Christianity, Hinduism and Judaism: The interfaith life of Kamala Harris

In Canada, the faith of political leaders is no big deal. We know that both Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre were raised Catholic, Jagmeet Singh is Sikh and Elizabeth May is Anglican. But beyond that, there’s little interest in how often they go to religious services or what role faith plays in their political decisions. 

Not so in the U.S., where the faith of politicians is a very big deal. Which prompts the question: Now that Kamala Harris is the presumptive Democratic Party candidate for president, what is her faith background? 

Read more in my Free Press column about how Harris combines Hinduism, Christianity and Judaism in her life and family—and how that may represent the growing character of American religious life today.

Photo: Kamala Harris at First AME Church of Los Angeles, 2020. U.S. Senate photo. 

Questions on my mind: Should Joe Biden follow his faith about staying or leaving? Do Canadian faith groups have anything to say about hate? How long should a sermon be?

Should Joe Biden follow the example of Pope Benedict XVI when deciding whether to stay or go? That’s one of the questions on my mind this week, along with wondering if faith groups have anything to say about the increase in hate in Canada and how long a sermon should be. (Hint: Much shorter than you might think.) 

Read my latest column in the Winnipeg Free Press.

"Grief on the go:" How spiritual care providers in hospitals cope with the traumas and challenges of their work

How do spiritual care providers cope with the challenges and trauma of their jobs?

How do they keep going, keep on providing comfort, solace, guidance, prayer or just a listening ear for patients and their families facing some of the most emotional, traumatic and life-changing moments of their lives? 

That’s what I was interested in learning. So I talked to four of them to find out. 

Read their responses in my feature article in the Free Press.

 

Anglicans on the prairies pursue reconciliation through new name: Northern Lights

Sometimes reconciliation involves grand actions that garner a lot of attention, like Pope Francis issuing an apology on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church to Indigenous people in Canada or the city of Winnipeg changing the name of Bishop Grandin Boulevard to Abinojii Mikanah.  

But other times it’s about things that are quieter and happen mostly out of sight — but which are also significant. 

That’s what happened in late May when the Anglican Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert’s Land, which includes ten Anglican dioceses in Manitoba, Northwestern Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Arctic, changed its name to the Ecclesiastical Province of Northern Lights. 

Read about it in my column in the Free Press.