Welcome to Thursday. A new poll says that Latino Protestants are more conservative and supportive of President Donald Trump than their Catholic counterparts. Despite what some U.S. bishops said at their recent fall meeting, the media is not the enemy, says NCR executive editor Heidi Schlumpf. And an NCR columnist shares a "heavy load" with President-elect Joe Biden — a speaking impediment.
Latino voters this election season were instrumental in helping flip the state of Arizona blue for the first time since 1996, but in Florida and Texas more Latinos than expected voted for President Donald Trump.
Faith affiliation has emerged as one explanation for this political divide among Latino Americans.
"Religion is the largest demographic divider among Hispanic Americans," according to a new analysis from the Public Religion Research Institute, which found that Latino Protestants are more conservative, Republican and supportive of Trump than Latinos who are Catholic or religiously unaffiliated.
Jonathan Calvillo, a sociology of religion professor at Boston University, said Latino congregants in evangelical and Pentecostal communities often hear their pastors and leaders preach and speak favorably of Trump.
"I see a lot of leaders that have endorsed Trump or that in the very least offer a more apolitical stance like 'let's just pray for whoever is in office, pray for our leaders,' " Calvillo said.
Read more of the story here.
More background:
- White Christians stuck with Donald Trump in large numbers. Catholic institutions must do some soul-searching about the persistence of racism in our church, political formation and cultural assumptions, writes John Gehring.
As the U.S. bishops gathered last month for their first-ever virtual meeting, several prelates blamed the media for all that's wrong with the church and the world.
During the church leaders' brief, public discussion about the McCarrick report — concerning the former cardinal's rise in the hierarchy despite a history of sexual assault — several bishops expressed concern that lay people pick up more from secular media than from the church and that the press contributes to a "genuine crisis of authority."
"It's true that there are so-called media outlets masquerading as legitimate news organizations in the church (I'm talking to you, LifeSiteNews)," writes NCR executive editor Heidi Schlumpf in her column, "but these general indictments of 'the media' by bishops sadly echo a certain soon-to-be-ex-president, who specialized in yelling 'Fake news!' whenever the news was bad."
"It's why the media is historically referred to as the 'fourth estate' for its role in keeping government accountable," she continues. "Catholic media, especially independent sources like NCR, have long played a similar role in keeping the church accountable."
Read more of Schlumpf's column here.
More headlines
Final thoughts
NCR Executive Editor Heidi Schlumpf has joined Season 7 of "The Francis Effect" podcast with co-hosts Franciscan Fr. Dan Horan (columnist for NCR's "Faith Seeking Understanding") and David Dault, executive producer and host of "Things Not Seen: Conversations about Culture and Faith." Listen to the latest episode here and catch up on all of the episodes for this season here.
Until Friday,
Stephanie Yeagle
NCR Production/Online Editor
[email protected]
Twitter: @ncrSLY
