<div style= »font-size: 19px; font-family: ‘Georgia’, serif; »><p><strong>Welcome to Tuesday. A community in Honduras is defending a life-giving river from destructive pollution by an iron oxide mine in the protected Carlos Escaleras National Park. And an NCR commentator says to truly combat throwaway culture, Catholics must reckon with long COVID, not only as an economic or social issue, but also as a « life issue » deserving the church’s attention.</strong></p>
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<h2><strong><a href= »‘We »>https://www.ncronline.org/node/219051″>’We cannot exist if we lose the water’: In Honduras, a community resists a mine polluting the Río Guapinol</a></strong></h2>
<p>The Río Guapinol that streams through the Bajo Aguán valley in northern Honduras has long been a source of drinking, bathing, cleaning, irrigation and cooking water for the surrounding community in Tocoa.</p>
<p>In the last few years, the river has also provided an education: how to resist an international mining operation that they say contaminates the river in the name of development; how to confront a seemingly compromised justice system when that resistance goes awry; and — for the women in particular — how to become leaders of a movement upon the indefinite imprisonment of their husbands and sons.</p>
<p>Vilma Cruz raised her five children using the river, including a son who wound up spending almost two and a half years in jail for protesting the mining as part of the Guapinol 8, a group whose 2019 arrests and long detentions drew international outrage. « We don’t feel at peace because our water has been endangered, » she said. « Now, when I go to the river, I feel my chest swell, like I’m not free. »</p>
<p><a href= »Read »>https://www.ncronline.org/node/219051″>Read more at EarthBeat</a>.</p>
<p><strong>More background:</strong></p>
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<li aria-level= »1″>Communities affected by mining — and church people working with them — draw strength from spiritualties that center on protecting what Pope Francis calls « our common home, » <a href= »according »>https://www.ncronline.org/node/206007″>according to members of the Churches and Mining Network</a>.</li>
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<h2><strong><a href= »To »>https://www.ncronline.org/node/219036″>To counter a throwaway culture, Catholics must reckon with long COVID</a></strong></h2>
<p>We are fast approaching the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Céire Kealty, a doctoral student in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University reminds us. </p>
<p> »Despite our best efforts to feign normalcy, things are noticeably different, » Kealty writes. « Our local bar might be missing some regulars, or we may see less of that one coworker. We might feel these changes mostly profoundly at church, noting the absence of once-familiar faces in the pews. » </p>
<p>Kealty goes on to point out that many people are suffering from « long COVID, » or continued symptoms from the virus that are present even months after the original illness. « As Catholics, we must resist the all-too-easy impulse to minimize, disregard and distance ourselves from the startling reality of long COVID for the sake of comfort and convenience, » she writes. « We must be present to ailing long haulers, acknowledge their suffering, and pledge to advocate for and alongside them. »</p>
<p><a href= »Read »>https://www.ncronline.org/node/219036″>Read more of this commentary here</a>.</p>
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<h2><strong>More headlines</strong></h2>
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<li aria-level= »1″>St. Katharine Drexel Catholic Church in Alton, New Hampshire, <a href= »recently »>https://www.ncronline.org/node/219021″>recently celebrated a Mass and dedicated a memorial in honor of the late parishioner James Foley</a>, a freelance journalist who was killed in Syria in 2014 by fighters with the so-called Islamic State.</li>
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<h2><strong>Final thoughts</strong></h2>
<p>When you click on a link above, you will see the newly redesigned websites of National Catholic Reporter, EarthBeat and Global Sisters Report. I appreciate your patience and understanding as we work out inevitable kinks over the next few weeks. If you’d like to provide feedback or have a question, you can do so at <a href= »mailto:redesign@ncronline.org »>redesign@ncronline.org</a>. </p>
<p>Until Wednesday,</p>
<p>Stephanie Yeagle<br />
NCR Managing Editor<br />
<a href= »mailto:syeagle@ncronline.org »>syeagle@ncronline.org</a><br />
Twitter: <a href= »@ncrSLY
https://twitter.com/ncrSLY »>@ncrSLY</a></p>
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