Copy Desk Daily, April 15, 2019

Would Pope Francis back the Green New Deal? The pope's 2015 environmental encyclical, Laudato Si', got similar blowback to what the proposed congressional resolution is getting now: being called socialist, unrealistic, radical. But the two documents also share an approach that emphasizes addressing environmental and social problems together. As Francis put it, "Everything is connected."

Founded by an American Ursuline sister and seven Chilean women, Casa Ursulina is grounded in friendship and solidarity among women. The programs at the center in Chillán, Chile, not only teach skills that local women can use to earn some extra money, but also foster mental health. Local psychologists and social workers even prescribe joining Casa Ursulina to their depressed patients.

Heed Francis' example: Bishop Thomas Gumbleton speaks on LGBT issues. The retired bishop (whose homilies are published on NCR as The Peace Pulpit) recently gave an interview about the evolution of his thinking on LGBT people — something that took a turn for him when his brother came out as gay.

Lent is a time of listening, writes Sr. Nancy Sylvester — listening to Jesus, to what is happening in our world, to your heart.

Catch up on reactions to Pope Benedict XVI's letter on sex abuse, including worries about finding ourselves in a "two popes" situation: Theologians concerned about newly engaged role of Benedict, pope emeritus. And from columnist Jamie Manson: Pope Benedict explains things to me — in other words we've got papal-splaining. But his words, she says, unintentionally reveal the psychosexual mess that created the crisis the Catholic Church is in today.

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