Common Good News 11/28/16

In Common Good News by Anna Golladay

We began this with prayer, and we look at this whole movement as a ceremony. It began with prayers before we left, and in the end, it will close with prayers. We’re fighting the pipeline with prayer.

— Standing Rock Sioux tribal councilman Dana Yellow Fat, speaking about the movement to prevent the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. (Religion News Service)

Under Trump, expect ranks of faith-based environmental protesters to swell

By Jeff Brumley, Baptist News Global

Faith-based protests of pipeline projects, global warming and other environmental causes won’t just be for the hard core anymore, thanks to Donald J. Trump.

 

How Fidel’s faith remained a mystery to the end

By Austen Ivereigh, Crux

The Jesuit-educated Fidel Castro rejected the Church of his childhood following the 1959 Cuban revolution, and for two decades never met a bishop. But then came a book-long interview with a Brazilian friar, and growing closeness between Church and state in Cuba — as well as tantalizing signs that Castro was seeking reconciliation with his Catholic faith.

 

Cities Vow to Fight Trump on Immigration, Even if They Lose Millions

By Jennifer Medina and Jess Bidgood, New York Times

Across the nation, officials in sanctuary cities are gearing up to oppose President-elect Donald J. Trump if he follows through on a campaign promise to deport millions of illegal immigrants.

 

Central Americans surge north, hoping to reach U.S. before Trump inauguration

By Gustavo Palencia and Sofia Menchu, Reuters

Central American countries warned on Thursday that large numbers of migrants have fled their poor, violent homes since Donald Trump’s surprise election win, hoping to reach the United States before he takes office next year.

 

Many in Florida Count on Obama’s Health Law, Even Amid Talk of Its Demise

By Abby Goodnough, New York Times

Florida helped hand Mr. Trump the presidency when he narrowly won the state, but it has also provided more customers for the federal health insurance marketplace than any other state.

 

Three California mosques receive hateful letters mentioning Trump

By Alex Dobuzinskis, Reuters

Hateful letters sent anonymously to three mosques in California with a warning that President-elect Donald Trump would “cleanse” the United States of Muslims have stirred fears among congregants, a community leader said on Saturday.

 

Not the Time for Reconciliation

By Stephen J. Pope, Commonweal

Following the bitter presidential election, many Catholic pastors and religious writers are calling for reconciliation. I think this call is premature.

 

U.S. bishops are trying to figure out how to deal with post-election animus

By Rhina Guidos, Crux

Like many others, the U.S. Catholic bishops are trying to figure out how to deal with a president-elect who’s different from anyone they’ve dealt with in the past and one involved in one of the most rancorous elections in modern times.

 

Christian leaders see influence growing under Trump

By Katie Glueck, Politico

In conversations on Capitol Hill, donor meetings in Texas and behind closed doors at the Ritz-Carlton in McLean, Virginia, socially conservative leaders are cheering Trump’s election and already moving to hold him accountable to the myriad campaign promises he made to Christian voters.

 

Dylann Roof Found Competent for Trial in Charleston Church Killings

By Alan Blinder, New York Times

Dylann S. Roof, the self-avowed white supremacist who is accused of killing nine black parishioners at a Charleston, S.C., church in June 2015, is competent to stand trial, a federal judge ruled Friday.