NCR Editorial Staff

We say: Former White House advisor Steve Bannon is setting his providential magic on the Vatican, taking a shot at the pope, with the help of wealthy American and European friends. His populist nationalism remains an uneasy concept to fit into a Catholic framework

We say: Benedict XVI's current meddling is neither sound analysis nor helpful to a pope making unprecedented efforts to reform the clergy culture. Benedict had his opportunities to call the church's hierarchical culture to account, but he failed.

We say: There is a humanitarian crisis brewing at the border, but it has nothing to do with dangerous criminals and drug dealers. It has to do with a yearning by a lot of oppressed and frightened people for the same opportunities that drove our ancestors to these shores, many of whom did not first study U.S. immigration law.

We say: No perfect bishops exist, but there are reasons to feel positive about how Wilton Gregory will approach his tough assignment to the scandal-wracked Washington Archdiocese.

We say: Rep. Adam Schiff reminded his colleagues and the country that whether special counsel Robert Mueller found evidence of criminal wrongdoing or not, there are lots of things we have learned about the president's campaign that remain suspect and require a full airing. 

We say: The crashes of the two Boeing airliners may represent, particularly depending on what investigations show, one of the most graphic and horrifying examples of extreme capitalist ideology. Abundant evidence paint a picture of serious oversight concessions to an industry giant willing to cut corners in a rush to beat global competitors to the marketplace.

We say: While the report says nothing about the president's often despicable politics, the absence of evidence of collusion at least shows that our president is not a traitor. Democrats as well as Republicans should celebrate this finding because the constitutional crisis that a contrary finding might have provoked would be too ugly to even contemplate.

We say: The real emergency on this side of the border is our refusal to square up with the truth of the displacement of thousands so desperate to survive and to seek a better life for their families they are willing to risk the dangers of the long trek from Central America.

We say: Can one imagine the circumstance where Jesus, who makes such elaborate claims about children, would first seek to make sure the documentation and protocol for their parents is all in proper order before summoning the little ones to approach him?

Throughout the church people are wondering some version of: "What do we do next? What can we do?" It is a question that often arises out of a place of agony, a disposition of futility. But there is no Resurrection without it.

We say: The recent meeting has the potential to mark a large step forward in the church's efforts to deal with the scandal and regain the trust of Catholics and others. It is essential, however, to note two factors that significantly qualify the meeting's success.

We say: Some concrete measures must be taken if the church is to find the path to healing and credibility and if trust between hierarchy and the rest of the community is ever to be restored. Those measures must include a firm, clear, global definition of zero tolerance and what happens when a member of the clergy is accused. 

We say: While politics has resulted in a packed Supreme Court that might well overturn Roe v. Wade in the not-too-distant future, the needle hasn't moved much in terms of the general culture.

We say: Beneath the alarmism, fear-mongering and sheer fiction dispensed by this administration is the question: Will the institutions that mold democracy and hold it together survive?

Once upon a time, the word twitter was an onomatopoeic rendering of sounds of rather little consequence. Today, a tweet can send the political and religious universes spinning out of orbit for days.

We say: If the sex abuse crisis and the bishops' mishandling of it was the impetus for the U.S. bishops' recent retreat, why was it taken off the agenda as a topic to be dealt with? 

We say: In the abuse crisis, it is not the sins of the individuals that should now be the focus. It is the institutional corruption that they came to represent.

Editorial: Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is NCR's choice for Catholic newsmaker of the year. His story provides ample demonstration of how the sex-abuse scandal, horrible as it is, is merely symptomatic of deeper maladies within the clerical culture, especially at the hierarchical level.

We say: The techniques that have served President Donald Trump well to this point have become useless and now serve to provide new, fresh fodder to the investigators.

We say: This season of expectation, of wonder at the possibility of God with and among us, is a perfect time to sink into that authentic tradition and to contemplate where we've gone off track.