How Pope Francis’ welcoming message transformed a trans community in Rome

While Pope Francis' steps toward openness to the LGBTQ community haven't changed church doctrine, outside Vatican circles they have been seen as earthshaking.

The Rev. Andrea Conocchia talks to a small group of trans women at the Church of the Immaculate Blessed Virgin on Monday, Sept. 5, 2022, in Torvaianica, Italy. RNS photo by Federico Manzoni

September 7, 2022

By 

Claire Giangravé

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — The Church of the Immaculate Blessed Virgin looks out onto the Mediterranean from Torvaianica, a beach town just 20 miles from Rome known more for its Mafia incursions, drugs and sex trafficking than its scenery. On a recent gray morning on its littered streets was a single pigeon wing — debris from fights with local gulls.

Immaculate Blessed Virgin’s high red brick façade conceals a rather low-vaulted interior, which on this morning was fragrant with the perfume of the lilies strewn on the floor, left over from a celebration for the Assumption of Mary a few days before. A handful of middle-aged parish volunteers were at work cleaning up the church.

The Rev. Andrea Conocchia, the pastor, showed up in sweatpants and a T-shirt reading “God is great and Jesus loves me,” a gift for his 25th anniversary of celebrating his first Mass. He apologizes for his voice, still worn out from guiding the Mary procession down the windy beach.

Conocchia said he’s a big fan of liturgies, Masses and processions, but he prefers ministry that is immersed in his community. His primary tools as a priest appear to be a bright orange car and his cellphone, which erupts constantly with WhatsApp messages. His favored office is the coffee shop overlooking the beach just off Torvaianica’s main square.

The Rev. Andrea Conocchia, center, introduces members of the Torvaianica community to Pope Francis on Aug. 11, 2022, during the pope’s general audience at the Vatican. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Andrea Conocchia

“I’m not just a priest at the altar. I am a priest right now!” he explained as he loaded up with cups of espresso and chunks of jam tart in the coffee bar for the team tidying up after the revelries.

But in the past two years, Conocchia has gained fame for serving a particular community that found him shortly after he arrived at Blessed Virgin: a group of trans women whose lives he has changed both practically and spiritually. Since April, at the invitation of the Vatican, Conocchia has brought four groups of LGBTQ people to meet Pope Francis and receive needed medical care.

The trips, he said, have allowed fathers struggling with their children’s sexuality to find redemption. Since becoming known for his work in Torvaianica, he conducts prayer sessions via Zoom with disenfranchised LGBTQ Catholics across Italy.

The trans women in Torvaianica sought out Conocchia for basic needs. Most of them sex workers, they had been left without clients, and therefore income, by the pandemic. Because many are HIV-positive, they are at higher risk for serious illness. As immigrants, they could not take advantage of Italy’s health care system.

“When the pandemic hit, we as trans people had to knock on doors because we had nothing to eat,” said Claudia Salas in a mix of Italian and her native Argentine Spanish. “When I went to the church, they closed the door on me,” she said about a nearby parish. “They suggested to go to the parish of Torvaianica.

The Rev. Andrea Conocchia shares a laugh with Claudia Salas at the Church of the Immaculate Blessed Virgin on Monday, Sept. 5, 2022, in Torvaianica, Italy. RNS photo by Federico Manzoni

“Don Andrea was the only one to bring God to us,” Salas said, her grief repeatedly spilling over into tears. She said Conocchia brought pasta, vegetables and other staples to their homes.

After meeting Conocchia, Salas, who transitioned when she was 11, urged other trans women to go to the parish at Torvaianica. 

Conocchia had arrived at Blessed Virgin months before from a small chapel in Lido dei Pini, a half-hour down the coast. Given the chapel’s tiny capacity, he said, he spent much of his time preaching on the streets — it was in Lido dei Pini that he traded his cassock for the more practical pants and T-shirt. Torvaianica was a shock at first. “Everything was locked,” he said. “It was like entering a cloistered monastery.”

Boats along the beachfront in Torvaianica, Italy. RNS photo by Federico Manzoni

A bird flies over barbed wire in Torvaianica, Italy. RNS photo by Federico Manzoni

As the pandemic descended on Italy, the Italian government demanded that churches close. Conocchia obeyed until one morning after saying Mass to the nuns who live at the church complex, he saw a line of people in the church’s piazza. “They were families, people dependent on undeclared or seasonal work, migrants, and in the crowd there were three trans women,” he said.

Despite fears of spreading COVID-19, not least to his aging mother who lives with him, Conocchia opened the doors. The second day there were four trans women, he said; the next there were eight. 

At first, he offered the trans women food and money through the local chapter of Caritas, the Catholic charitable organization. He helped Salas get documented and find work as a cleaner, seamstress and cook to get her off the streets.

The Church of the Immaculate Blessed Virgin on Monday, Sept. 5, 2022, in Torvaianica, Italy. RNS photo by Federico Manzoni

As their numbers continued to grow, he came up with idea of having the women write to the pope. They told him they were ashamed to describe their lives to the pope. Several wept to think of it.

But the letters went to Rome, and in April 2020, the pope sent money and food to Blessed Virgin through Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, the official dispenser of Francis’ philanthropy. The 58-year-old Pole is known for diving into sewers to restore electricity to Roma refugee camps. More recently Francis sent Krajewski to Ukraine, where he has met with refugees and blessed mass graves.

Since early in his pontificate, Francis has taken a novel approach to LGBTQ issues, beginning with his reply in 2013 to a question about gay priests: “Who am I to judge?” He has met with a Spanish trans man and his partner at the Vatican and praised the work of the Rev. James Martin, the American Jesuit who advocates for inclusion for LGBTQ Catholics.

Last year, not long after the Vatican’s office of doctrine issued a document calling the blessing of same-sex couples a sin, Francis overhauled the office and removed those responsible.

Francis has stopped short of definitively changing Catholic teaching, which still regards homosexuality as “intrinsically disordered.” He has called gender theory a form of “ideological colonization,” especially when taught in schools. Measured against this doctrinal stance, the pope’s steps toward openness to the LGBTQ community are mere gestures, but outside Vatican circles they have been seen as earthshaking.

At Easter 2021, Krajewski called Conocchia to tell him to bring the trans women and others in need to the Vatican to receive COVID-19 vaccines and health checkups. When Conocchia arrived at the Vatican City gates with two busloads in tow, Vatican officials asked the pope whether they should be allowed inside. Francis ordered them to be admitted, saying, “Ask for their names, ask for anything they need, but do not ask them about their sex,” according to activist Juan Carlos Cruz, a friend of the pope’s.

Members of a faith community from Torvaianica, Italy, including transgender individuals, volunteers and others, pose outside Paul VI Audience Hall in April after arriving at the Vatican to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Andrea Conocchia

The next day at the papal audience, Conocchia ushered the women forward to meet the pontiff. “When I touched his hand, I was lost for words,” Minerva Motta Nuñes said. She offered him a traditional leather cup from Peru, where she was born.

Afterward, Conocchia said, the pope told him: “Keep going, continue in this ministry, you are doing well.”

Marcella Demarco Muniz, from left, Claudia Salas, Laura and Minerva Motta Nuñes meet at the Church of the Immaculate Blessed Virgin on Monday, Sept. 5, 2022, in Torvaianica, Italy. RNS photo by Federico Manzoni

Conocchia said he has been reinvigorated by the pope’s approval, especially after Conocchia’s efforts to open the church to the LGBTQ community have led to pushback.

Some in Torvaianica were angry that the trans women received the vaccine before other residents. Conocchia admits that it’s not uncommon for disapproving members of his flock to casually ask him for how long he thinks he will be stationed at the parish.

Two local priests, both from Africa, support the pope and his message of inclusion but say focusing on questions of sexuality seems terribly out of touch with the demand for food, medicine and financial independence in their native countries.

The Rev. Blaise Mayuma Nkwa, from Congo, where there are more Catholics per capita than any nation in Africa, won’t go on Conocchia’s trips in the company of the trans women. When the subject comes up at lunch, the otherwise cheerful priest turns quiet.

The Rev. Andrea Conocchia, left, and the Rev. Blaise Mayuma Nkwa pose together at the Church of the Immaculate Blessed Virgin on Monday, Sept. 5, 2022, in Torvaianica, Italy. RNS photo by Federico Manzoni

The Rev. Omero Mananga, Conocchia’s deputy, displays both respect and skepticism. He worries about explaining Francis’ vision to the die-hard core of old ladies at Blessed Virgin. Conocchia asks in reply, “What will happen when our little old ladies die?” before answering, mostly to himself: “It will be all over … preaching to no one in empty chapels.”

According to 2021 data from Italy’s statistics agency, ISTAT, more than 30% of those who attend Mass once a week are above the age of 75. The same report found that even in Catholic Italy, only 19% of people attend religious services regularly.

“We cannot go back,” Conocchia said one afternoon after presiding at back-to-back funerals. “Pope Francis has pushed the church in a new direction, and I worry about what will happen if we revert to the old ways.”

Claudia Salas at the Church of the Immaculate Blessed Virgin on Monday, Sept. 5, 2022, in Torvaianica, Italy. RNS photo by Federico Manzoni

Marcella Demarco Muniz prays at the Church of the Immaculate Blessed Virgin on Monday, Sept. 5, 2022, in Torvaianica, Italy. RNS photo by Federico Manzoni

The trans women feel the division between Francis’ vision and the reality of the church differently. Nuñes was raised Catholic but avoids attending Mass for fear of judgment. “I can’t separate myself from what I do,” said Nuñes, hinting at her work as a prostitute, “because I’m always met by the prejudice of people and the church.”

Salas echoed this feeling of rejection. People in the pews shake her hand at the sign of peace but won’t give her a glance when they pass on the street.

But Marcella Demarco Muniz said that when she was ushered forward at the general audience to meet Francis in April, he told her in Spanish: “Don’t worry, we are all the same in the eyes of God.” If she could, she said, she would visit him at every general audience.

They believe Francis’ message of inclusion is slowly changing the church. “The pope has opened many doors,” said Nuñes.

Marcella Demarco Muniz, from left, Laura and Claudia Salas look at a book about Pope Francis at the Church of the Immaculate Blessed Virgin on Monday, Sept. 5, 2022, in Torvaianica, Italy. RNS photo by Federico Manzoni

Demarco said she loved St. John Paul II and remembers his visits to South America when she was young. “But Pope Francis is everything for us,” she said. “He’s from South America and has a way with everyone.

“He moves forward as the world moves forward,” she added.

If so, it will be because Francis’ vision translates into changes like what has happened at Blessed Virgin. Conocchia sheepishly admits he has set a new standard for LGBTQ Catholics in Italy wishing to be reconciled with the church. After his openness toward trans women appeared in several newspapers, other groups from all over the peninsula contacted the priest seeking advice.

At lunch with his fellow priests, meditating on the future of the church, Conocchia had grown somewhat glum. But as he walks away to the jingling of his keys, he returns to his usual gaiety. “They don’t like it when I say it,” he said, “but this isn’t a reform. It’s a revolution.”

A seaside sign in Torvaianica, Italy. RNS photo by Federico Manzoni

Supreme Court blocks recognition of LGBTQ club at Yeshiva University

“We are pleased with Justice Sotomayor’s ruling which protects our religious liberty and identity as a leading faith-based academic institution," said Yeshiva University's president.

FILE - The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, Monday, June 27, 2022. The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a court order that would have forced Yeshiva University to recognize an LGBTQ group as an official campus club. The court acted Friday, Sept. 9, in a brief order signed by Justice Sonia Sotomayor that indicated the court would have more to say on the topic at some point. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

September 9, 2022

By 

Kathryn Post

(RNS) — The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a court order that would have forced Yeshiva University to recognize an LGBTQ group as an official campus club.

The court acted Friday in a brief order signed by Justice Sonia Sotomayor that indicated the court would have more to say on the topic at some point.

The university, an Orthodox Jewish institution in New York, argued that granting recognition to the group, the YU Pride Alliance, “would violate its sincere religious beliefs.”

“We are pleased with Justice Sotomayor’s ruling which protects our religious liberty and identity as a leading faith-based academic institution,” said Rabbi Ari Berman, president of Yeshiva University, in a press release. “But make no mistake, we will continue to strive to create an environment that welcomes all students, including those of our LGBTQ community.”

Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing Yeshiva, said in a statement to Religion News Service that the school should not have had to turn to the nation’s highest court “to receive such a commonsense ruling in favor of its First Amendment rights.”

The lawyers for YU Pride Alliance told RNS that the group “has received Justice Sotomayor’s order and will await a final order from the Supreme Court.” In the meantime, they say, the group is committed to remaining a source of safety and support for Yeshiva’s LGBTQ students. 

In a phone call with the RNS, Marc Stern, chief legal officer with the American Jewish Committee, said it’s not clear whether Sotomayor agreed to block the court order as part of an administrative stay, which would put the lower court’s order on hold until she can consult with her colleagues, or if it’s an indication that the Court sees this as a serious issue that deserves full review. 

“I think the smart reading of the decision is that Yeshiva has presented serious issues that at least some members of the court will want to give serious attention to,” Stern told RNS.

In either case, he said, “I think many people would have dismissed Yeshiva’s challenge as borderline frivolous, and that no longer is a credible attitude.”  

Mordechai Levovitz, founder and clinical director of JQY, a nonprofit that supports Orthodox Jewish queer youth, told RNS in a phone interview, “I feel horrible for the queer students at YU that now have to go to school on Monday at a school that has declared them a threat, that has publicly announced their simply wanting recognition, self esteem, camaraderie is a religious violation and irreparable injury to the school and the students.”  

“For the last 25 years, Orthodox rabbis have been telling us that they have no problem with queer identity or with queers wanting to build camaraderie,” he said. “Rabbis have been telling us for the last 25 years that the issue that they had was with sexual behavior. But now we see that they were lying to us.”

Levovitz said that if the school won’t recognize YU Pride Alliance, JQY will financially support the group and rent a room for them to meet in the building next door. 

Earlier this week, LGBTQ students and alumni from Yeshiva took to social media to express their concerns about the schools’ emergency request to the Court. In a video posted on social media, the students challenged Yeshiva’s claim that the undergraduate school is welcoming toward LGBTQ students. 

A New York state court had sided with the student group and ordered the university to recognize the club immediately. The matter is on appeal in the state court system, but judges there refused to put the order on hold in the meantime.

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RELATED: Yeshiva University petitions Supreme Court to intervene in LGBTQ club dispute

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A coalition of other religious groups, including the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Liberty University and Wheaton College submitted a friend-of-the-court briefs on Sept. 2 asking the Supreme Court to block the order requiring Yeshiva to recognize the LGBTQ student group. The Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and a number of Jewish organizations filed separate friend-of-the-court briefs. 

The Supreme Court has been increasingly receptive to religious freedom claims in recent years.

In June, conservatives who hold a 6-3 majority struck down a Maine program prohibiting state funds from being spent at religious schools and ruled a high school football coach in Washington state has the right to pray on the field after games.

Nearly 200 religious colleges deemed ‘unsafe’ for LGBTQ students by Campus Pride

'Campus Pride envisions campuses and a society free of anti-LGBTQ+ prejudice, bigotry, and hate,' said Campus Pride Executive Director Shane Windmeyer.

Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Photo by Taber Andrew Bain/Creative Commons

September 8, 2022

By 

Alejandra Molina

(RNS) — Dozens of religious universities across the country, including Seattle Pacific University in Washington and Brigham Young University in Utah, were listed as unsafe and discriminatory campuses for LGBTQ students by Campus Pride, a national organization advocating for inclusive colleges and universities.

Fewer than 10 of the 193 schools on the list released Thursday (Sept. 8), were not religiously affiliated or did not list a religious affiliation, according to Campus Pride.

Campus Pride, which began in 2002 as an online community and became a nonprofit in 2006, said it launched the national listing in 2015 to bring attention to colleges and universities that requested Title IX exemptions against LGBTQ students.

Among the campuses that made “The Worst List:”  Azusa Pacific University, an interdenominational Christian school in Southern California; Baylor University, a Baptist school in Waco, Texas; George Fox University, a Quaker institution in Newberg, Oregon; Yeshiva University, a Modern Orthodox Jewish school in New York City; and Liberty University, a Baptist institution in Lynchburg, Virginia.

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RELATED: Are LGBTQ students at Christian schools discriminated against? A lawsuit, scholarly studies say yes.

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Many of the schools made the list for claiming an exemption to Title IX and for “allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.” More than 120 schools were listed as exempt from Title IX.

Other schools in California qualified for the list due to their opposition to a state bill that targets private universities exempted from anti-discrimination laws. The schools argue compliance would conflict with their religious tenets,  the Los Angeles Times reported.

“Campus Pride envisions campuses and a society free of anti-LGBTQ+ prejudice, bigotry, and hate,” Shane Windmeyer , executive director of Campus Pride, said in a statement on Twitter. “The growing anti-LGBTQ+ attacks on youth across the country makes the release of #TheWorstList even more crucial and timely.”

People participate in the third day of a sit-in at Seattle Pacific University, May 26, 2022, after the board of trustees decided to retain a policy that prohibits the hiring of LGBTQ people. Photo via Twitter/@SPUisGay

The list is published as schools like Seattle Pacific University have faced backlash from students protesting policies they say are discriminatory toward LGBTQ people.  

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RELATED: Washington state confirms probe into Seattle Pacific University’s LGBTQ hiring practices

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Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson in late July confirmed his office was investigating SPU for potential illegal discrimination against LGBTQ people due to the school’s employment policies. The investigation came as  students staged a monthlong sit-in to protest the board of trustees’ decision to keep a policy barring the hiring of LGBTQ people.

“Until students can see themselves represented in their professors, SPU cannot be considered a safe space for LGBTQ+ students,”  an Instagram statement from Seattle Pacific LGBTQ+ Protest said.

U$ COPS AT WAR WITH CIVILIANS***

Family wants answers after pallbearer killed by officers

JOHN RABY

Thu, September 8, 2022 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Jason Arnie Owens helped carry his father’s casket to the hearse, then turned to embrace a relative. He never made it to the cemetery.

As mourners gathered outside a northern West Virginia funeral home on Aug. 24, two plainclothes officers with a fugitive warrant swooped in from separate vehicles, called Owens' name and shot him dead, spattering his 18-year-old son's shirt with blood as horrified loved ones looked.

"There was no warning whatsoever,” family friend Cassandra Whitecotton said.

In the blink of an eye, stunned friends and family already mourning one member lost another. Now, they want answers — not just why Owens was shot but why the encounter happened the way it did.

Law enforcement officials aren't explaining much right now, citing an ongoing investigation. Owens, 37, was wanted on a fugitive warrant, but the U.S. Marshals Service hasn't said what it was for. The agency also said in a statement that he had a gun when members of a fugitive task force approached. Multiple witnesses contend that's not true.

Whitecotton and others who stood just feet away said Owens was unarmed, had been hugging his aunt, Evelyn O’Dell, and was fired on immediately after his name was called. Witnesses also dispute the U.S. Marshals' assertion that first aid was performed right away, before emergency medical services arrived.

"They yelled Jason’s name. They just said ‘Jason’ and then started firing,” Whitecotton said. “There was no identifications they were U.S. Marshals — anything. They did not render this man any aid at all. Never once they touched him to render any aid whatsoever.”

As relatives prepared for services Friday for Owens, a state police investigation of the shooting was underway. But patience in the community is wearing thin.

Relatives and supporters protested outside the Harrison County Courthouse last week, accusing law enforcement authorities of overreach in the death of Owens, who was white. A Facebook page called Justice for Jason Owens has swelled to about 800 members — more than half of the population of Nutter Fort, where Owens was killed.

Underlying the unanswered questions is whether some boundary of decency had been crossed in arresting a man in the midst of burying his father.

“If they’ve been searching for someone and they finally figure out where they are, they’re going to get them,” said Tracy L. Hahn, a Columbus, Ohio-based security consultant who retired after 32 years in law enforcement, including as deputy police chief at Ohio State University.

Hahn said she knows agencies that have gone to funerals but have waited until afterward to approach the person.

“There must be some extenuating circumstance that they felt the urgency to arrest him then instead of waiting, if there was some risk factor, an escape risk or something like that,” Hahn said.

Family members aren’t so sure. They say it only adds to their sense of disrespect that the agencies involved feel no obligation to address their questions.

“We want to know why you would do this in front of his family,” said Owens’ cousin, Mandy Swiger. “And what gives you the right to do that to an unarmed man?”

Acting U.S. Marshal Terry Moore said he couldn’t answer questions during the investigation and messages left with state police weren’t returned.

It’s not clear whether video exists from police bodycams, a police vehicle dashboard or the funeral home itself. Unlike major cities where detailed incident reports and video footage are released after fatal police shootings — sometimes within hours — that rarely happens in West Virginia.

West Virginia law exempts police from having to release video footage during an investigation. And the U.S. Marshals Service office said it did not write a detailed incident report about the shooting, referring to the news release that withheld Owens’ name and other details.

Owens had been in trouble with the law before. He was sentenced in 2018 to three to 13 years in prison for fleeing a Harrison County sheriff’s deputy and trying to strangle him during a scuffle. He was released on parole in April 2021.

But Swiger said he committed a parole violation “for not checking in just once. And that’s why he promised his mom after the funeral he would turn himself in.”

Whitecotton said she was smoking a cigarette after the service when an SUV came flying down the side street where the hearse would pull out.

"It about hit me, so I jumped back up on the curb and kind of looked at him like, ‘What’s your problem?’” she said. A man in shorts and a T-shirt jumped out, leaving his door open.

Swiger said a white truck with another plainclothes officer inside almost hit her mother’s vehicle as the truck sped into the parking lot. Swiger said Owens was shot from different directions and estimated as many as 40 people were in the area. She, too, said she didn't see a gun in Owens' hands.

Some mourners instinctively rushed toward Owens after he fell to the ground, Swiger said, but were told by one of the officers, “You step back or I’ll shoot you.”

Whitecotton said she has lived in much larger cities such as Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth.

“Never in my life have I dealt with anything like this,” she said. "I would expect it there, honestly. But not here.”

*** MILITARIZED POLICE SERVE AND PROTECT CAPITALI$M AND IT'S STATE

'Triple-dip' La Niña is on the way. 

Here's what it means for weather in the US.



Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
Fri, September 9, 2022

La Niña just won't go away.

Meteorologists say that for the third straight year, La Niña will persist throughout the winter in the Northern Hemisphere. This is the first "triple-dip" La Niña of the century, according to a recent update from the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization.

This La Niña began in September 2020.

The La Niña climate pattern is a natural cycle marked by cooler-than-average ocean water in the central Pacific Ocean. It is one of the main drivers of weather in the United States and around the world, especially during late fall, winter and early spring.

It's the opposite to the more well-known El Niño, which occurs when Pacific ocean water is warmer than average. While this would be the first "triple-dip" La Niña this century, it's not unprecedented for the pattern to last more than nine months to a year, which is typical for a La Niña, according to ABC News.

What is La Niña?: Does it bring more snow? How climate pattern could affect US weather.

Yosemite in peril: How climate change’s grip is altering America’s national parks

A new normal? Climate change exposes growing gap between weather we've planned for – and what's coming

What does La Niña mean for winter in the US?

A typical La Niña winter in the U.S. brings cold and snow to the Northwest and unusually dry conditions to most of the southern tier of the U.S., according to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center. The Southeast and Mid-Atlantic also tend to see warmer-than-average temperatures during a La Niña winter.

Meanwhile, New England and the Upper Midwest into New York tend to see colder-than-average temperatures, the Weather Channel said.

Climate change also plays a role

However, the WMO said all naturally occurring climate events now take place in the context of human-induced climate change, which is increasing global temperatures, exacerbating extreme weather and climate, and impacting seasonal rainfall and temperature patterns.

“It is exceptional to have three consecutive years with a La Niña event," said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas in a news release. "Its cooling influence is temporarily slowing the rise in global temperatures – but it will not halt or reverse the long-term warming trend,” he added.
Where did the term La Niña come from?

Both La Niña and El Niño are Spanish language terms: La Niña means "little girl," while El Niño means "little boy," or "Christ child." South American fishermen first noticed periods of unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean in the 1600s, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. The full name they used was "El Niño de Navidad" because El Niño typically peaks around December.

The entire natural climate cycle is officially known by climate scientists as El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a see-saw dance of warmer and cooler seawater in the central Pacific Ocean.

During La Niña events, trade winds are even stronger than usual, pushing more warm water toward Asia, NOAA said. Off the west coast of the Americas, upwelling increases, bringing cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Triple-dip' La Niña forecast: What does that mean for US weather?

La Nina winter 2022-23 could mean tornado outbreaks, blizzards and everything in between

Do you remember the last two winters? Well, if forecasts for a rare-triple dip La Niña are accurate, the country is in store for more weather extremes.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released an updated outlook Thursday that said there was a 91 percent chance the pattern would be in control through November and a 54 percent chance through March 2023.

A substantial amount of cooler-than-average water in the east-central Pacific and long-range climate models give forecasters confidence that the La Niña pattern will continue.

FARMERS’ ALMANAC DECLARES PARTS OF US ‘HIBERNATION ZONE’ WITH PREDICTED ‘GLACIAL, SNOW-FILLED’ WINTER

During a typical La Niña winter, the southern tier of the country tends to be drier and warmer, and the northern half is usually colder and snowier than usual.

Where moisture and temperature extremes meet, areas can resemble battle zones. If the right ingredients are in place, tornado outbreaks can impact the South and the country’s heartland.

"Preliminary research indicates that La Niña corresponds to an especially active phase for tornadoes over the Deep South with a relatively high frequency of cold-season outbreaks of EF2 or stronger tornadoes," the National Weather Service office in Jackson, Mississippi, said.

The combination of an active jet stream, plenty of moisture and a clash of air masses helped produce a record-breaking deadly tornado outbreak in December 2021. The outbreak included a rare EF-4 long-track tornado that flatted parts of Mayfield, Kentucky.

HOW SALMON NUMBERS RISE AND FALL DURING EL NINO AND LA NINA

On the other side of the spectrum, snowstorms and blizzards are usually common where deep moisture meets frigid air.

Communities from Maine through the Plains and to the Pacific Northwest reported record-breaking snowfall events during the past winter and there is nothing in the outlook that says the extreme events won’t happen in the northern tier again.

Average date of the first snowfall of the season.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center believes the La Niña three-peat will be only the third time on record for the occurrence.

Usually, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, or what is commonly called the ENSO, tends to act more seesaw-like, flipping between La Niña and El Niño more frequently.

Long-term model guidance shows high chances of La Niña drastically waning during the spring.

A diminishing La Niña would put the world in neutral status until ocean temperatures and complex pressure patterns decide the future of the state of the ENSO.

NOAA ENSO Forecast showing the possibilities of La Nina, El Nino and neutral status.

Bernie Sanders says he’ll vote against keeping the government open if Manchin’s ‘disastrous side-deal’ on energy is included

Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Ben Winck

INSIDER
Thu, September 8, 2022

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) (L) walks past Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee mark up, on Capitol Hill on May 03, 2022 in Washington, DC.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Sanders said he'd oppose a short-term government funding bill if it included a Manchin deal on energy.

The bill is set to ease regulations around building a new oil pipeline.

He also warned of a looming revolt among House Democrats.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said on Thursday that he'd oppose a short-term government funding bill if Democratic leaders attached legislation meant to ease construction of crude oil pipelines and other energy infrastructure.

"I will not vote for any bill that makes it easier for Big Oil to destroy the planet and that includes approving the Mountain Valley Pipeline," the Vermont independent wrote on Twitter. "The Continuing Resolution must not be held hostage by Big Oil."

The continuing resolution is a bill designed to keep the government funded for several weeks while Democrats and Republicans craft a year-long spending bill. The measure includes permitting reforms meant to speed up the approval of energy infrastructure projects including the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Sen. Joe Manchin's home state of West Virginia.

Sanders took to the Senate floor and pummeled the legislation, which Democratic leaders and President Joe Biden agreed to pass in an effort to secure Manchin's vote for the Inflation Reduction Act last month. Winning Manchin's support was crucial for the party to advance the slimmed-down version of Biden's economic agenda.

Progressive Democrats have fervently pushed back against the inclusion of the reforms, arguing they give the oil industry a boost when the country should be investing in renewable energy. The inclusion of permitting changes reflects a "disastrous side-deal" between Manchin and Democratic leadership, Sanders said, adding the reforms are in opposition with the energy policy the US should be pursuing.

"At a time when climate change is threatening the very existence of our planet, why would anyone be talking about substantially increasing carbon emissions and fossil fuel production?" Sanders said. He also warned of a revolt among House Democrats, saying "at least" 59 Democratic lawmakers would release a letter stating their opposition to the deal.

Manchin defended his position on Thursday, noting that the IRA included funding for several kinds of clean energy projects. Still, the senator from West Virginia argued that increased energy production from fossil fuels is needed to address more pressing energy demands.

"If I thought it was damaging for climate, I'd have never done it," Manchin told Insider. "We're talking about solar farms, wind farms, but we have to have the fossil horsepower that we need right now."

Sanders leads progressive revolt over Manchin-backed 'side deal' for government funding bill

TRISH TURNER and ALLISON PECORIN

ABC NEWS
Thu, September 8, 2022

Democratic congressional leaders are facing a progressive revolt -- that could potentially risk a government shutdown -- in the wake of the closed-door deal between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin that won the latter's crucial support for the Inflation Reduction Act.

After repeatedly slamming that "disastrous side deal" that would streamline the permitting process for energy projects across the U.S. -- which Schumer agreed to include with a must-pass spending bill to fund the federal government -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., promptly announced Thursday that he intends to oppose the funding resolution as a result.

"If the United States Congress goes on record and says, 'Yes we are going to support more fossil fuel reduction, more carbon emissions,' the signal we are sending to our own people and the planet is a terrible, terrible signal," Sanders said in a floor speech.

He did not mince words with reporters afterward. Asked if he would vote no on funding the government if the Schumer-Manchin permitting deal is attached, he replied: "Yes. You're talking about the future for the planet."

MORE: Calculate how much Biden's Inflation Reduction Act may save you

Sanders' opposition adds to the growing progressive pressure in the House, where some left-wing lawmakers have likewise threatened to block the government funding bill if it includes Manchin's desired changes to energy permitting.

Sanders on Thursday read from a soon-to-be-released letter -- obtained by ABC News Wednesday -- that he said had been signed by "at least 59" House progressives opposing the Schumer-Manchin agreement.

That deal, Sanders said, quoting from the letter, "would silence the voices of environmental communities by insulating them from scrutiny. This would cause members to choose between protecting environmental justice communities from further pollution or funding the government. We urge you to ensure these provisions are kept out of a continuing resolution or any other must-pass legislation this year."

GIVING CHUCK HIS PIECE OF THE ACTION

Sen. Joe Manchin looks to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer after U.S. President Joe Biden signs The Inflation Reduction Act in the State Dining Room of the White House August 16, 2022 in Washington, DC. 

(Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Manchin has argued that permitting reform will also help speed projects related to wind, solar and other environmentally friendly sources of energy. He's adamant that permitting reform must stay in the funding bill and, so far, he seems to have Schumer's backing.

Despite the progressive rhetorical thunder, it is possible that the bill to fund the government -- which will also include popular aid for Ukraine and disaster relief -- will garner enough GOP support to render the threatened liberal blockade moot.

"It was a rank political deal," Sen. Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the appropriations committee, told reporters Thursday of Manchin and Schumer's agreement. But he stopped short of saying it would put government funding in jeopardy.

MORE: Joe Manchin is 'intentionally sabotaging the president's agenda': Bernie Sanders

Still, some other Republicans are vowing to oppose the funding resolution because they oppose Schumer and Manchin's dealmaking. Many conservatives have said they took umbrage at the last-minute nature of the deal among Democrats on the sweeping climate and health care reform legislation known as the IRA. It passed without a single GOP vote -- not long after some Republicans had voted with Democrats on computer chip funding, thinking that the Democrats' social spending bill was dead.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told ABC that "I would vote against it," referring to government funding, and he said he was urging his Republican colleagues to do the same.

It's not yet clear whether Republicans will unite behind Graham's effort, but most GOP aides familiar with the matter say they do not expect that.

ABC News' Mariam Khan contributed to this report.

More than 70 House Democrats join push against Manchin’s permitting reform

Rachel Frazin

THE HILL
Fri, September 9, 2022

More than 70 House Democrats are signing on to a letter pressing Democratic leaders to not include a side deal with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on reforming the permit process for energy projects in a bill funding the government.

The permitting reform language was offered to Manchin to win his vote on the massive climate, tax and health care bill known as the Inflation Reduction Act that was signed into law by President Biden last month.

Manchin provided the critical support to get that bill through the evenly divided Senate after winning concessions from Democratic leaders.

But in the new letter, the Democratic lawmakers are asking Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) not to include the permitting reforms championed by Manchin into a stopgap funding measure that Congress is expected to take up this month.

Without a stopgap funding measure, the government will shut down on Oct. 1.

“The inclusion of these provisions in a continuing resolution, or any other must-pass legislation, would silence the voices of frontline and environmental justice communities by insulating them from scrutiny,” they lawmakers wrote.

“We urge you to ensure that these provisions are kept out of a continuing resolution or any other must-pass legislation this year,” they added in the letter that was spearheaded by Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.).

The opposition from Democrats is a significant problem. If the group follows through on the letter, Democrats might not have the votes to pass a government funding bill if it includes the language backed by Manchin.

And the fact that so many members signed on to the push may give them some additional leverage.

Democrats have historically opposed any changes perceived as undercutting environmental reviews in the permitting process, arguing that this could hamper the consideration of climate and pollution concerns.

When they announced the agreement on the major climate, tax and health care bill, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Manchin said that they, along with Pelosi and President Biden, had reached a deal to pass permitting reform by October to secure Manchin’s vote.

Schumer has already said publicly that he would include the provisions in a stopgap funding measure, known as a continuing resolution.

Legislative text on these reforms have not yet been released, but a summary from Manchin’s office says they would set maximum timelines for environmental reviews assessing an energy project’s potential climate and pollution impacts, restrict states’ abilities to block projects that run through their waters and require the president to prioritize certain projects.

Specifically, the president will be required to prioritize permitting for a “balanced” list of projects including both fossil fuels and renewable energy.

The summary also said the package will require the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a controversial vessel that would carry natural gas from West Virginia to Virginia.

Grijalva previously told The Hill that he didn’t feel an “obligation” to vote for the changes since he was not part of the negotiations with Manchin. He has argued that members should not have to choose between funding the government and voting for changes that they oppose.

In the new letter, the lawmakers said that they support bolstering the environmental review process by providing more funding for government agencies, but oppose “attempts to short-circuit or undermine” a key environmental law requiring the reviews.

Schumer in tough spot over Manchin promise

Alexander Bolton
Thu, September 8, 2022

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday pledged to add permitting reform legislation to a stopgap funding bill that would prevent a government shutdown, but he’s in a tough spot as he seeks to deliver on a promise to Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

The permitting reform is a side-deal Schumer struck with Manchin in late July to pass a climate, tax and health care bill known as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which is projected to help reduce that nation’s carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030.

Manchin offered his support for the bill in July after winning significant concessions, and his vote allowed Democrats to pass a major achievement for President Biden.

Schumer made clear Wednesday that he doesn’t plan to backtrack on his promise.

“Permitting reform is part of the IRA and we will get it done,” Schumer said Wednesday. “Our intention is to add it to the CR.”

But that plan is running into opposition from progressive House Democrats and outside environmental groups. There’s also a chance that several Senate Democrats may balk at the deal with Manchin, now that they no longer need his vote to pass a budget reconciliation bill.

Rep. Raúl Grijalva’s (D-Ariz.) office told The Hill on Wednesday that 50 lawmakers had signed onto his letter calling for a separate vote on the permitting reform provisions instead of putting them in the continuing resolution.

Attaching it to a short-term government funding measure would force House progressives to choose between voting no and possibly forcing a shutdown or voting yes and making it easier to develop new energy projects that would burn fossil fuels and pump more carbon into the atmosphere.

Many environmental groups are also up in arms over the deal.

More than 650 such organizations sent a letter to Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) expressing their opposition last month.

“This fossil fuel wish list is a cruel and direct attack on environmental justice communities and the climate. This legislation would truncate and hollow-out the environmental review process, weaken Tribal consultations, and make it far harder for frontline communities to have their voices heard by gutting bedrock protections in the National Environmental Policy Act and Clean Water Act,” they wrote.

Some Senate Democrats also said they couldn’t say whether they would support a short-term government funding bill that includes permitting reform until they review the details of the bill.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said he wants to know what the net impact on carbon emissions will be from passing both the Inflation Reduction Act and the permitting reform package.

“‘Are we helping to solve the climate problem?’ is the question,” Whitehouse said. “I don’t even know what the permitting reform is.”

And while many Republicans also support the types of reforms Manchin supports, several GOP senators on Wednesday panned Manchin’s proposal for not going far enough.

“It seems pretty weak to me. I want to see how they have it written up but I hear it sounds pretty weak — ineffective,” said Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), has said that he would oppose such a measure on principle, calling it part of a “political payback scheme.”

There is doubt over whether the government funding measure combined with permitting reform could pass the House, given the growing opposition from progressive House Democrats.

“I like the idea of permitting reform. So, I’ll certainly keep an open mind,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told The Hill on Wednesday. But he also said he’d be “surprised” if Manchin “gets what was promised.”

“I know there were progressives over in the House that don’t like the idea. They swallowed the reconciliation bill, but it’s going to be an interesting process to watch,” he said, adding jokingly that “this may be a Lucy and the football moment” for Manchin.

Schumer could find a way around the jam by also adding to the government funding measure a bill to codify marriage equality. That could make it more difficult for House liberals to vote no, but it would also threaten Republican support for the package in the Senate.

Schumer says his preference is to bring the marriage equality bill to the Senate floor separately.

“We would prefer to do it as a separate bill. We hope there are ten Republicans to help us with that,” he said Wednesday.

A bipartisan group of Senate negotiators met earlier in the day in an effort to put together a deal on marriage equality legislation that could muster 60 votes in the Senate to overcome an expected GOP filibuster.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (Wis), one of the lead Democratic negotiators on the marriage bill, said she also wants to keep it separate from the short-term government funding bill.

Baldwin said Wednesday that she’s close to getting the 10 Republican votes she needs.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), one of the bill’s cosponsors, told reporters on Wednesday the talks are making progress.

“I’m never confident until a roll call. But we’re making good progress. It’s a lot of sincere interest,” Collins said.

Collins’ comments came after she and Baldwin penned an opinion piece published in The Washington Post addressing “mischaracterizations” about the bill’s scope, including the idea that it would “legalize or recognize polygamous relationships or marriages.”

Some Democrats are hesitant to sign onto the idea linking the marriage bill and the government funding package, though they won’t rule out the proposal if it helps them get both priorities passed by the end of the month.

“I’m for the art of the possible,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), said. “If it makes it easier to pass it we should do it that way. If it makes it harder to pass it we shouldn’t.”

“This is gaining, slowly in the Senate, bipartisan support,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said, referring to the marriage equality bill. “I’m hopeful that we can get it done whatever the vehicle.”

Some Republican leaders are insisting on a clean funding package, potentially punting a separate vote on the marriage equality bill until after the coming midterm elections.

Collins and Baldwin have also pushed against using the funding bill as a vehicle for their bill, though they would like to see a vote before the November election.

Despite opposition in the House, there is support among some climate hawks in the Senate to add Manchin’s permitting proposal to the government funding bill. They argue that it will bolster the deployment of clean energy.

“We are going to have to build big, planet-saving projects and the environmental movement has been organized around stopping things from being built and although that continues to be an important aspect of being an environmentalist, now we need to think about building projects that will save the planet,” Schatz said.

But if enough liberals opposing the plan flex their muscles in the House, it’s not guaranteed the funding bill would get enough Republican votes to make it to Biden’s desk.

By attaching both permitting reform and marriage equality legislation to the CR, Schumer could shift blame to Republicans opposing the same-sex marriage measure.

Otherwise, progressives Democrats will have to swallow permitting reforms that will make it easier to build new energy projects and tougher for environmental activists to slow them down.

“My guess is, if it’s on our CR, they’re gonna have to eat it if they don’t like it,” Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said on the issue. “Or wrap their arms around it if they do.”