Politics

AP News - Across the United States, the Catholic church is undergoing an immense shift. Generations of Catholics are increasingly embracing religious conservatives who believe the church has been twisted by change. The shift is molded by plummeting church attendance, increasingly traditional priests and growing numbers of young Catholics searching for more orthodoxy. The shift has reshaped parishes across the country, leaving them sometimes at odds with Pope Francis and much of the Catholic world. Young priests driven by liberal politics and progressive theology, common in the 1960s and 70s, have “all but vanished,” said a 2023 report from The Catholic Project at Catholic University. Today’s young priests are far more likely to believe that the church has changed too much, tangling itself up in rapidly shifting views on everything from women’s roles to LGBTQ+ rights. On the national level, conservatives increasingly dominate the Catholic intellectual world, but surveys show most American Catholics are far from orthodox. Most support abortion rights. The vast majority use birth control. But increasingly, those Catholics are not in church. The shrinking numbers mean that those who remain in the church have outsized influence compared with the overall Catholic population. MORE

Axios - Canvassers attempting to register new voters are staring down unprecedented hostility and harassment while navigating a minefield of new laws ahead of November's election. Why it matters: The rematch between President Biden and former President Trump — along with control of the Senate — could hinge on a small number of votes. Florida has cracked down where and when canvassers can register new voters, often fining organizations, Hispanic Federation CEO Frankie Miranda says. Miranda says canvassers have been harassed and assaulted.  In Arizona — which Biden won by a razor-thin margin in 2020, and where conspiracies about the election abound — many businesses no longer allow canvassers to stand outside their stores. MORE

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