Welcome to Wednesday. NCR columnist Franciscan Fr. Daniel Horan says that electing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris is just the beginning of the work of healing our broken nation. One potential outcome after the release of the Vatican's report on the rise of former cardinal Theodore McCarrick is consequences for Archbishop Carlo Mario Viganò. The Supreme Court seems ready to leave bulk of Affordable Care Act law intact.

The audacious return of hope

NCR columnist Franciscan Fr. Daniel Horan said he wasn't prepared for the intense emotions he felt when the presidential election was finally called for President-elect Joe Biden. There are many firsts in this election, including Vice President-elect Kamala Harris being the first woman, and first woman of color, to be elected to the vice presidency.

"Electing Biden and Harris is a significant starting point, but it is only the beginning of the work of healing a broken nation that has perhaps not seen such division since the end of the Civil War," Horan writes. "And there is no immediate guarantee that healing is an assured outcome of the work ahead, but it is nevertheless a possibility, and for it I have hope."

"I have been thinking a lot about hope these last few days because President-elect Biden has consistently and clearly spoken from the heart — a heart shaped by personal family loss and robust Catholic faith — about hope," Horan writes. "While his framing has been inclusive and open, his understanding of hope has been undoubtedly shaped by it as a theological virtue — striving toward a future good."

You can read more of Horan's column here.

More background:

• Who will President Joe Biden listen to on faith matters? Biden will most likely listen to key figures from his own Catholic community, from Judaism and, yes, evangelicals, but of a different ilk than those who counseled President Donald Trump.

Will McCarrick report lead to further discipline, policy changes?

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has long charged that Pope Francis failed to rein in former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, but the  release of the 450-page report into the former archbishop of Washington's career suggests that it now may be Viganò who could be subject to discipline for failing to follow Vatican instructions to investigate McCarrick.

"The report is only the facts, just putting things out there and indicating where pieces are missing," said Catholic University of America canon law professor Kurt Martens. "Now we have to look at what we do with that. One potential thing could be actually invoking Vos Estis and going after Viganò."

"Clearly, Viganò did not do his job," added Martens.

You can read more of the story here.

More background:

• The Vatican's report calls into question the decision-making of three popes and reveals a series of institutional failures that led to the repeated promotion of now disgraced ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick.
   
• As the public sifted through the dense and detailed document, abuse survivors and their advocates called it an important moment that must lead to further action and investigations.
   
• A look at the lawsuits and other settlements involving McCarrick.
   
• The report revealed several crucial details that call into question the 2018 "testimony" of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, including that he did not investigate the former cardinal when ordered to do so by the Vatican in 2012.
   
• All of our coverage of the McCarrick report can be found here.
   

More headlines

• In oral arguments, two Supreme Court justices stressed that they didn't see how it was necessary to strike down the entire health care law even if its individual mandate, requiring each person to buy health insurance, was invalidated.

• High-profile Australian journalists and large media organizations went on trial on charges that they breached a gag order on reporting about Cardinal George Pell's sex abuse convictions in 2018 that have since been overturned.
   
• Hurricane Eta, which deluged Central America, claimed at least 50 lives and caused widespread flooding and property damage.
   

Final thoughts

Join us on Facebook Live at 11:30 a.m. Central today as NCR executive editor Heidi Schlumpf, Vatican correspondent Joshua J. McElwee and abuse survivor Juan Carlos Cruz discuss the Vatican report on former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and what it means for the future of Catholic Church leadership. Follow us on Facebook to keep up with all of our events.

Until Thursday,

Stephanie Yeagle
NCR Production/Online Editor
[email protected]
Twitter: @ncrSLY

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