Sexual abuse scandals among year’s top religion stories

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This article was published 27/12/2019 (2461 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SEXUAL abuse, Islamophobia and same-sex marriage are among the top religion stories of 2019, as decided by the Religion Newswriters Association.

Leading the list is the groundbreaking investigation by the Houston Chronicle that revealed hundreds of victims of abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention and showed Roman Catholics aren’t the only Christians who face this issue.

The investigation showed how easy it is for predators to escape detection in the decentralized nature of the SBC and many other evangelical denominations in North America.

The killing of 51 Muslim worshippers and wounding of 39 others at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, made the list, as did the debate over same-sex marriage that continued to embroil many Christian groups. This included the United Methodist Church, which voted to strengthen a ban on same-sex weddings. The vote may lead to a split in the worldwide denomination. Some churches in the U.S. have announced plans to celebrate same-sex weddings.

The Roman Catholic sexual abuse scandal continued to dominate the news in 2019, including the defrocking of American former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the ongoing release of names of credibly accused priests in the U.S. and a special Vatican gathering on the issue.

The fire that damaged the Notre Dame Cathedral also made the list, as did continued support by evangelicals in the U.S. for Donald Trump — support that began to show a tiny crack this month when the conservative publication Christianity Today called for his removal. A letter backing Trump signed by nearly 200 evangelical leaders was later sent to the magazine. On Thursday, an editor of the Christian Post website said he had resigned after it published an editorial supporting Trump.

The rise of the Nones in both the U.S. and Canada continued to dominate the news in 2019. The U.S. has now caught up to Canada in this regard, with about a quarter of people in both countries saying they don’t identify with a religion.

Other items on the Religion Newswriters Association’s list includes the rise of religious tensions in India over new legislation that is seen by many as suppressing Muslims, rising anti-Semitism around the world, a call by Roman Catholic bishops in the Amazon to allow priests to marry to address the shortage of priests in the region, and a decision by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that it will no longer consider members who are in same-sex marriages as apostates.

Not on the association’s list, but also notable in 2019, was Kanye West’s public conversion to Christianity (announced through his album Jesus is King), the use of the Christian hymn Hallelujah to the Lord by pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong and the imprisonment of millions of Muslim Uighurs in China.

Closer to home, the top Canadian religion stories included Quebec’s Bill 21, which aims to eliminate religious symbols in the public sector. It has been condemned as xenophobic, anti-Muslim and anti-religious by many across Canada.

Also notable was the arrival in this country of Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian woman who was granted asylum after being acquitted of a charge of blasphemy in her home country. She and her family are secretly building a new life in Canada.

The Anglican Church of Canada was shaken in November by the release of a report showing it may have no members left by 2040.

Although there are pockets of vitality across the country, leaders in that denomination acknowledge there is a big challenge ahead if the church is to remain viable.

Also making the news in 2019 was the decision by the United Church of Canada not to fire atheist minister Gretta Vosper. She has been allowed to remain a member of the clergy.

In November, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver was the first in Canada to release the names of credibly accused priests. Jesuits in Canada say they will do the same, which would make them the first Catholic religious order to do so.

No list of top stories would be complete without noting how Andrew Scheer’s Roman Catholic faith, which influenced his stance against abortion and reluctance to march in Pride parades, was used against him by other parties and might have contributed to the Conservative Party of Canada’s failure to win the federal election in October.

In Winnipeg, this newspaper made news when it increased its local religious coverage with support from local faith groups. Since March, 185 articles about faith have been published through the project by the Free Press, which is unparalleled in Canada.

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