Ever since the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, life in the United States has changed in big and small ways. Some of the changes — like toilet paper shortages and social distancing — were temporary. Other shifts have had more staying power, and some new trends are just beginning to emerge. (Gilbert & Bever, The Washington Post)
Read MorePriests could be allowed to have sex in future, Pope Francis has suggested as he said he was open to reviewing the practice of celibacy. In an interview published in the Argentinian media last week, Francis said “There is no contradiction for a priest to marry. Celibacy in the Western Church is a temporary prescription.” (The Telegraph)
Read MoreWhite evangelical voters were central to Mr. Trump’s first election, and he remains overwhelmingly popular among them. But a Monmouth University poll in late January and early February found Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida who has not declared his candidacy for president but appears to be Mr. Trump’s most formidable early rival, leading Mr. Trump by 7 percentage points among self-identified evangelical Republican voters in a head-to-head contest. (Homans, The New York TImes)
Read MoreMillennials… have seen their debt rise by nearly 30% since before the pandemic, to about $3.8 trillion. What's so strange about this is that back in 2021, that debt had fallen to near-record lows. (Smith, NPR)
Read MoreA man suspected of shooting dead seven people and himself at a centre of worship for Jehovah’s Witnesses in the German city of Hamburg was a former member of their community, prosecuters say. (Clayton, The Times UK)
Read MoreThe Anti-Defamation League’s research found a 38% increase in incidents from the previous year, with a total of 6,751 cases reported in 2022, compared with 4,876 in 2021. Specific antisemitic propaganda more than doubled in 2022, rising to 852, up from 352 in 2021. (Shimron, Religion News Service)
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