News & Ideas

Friday's News & Ideas - 8/7/2020

  • Pew on church & coronavirus
  • US Catholics wrestle with BLM
  • Anti-abortion activists
  • Pope appoints 6 women
  • Trump attacks Biden’s faith
  • Parents prey to bad information

Americans oppose religious exemptions from coronavirus-related restrictions
Pew Research: Few regular worshippers say their congregations are operating normally, and most support the precautions being taken.

‘Racism makes a liar of God’*
The New York Times: How the American Catholic Church is wrestling with the Black Lives Matter movement.

The anti-abortion-rights movement prepares to build a post-Roe world*
The Atlantic: As activists move closer to their goal of making abortion illegal, they have started planning for the infrastructure needed for a world with more babies -- and recruiting major CEOs to bankroll their cause.

Pope appoints six women to top roles on Vatican council in progressive step
The Guardian: The appointments mark the most significant step by Francis to fulfil his promise of placing women in top positions.

Trump said Biden ‘hurt God.’ Biden has spent his life drawing from his Catholic faith.*
The Washington Post: Although Biden has prominently disagreed with the political goals of some religious groups, including the Catholic Church, he also has often proved that he understands them.

The Spark

Worried parents have become an easy target for online misinformation in this pandemic
Fearful parents are falling for -- and spreading -- bad information to each other about kids and Covid-19, Vox says.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers

Want to get News & Ideas in your inbox every weekday?
Subscribe to our
News & Ideas newsletter or receive our RSS feed in your RSS reader.



Sign up to receive religion news every weekday in the free News & Ideas newsletter

Signup options

Most recent News & Ideas

Friday’s News & Ideas - 1/9/2026

  • Trump’s assault on museums
  • After Maduro, conflicted Christians
  • ‘Avatar’ & spirituality
  • Warnock interview
  • New pipe organ
  • Trend in orthodontics

Thursday’s News & Ideas - 1/8/2026

  • Latino evangelicals on Maduro
  • Making of the pope
  • Volf & Wiman’s friendship
  • Complaint against archbishop
  • Women of January 6
  • Music of Jimi Hendrix

Wednesday’s News & Ideas - 1/7/2026

  • One year after LA fires
  • Data shows no religious revival
  • Yancey retires after admitting affair
  • Pope’s AI conference
  • Orthodox Christian Easter
  • Visual archive of Jan 6, 2021
Reading the lectionary

New lectionary search tool 

Easily find scripture passages and resources for any lectionary week with Zeteo’s new search feature. You can even filter by your preferred lectionary version: Revised Common, Catholic or Narrative.

Learn More