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A pack of birth control pills is displayed in this illustration picture taken in Philadelphia, Penn., July 11, 2022. REUTERS/Hannah Beier
The Biden administration's proposal to require private insurance agencies to cover certain over-the-counter contraceptives is getting nods of approval from faith-based reproductive rights advocates. But it’s unclear how other religious groups will respond.
Abortion stories presented on a quilt from Catholics for Choice. The quilt was brought to Vatican City in hopes to persuade Pope Francis and other Catholic officials to rethink their approach on abortion. Courtesy Catholics for Choice.
Early in the morning on Oct. 3, reproductive choice advocacy group Catholics for Choice unfurled a 50-foot long, 41-pound quilt on the road leading to St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. Their words, written in bold, large letters across the bottom of the quilt summed up their message: “POPE FRANCIS, LISTEN.”
Ohio Senator JD Vance and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Graphic by Ryan McQaude/Sojourners. Original photos by Go Nakamura/Reuters and Michael Brochstein / SOPA Images via Reuters.
As Republican Ohio Senator JD Vance and his Democratic opponent, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, compete for the vice presidency ahead of the November election, they bring distinct religious backgrounds — and distinct approaches to the role of faith in public life.
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance (R-Ohio) delivers remarks on Sept. 5, 2024, at Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix. Owen Ziliak/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters.
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance attended a town hall outside Pittsburgh on Saturday hosted by a Christian nationalist televangelist who believes that Democrat Kamala Harris has an “occult spirit” that runs through her, that she represents the “spirit of Jezebel,” and that she used “witchcraft” during the September presidential debate.
Ruth Padilla DeBorst delivers he plenary speech on “justice,” which the Lausanne Movement would later apologize for, at the Fourth Lausanne Congress in Incheon, South Korea, on Sept. 23, 2024. Photo courtesy the Lausanne Movement. Photo credits for the Lausanne Congress: Michael Bode, Gjermund Oystese, MaryChris Lajom, Grace Snavely, Matthew Lauber, Altin Serani, Jaqueline Baisi, Gersham Girum
Ruth Padilla DeBorst told her audience: “There is no room for indifference toward all who are suffering the scourge of war and violence the world round, the uprooted and beleaguered people of Gaza, the hostages held by both Israel and Hamas and their families, the threatened Palestinians in their own territories, all who are mourning the loss of loved ones.”
Less than 48 hours later, the director of the Fourth Lausanne Congress emailed all attendees, issuing a lengthy apology for Padilla DeBorst’s speech.
‘The Book of Belonging,’ written by Mariko Clark and illustrated by Rachel Eleanor, sits on a shelf. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Ross.
Early in The Book of Belonging, a long-anticipated children’s story Bible, author Mariko Clark includes this paragraph: “Think about how cozy and special you feel when someone asks you about your day or wants to learn more about your favorite foods or hobbies. God made us to belong with God! That means God wants to be close and cozy with us. So all questions are welcome!”
Sister Norma talks about her ministry while standing near some of her paintings of migrants. Courtesy Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic
The amber appears to ooze across the floor like slow-flowing lava. Containing found objects and materials sourced from Salvadoran communities around Los Angeles, Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio’s artwork is expansive and expressive of the materiality of often-marginalized Central American migrants in Southern California.
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump poses for a photograph with an audience member wearing a hat reading “Jesus is my Savior, Trump is my President” after a campaign community roundtable at 180 Church in Detroit, June 15, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Armed with the message that Americans have become too morally liberal and strayed too far from God’s light, a few Black conservative Christians, like Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, are trying to upend the historic support of Black Protestants for the Democratic party.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris briefly takes to the stage at the Democratic National Convention on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS/ABACAPRESS.COM via Reuters)
While evangelical political engagement remains solidly in favor of Republicans, a group of evangelical leaders are organizing their support for Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz in the upcoming presidential election.
Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris gestures as she speaks during a presidential debate hosted by ABC with Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, in Philadelphia, Penn., Sept. 10, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
As Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump discussed abortion policy during their first debate, Harris vigorously defended her vision for federal abortion rights. While she did, she returned to a talking point meant to appeal to religious voters.
“[Under Trump’s abortion bans] a survivor of a crime — a violation to their body — does not have the right to make a decision about what happens to their body next. That is immoral,” Harris said, before connecting morality and faith. “And one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree: The government, and Donald Trump certainly, should not be telling a woman what to do with her body.”
Gov. Tim Walz signs into law a sweeping package of police accountability measures Thursday, July 23, 2020, making Minnesota the latest state that adopted changes to law enforcement in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd. (Glen Stubbe/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS/ABACAPRESS.COM via Reuters)
As Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz continue to campaign across the country, pastors and organizers in Minnesota are reflecting on their work with the governor, saying that he has displayed an authentic willingness to collaborate with faith and community leaders over his tenure.
Palm Springs police Lieutenant William Hutchinson speaks with Deborah Farley, 60, a homeless woman sitting in the shade of a bus stop in the desert city of Palm Springs, Calif, Aug. 27, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake
Palm Springs, Calif., long known as a desert playground for the rich and famous of Los Angeles, has enacted a number of progressive measures to address homelessness. Then in July, the all-Democratic city council passed a ban on sleeping on public property that will expand police authority to arrest the unhoused, underscoring how even liberal cities have lost patience as the homeless crisis persists.
Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Pennsylvania Lt. Governor Austin Davis holding a baby as she arrives at Pittsburgh Airport in Pittsburgh, Penn., for a campaign event, Sept. 2, 2024. REUTERS/Quinn Glabicki
About a month into her presidential campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris has begun to reveal glimpses of her proposed White House policy agenda. The big-ticket items — child tax credits, housing incentives, and inflation relief on groceries — are aimed at the segment of the population most affected by the skyrocketing cost of living: young working families. It’s a focus child welfare advocates are welcoming.
Rev. Jen Butler (center), joins women leaders from multiple faith traditions protest Trump administration immigration policy of separating children from their parents in 2018. Credit: Jay Mallin/ZUMA Wire/Alamy Live News
“You do not want to be beholden to anything but God and your moral values,” Butler told Sojourners. “If I see the Democratic Party running astray from that, then I will criticize them. If they ever became a party of violence and mayhem and chaos, like the Republican Party has become, I would pray to God that I have the courage that so many ‘Never Trump’ Republicans have had. Stepping out in the crowd is an exceptionally hard thing to do.”
A blue dome marks the site of Albergue Assabil in Tijuana’s skyline. Ken Chitwood/Sojourners
Anyone crossing the U.S.-Mexico border faces a journey fraught with violence and danger. But for women and children, that journey is even more treacherous. Not only are many fleeing violence at home — including gender-based violence — they also experience higher rates of violence en route. Torture, mutilation, sexual violence, femicide,disappearances, and additional health complications are common occurrences for female migrants making their way north.
St. Francis Xavier College Church is one of 15 geographically distributed churches across St. Louis, which cited community air monitors at their buildings to track particulate matter levels. Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis wanted to look for neighborhood disparities but found less variation than assumed and instead informed new directions for research and ministries. Courtesy Tyler Cargill.
A couple years ago, urban farmer DeAndress Green drove Uber and DoorDash for 10 hours straight and then returned to her home on the southside of St. Louis struggling to breathe.
“I thought I was having an asthma attack,” she said.
Ken Paxton, Texas attorney general, offers remarks outside in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 1, 2021. Rod Lamkey/CNP/Sipa via Reuters.
In the late spring of 1995, Rebekah Mitchell went into the hospital at 27 weeks pregnant with her second child. Mitchell had a kidney disease that was affecting her own health and the health of the baby. She made it to seven months, and then the baby, whom she and her husband had already named Jonathan, became entangled in the kinked umbilical cord, and died suddenly. Stunned and recovering from the cesarean section required to deliver Jonathan, she kept his body with her in the hospital room for three days.
Uniformed school children board school bus in Baton Rouge, La. Photo: Anne Rippy / Alamy via Reuters Connect
Lawmakers in 29 states have proposed at least 91 bills promoting religion in public schools this year, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State, an advocacy group backing a lawsuit challenging Louisiana's law. Rachel Laser, its chief executive, said the group tracked 49 similar bills in 2023.
Vice President Kamala Harris holds a press conference at the end of her visit to El Paso, Texas to tour the U.S.-Mexico border on July 24, 2024. Omar Ornelas/USA Today Network via Reuters.
When President Joe Biden announced he would not seek reelection and Harris became the presumptive nominee, leaders in faith and immigration said that Harris brings a new outlook to the future of their work.
A group of Mennonites with Mennonite Action protest on a lawn in Washington, D.C., on July 30, 2024. Rachel Schrock, courtesy Mennonite Action.
Starting on Thursday, July 18, between 35 and 125 Mennonites and interfaith allies from the U.S. and Canada made steady progress on their 11-day, 141-mile “All God’s Children March for a Ceasefire” trek from Harrisonburg, Va., to Washington, D.C. Upon arrival in Washington on Sunday, July 28, the marchers urged Congress and President Joe Biden’s administration to support an immediate, permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages and political prisoners, an end to military aid to Israel, and a political solution that ends the occupation of Palestine, ensuring peace for Palestinians and Israelis. And on Tuesday, July 30, 46 of the people were arrested by Capitol Police during a protest.