NCR Editorial Staff

We say: The four points outlined by leadership of the bishops' conference are, for the most part, good beginnings. But they won't lead us to the full truth-telling that is needed.

We say: When we lift our rose-colored glasses, we find a fragile economy made even more fragile by the GOP's December 2017 tax plan, along with the "2.0" plan that would cement it.

We say: The current moment must lead to a radical reform of Catholic clerical culture and the meaning of ordination itself. If we cannot begin this challenging work, we should at least have the honesty to say that a monstrous evil has prevailed and that we no longer understand what it means to be a church of Jesus Christ.

Now more than ever, the laity need to speak with a united voice. We must turn our anger into resolve. We must insist on full lay participation in all efforts at reform. We must demand that bishops claim their true vocations as servants to the people of God. 

NCR joins today some 300 news outlets across the U.S. publishing editorials about the Trump administration's assault on the media and the importance of freedom of the press.

NCR has noted the progress the Catholic Church has made in addressing the decades-long scandal of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy, but the McCarrick case shows in vivid detail where the church continues to fail and what it must do to purge itself of this contamination.

We say: Overturning Roe vs. Wade won't end abortion. But addressing the pre-pregnancy needs of women and improving the post-birth life realities of mothers and their children will move us in the right direction toward a truly pro-life future.

We say: We don't have to let compassion be tossed aside by our legal systems. It's been proven we are a nation of laws. Now, let's work on the compassion part.

We say: It's time to move extraordinary grassroots efforts to a new place in the national agenda. This requires firm moral leadership. Can the U.S. bishops meet this challenge?

We say: Making family separation a point of government policy is unacceptable and immoral. That is exactly what the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy is, and, according to the United Nations human rights office, is also "a serious violation of the rights of the child."

We say: The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is totally man-made. It could be contained and a peace process put in motion. But international players have shown little interest in peace.

We say: It's time to revisit the pope's 2015 proposal to establish a tribunal that would hold responsible bishops and religious superiors who mishandle cases of clergy sex abuse.

We say: We must bring public pressure to bear on the White House and Congress to ensure the United States rejoins the world community and works in concert with all nations to slow global warming.

We say: The House committee plan would repeal a state's flexibility to extend nutrition assistance benefits to working families who earn enough to put them barely above the income eligibility limit for the program. These aggressive changes are a blunt hammer. 

We say: FOCUS has big plans; it has raised its sights beyond just campus ministry. It wants to send its missionaries into parishes. This could create quite the temptation for cash-strapped dioceses, but we would argue that dioceses should resist this temptation.

We say: Now President Trump's national security adviser appointment, the former U.N. ambassador has already done much to damage U.S. foreign policy standing.

We say: The response of Bishop James Johnston of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, to the fallout following his decision to keep musician Dan Schutte from performing in a local parish is disappointing and disheartening. He missed an opportunity.

We say: In early March, Florida passed a red-flag law, which was part of the demands of the students mobilized by the shooting deaths at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. If a gun-friendly state like Florida can pass this legislation, so can others.

We say: The young — all of us really — are looking for authenticity. Examples of people who walk the faith and live the heart of the Gospel are more convincing than hours of apologetics and glitzy presentations on up-to-date delivery platforms.

The Catholic Church should proudly stand with labor unions in a joint effort to resist the libertarian impulses of our age and reconnect with the values and the policies that enflesh our nation's constitutional commitment to "promote the general welfare."