Copy Desk Daily, April 17, 2020

Is it OK to make your confession by Zoom? Pandemic revives conversation about reconciling from afar, with questions about technology and surveillance that the church hasn't had to consider in the past. Joshua McElwee talks to some theologians about the possibilities and pitfalls of taking this sacrament digital.

The pandemic has intensified a long-standing dispute between the oil-refining industry and agriculture, as both press the governmemnt for relief from the economic fallout: Coronavirus spurs new clash between Big Oil and Big Corn over US biofuels.

Rampant anxiety about the coronavirus has given rise to the sort of existential questions that participants in the Nuns and Nones movement have been considering together for four years. The pandemic magnifies prescient reflections of Nuns and Nones dialogue, and the sisters and millennial seekers' conversations about such themes as contemplation, community and social justice have grounded them in this time.

Amid a simmering dispute between parishioners and a pastor promoting the Latin Mass at a North Carolina parish, a parishioner alleges Easter Mass violated state, diocesan social distancing orders that ban gatherings of more than 10 people.

This week's Letters to the Editor respond to NCR's recent editorial on the hierarchy's single-issue political focus and the current presidential administration. Read some readers' thoughts on the reckoning of Catholics and Trump.

Bernie Sanders has ended his presidential campaign, but it left an impact on columnist Colman McCarthy, who says: Bernie Sanders inspires me to be better.

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