Author – The Durango Herald

Black Catholic nuns: A compelling, long-overlooked history

Even as a young adult, Shannen Dee Williams – who grew up Black and Catholic in Memphis, Tennessee – knew of only one Black nun, and a fake one at that: Sister Mary Clarence, as played by Wh...

DATE: May 2, 2022 | CATEGORY: Religion

Rejection or welcome: Transgender Catholics encounter both

For transgender Catholics across the United States, retaining their faith can entail complex calculations. They face rebukes from some fellow Catholics, including many bishops, yet find full...

DATE: Feb 28, 2022 | CATEGORY: Religion

Across U.S., houses of worship struggle to rebuild attendance

When Westminster United Methodist Church in Houston resumed in-person services late last year, after a seven-month halt because of COVID-19, there were Sundays when only three worshippers sh...

DATE: Dec 20, 2021 | CATEGORY: Religion

Foes of death penalty offer spiritual support at executions

NEW YORK – After Sister Barbara Battista, a Roman Catholic nun staunchly opposed to the death penalty, agreed to accompany a condemned man at his execution in federal prison, she wondered do...

DATE: Nov 3, 2021 | CATEGORY: Religion

A new book on faith from popular author who died in 2019

NEW YORK – Christian author Rachel Held Evans left behind a legion of loyal readers when she died in May 2019, at the age of 37. Last June, a children’s book she’d been working on was publis...

DATE: Oct 27, 2021 | CATEGORY: Religion

Some abortion foes question tactical wisdom of new Texas ban

The new Texas law that bans most abortions in the state has been welcomed by many of the religious leaders who help bolster the anti-abortion movement. Yet some abortion opponents in U.S. re...

DATE: Sep 15, 2021 | CATEGORY: Religion

Admirers urge sainthood for chaplain killed on Sept. 11

NEW YORK – Among the nearly 3,000 people killed in the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Mychal Judge, a Catholic chaplain with New York’s fire department, left a uniquely complex legacy that continu...

DATE: Sep 6, 2021 | CATEGORY: Religion

Liberal groups see post-election bump

Fundraising is up for many progressive associations after Trump’s election

DATE: Nov 15, 2016 | CATEGORY: Nation & World

United Way loses its ranking as America’s largest charity

NEW YORK – United Way, ranked as America’s largest charity for all but one of the past 25 years, has been emphatically knocked from that spot by Fidelity Charitable, the leader of a rapidly ...

DATE: Oct 27, 2016 | CATEGORY: Nation & World

Increase in threats reported at U.S. abortion clinics

NEW YORK – Threats and violence directed at U.S. abortion clinics increased sharply in 2015, according to the National Abortion Federation, which attributed the surge to the release of under...

DATE: Apr 5, 2016 | CATEGORY: Nation & World

In rural Colorado, outreach aims to reduce suicides

In many Western Slope counties, guns used in 60 percent of cases

DATE: Apr 4, 2016 | CATEGORY: Regional News

The debate over scope of sex education is raging on

Conservative values confront effort to provide students with reliable information

DATE: Jan 26, 2016 | CATEGORY: Education