Copy Desk Daily, April 22, 2020

Today, we celebrate 50 years of Earth Day — the very first one happened on April 22, 1970. EarthBeat, naturally, is taking a look at Earth Day's past and future though a Catholic lens. Some of the latest coverage:

• James Dailey was a senior at the University of Notre Dame when he organized 20th anniversary events. Now on the 50th anniversary, an Earth Day activist looks back: How far have we come?
• Catholic sisters have taken part from the beginning. Their ministries to the marginalized have given them up-close experience of environmental injustice, and their spirituality has grounded them as women religious model the Christian ecological vocation.
• How can we celebrate in the midst of a pandemic? How can any of us carry on like normal? What happens when we get creative? Earth Day 50 years on: It's all about the questions.
• Prize-winning photos from opposite sides of the globe tell grim stories of climate crisis — and communities' resilience.

More questions, these about the effect the coronavirus pandemic is having and will have on the Catholic Church. NCR has certainly been participating in these debates and speculations, but our editorial considers: In this forced retreat, are we asking big enough questions?

Michael Sean Winters writes that the coronavirus crisis gives Biden his campaign theme: Champion the workers, who are proving to be the truly essential people in our nation.

"We grieve as the body of Christ in a way we could never have planned, orchestrated, or fathomed a few months ago." In answer to a call from NCR, readers share how they are processing grief and how their faith has helped them.

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