Bishop Alberto Rojas of San Bernardino took the extraordinary step of formally excusing parishioners in his diocese from the obligation of attending mass weekly - because of the possibility immigration officers would seize people coming to or from church.

Big news on the "Johnson Amendment" (!, ?) A collapse of the wall between church and state? A new plank in the floor of religious liberty? Observations from a sociologist of religion.... I.R.S. Says Churches Can Endorse Candidates From the Pulpit www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/u...

One cool trick to increasing trust in elections and government: make everyone a public official. Okay, maybe not, but still our new paper shows that local officials trust elections more. Why? Partly because they have a lot of social trust. dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

Read the piece to learn about how: · USCCB fracturing over advocacy is a big deal, signaling just how much Trump/GOP's policies have pushed bishops · It's a slow-burn result of Francis-aligned clerics finding a voice outside the USCCB · It all adds to widespread religious opposition to Trump

Deep dive into Pope Leo's immigrant roots and racial identity. The type of story that is being purposefully erased in the US today. Pope Leo XIV’s link to Haiti is part of a broader American story of race, citizenship and migration theconversation.com/pope-leo-xiv...

Want to know why being the name Leo 14 is such a big deal? Look was Leo 13 was up to.... www.vatican.va/content/leo-...

ICE agents are lawless, sociopathic shitbirds. Treat every one you encounter accordingly.

Dugan, the judge recently arrested by the FBI on allegations of helping an undocumented immigrant avoid ICE arrest, is also a former executive director of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. www.jsonline.com/story/news/c...

Rest in peace, Pope Francis, master of symbolism... -First "Francis" pope: rebuilder of the Church -First words as Pope: "I am a sinner..." -Eschewed papal apartment for Vatican's "guest house" -Favorite metaphor: The church as field hospital

An incredible final message from Pope Francis: "to run like Mary Magdalene and the disciples" "We must take action, set out to look for him: look for him in life, look for him in the faces of our brothers and sisters, look for him in everyday business, look for him everywhere except in the tomb."

@pennstateuniv.bsky.social is cordially invited to stick up for PSU students whose degrees and research are being destroyed www.presidentsalliance.org/press/eighty...

BIG 10's Rutgers and Michigan State working against "ideological deportation" in legal filing. Let's go @pennstateuniv.bsky.social

Empathy in the news a bit. Time to plug my book about the ups and downs of producing, especially for migrants. www.amazon.com/Empathy-Beyo...

Postponed until fallish 2025... my talk about how local Catholic elected officials in the US. oppose Christian nationalism and support religious pluralism. uwaterloo.ca/st-jeromes/e...

Prayers for @pontifexes.bsky.social

📢 Calling all religion scholars! 📢Please consider this my personal invitation to submit a paper or organize a session at the upcoming @sssreligion.bsky.social Annual Meeting in Minneapolis this October! Reach out to me or @evanstewart.bsky.social with questions or ideas!

Dang, Pope scooping me. Not m(any) integralist natural law Catholics among local officials in the US. I'll share the goods when visiting with @camacgregor.bsky.social at uwaterloo.ca/st-jeromes/e...

Contra the "integralist" and anti-democratic spate of Catholic theoretical arguments, I'll give a ground-level view of what Catholic officials really think about pluralism and church-state separation. (Hint: they support both.)

I see some suggestions, in the reporting regarding the OMB impoundment order, that a mere delay in spending appropriated funds is legal. But that's not really true. The delay OMB has ordered specifically contradicts the Impoundment Control Act. A thread.

I just called (the same) House member's office as @djvanness.bsky.social to let them know that my federal grant funding helps undergrads and grads go to PSU, pay for housing, eat, etc. The staffer responded, "Yeah, we've been getting A LOT of phone calls this morning about this." More calls pls

Pretty good evidence that the best way to understand the Catholic Church in the U.S. is not by watching/listening to those with the loudest, most traditionalist megaphone. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/06/u...

Lots of new folks finding the bluesky. In that spirit, I've deactivated my account on the other place.

I’m thrilled to share that my first academic publication is out @sfjournal.bsky.social In this paper, with @garyadler.bsky.social, we analyze religious identity and behavior over time to analyze the secularization question in Turkey. 1/n academic.oup.com/sf/advance-a...

Sociologists tackle religious freedom. Take a quick tour of the latest sociological research on religious freedom, its meanings, its uses, and its future. I'll be sharing insights from my research with @jonathancoley.bsky.social @mayrl.bsky.social, rebecca sager, and eric plutzer.

Sociologists tackle religious freedom. Take a quick tour of the latest sociological research on religious freedom, its meanings, its uses, and its future. I'll be sharing insights from my research with @jonathancoley.bsky.social @mayrl.bsky.social, rebecca sager, and eric plutzer.

Popular strategies schools and local govts use for holidays pluralism (do em all!), neg secularism (allow em all) pos secularism (do none!) transformative secularism (do em but with new names). Harvest Fest? Full on transforming the medieval peasant experience.

Managing Halloween....My kid's school nixed it in favor of a Harvest Fest," which, I assure you, is not well ritualized in my university town. www.nytimes.com/2023/10/30/l...

Local government officials in the US love Christmas trees in public holiday displays. We've got the data and the explanation.

Talking the state and religion today at SSSR Conference Meeting Info - Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (sssreligion.org)

It's me. garyadlerjr on that other site. Here now and looking forward to it!