🚀 Launching The New And Improved Weekend Plug-in 🔌
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) I’m your Weekend Plug-in columnist, and I’m excited to launch the fourth year of this popular newsletter.
Each Friday, Plug-in aims to highlight the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith. In 2023, we’re tweaking our format to make it even smarter and more concise.
Let’s jump right in!
What To Know: The Big Story
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died Saturday at age 95.
ReligionUnplugged.com’s own Clementi Lisi recounts the life of the first pope in 600 years to resign.
Pope Francis presided Thursday over the funeral Mass for his predecessor, as Lisi reports. But some found fault with Francis’ homily for Benedict, according to The New York Times’ Jason Horowitz and Ruth Graham.
For more coverage from the Vatican, follow The Associated Press’ Nicole Winfield, the National Catholic Reporter’s Christopher White, Religion News Service’s Claire Giangravé and the Wall Street Journal’s Francis X. Rocca.
Looking ahead: Francis may have a freer hand after Benedict’s death, Rocca reports. But U.S. bishops’ rift with Francis is unlikely to ease, according to AP’s David Crary. At Crux, Elise Ann Allen explores whether Benedict’s death might open the door to new rules for retired popes.
More: Lisi presents “5 Catholic storylines you need to follow closely in 2023.”
Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads
1. Football and prayer: In America, the phrase “thoughts and prayers” is uttered frequently at painful times, as Poynter.org’s Al Tompkins notes.
But what happens when people actually pray?
That happened this week after Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field in Cincinnati. New York Times religion writer Ruth Graham delves into how the prayers for Hamlin show the bond between football and faith.
In an insightful piece here at ReligionUnplugged.com, Leocciano Callao notes, “The expression of emotion, spiritual care and request for prayer rippled across Twitter and other platforms, igniting debate and intrigue.”
How’s this for an answered prayer? Doctors report Hamlin woke up and even asked, “Did we win?”
2. Faith on the Hill: With a new Congress starting work (well, eventually maybe?), the Pew Research Center’s Jeff Diamant details the religious composition of the House and Senate.
Bottom line, as explained by Associated Press religion writer Peter Smith:
Congress is far more Christian, and religious overall, than today’s general population.
Even though nearly three in 10 Americans claim no religious affiliation — a rate that has steadily risen in recent years — only two of the 534 incoming members of Congress publicly identify as such.
3. When does life begin?: “The question at the heart of America’s abortion debate is the most elemental — and the most complicated.”
For this must-read story, New York Times religion writer Elizabeth Dias “spoke with scientists, philosophers and spiritual leaders over several months.”
More Top Reads
The Los Angeles Times’ Deborah Netburn interviews Joe Ferullo, the new publisher of the National Catholic Reporter. … Religion News Service’s Yonat Shimron delves into the academic storm caused by a Minnesota professor’s showing of an image of the Prophet Muhammad. … Vice’s Sarah Stankorb tells the #ChurchToo story of Baptist sex abuse victim Christa Brown. … Curious how much money Christian ministry CEOs make? The Washington Times’ Mark Kellner shares the findings of a new study. … The Wall Street Journal’s Joe Barrett profiles a Minneapolis pastor who got fed up with a crime hotspot and decided to buy it. … Bob Smietana of RNS reports that as the pandemic’s third anniversary nears, church attendance still hasn’t returned to previous levels. … Finally, some U.S. Jews are wondering about their place in America, as The Washington Post’s Michelle Boorstein explains.
Inside The Godbeat
Victor L. Simpson, who covered the Vatican for The Associated Press from 1972 to 2013, remembers his final reporting trip aboard the papal plane:
Because I was planning to retire, Benedict’s trip to Beirut was to be my last, and Vatican officials thought I should share the moment with him.
What I didn’t know at the time was that it was to be his last trip, too. In a few months, he would become the first pope to resign in 600 years.
Simpson “always wondered whether our encounter led him to think about any plans of his own that he had not yet revealed to the world.”
Charging Station: ICYMI
Here is where you can catch up on recent news and opinions from ReligionUnplugged.com.
“For all those who have loved and lost a pet, this @ReligionMag story by Andrea Cooper is for you,” suggests ReligionUnplugged.com’s executive editor, Paul Glader.
Animal chaplaincy has become a growing profession, Cooper reports.
The Final Plug
As I type this, I’m in snowy Colorado working on a few stories.
In the Denver area, I snapped a picture of my Christian Chronicle colleague Audrey Jackson photographing minister Rex Cox.
Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the weekend.
Bobby Ross Jr. writes the Weekend Plug-in column for ReligionUnplugged.com and serves as 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 18 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.