Copy Desk Daily, June 30, 2020

Recommended for you today, from the NCR/GSR/EarthBeat copy desk:

Long Island parishioners prepare return from pandemic exile: St. Bernard's staff members say that the parish lost about two dozen parishioners to COVID-19, and now that restrictions are easing, like in 17,000 other U.S. parishes, they wonder whether people will return to Mass and sacraments in person. Read more.

You probably know the image of a blonde-haired and blue-eyed Jesus depicted in Warner Sallman's illustration. Symbols matter, so "white Jesus" is a problem. Read the NCR editorial.

Many have pointed to clericalism as the root of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, but there is something even more systemic at work. Grace on the Margins columnist Jamie Manson says: We need to talk about David Haas.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists already finds climate change to be an urgent threat to women's health, in addition to a major public health challenge. Climate change is linked with worsening cardiac disease, respiratory disease, mental health and exposure to infectious diseases. But pregnant women and developing fetuses are especially vulnerable to its effects. Read more on EarthBeat, sharing special coverage through the Covering Climate Now partnership.

A retired Catholic school teacher is protesting how a small Catholic church in rural Wisconsin has been the site of an annual gun show that includes the sale of assault rifles and handguns. Read more from NCR's Jesse Remedios.

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