The process of choosing a successor for the late Pope Francis will certainly include maneuvering by conservative and progressive elements in the Catholic Church, but with little if any of the zero-sum scheming common among bitterly divided U.S. denominations, Vatican…
Supreme Court appears inclined to establish Free Exercise Clause
The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed open April 30 to permitting the use of taxpayer dollars to fund the nation’s first religious public charter school. Their reasoning during oral arguments about the case of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic…
Clergy oppose Missouri Legislature rewriting Ten Commandments
A Missouri Senate committee approved legislation to place the Ten Commandments in public-school classrooms, but not before rewriting the Scriptures to conform with conservative political ideology, said Brian Kaylor, a Baptist minister and leader of a clergy coalition opposed to…
In Dallas, interfaith clergy rally to decry deportations
Immigrants must be treated with the dignity and respect required by faith and the due process afforded under the law, a coalition of Dallas-area faith leaders demanded during an April 28 press briefing. The event was presented by the Interfaith…
On same day, Trump admin arrests judge and backtracks on student visas
Immigration authorities are rescinding a decision to terminate the visas of international students as part of President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation program, a federal official said April 25. That’s the same day federal officials arrested a judge on charges of helping…
Due process for all Americans now threatened, Melissa Rogers warns
The wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia poses a looming threat to the right to due process in the U.S., said Melissa Rogers, a former executive director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Garcia is the…
Yes, race and gender discrimination have something to do with you, author says
One of the tragedies of race- and gender-based discrimination and violence is that white people can’t — or won’t — see how such issues have anything to do with them, said Angela Denker, author of Disciples of a White Jesus:…
Trump making good on Project 2025 goal to abolish Head Start
The Trump administration wants to cut early education opportunities for needy children and make them and their families hungrier and unhealthier in the process, critics charge. According to a draft budget document first reported by the Washington Post, President Donald…
Despite court order, Trump still denies unaccompanied children legal counsel
Unaccompanied migrant children continue to face immigration judges without legal assistance despite a court order to resume the service. More than a dozen nonprofit legal organizations filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration in March to renew $200 million…
Supreme Court blocks Trump’s use of Enemy Aliens Act
For the time being, the Trump administration has been blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court from using a centuries-old law to deport a group of Venezuelans accused of being gang members. “The government is directed not to remove any member…
Death penalty executions on the rise worldwide
Death penalty executions in the U.S. and worldwide increased in 2024 over the previous year and reached the highest overall level in a decade, according to a new Amnesty International report. The human rights group said 1,518 state executions were…
Fear and loathing of history led to Hegseth’s book ban, authors say
The fear and loathing of history motivated the banning of nearly 400 books at the U.S. Naval Academy, according to a panel of scholars whose works were included in the purge. “I think very clearly that my book was taken…