Copy Desk Daily, June 19, 2020

Our team of copy editors reads and posts most of what you see on the websites for National Catholic Reporter, Global Sisters Report and EarthBeat. The Copy Desk Daily highlights recommended news and opinion articles that have crossed our desks on their way to you.

Catholic groups push for EU reform after coronavirus crisis: "As Europeans struggle to resume daily life after the loosening of coronavirus lockdowns," Jonathan Luxmoore writes, "Catholic organizations are urging governments to learn lessons from the crisis and introduce far-reaching reforms."

Racism in pollution and policing: A conversation with Robert Bullard, father of environmental justice: At EarthBeat, Robert Bullard talks with staff writer Brian Roewe about discrimination against communities and America's ongoing struggle with racism. "We're not just fighting pollution," Bullard tells Roewe, in explaining environmental justice. "We're fighting for a good economy that can provide good, healthy and sustainable lifestyles for everybody." You can read excerpts or watch the full interview.

Also at EarthBeat, Roewe reports on 16 U.S. congregations of Dominican Sisters who pooled $46 million into a new investment funds initiative, which will finance projects that address climate change and work towards the United Nations' sustainable development goals. 

Yesterday, in his first report for NCR, new national correspondent Christopher White reported that "across the country, priests have used their homilies, bulletins and parish social media to promote Viganò," after the archbishop and former nuncio to the U.S. had sent an open letter June 6 to President Donald Trump. On June 10, Trump later tweeted about Carlo Mario Viganò's letter, which praised Trump and dismissed the protests related to racism and police brutality. NCR has been reporting on the story for just over a week, and readers have responded: Your thoughts on Viganò's letter to Trump.

Returning to in-person Mass, will we be more attentive and intentional? Felician Franciscan Sr. Judith M. Kubicki provides a commentary that emerges from virtual Masses and drive-in gatherings. She asks what Catholics have learned about their faith, the centrality of the Eucharist, and the importance of being a part of the local body of Christ called parish? She starts with unpacking the word "communion" itself.

Michael Sean Winters writes about the clear message for the Democrats: The American people did their job, but the president did not do his.

St. Joseph Sr. Christine Schenk submits that "despite 400 years of deadly racial persecution, our black sisters and brothers have become privileged channels of God's power to create a new people": The black faith community a channel of God's power.

"Fr. Aidan McAleenan, a priest of the Diocese of Oakland, California, has called Bishop Michael Barber a liar and a racist, while arguing that the American bishops lack support for the Black Lives Matter movement because they are overly sensitive to the concerns of their white parishioners." News editor Peter Feuerherd has the story: Oakland priest calls bishop a 'liar' and a 'racist.'