Copy Desk Daily, May 14, 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.

Spiritual insights shared after recovery from the 'coronavirus demons': "While nearly 90,000 in the U.S. have died from the COVID-19, the virus has also directly struck another 1.3 million. Amid the pandemic, the good news is that so many have recovered," NCR news editor Peter Feuerherd writes. "Some Catholic survivors say they know there is life on the other side while seeing a wider spiritual connection upon emerging from the onslaught."

Aftershocks and anxiety: Puerto Ricans distrust homes after devastating earthquake: "A lot of times, the house is safe — engineers have told them it's fine to keep living there — but still, people are too scared." GSR staff writer Soli Salgado reports on the aftermath of the earthquake that struck Puerto Rico Jan. 7. The quake damaged roughly 8,000 houses, leaving 2,500 dwellings uninhabitable. Thousands of people now live in tents. Many are awaiting home repairs. But others are afraid that their cracked houses may cave in from one of the many trembles that occur dozens of times a day.

The call with the US president confirms the weakness of some of the Catholic hierarchy: For Richard Shields, "The central ethical question is not, however, about Trump's lies, but the failure of the many bishops to deal with the confusion and division generated by a communications technology that makes it more difficult to separate fact from fiction, truth from 'fake news.' "

"Tears invite me into myself and get me to see my strength, my curiosity, my desire for a better world": Intimacy, rituals, tears are the gifts and desire this moment brings.

"When I applied to be a substitute English teacher at Mercy High School in Burlingame, California, for the last 10 weeks of the school year, I had no idea that I'd be the one getting educated." From Mercy Sr. Jean Evans: From face-to-face to screen-to-screen.