Cassidy Klein

Chicago

Editorial Assistant at U.S. Catholic

Writer at Freelance

Writer & journalist she/her

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Articles

They Denied Themselves Indulgence in Everything - Except Their Art

1 week ago | sojo.net | Cassidy Klein

“ON EARTH AS it is in heaven,” wasn’t simply a prayer for the Shakers, a small Protestant sect that practiced communal living and peaked in the mid-19th century: It was the bedrock of their lives.
‘You Can’t Pray to Me and Keep Your Guns’

2 weeks ago | sojo.net | Cassidy Klein

Under the steel arch of Hell Gate between Astoria, Queens, and Manhattan, musician Grace Leckey searches her heart. “It feels like an altar / At the base of the bridge,” Leckey sings in “The Ballad of Hell Gate,” an 8-minute folk-rock song from her new sophomore album Hell Gate. “I still pray by that lamppost / And leave unfinished songs like offerings.” Hell Gate is a tribute to both Astoria and to Leckey’s Irish Catholic ancestry, she said in an interview with Sojourners.
Folk saints, canonized or not, champion liberation for all

2 months ago | uscatholic.org | Nathaniel Hunter |Cassidy Klein

Over the past 30 years or so, several Mexican and American newspapers have reported cases of undocumented immigrants surviving the journey across the treacherous Sonoran Desert after receiving help from a priest in a pickup truck. He offers people rides and provides water, food, and money—often appearing out of nowhere. In return for his help, he asks people to visit him at his parish in the Mexican state of Jalisco.
Laypeople, clergy, discuss the challenges LGBTQ+ Catholics face

Feb 15, 2025 | uscatholic.org | Nathaniel Hunter |Cassidy Klein

In an image painted by Father William Hart McNichols, Our Lady of Sorrows reaches out her arms to Alana Chen, a young LGBTQ+ woman who died by suicide in 2019. Chen was a devout Catholic who underwent conversion therapy. When painting the image of Chen, McNichols imagined who she was with now.
Catholic organizers on the next 4 years of justice work

Jan 7, 2025 | uscatholic.org | Nathaniel Hunter |Cassidy Klein

As we head into 2025—a year that Pope Francis has declared a Jubilee year for the church—the United States faces a second Trump presidency, leaving many uncertain how immigration, climate change, democracy, LGBTQ+ rights, and more will unfold over the next four years.
The Catholic Law Students Who Help Trans Folks Change Legal Names

Dec 9, 2024 | sojo.net | Cassidy Klein

Last year, Sammi Mrowka, a graduate student at San Diego State University who is nonbinary and transgender, completed the legal process for changing their name and gender marker on IDs. Mrowka, who uses “he” and “they” pronouns, participated in a name and gender marker change clinic run by law students at the University of San Diego, who helped him fill out the paperwork.
Mary Novak brings her faith to the fight for democracy

Nov 4, 2024 | uscatholic.org | Nathaniel Hunter |Cassidy Klein

For Mary Novak, being the first lay executive director of NETWORK, a social justice lobby of Catholic sisters founded in 1972, is an “integrating role at this stage in my life,” bringing together her experience as a trauma-informed lawyer, educator, chaplain, organizer, activist, and restorative justice practitioner. Novak began her role at NETWORK in 2021.
Fighting fascism is an act of love, says this activist

Oct 15, 2024 | uscatholic.org | Nathaniel Hunter |Cassidy Klein

On August 12, 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia, right-wing hate groups gathered for a “Unite the Right” rally that turned violent and deadly. Present at the riot was a small but mighty group of anti-fascists resisting the white supremacy and fascism on display that day.
As election nears, Catholics reflect on abortion politics

Sep 10, 2024 | uscatholic.org | Nathaniel Hunter |Cassidy Klein

More than two years have passed since Roe v. Wade was overturned in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision, in which the Supreme Court justices ruled that the “Constitution does not confer a right to abortion” and that the “authority to regulate abortion” is returned to the states. Since then, 14 states have enacted total abortion bans that make abortion illegal after contraception or, in a few states, after six weeks of pregnancy.
A Man-Made Mountain Proclaiming God's Love

Aug 22, 2024 | sojo.net | Cassidy Klein

WE STOOD AT the base of a sticky, bright mountain, a 50-foot-high altar of hay and clay and thousands of gallons of paint proclaiming “GOD IS LOVE” in chunky letters. We shaded our faces from the hazy-sizzling sky to see the white cross at the very top, blue stripes streaming down the sides, a parade of happy flowers at the base. “Say Jesus I’m a sinner please come upon my body and into my heart” is written into a giant cherry-red heart.