Lead story
Editor's note:
A scathing investigative report details how leaders in America’s largest Protestant denomination denigrated sex abuse victims, stonewalled reform efforts and prioritized protecting their institution from liability. Reporter Deepa Bharath spoke with Southern Baptist Convention President Ed Litton who lamented the treatment of survivors and called for Baptists to act. Editors David Crary and Holly Meyer interviewed survivors like Christa Brown and ministers who advocated for the investigation like Pastor Grant Gaines about the stark results, including the revelation an Executive Committee staffer kept a secret list of hundreds of ministers accused of abuse. Brown and other survivors, who have long called for the SBC to compile a public offender database, said the report affirms what they have been saying for decades. In response, Executive Committee leaders apologized to survivors and made plans to release the secret list. The report’s recommended reforms are expected to dominate the SBC’s national meeting.
Religion News
Uvalde school shooting: Faith leaders offer comfort, call for reform of gun laws
With the news of 19 children and two others killed in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, religious leaders from across the spectrum express their sorrow, with many saying now is the time for a new approach to gun control. By Staff/Religion News Service
Gunman targets Taiwanese faith with long pro-democracy link
The recent deadly shooting at Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in California didn’t just violate a sacred space. Taiwanese Americans across the country say it ripped through their cultural bastion. By Deepa Bharath/The Associated Press
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed back Tuesday on the decision by San Francisco’s conservative Catholic archbishop to deny her Communion over her support of abortion rights. By The Associated Press
How the ‘apocalyptic’ Southern Baptist report almost didn’t happen
A recently released report detailed how Southern Baptist leaders mistreated abuse survivors and tried to protect their institutions. The investigation that led to the report almost died numerous times. By Bob Smietana/Religion News Service
Religious backers of abortion rights say God’s on their side
The loudest voices in the abortion debate are often characterized along a starkly religious divide, the faithful versus not. But the reality is much more nuanced. By Claire Galofaro/The Associated Press
Commentary and Analysis
There are far too many politicians who have been reticent and reluctant and who have refused to apply a tourniquet to the bleeding of this nation. By Jeffrey Salkin/Religion News Service
Conservative Christians have cheered restrictions on some birth control. But many decades ago, Christian leaders' support helped contraceptives become acceptable in the first place. By Samira Mehta for The Conversation
A scholar of digital religion and Buddhism argues that not all Western Buddhism practice is inauthentic. Here's a way to know what's real. By Gregory Grieve for The Conversation
The Civil War – the second-most-deadly event in US history, just behind COVID-19 –contributed to lasting changes in how Americans care for the dead. By Gary Laderman for The Conversation
A person prays during a service at the Antioch Baptist Church on Thursday, May 19, 2022, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex)
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- This Week in Religion is a publication of the Global Religion Journalism Initiative, a collaboration among the Religion News Service, The Associated Press and The Conversation U.S.
- The three news organizations work to improve general understanding and analyze the significance of developments in the world of faith.
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