Author: David Crary
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Faced with wave of hostile bills, transgender rights leaders are playing “a defense game”
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For decades, the plotline for LGBTQ+ activism in the U.S. was one of advances — often slow but moving forward
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U.S. bishops’ rifts unlikely to ease after Benedict’s death
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NEW YORK • Many of the conservative prelates who dominate the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops were appointed by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. His recent death deprives them of a symbolic figurehead but is unlikely to weaken their collective power or end the culture wars that have divided the USCCB, according to Catholic academics and…
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Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts suffer huge declines in membership
NEW YORK • America’s most iconic youth organizations — the Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of the USA — have been jolted by unprecedented one-year drops in membership, due partly to the pandemic, and partly to social trends that have been shrinking their ranks for decades. While both organizations insist they’ll survive,…
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Rift on Communion policy as U.S. Catholic bishops open meeting
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WASHINGTON • Divisions flared quickly on Wednesday as U.S. Catholic bishops opened a national meeting highlighted by a sensitive agenda item — whether to take initial steps toward a possible rebuke of politicians, including President Joe Biden, who receive Communion while supporting abortion rights. Some said the issue was so important and contentious that all…
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Southern Baptists oust 2 churches over LGBTQ inclusion
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ATLANTA • The Southern Baptist Convention’s executive committee voted Tuesday to oust four of its churches, two over policies deemed to be too inclusive of LGBTQ people and two more for employing pastors convicted of sex offenses. The actions were announced at a meeting marked by warnings from two top leaders that the SBC, the…
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Texas tops 1 million cases as COVID-19 surge engulfs the US
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HOUSTON • Texas on Wednesday became the first state with more than 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, and California closed in on that mark as a surge of coronavirus infections engulfs the country from coast to coast. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said restaurants, bars and gyms statewide will have to close at 10…
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Europe, US reel as virus infections surge
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NEW YORK • Coronavirus cases around the world have climbed to all-time highs of more than 330,000 per day as the scourge comes storming back across Europe and spreads with renewed speed in the U.S., forcing many places to reimpose tough restrictions they had eased just a few months ago. Well after Europe seemed to…
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Historical figures under attack after George Floyd’s death
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RICHMOND, VA. • he rapidly unfolding movement to pull down Confederate monuments around the U.S. in the wake of George Floyd’s death has extended to statues of slave traders, imperialists, conquerors and explorers around the world, including Christopher Columbus, Cecil Rhodes and Belgium’s King Leopold II. Protests and, in some cases, acts of vandalism have…
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Abortion clinics: Pandemic boosts demand, heightens stress
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NEW YORK • The coronavirus outbreak has fueled attempts to ban abortions in some states, but providers where the procedure remains available report increased demand, often from women distraught over economic stress and health concerns linked to the pandemic. “The calls we’ve been getting are frantic,” said Julie Burkhart, who manages clinics in Wichita, Kan., and…
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U.S. Catholic bishops convene to confront sex-abuse crisis
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BALTIMORE • The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops convened a high-stakes meeting Tuesday under pressure to confront the ever-widening child sexual abuse crisis that has disillusioned many churchgoers. A key question at the four-day gathering: How willing are the bishops to give lay experts a major role in holding the clergy accountable? Francesco Cesareo, an academic…