Bill Mitchell

This is the newsletter from NCR's special section on care for our common home, EarthBeat.

Four predictions suggesting a better decade ahead for the planet

In the Galápagos, reflecting on Laudato Si' and anthropocentrism

Perspective: On the same day that Notre Dame students called on Mayor Pete Buttigieg and the South Bend Common Council to enact a version of the Green New Deal, former students recalled their demands from 50 years ago.

As convener of two Vatican gatherings of oil moguls, Holy Cross Fr. John Jenkins is well-positioned to assess what it will take to move them to address the crisis their companies have helped create.

NCR is joining a collaborative publishing project called Covering Climate Now, which reflects a shared belief among its media partners that we need to do a better job reporting on climate change.

To prevent climate catastrophe, the former Irish president recommended tactics like lawsuits, protests, family interventions, shareholder challenges and disinvestment in fossil fuels.

The passenger to my right asked what was bringing me to Nebraska. "A conference about climate change," I told him, an answer that prompted a series of observations on his part that suggested recognition that something big is happening but uncertainty about the extent of the problem. 

Perspective: Andrew Sullivan's visit to the Paulist Center in Boston had a bracing message aimed at jolting those of us in the pews into a deeper understanding of an important dimension of our faith.

Perspective: After the recent run of interesting stories of those who have decided to leave the church or stay, I was surprised to discover how enlightening it could be to explore the how of remaining Catholic.

Commentary: My wife and I signed the Daily Theology statement calling on all U.S. bishops to submit their resignations to Pope Francis, just as all of Chile's 34 bishops have done. Not to be dismissed as a provocative stunt, in the wake of the Pennsylvania grand jury report, their challenge reads more like a respectful invitation. 

For more than 15 years, Kathy Shaw played a remarkable behind-the-scenes role as the driving force of the Abuse Tracker blog. We have her to thank for getting the abuse story out.

Appreciation: In ways big and small, Catholicism animated a half-century of service by a woman who could never fully embrace its particulars. Davida Coady died May 3 at age 80.

The Field Hospital: Gathering the way we did without a priest made me wonder about similar meals of remembrance in the early church. And what future gatherings might be like as the number of Catholic priests continues its insistent decline.