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Welcome to Tuesday. NCR's executive editor suggests the bishops — and all Catholics — stop judging others' Catholicity for Lent. The U.S. bishops' working group on Joe Biden has disbanded. And Venezuelan refugees are struggling in Colombia.
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** Let's give up culture war infighting for Lent ([link removed])
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Whether sprinkled or smudged, ashes may be appearing on Catholics' foreheads tomorrow. If President Joe Biden's past church attendance is any indication, he will likely make time in his day to begin the church's 40-day penitential season by receiving ashes.

The news that the leader of the free world practices his faith will warm the hearts of some — and likely prompt others to once again pronounce judgments about Biden's Catholicity.

But in my Connections column, written for the print edition of NCR that went to press last week, I argued, "As part of our Lenten discipline, Catholics practice fasting and abstinence, which often means 'giving up' something for those 40 days. Here's an idea: Let's give up judging one another's faith commitments: no excommunications, no 'you're not really Catholic,' no potshots from the peanut gallery."

You can read the whole column here ([link removed]) .

More background:
* ICYMI: Yesterday, NCR national correspondent Christopher White broke the news that the U.S. bishops' working group that was formed last fall to judge Biden's practice of the faith has "completed" its work ([link removed]) . The planned document on "eucharistic coherence" will move to the bishops' Committee on Doctrine.
* Speaking of Lent, mark your calendar for the first in NCR's live event series called "Soul Seeing for Lent," hosted by Michael Leach. Tomorrow, on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17, NCR columnist Franciscan Fr. Dan Horan will be the guest at 2:30 Eastern/1:30 Central, live on Facebook ([link removed]) and YouTube ([link removed]) .
* At EarthBeat, Fr. Emmet Farrell will be reflecting ([link removed]) on climate change during Lent. You can sign up here ([link removed]) to get those reflections three times a week.

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** Pandemic complicates challenges for Venezuelan refugees ([link removed])
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As some 1.7 million Venezuelans have come to neighboring Colombia to flee their country's economic and political turmoil, Catholic dioceses and aid organizations have struggled to meet their needs.

Although Colombian President Iván Duque announced a plan Feb. 8 to regularize the situation of 1 million undocumented Venezuelans for the next 10 years, Catholic analysts say the terrible reality is that the migrants require more than Duque can offer.

They also point out that the proportion of undocumented Venezuelans in Colombia has grown during the coronavirus pandemic. With the borders between the countries closed, many refugees are entering Colombia through irregular trails known as trochas.

"That's something dangerous, because criminals often monitor them and charge them money for 'security,' '' Fr. José Elver Rojas told NCR's Eduardo Campos Lima.

You can read more of Campos Lima's report here ([link removed]) .
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** More headlines
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* When Megan Sweas read a recent Wall Street Journal essay that argued that Catholic social teaching presents a framework for uniting America, she was struck — and not in a good way — by the absence of women's voices and the small number of those from people of color. "If Catholic social teaching is to be a starting place for a conversation about how we shape our country, I have to ask who is part of that conversation," she writes ([link removed]) .


* The Catholic Church benefited from federal Paycheck Protection Program loans. Good for them, says columnist Jesuit Fr. Tom Reese ([link removed]) .


* Who would have guessed that Michael Sean Winters is a fan of TwinsthenewTrend ([link removed]) ?

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Final thoughts

Jason Petosa, an innovative NCR publisher who expanded the company's readership reach in the 1980s, died last week. Petosa, who introduced new products and services both to better serve parish pastoral needs and to bring needed new revenue into the company, was committed to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and to the Christian concept of forgiveness. Read his obituary here. ([link removed])

P.S. Our regular newsletter author, Stephanie Yeagle, will be back tomorrow.

Until Wednesday,

Heidi Schlumpf
NCR Executive Editor
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
Twitter: @HeidiSchlumpf ([link removed])


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