17 – The Washington Post *

What can ‘Green Islam’ achieve in the world’s largest Muslim country?
April 17 – The New York Times *

They criticized Israel. This Twitter account upended their lives
April 16 – The Washington Post *

Sydney church stabbing was ‘terrorist’ attack, police say
April 16 – BBC News

British high court upholds top London school’s ban on prayer rituals
April 16 – The Guardian

Supreme Court permits Idaho to enforce ban on gender-affirming care for minors
April 15 – CNN

As a landmark United Methodist gathering approaches, African churches weigh their future
April 13 – The Associated Press

Republican women are divided on abortion as bans spread
April 12 – The New York Times *

Portugal’s Catholic Church to compensate sexual abuse victims
April 11 – Reuters

Most U.S. Catholics view Pope Francis favorably

A new Pew Research Center survey finds that 75% of U.S. Catholics view Pope Francis favorably, down 8 percentage points since we last asked this question in 2021 and 15 points below his peak favorability rating, which was 90% in early 2015.

The partisan gap in views of Pope Francis is now as large as it’s ever been in our surveys. Roughly nine-in-ten Catholics who are Democrats or lean toward the Democratic Party hold a positive view of him, compared with 63% of Catholics who are Republicans or lean Republican.

Since becoming pope in 2013, Francis often has received favorable ratings from 80% or more of U.S. Catholics. He generally has been viewed more positively than his immediate predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, but less positively than Benedict’s predecessor, Pope John Paul II.

A related blog post updates our 9 facts about U.S. Catholics.