Arthur Jones

Commentary: For Martin Luther King Jr. Day, NCR former editor Arthur Jones shares reporting from the March on Washington in 1963, and the 1964 Democratic National Convention, where he met King.

EarthBeat shares reflections based on "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home." Week 4 leads us to Christmas and the entirety of things — that is, everything, living, earthly, cosmic, spiritual.

EarthBeat shares reflections based on "Laudato Si': on Care for our Common Home." In Week 3, Pope Francis does not mince words. He challenges us to stand and defy the status quo of power wielders.

EarthBeat shares reflections based on the text of "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home." This second week examines humanity's shortcomings, and considers what inward steps Pope Francis is calling us to take.

NCR is sharing Advent reflections based on the text of "Laudato Si': on Care for our Common Home." This first week offers ways to connect with God's loving plan, be mindful of integral ecology, truly see creation and uphold human dignity.

Introduction: Arthur Jones, a former editor and publisher of NCR, embarks on a series of reflections, an Advent journey through Pope Francis' environmental encyclical.

Pope Paul VI was the kindly priest with a liberal heart and a conservative soul, an irreconcilable duality, as was his dual role as pope and as presider over the final three sessions of the reforming Second Vatican Council.

Part Two: Jesus had founded a community of and for the poor, yet most of its top leaders were wallowing with the wealthy or in personal wealth.The great example of how far the church had strayed is St. Francis of Assisi, who also offered a solution.

Part One: The Church-in-Rome's managerial closed shop, limited to selected male clerics, was at the root of the pedophilia crisis. Not for what it permitted, but for what the church bureaucracy, fostered: an exclusive Old Boys Club based on a rigid class system.