Friday's News & Ideas - 3/1/2024

Bishop Curry to receive pacemaker to treat irregular heart rhythm
Religion News Service: Since May 2023, Curry has been receiving medical treatment for internal bleeding and heart conditions.

Conservative religious women are rising up and speaking out for IVF*
The Washington Post: Across red-state America, some conservative Christian women have become outspoken, even angry advocates. They’ve decried the Alabama ruling on their social media pages, galvanized to defend both their values and in vitro fertilization. Their comments have often appeared amid photos of the babies that IVF made possible.

Seattle is the least-religious large metro area in the U.S.*
The Seattle Times: A clear majority of adults in the Seattle area — around 64% — never attend church or religious services, or go less than once a year.

Nuns in a time of nones: The winding path to today’s religious vocations
Religion News Service: From 2020 to 2022, more than 900 women and men entered religious life. They all took their own, sometimes circuitous routes to get there.

Catholic charities and religious freedom are under fire at the border*
America: In the latest of a series of acts targeting faith-motivated service to migrants, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued an El Paso shelter, Annunciation House. The lawsuit threatens to revoke the organization’s nonprofit registration, thus putting it out of business, after its leadership declined to provide his office with internal documents it demanded.

The Spark

The story behind The New York Times October 7 exposé
The report, published in late December, was headlined “‘Screams Without Words’: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7.” It was a bombshell and galvanized the Israeli war effort. Inside the newsroom, the article was met with praise from editorial leaders but skepticism from other Times journalists, The Intercept says. (trigger warning: graphic description of sexual assault)

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