NCR Editorial Staff

We say: The pope's decision to approve the March 15 decree from the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith instructing Catholic priests not to offer blessings for same-sex couples seems strikingly out of character.

We say: It's a complicated moral universe, so it's frustrating to see bishops and others sowing doubts about vaccines and relief that promote the common good.

We say: Pope Francis could not heal the wounds in Iraq, but he could and did demonstrate solidarity with the victims. But, despite assurances, the trip was not held in a way to minimize the possibility of the spread of coronavirus among Iraqis.

We say: Texas has proved to be the "perfect storm" for assessing a future in which a deregulated and underspending government fails to respond to catastrophic events, especially those caused by climate change.

We say: Catholic tradition clearly supports paying workers a fair, living wage for their labor: multiple references in Scripture, the preferential option for the poor in Catholic social teaching, the words of Rerum Novarum and recent comments from Pope Francis.

We say: Returning to some version of the pre-Trump era is a minimal start. Justice requires a much deeper commitment to seeking the truth about our history in order to accomplish comprehensive immigration reform.

We say: The work of Catholic News Service, which has covered every significant event in the life of church or country for the past 100 years, remains a real service, in the truest sense of the word.

We say: The past four years have revealed that the U.S. bishops' conference is a group unable to represent the full range of Catholic teaching and unfit to act in the name of American Catholics.

We say: In his inaugural address Jan. 20, President Joe Biden declared that democracy had prevailed, asserting that "disagreement must not lead to disunion" and calling for Americans to "start afresh."

We say: Stigmatizing Trump's call to overturn an election is the first step down the path of moral reckoning. If inviting an insurrection against the United States is not an impeachable offense, nothing is.

We say: Among those with some culpability for yesterday's failed insurrection are more than a few leaders in our church. Catholic apologists for President Trump have blood on their hands.

We say: Joe Biden's biography and political outlook are attuned to the fact that we as a nation must learn again how to look after one another. As Catholics, we can give advice to our president-elect.

Editorial: The election of a churchgoing, rosary-carrying Catholic as U.S. president, only the second Catholic elected to the office, would itself be historic in a normal year. But 2020 has not been a normal year.

We say: The aftermath of Trump's term is an appropriate time to take stock of what has gone wrong, to identify the ways in which we can strengthen our constitutional order so that the next Trump-like leader isn't nearly as successful.

We say: It's no understatement to say that 2020 has been a year like no other, one already beset with plenty of delayed gratification, waiting and loss. The people in darkness are desperate for the light.

We say: Beyond the history-making nature of the decision, there are many other reasons to praise Pope Francis for choosing Washington Archbishop Wilton Gregory as one of 13 new cardinals.

We say: Given what we know now about the long-lasting repercussions of the decision-making of Pope John Paul II, the U.S. bishops should seriously consider whether American Catholics can continue practices that publicly celebrate him.

We say: After four years of racism, misogyny and narcissism in the White House, we look forward to a dignified, honest leader who might restore a level of respect for the office and for our nation.

We say: Given the stakes, this is not a time for peace at any cost. No American can sit back as our democracy is undermined. But any protests or witnesses must be nonviolent. Only love brings reconciliation.

We say: In Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis says it is "very difficult nowadays to invoke the rational criteria elaborated in earlier centuries to speak of the possibility of a 'just war.' " The question is what comes next.