Weekend Plug-in 🔌

Editor’s note: Every Friday, “Weekend Plug-in” features analysis, fact checking and top headlines from the world of faith. Subscribe now to get this newsletter delivered straight to your inbox. Got feedback or ideas? Email Bobby Ross Jr. at therossnews@gmail.com.

(ANALYSIS) Pope Francis made a “penitential pilgrimage” to Canada this week to apologize to Indigenous peoples for abuses at church-run residential schools.

Rome-based journalists traveling with Francis did an excellent job covering the historic trip.

I’m talking about folks such as Religion News Service’s Claire Giangravé, the Wall Street Journal’s Francis X. Rocca and the National Catholic Reporter’s Christopher White.

But a single correspondent can’t match the powerful reporting of a global team of religion writers, such as that assembled by The Associated Press.

Besides Vatican reporter Nicole Winfield, AP dispatched Pulitzer-winning religion writer Peter Smith, whose home base is Pittsburgh, and Rob Gillies, its bureau chief in Toronto, to cover the papal visit. Other writers, such as David Crary, Holly Meyer and Anita Snow, helped with the various angles. (That’s not even to mention the amazing photography of the global religion team’s Jessie Wardarski.)

The result: a stellar package highlighted by headlines such as these:

• Pope’s Indigenous tour signals a rethink of mission legacy (by Nicole Winfield)

• Indigenous Canadians wary, hopeful as pope prepares apology (by Peter Smith)

• Church apologies: Top leaders say sorry for historical sins (by Holly Meyer and Peter Smith)

• A religiously diverse Edmonton hosts Pope Francis visit (by Peter Smith)

• Pope apologizes for ‘catastrophic’ school policy in Canada (by Nicole Winfield and Peter Smith)

• Pope in headdress stirs deep emotions in Indian Country (by Anita Snow)

• Pope in Canada prays for healing for ‘terrible’ colonization (by Nicole Winfield, Peter Smith and Rob Gillies)

• Pope in Quebec amid decline of Catholic Church in province (by Rob Gillies)

• Canada says pope’s apology to Indigenous not enough (by Nicole Winfield and Rob Gillies)

• ‘Rescind the Doctrine’ protest greets pope in Canada (by Rob Gillies and Nicole Winfield)

• Pope ends Canadian visit with stop in small, far-north city (by Rob Gillies and David Crary)

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. Jews, Muslims and others say Roe vs. Wade reversal threatens their religious freedom: “For decades, antiabortion Catholic and evangelical Christian perspectives have dominated the religious conversation around abortion. But people of faith hold a variety of views on the issue, rooted in their own traditions, teachings and laws,” the Los Angeles Times’ Deborah Netburn reports in a front-page story.

More on post-Roe America:

• This Catholic nun rejects the pro-choice/pro-life binary (by Linda Freund, ReligionUnplugged.com)

• How the Federalist Society won (by Emma Green, New Yorker)

• Catholic hospitals’ growth impacts reproductive health care (by Susan Haigh and David Crary, Associated Press)

• The abortion ruling reopened the same-sex marriage debate. What will happen next? (by Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News)

• Kansas nuns oppose abortion-related state amendment, challenging archbishop (by Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service)

2. Ebenezer Campground carries on grand tradition of Methodist camp meetings: “Before automobiles and air conditioning, Arkansans by the thousands would flock to camp meetings each year, gathering to pray and socialize and enjoy the shade on a hot summer day,” the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Frank E. Lockwood writes. “Today, the tradition lives on, though the crowds are smaller and the accommodations are no longer quite as primitive.”

Read Lockwood’s related story on how camp services are “an enduring tradition in Arkansas.”

Another neat read full of history: “Celebrating more than a century of family and faith with a final harvest” by The Oklahoman’s Carla Hinton.

3. ‘Spiritual refugees’ feel the loss of closed Catholic churches in Seattle. Some are appealing to the Vatican: Parishioners have enlisted canon law experts to appeal the closures of three Catholic churches, the Seattle Times’ Nina Shapiro reports.

“But,” Shapiro writes, “the archdiocese is resisting as the Catholic Church grapples with multiple crises affecting the Catholic Church: declining attendance, especially among young people; a startling shortage of priests; compounding revelations about priest abuse leading to multimillion-dollar settlements; and debates about same-sex marriage, women priests and abortion. (All of which are against the church’s teachings and practices.)”

More Top Reads

• After court ruling, activists push prayer into schools (by Hannah Natanson, Washington Post)

• A dying church’s gift inspires a young congregation to help people experiencing homelessness (by Julia Duin, Faith and Leadership)

• Bart Barber wants the Southern Baptist Convention to regain its rural soul (by Riley Farrell, Religion News Service)

• Whistleblowers say leader of ‘Network’ of churches hid sexual crime for 36 years (by Josh Shepherd, Roys Report)

• Anglicans drop proposal to reaffirm traditional marriage stance (by Kate Shellnutt, Christianity Today)

• Marking its centennial, Hymn Society continues push for more diverse music (by Adelle M. Banks, RNS)

• Brooklyn clergyman is robbed of $1 million in jewelry while delivering Sunday sermon (by Christine Chung, New York Times)

• Presbyterian pastor in Arkansas helps draft new confession of faith for Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (by Frank Lockwood, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

• Nigerian Christians protest Muslim-Muslim ticket as a ‘declaration of war’ (by Jayson Casper, Christianity Today)

• How a Mormon housewife turned a fake diary into an enormous bestseller (by Casey Cep, New Yorker)

• Jewish Federations official helps refugees from Ukraine (by Mark A. Kellner, Washington Times)

• The Bible verse that helped Sydney McLaughlin break her own world record (by Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News)

• The activist behind opposition to the separation of church and state (by Jack Jenkins, RNS)

• Think piece: Hot takes don’t belong in church (by Chris Nye, Christianity Today)

• Think piece: With Gen Z, women are no longer more religious than men (by Ryan P. Burger, Christianity Today)

• Think piece: There is no remaining Christian case for Trump (by David French, The Dispatch)

Inside The Godbeat: Behind The Bylines

“Reorganized Religion: The Reshaping of the American Church and Why It Matters,” a new book by Religion News Service’s Bob Smietana, is due out soon.

But if you’d like, you can read the first chapter now.

Here’s how.

Charging Station: In Case You Missed It

Here is where you can catch up on recent news and opinions from ReligionUnplugged.com.

• Here’s a soundbite for you: In the Bible, does St. Peter call women the ‘weaker sex’? (by Richard Ostling)

• The Marvel Universe contains many gods — including Jesus? (by Terry Mattingly)

• The man who could be pope hopes to shape Italian politics, but will voters listen? (by Clemente Lisi)

• How gospel music influenced Elvis — and what the biopic missed (by Myrian Garcia)

• 5 Catholic storylines to look for this summer ahead of the midterm elections (by Clemente Lisi)

• Inside Derek Jeter’s Catholic roots: How faith and family made him a baseball superstar (by Clemente Lisi)

• Traveling Sistine Chapel exhibit a cheaper option to see Michelangelo masterpiece (by Clemente Lisi)

• Pope Francis apologizes to Canada's Indigenous peoples for church role in past abuse (by Clemente Lisi)

• No, your kid’s teacher won’t turn her into the thing you fear (by Paul Prather)

• Q&A with Kathryn Gin Lum, author of ‘Heathen: Religion and Race in American History’ (by Kenneth E. Frantz)

The Final Plug

“Minister in the Making” is a 40-episode podcast that my friend Brad Irwin did about his father, Travis, and his 50 years as a minister.

The series “started out as a way for a son to give his dad something to do during the isolation of the first pandemic summer of 2020. It turned out to be the last thing they ever did together,” as Brad notes.

I was honored when Brad asked me to serve as the guest host for the final, retrospective episode, released this week. Check it out.

Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the weekend.

Bobby Ross Jr. is a columnist for ReligionUnplugged.com and editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 15 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.