RNS Morning Report - With Cuba in crisis, faith groups work to influence policy, deliver aid

With Cuba in crisis, faith groups work to influence policy, deliver aid Ahead of the weekend, Cuba’s communist government announced sweeping economic reforms, the largest privatization since before Fidel Castro’s revolution in 1959. For months, faith communities have been speaking up and meeting with both the U.S. and Cuban governments, church leaders told RNS reporter Aleja Hertzler-McCain. They have sought ways to deliver more aid and alleviate a historic crisis amid an accelerating pressure campaign by the Trump administration. Suffering due to days-long blackouts and spoiled food is widespread, and the mental despair is “extreme, extreme,” said Rita María García Morris, the executive director of the Centro Cristiano de Reflexión y Diálogo (Christian Center for Reflection and Dialogue) in Cuba. García Morris told Hertzler-McCain she is waiting to see how the economic reforms will affect the population. “Where does that leave the poor people and the humble people?” she asked.       Top Stories With Cuba in crisis, faith groups work to influence policy, deliver aid (RNS) — U.S. Republican administrations have long seen faith groups as a cornerstone for humanitarian aid and community trust as they push for regime change in Cuba. Which Bible passages are in Texas’ proposed student reading list? Here’s what the sections reveal. (RNS) — The chosen readings, to be voted on by the State Board of Education, draw heavily from Christian perspectives. Five things resettlement orgs want you to know this World Refugee Day (RNS) — As the U.S. welcomes individuals from all over the globe to celebrate the world’s game, most refugees remain largely shut out. On this World Refugee Day, faith-based resettlement organizations say caring for the stranger is a spiritual concern. Pope Leo is very popular, though partisan polarization is growing, survey finds (RNS) — More than three-quarters (78%) of US Catholics expressed favorable views of Leo, and about one in 10 (12%) expressed unfavorable views. New book paints the ADL as a neoconservative bastion dedicated to US and Israel interests (RNS) — The Anti-Defamation League may have appropriated the language of civil rights, writes Emmaia Gelman in a new book, but the group’s actions have mostly been in defense of state interests. Opinion How does God show up in fatherhood? A Muslim and a Christian grapple with the question. (RNS) — Two memoirs on faith and fatherhood highlight uniquely different religious, geographical, cultural and socio-economical stories, but the lessons of identity, religious belief and parental reckoning offer universal lessons. A lifetime cheering for the Knicks taught me to embrace pilgrimage  (RNS ) — Sacred, secular or somewhere in between, pilgrimages are journeys of intention. The quiet faithfulness of ordinary fathers in an age of performative masculinity (RNS) — Conspicuously missing from the manosphere is a vision for fatherhood. ICYMI In Richmond, churches retrace the path of the enslaved to confront their own history RICHMOND, Va. (RNS) — Just as the country prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence — and Juneteenth — Virginia Episcopalians are trying to reckon with the role of their city and their denomination in slavery as a founding reality of the United States. For preservers of lynching history in the US, Juneteenth is a religious reckoning (RNS) — The Equal Justice Initiative’s Bryan Stevenson says confronting America’s lynching history is a matter of faith that demands truth-telling and repentance — especially on America’s most recently recognized national holiday. Support Our Work As a nonprofit newsroom that covers all faiths, RNS sits uniquely at the intersection of freedom of the press and freedom of religion. News tips or feedback? Email comments@religionnews.com. Like the Morning Report? Share it with a friend. Forwarded this newsletter? Subscribe here. We rely on reader donations to power our reporting. Donate here. Or send a check to: Religion News Foundation PO Box 1808 Columbia, MO 65205

Copyright © 2026 Religion News Service, All rights reserved.