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By DAVID CRARY
and ELANA SCHOR
Associated Press
For many religious denominations in the United States, there were two shared preoccupations in 2020 beyond the usual matters of faith: How to cope with the coronavirus pandemic and how to respond to tumultuous political events.
With Joe Biden replacing Donald Trump as president, and with vaccines eventually expected to ease the threat of COVID-19, the challenges for faith leaders in 2021 will shift.
Here's a look at some important storylines to keep an eye on in the coming year for religion in the country:
RACIAL JUSTICE
During nationwide protests, leaders from many religious traditions spoke out to support the peaceful goals of demonstrators. But in the months since, some segments -- particularly within Christianity -- have taken notably different approaches. Leaders of the six seminaries within the Southern Baptist Convention released a statement in November decrying critical race theory, a broad term often used to describe critiques of societal racism, as "incompatible with" central tenets of the faith. Meanwhile, members of other Christian denominations, including Episcopalians and United Methodists, are exploring reparations to African Americans in greater depth.
CATHOLICS AND THE PRESIDENT
Biden will be just the second Roman Catholic president in U.S. history, after John F. Kennedy. But he has been viewed cautiously by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops over his support for abortion rights. Some argue Biden should be barred from partaking in Holy Communion, and the bishops conference has formed a working group to study how to deal with him. However, there has been a relatively positive response from Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington. He says he won't prevent Biden from receiving Communion and looks forward to cooperating on social issues where the president-elect's views mesh with church teaching.
WHITE HOUSE FAITH OFFICE
Trump built close ties to conservative evangelicals even before his 2016 election, but he didn't establish a formal White House faith operation until more than a year after his inauguration. His Faith and Opportunity Initiative has been led by Florida-based televangelist Paula White, a longtime spiritual adviser to Trump who later campaigned for his reelection. While it's not yet clear how Biden will set up and staff his own White House faith office, his choices will shape his administration's approach to religious outreach. A recent report by the nonpartisan Brookings Institution recommended focusing on helping the needy by forming religious and nonreligious alliances, rather than elevating specific faith-based groups.
LGBTQ RIGHTS
Under Trump there have been some rollbacks in civil rights protections for LGBTQ people that Biden is vowing to restore and expand. But that may prove complicated if Republican lawmakers and the Supreme Court, now with a solid conservative majority, endorse the arguments of religious conservatives that some of those protections infringe on religious liberty. One example: a pending Supreme Court case in which a Catholic social services agency says it should be able to turn away same-sex couples who want to be foster parents, while still receiving local government funding. Religious conservatives also vow to oppose efforts by Democrats in Congress to pass the Equality Act, which would extend nationwide the comprehensive anti-bias protections already afforded to LGBTQ people in 21 mostly Democratic-governed states, covering such sectors as housing, public accommodations and public services.