Welcome to another edition of the Friday Five.
Usually, I offer a bit of extra information or at least a little wit before getting to the point.
But this week I’ll confess that I’ve got nothing, so let’s dive right in:
1. Religion story of the week: The Los Angeles Times’ Jaweed Kaleem was among those who reported on the massacre of a large Mormon clan in Mexico.
Also on the story: New York Times religion writer Elizabeth Dias, who contributed to coverage here and here.
Elsewhere, The Associated Press noted that the slayings highlighted confusion over Mormon groups. The Washington Post explained “How Mexico’s cartel wars shattered American Mormons’ wary peace,” and the Wall Street Journal reported on Mormon families gathering to mourn those killed.
Here’s one more: A stunning New York Times feature on the details of the attack itself and on-the-scene reporting about the families wrestling with grief and the details of how to respond. The reporting is deep and detailed — except that there’s no real sense of why these believers are in Mexico and what separates them from mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints life.
That seems like a rather important subject, in this case.
2. Most popular GetReligion post: Editor Terry Mattingly has our No. 1 commentary of the week, headlined “Washington Post: Catholics should follow Germany's gospel when seeking future growth.”
No, tmatt was not a fan of the Post’s very one-sided story: