Copy Desk Daily, April 24, 2020

Our team of copy editors reads and posts most of what you see on the websites for National Catholic Reporter, Global Sisters Report and EarthBeat. The Copy Desk Daily highlights recommended news and opinion articles that have crossed our desks on their way to you.

'Grace comes through': Three bishops on ministering during a pandemic: Joshua J. McElwee reports: "In separate NCR interviews focused on their message for Catholics in this unprecedented time, three of the country's bishops urged lay faithful to do what they can, despite the unique difficulties of the moment, to develop their prayer lives and to reach out to those most in need." McElwee spoke with Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy and Cheyenne, Wyoming, Bishop Steven Biegler.

"It kind of tickles us that in the news, it's like, who's important right now? It's not Congress, it's not CEOs, it's not stockbrokers," Sr. JoAnn Persch said, choking back tears, to GSR staff writer Soli Salgado. "It's people who care for other people. And to me, that is such a strong message from God." Salgado reports more in Sisters adapt migration ministries in face of COVID-19, US stop on immigration. What Persch called a "ministry of presence" isn't possible during a pandemic. Sisters have had to reinvent their ministries to migrants and immigrants who live the United States illegally.

Review: Cathleen Kaveny's book 'Ethics at the Edges of Law,' Part 1: Michael Sean Winters begins a two-part review of Ethics at the Edges of Law: Christian Moralists and American Legal Thought. Part of Winters' take? "The Boston College theologian and law professor's book brings Christian moral theologians such as John Noonan, Stanley Hauerwas, Paul Ramsey and Mercy Sr. Margaret Farley into dialogue with the American legal tradition. The result is ... a dialogue that yields real insights into the lessons moral theologians can learn from your local courtroom."

Climate crisis will deepen the pandemic; A green stimulus plan can tackle both: At EarthBeat, commentary from The Guardian advises that to tackle the COVID-19 epidemic and the climate emergency at once, "we need a Green Stimulus that creates jobs and lifts up communities in ways that also slash carbon pollution, increase resiliency, and develop a just, modern economy."

Readers weigh in on Pope Francis' second commission to study the ordination of women deacons, and subsequent commentary from NCR contributors: Your thoughts on women's roles in the church.