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A spat between 17 parishioners and the priest at Anacostia’s Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish landed on the front page of The Washington Post this morning. The parish, which has about 1,500 members, is engaged in a heated dispute, and the fact that the church is a historically black Catholic congregation and “is in mutiny against the white pastor,” propels this issue to the level of “major news story,” in the Post‘s opinion.
I’m having trouble keeping up with the Rev. Pat Robertson’s obnoxious comments. Was his last one about New Orleans and God’s wrath? Assassinating South American leaders? Or was it regarding some Pennsylvania town? Or on the health of a Middle East head of state?
Last week I suggested reporters cover what women go through after they have an abortion, and today the New York Times, of all papers, has a story that mentions counseling done for some women who regret their abortions. The story, by John Leland, profiles A Woman’s Choice Resource Center, which provides ultrasounds, counseling, diapers, baby clothes and adoption referrals to more than 4,000 women each year. The story says the country has 2,300 to 3,500 crisis pregnancy centers nationwide, compared with about 1,800 abortion centers.
Before I launch into the morning cyber-papers, let me share a glimpse of what I will be looking for on this holiday.
This morning’s Washington Post contained an example of something I believe we need to see more in America’s newspapers. Karl Vick of the Washington Post Foreign Service details in an A1 story a current hot issue in Muslim communities regarding the ground swelling of support for the return of a caliphate to unite believers of Islam.
Yesterday, the Washington Post ran a profile of Kate Michelman. I’m not sure if they were trying to push her new book or push her appearance before the Alito hearings today, but they were pushing something. If NARAL Pro-Choice America itself had written the piece, it probably would have had more perspective.
As a sidebar to the Divine Ms. M’s post on the Stephanie Simon’s abortion-coverage commentary, let me note that the Washington Post has its U.S. Supreme Court hearings blog up and running again. When I hit the blog this a.m., this excellent multi-media overview of the Samuel Alito grilling was topped by a banner ad for the dispassionate folks at NARAL Pro-Choice America. What are the other blogs that GetReligion readers are watching?
I can’t believe that I haven’t written about this yet, but here goes. Sunday’s Washington Post ran with an A3 story on the fight between members of the Indiana state House and a federal judge who ruled awhile ago that the daily prayers in the lower lawmaking chamber invoked the name of Jesus Christ too often and were illegal.
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s likely bid for the Republican presidential nomination means we get to read lots of profiles about him. Saying absolutely nothing about his political positions, the man has got charisma and charm for days and certainly adds a nice new face into the never-ending campaign cycle.
