There are no shortage of religion stories, but you already knew that. You wouldn’t be here — and we wouldn’t be doing this — if you also didn’t think so.
This time of year brings with it pieces looking back on the biggest stories of the year. It’s also a time to look ahead. The coming year will certainly be a busy one once again for journalists who cover Catholicism, Pope Francis and the church’s hierarchy.
The pontiff already made his claim for newsmaker of 2019 (and 2020) after a bizarre incident on New Year’s Eve that included slapping the hand of a woman who grabbed him in St. Peter’s Square in the same evening where he denounced domestic violence against women. The video went viral to start 2020 as the pope apologized for the incident on New Year’s Day.
With that, here are six of the biggest storylines and trends journalists need to watch for in 2020:
The 2020 presidential election: Yes, there will be another presidential election this November. That means politics will dominate the news cycle and our everyday conversations. Yes, even more than it already has the past few years. Trump and the digital age has wrought news overload — even with coverage of religion news. Look for reporters to cover religion a lot, if the news is linked to the president and his Democratic challengers.
How Catholics vote will be a big storyline throughout the primaries and in the general election. How former Vice President Joe Biden will do remains to be seen, after switching his position regarding the federal funding of abortion. That Biden could be the first Catholic president since JFK shouldn’t be lost in the news coverage. It probably won’t be, but the doctrinal divide between doctrinally conservative and progressive Catholics will play out big time in 2020. It’s something reporters need to cover accurately — although not likely given how polarized media has become in recent years.
How Trump, Biden and the other presidential candidates are courting religious voters is a big part of the story, although not likely a large part of the coverage. At the same time, what Catholics think of the upcoming election, and who’d they likely back, is already a big part of the story thanks to a recent poll. The annual Al Smith Dinner in New York City, which takes place on the third Thursday in October, should be interesting once again.
Fallout from the Pan-Amazon Synod: The proposals outlined at the Amazonian Synod are likely to emerge — and even dominate — the global church in 2020. The battle for the future direction of the church was played out among the bishops and others who participated in the synod this past October.
To recap: Can priests marry (in the Amazon) and women serve as deacons were the big stories to emerge, polarizing Catholics further on whether such a decision would impact the church around the world. Add doctrinal ambiguity and idolatry (remember Pachamama?) to the stew and a potentially lethal brew was created. Here’s what I wrote about the three-week synod at its conclusion in a piece for Religion Unplugged:
The synod may be over, but what transpired over the last three weeks could have a major impact on Catholicism in South America, and throughout the world, for years to come. Exactly how remains to be seen.
That statement remains true. Stay tuned.
Francis, during a recent speech, said in order to carry out the continuing reform of the church requires a willingness to change and a commitment to personal conversion. This is certainly setting the stage for a debate within the Roman curia between progressive and conservative bishops and what the church will look like in the future. This was further exacerbated by more talk of paganism in a greeting card and at a recent Vatican event that got conservative Catholic Twitter into an uproar.
Once again, stay tuned.
Annual U.S. Bishops Conference: November isn’t just about voting. The annual fall U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will take place that month, a gathering that frequently makes it into the news cycle. At this fall’s meeting, the bishops issued a document that could impact the Catholic vote in 2020.
Church leaders used the meeting to encourage Catholics to prioritize faith over partisan politics. The document on “Faithful Citizenship” aims to serve as a guide for U.S. Catholics when they vote next year.
For a church that opposes abortion and supports helping immigrants, Catholics will have to find a balance on whether or not to re-elect Trump. How Catholics decide whether to favor the president’s position on abortion and judicial appointments compared to his anti-immigrant rhetoric is a major story — again.
The bishops said the one priority of Catholics should be abortion. Does that mean Trump remains the only choice? It could be 2016 all over again.
Laws regarding sex abuse and lawsuits: The laws governing the statute of limitations in various states made a big impact on the Catholic church and other groups this year. That story won’t change in 2020. If anything, it will intensify as cases go to court and others are settled.
The financial reckoning that will hit the church will be in full bloom in the coming year. It will mean reporters — many of whom have no experience handling “religion stories” — will quickly have to understand the financial intricacies of the church.
It doesn’t end there. Church teachings, doctrine and how the Vatican operates will all come into play. How bankruptcies will affect parishes and local communities is a story that will be at the forefront in 2020 and beyond. It could radically change the church in the United States forever.
The recent lifting by the pope of the pontifical secret and it no longer applying in cases of accusations and trials involving abuse of minors or vulnerable persons, and in cases of possession of child pornography by clerics could also have larger ramifications.
As the Catholic News Agency noted in its story:
The pontifical secret,, also sometimes called papal secrecy, is a rule of confidentiality protecting sensitive information regarding the governance of the universal Church. It is similar to the “classified” or “confidential” status common in companies or civil governments.
In the new instruction, Pope Francis said the pontifical secret will also no longer bind those working in offices of the Roman Curia to confidentiality on other offenses if committed in conjunction with child abuse or child pornography.
Witnesses, alleged victims, and the person who files the report are also not bound to obligations of silence, the instruction states.
This officially goes into effect on January 1. It’s a move aimed at increased transparency at a time the church needs to restore credibility among its followers.
Papal visit to Iraq: It was Saint John Paul II who elevated papal visits to a media event. While Pope Francis has traveled less than JPII, this pontiff has nonetheless made trips that have mattered.
One that will matter on a geopolitical as well as religious manner is a scheduled trip to Iraq sometime in 2020, the first time for a pope. John Allen, writing in Crux earlier this year, noted the following:
Of course, this is the Middle East we’re talking about, where the best-laid plans go to die. St. John Paul II had every intention of visiting the Iraqi city of Ur as part of his pilgrimage to the origins of the faith for the Great Jubilee of 2000, but security concerns derailed those hopes. A widening conflict between the U.S. and Iran is merely one scenario that might have a similar impact on Francis’s agenda this time around.
If the pontiff does end up going, however, it may be Francis’s best shot at the title of “most important papal trip of all time.”
Francis isn’t afraid to “make news” on papal trips. His 2013 trip to Brazil featured the now-infamous “Who am I to judge?” soundbite. In 2016, during a trip to Mexico, he questioned then-candidate Trump’s credentials as a Christian.
Jubilee year for Loreto: To honor the 100th anniversary of the declaration of Our Lady of Loreto as the patron saint of aviation and aviators, Francis authorized a special jubilee year of celebrations, especially at the Italian shrine of Our Lady of Loreto, in 2020.
The jubilee year officially opened on December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, and will conclude next year on December 10 to coincide with the feast of Our Lady of Loreto. More echoes of JPII. In 1991, then-Pope John Paul II celebrated the Loreto feast day with a Mass for pilots and other airline employees at Leonardo Da Vinci Airport in Rome.
This is a story that may not get much attention in the secular press, but religious news organizations — especially ones on the doctrinal right in the United States — will be keenly following in 2020. Seeing that divide possibly grow, especially in an election year, is part of the larger story.