Pennsylvania
Pagan sues Panera Bread Company alleging religious discrimination
By Heather Greene — March 27, 2021
(RNS) — A former baker for the chain said she was told that she 'needed to find God,' according to a court filing.
The GOP’s Catholic voter problem
By Ryan Burge — November 6, 2020
(RNS) — It’s no coincidence that three Rust Belt states with large populations of Catholics helped put the Democrats back in the White House in January of 2021.
In battleground states, American Jews prefer Biden over Trump by a wide margin
By Yonat Shimron — October 21, 2020
(RNS) — A pair of surveys of likely Jewish voters in Florida and Pennsylvania shows that former Vice President Joe Biden has a massive lead over Donald Trump.
White Catholics could be key to a Biden victory
By Mark Silk — October 11, 2020
(RNS) — For Biden, the swing shown in a new poll has everything to do with reconstructing the ‘blue wall’ that collapsed in 2016.
Little Sisters of the Poor return to court to fight birth control mandate
By Thomas Reese — January 23, 2020
(RNS) — In a rerun of a 2016 case, the Supreme Court shouldn't be required to settle what the parties ought to have settled themselves.
A year later, Catholic Church and Pennsylvania politicians ignore abuse survivors
By Jimmy Hinton — August 12, 2019
(RNS) — Sexual abuse of minors and hiding abusers within the church is happening at epidemic proportions across all denominations. It’s time we reach out to survivors of abuse who have been silenced for their entire lives.
Episcopalian pilgrims bring Spain’s Camino de Santiago to the Appalachian Trail
By Emily McFarlan Miller — June 28, 2019
ON THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL, Pa. (RNS) — Inspired by Spain's popular pilgrimage, hikers from the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania are making their own "Appalachian Camino" this week on the piece of the Appalachian Trail winding through the diocese.
The (national) fall and (local) rise of pro-life Democrats
By Charles C. Camosy — May 10, 2019
(RNS) — The evisceration of pro-life Democrats from Congress is all but complete, but on the local level Democratic parties are increasingly committed to a diversity of opinion on abortion.
Pennsylvania prosecutor fights clergy sex abuse as she maintains Catholic faith
By Bobby Ross Jr. — February 27, 2019
EBENSBURG, Pa. (RNS) — When local district attorney Kelly Callihan referred an abuse claim against her family’s erstwhile pastor to state authorities, she initiated a series of investigations that renewed the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse crisis nationwide.
Former New York Times reporter slams grand jury report on clerical abuse
By Thomas Reese — January 10, 2019
(RNS) — Calling the report 'grossly misleading, irresponsible, inaccurate, and unjust,' Peter Steinfels argues that last summer's bombshell charges vastly oversimplify the Catholic bishops' response to the abuse crisis.
US Jesuit groups release names of priests accused of abuse
By Jack Jenkins — December 17, 2018
(RNS) — Advocates for the abused praised the move toward transparency but called it 'long overdue and prompted only by pressure from prosecutors, parishioners and the public.'
For former Pittsburgh prosecutor, the new inquiry into clergy abuse is personal
By Kevin Johnson — November 29, 2018
PITTSBURGH (USA Today) — David Hickton's suburban Catholic grade school, says the retired chief federal prosecutor for western Pennsylvania, "was ground zero of the clergy sexual abuse scandal."
Church abuse bill in limbo after hitting wall in Senate
By Marc Levy — October 18, 2018
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Legislation to respond to Pennsylvania's landmark grand jury report accusing hundreds of Roman Catholic priests of sexually abusing children over decades stalled on the Legislature's final scheduled voting day of 2018.
Cardinal Wuerl says he will meet with pope to discuss possible resignation
By Jack Jenkins — September 11, 2018
(RNS) — Wuerl has come under mounting pressure since the release of a bombshell grand jury report by the attorney general of Pennsylvania detailing decades of allegations of child sex abuse by priests in the state.
Seven states launch investigations in wake of Pennsylvania clergy sex abuse report
By Jack Jenkins — September 6, 2018
(RNS) — Law enforcement officials in at least seven states appear to be launching their own inquiries of their Catholic dioceses, focusing on church files thought to contain decades of allegations of child sex abuse by priests.
