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Welcome to Tuesday. Friendships across party lines are becoming rarer during the current fraught political climate. Unchecked clericalism is the disease that plagues the Catholic Church, writes one NCR commentator.
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** US Catholics cope with political divides among family, friends ([link removed])
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When Elizabeth Kale and Susan Miller met five years ago in East Dubuque, Illinois, while sharing an hour of Eucharistic adoration, they immediately connected.

It was only after four years of friendship that their opposing political views came to light.

"I discovered it just this year when I saw the Trump signs in her yard. Her small daughter asked me if I loved Trump. Feeling some discomfort, I replied, 'No. I love Jesus,'" says Miller. "Later, when I shared my views with Elizabeth, I felt heard and respected. I am not going to compromise friendship for political beliefs."

Unfortunately, such friendships across party lines are becoming rarer in the current political climate.

You can read more of the story here ([link removed]) .

More background:
* Half of U.S. Catholics who voted in the 2020 presidential election chose Donald Trump. Processing Trump's loss and reflecting on the turmoil facing the country ([link removed]) , they share a mix of subdued disappointment and resignation.

* Some conservative Catholics are joining evangelicals in casting doubt on the 2020 election results ([link removed]) , but their suspicions are not widely shared with a number of leading Catholic scholars, public intellectuals and leaders.

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** McCarrick report shows a church infected with unchecked clericalism ([link removed])
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The Vatican's report on defrocked cardinal Theodore McCarrick revealed sexual abuse of adults and minors by a Catholic cleric and its coverup by church officials — more of the same pattern we've seen so often in the church, reaching to the highest levels.

Lisa Fullam, a professor of moral theology at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in California, suggests that church leadership diagnose the problem with a thorough exam.

"Diagnosis is discerning in the pattern of symptoms a root cause or causes that, if addressed, will alleviate the symptoms," she writes. "If the symptoms are treated but not the disease, these symptoms will come back, and like imperfectly exorcised demons, will bring seven times more problems with them."

The disease, Fullam says, is unchecked clericalism.

You can read the rest of the commentary here ([link removed]) .
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** More headlines
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* Extreme global temperatures, wildfires and hurricanes continued to plague the planet during 2020 ([link removed]) , prompting U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to urge an end to global "war on nature."

* At Global Sisters Report ([link removed]) , a Q&A with Sr. Terry Gauvin of the Good Shepherd Sisters of Quebec, who helps shepherd the anti-trafficking program CourageLIVES in the Diocese of Portland, Maine.

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** Final thoughts
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Special thanks to NCR engagement editor Brittany Wilmes for taking over this space while I was enjoying some much-needed vacation time. Don't miss Wilmes' round-up of the most read stories for 2020 at EarthBeat ([link removed]) , which includes reporting on divestments, climate justice and the Season of Creation. NCR's top 10 news stories of 2020 can be read here ([link removed]) .

Until Wednesday,

Stephanie Yeagle
NCR Production/Online Editor
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
Twitter: @ncrSLY ([link removed])

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