News

By Bishop Joseph E. Strickland, Bishop Emeritus, Pillars of Faith – The crisis of our age is not merely rebellion against truth. It is the slow training of souls to forget it… Not all at once. Not through open hatred of Christ in every case. Not always through direct attacks against the Church. The enemy has learned a quieter strategy, a more subtle corruption. If souls can be taught to forget, then eventually they will surrender truths they once would have died defending… And so we find ourselves living through a crisis of forgetting. …

By Brianna Lyman, The Federalist – When President Donald Trump descended the escalator in June of 2015, he reminded Americans of something many of their leaders had forgotten: “Our country has tremendous potential. We have tremendous people.”

By Margo White, Crisis Magazine – The emergence of MAHA in the Republican Party is blurring political lines and reshaping American politics for the better… Many of us are mothers—or hope to be mothers one day. Some of us work outside of the home and then come home to our more important roles of being mothers and wives… Regardless of our current situation, we care deeply about the health of our children and are increasingly skeptical of industrially-produced food and the harmful ingredients used in their production and to increase their shelf life.

By Cardinal Willem Eijk, National Catholic Register – By elevating such testimonies without doctrinal commentary, the report effectively normalizes homosexual relationships within a Church context… The recently published report from Synod Study Group 9 represents a troubling departure from the Catholic Church’s consistent moral teaching. While the authors claim they lack “the expertise or, above all, the necessary ecclesiastical authorization” to address individual moral issues definitively, the report’s methodology and framework systematically undermine the Church’s ability to proclaim and apply her moral doctrine. …

By Robert G. Marshall, Catholic Culture – Secularist politicians, primarily state and federal elected Democrats, seem personally and constitutionally driven to turn what Christian Ethics previously held to be private vices into public virtues, if not actual legal obligations, which are to be funded with public money… Here I will analyze these efforts which have occupied public discussion in the last several years as both ordinary legislation and voter-passed amendments to State Constitutions.

By Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell, LifeNews – The acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration has promised to prioritize a safety review of the abortion pill after his predecessor was accused of delaying it, pro-life leaders say… Though the Trump administration is reportedly soon picking a permanent commissioner to lead the agency, Diamantas promised he will be the “most pro-life FDA commissioner that the FDA has ever had” …

By Matthew McDonald, National Catholic Register – The Vatican has authorized an investigation of Baton Rouge Bishop Michael Duca over the way he handled a complaint against a pastor accused of soliciting sex from an adult parishioner and reminiscing over purported past sex acts with boys, according to an official Church communication to a whistleblower.

By Stephan Kapustka, The American Spectator – Republicans have been on a roll in the redistricting wars as of late. However, some Republican state legislators in many states appear to be wary of fully pressing their new advantages. In doing so, they threaten to leave winnable congressional districts that could decide the majority on the table.

By Steven Ertelt, LifeNews – The top pro-life bishop for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is urging Congress to defund the Planned Parenthood abortion business once again this year… Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, Ohio, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, wants Congress to block Planned Parenthood from receiving millions more in taxpayer dollars through the Title X family planning program.

By Robert Royal, The Catholic Thing – Whether the Evil One is operative in many of the current approaches to Scripture – in university departments and some Church circles – is a question best left to true authorities and even exorcists. But there’s no question that the people who wrote Final Report of Study Group Number 9: Theological Criteria and Synodal Methodologies for Shared Discernment of Emerging Doctrinal, Pastoral, and Ethical Issues, which appeared just last week, were engaged in serial Scriptural abuse. …

By Mary Rose, Zeale News – The White House released a sweeping new counterterrorism strategy that calls for “the rapid identification and neutralization” of violent extremist domestic political groups, especially those it describes as anti-American, anarchist, and radically pro-transgender.

By Father Jerry J. Pokorsky, Catholic World Report – When life is separated from Christ, it does not become freer or fuller—it becomes spiritually unfruitful. We lose the life of His saving grace… Jesus makes it clear that there is a distinct relationship between love, keeping His commandments, and bearing fruit. God’s law, authentic Christian love, and life in abundance are inseparable. The unity helps us reject popular cultural patterns with false promises of fulfillment….

By Shawn Fleetwood, The Federalist – Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito had some choice words for their Supreme Court colleagues on Thursday over their “remarkable” decision “undermin[ing]” the court’s historic Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade…. The stinging rebukes came in an order the high court handed down to temporarily pause an appellate court ruling that halted a Biden-era FDA rule allowing the mailing of mifepristone to women without an in-person doctor visit. …

By Nancy Flanders, Live Action – The U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision on May 14 stating that the abortion pill can continue to be dispensed through the mail as Louisiana’s lawsuit proceeds… Following the filing of a lawsuit by the State of Louisiana that sought to reverse the FDA’s 2023 changes to abortion pill regulations, the Fifth Circuit paused mail order dispensing… The abortion pill manufacturer Danco Laboratories filed an emergency application before the Supreme Court on May 2, requesting a stay be placed on the Fifth Circuit’s decision. …

By Gayle Somers, Catholic Exchange – Ascension Sunday presents a paradox:  Jesus leaves His apostles for Heaven, but He assures them He is always with them.  What kind of departure was this?… Gospel (Read Mt. 28:16-20) … Sunday’s Gospel records the end of Jesus’ forty days of post-Resurrection appearances and teaching.  The account of what actually happened during those days is quite spare. 

By Regis Martin, Crisis Magazine – The Final Report of Study Group 9 of the Synod on Synodality is a jaw-droping attack on Scripture and everything that the Church has ever taught concerning sodomy… Is sodomy no longer a sin? Are instances of same-sex attraction among those inclined to commit it no longer to be viewed as a disorder? Will the sacrament of marriage soon be administered to couples in committed homosexual relationships?… Has the Church, in other words, changed her mind on the subject of sexual perversion, no longer insisting sodomites cease and desist from a practice that, until quite recently, she had unequivocally condemned?

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – Many faithful Catholics were shocked last week when a Vatican document quoted a man who proclaimed his homosexual inclination a “gift from God.” They were shocked again when they learned that the pop song “Dancing Queen”—widely recognized as a “gay anthem”—had been played by a visiting band at the Pope’s weekly public audience.

By Josh Hammer, The American Spectator – Because of the breadth and depth of its impact and lasting influence, the Divine Revelation at Sinai was the logical starting point for what we now call Western civilization. Writing thousands of years later at another inflection point in human history, Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist No. 31: “In disquisitions of every kind, there are certain primary truths, or first principles, upon which all subsequent reasonings must depend.” In the United States specifically, and in Western civilization more generally, it was long obvious what those “primary truths” and “first principles” actually meant: the Word of God Himself.

By Edward Pentin, National Catholic  Register – The final report of the Synod on Synodality’s Study Group 9 has drawn widespread criticism since its publication last week — not least for what its authors wrote about Courage International… A respected and canonically approved Catholic apostolate, since 1980 Courage International has been providing spiritual support to men and women experiencing same-sex attractions who wish to live chastely according to Church teaching. …

By Gregory Lyakhov, Patriot Post – The perception of neutrality can be far more influential because most Americans still fail to recognize the political slant that shapes coverage… For years, conservatives have operated under a fairly obvious assumption: mainstream media institutions are hostile to Donald Trump and, more broadly, hostile to right-leaning political movements… At this point, that observation is not particularly controversial. …

By David G Bonagura, Jr., The Catholic Thing – Mother Church is still celebrating the record number of converts who were  received into her family at Easter. Her task now, like that of all mothers, is to nourish her children so they grow in wisdom, age, and grace before God and man. As mothers with adult children know well, this task has no expiration date: the Church dispenses the gifts of salvation to each child until his final breath.

By Gigi Duncan, National Catholic Register – When a newly ordained priest celebrates his first Mass, one of his final gestures is often not toward the congregation, but toward his mother… In his hands is a simple strip of linen — a manutergium, used days earlier at his ordination to wipe the sacred chrism oil from his newly anointed hands. At the end of the Mass, he places it in her hands, entrusting her with a quiet but profound symbol of his vocation: one she will carry, by tradition, to the grave. …

By Arthur Schaper, American Greatness – The Dignity Act is amnesty dressed up as enforcement, proving once again that too many in Congress still value cheap labor over America’s borders, laws, and sovereignty… The DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act is all the indignant rage on Capitol Hill. It’s another immigration bill, putting out legal status for those in the country illegally, provided that they work and pay taxes.

By David Catron, The American Spectator – Probably the best description from a constitutional scholar on this failed Democrat gerrymandering scheme was offered by Jonathan Turley who wrote, “Gov. Abigail Spanberger and the Democratic establishment … tossed aside any pretense of principle in a raw political gambit. The resulting faceplant is nothing short of legendary: Spanberger’s Democrats have succeeded in alienating half of the state.”

By Roger D. McGrath, Chronicles – Chinese birth tourism and birth surrogacy to gain U.S. citizenship are the consequence of a misapplication of the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment, which was intended to do nothing more than prevent states from disenfranchising freed slaves by declaring them noncitizens. While brilliant legal minds endlessly manipulate the meaning of “subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” our country’s sovereignty is being trashed and our people replaced.

By Scott Ventureyra, Crisis Magazine – Extending beyond Wilcock’s death, there have been the strange recurring reports of scientists, engineers, and officials connected to sensitive fields whose deaths or disappearances have raised further questions. Some reports have identified at least 10 to 12 scientists and researchers who have died or gone missing between 2022 and early 2026, many of whom were connected to nuclear or aerospace research, or other related fields. These would include figures such as Amy Eskridge (d. June 11, 2022), an anti-gravity researcher, and William Neil McCasland  ….

By Fr. Gerald E. Murray, The Catholic Thing – The Synod office has decided that it is necessary to publish the claim of a lobbyist for the homosexual lifestyle that the Catholic Church has harmed people with the “hateful arrows of homophobia.” Is this claim an example of the “sense of faith of the faithful”? Or a repudiation of the Faith of Christ on behalf of immorality?… This Vatican-sponsored destructive subversion must come to an end now. Souls are endangered by the scandalous false teachings being propagated by the Synod. Pope Leo needs to strengthen the brethren in the Faith by putting an end to this poisonous betrayal of God’s truth.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – John 15:26-16:4 – 26 But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me; 27 and you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning. [John 16] 1 I have said all this to you to keep you from falling away. …

By Peter Van Buren, The American Conservative – The Iran War may prove to be little more than a blip on the world’s radar. Or its real significance may lie less in who wins militarily than in whether it accelerates global recognition that the United States is no longer willing or able to enforce the international order it created after 1945… There is a strong argument that, even as the missiles continue to fly, the war is not that significant. It appears today the most likely outcome will be a return to something like the status quo in the Middle East.

By Russell M. Lawson, Catholic Exchange – In his first encyclical, Pope Benedict XVI looked over the course of his life, beginning before World War II, throughout which he witnessed firsthand the propensity of human beings to hate, interspersed with episodes of what the world called “love.” Love, he reflected, “has become one of the most frequently used and misused of words, a word to which we attach quite different meanings.” The misuse of love is the possessiveness that it entails, as humans seek material items ….

By Joseph Pronechen, National Catholic Register – May is the perfect time to celebrate Mother’s Day because it comes in the month dedicated to the greatest mother of all — the Blessed Virgin Mary. Considering both together, the Register asked some Catholic mothers to share their favorite Marian devotions…. While the Cowden home loves to honor the Blessed Mother with flowers year-round, they have a special floral-themed custom specific to the month of May. ….

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – On Mother’s Day, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched Moms.gov, a groundbreaking website for new and expecting mothers. This first-of-its-kind resource offers guidance and information to support the health and well-being of mothers and their families… Moms.gov also supports expecting parents who are navigating difficult or unexpected pregnancies. It features information about pregnancy centers, Federally Qualified Health Centers, nutritional guidance, Trump Accounts, and other resources that allow maternal and infant health to thrive.

By Angeline Tan, Live Action – In an incredible nod to the sanctity of life and medical ingenuity, Mia Pruzin of Shaker Heights, Ohio, triumphed over Stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma while pregnant, delivering her baby girl Vivienne at 36 weeks and achieving full remission. Now, she is joyfully celebrating her first Mother’s Day as a cancer-free mom.

By Emily Chaffins, Catholic Exchange – When I was a teenager, my mom received a thyroid cancer diagnosis. This moment was particularly difficult for her because, when she was 15, cancer had claimed the life of her own mother. She told me later that getting cancer when my sister and I were kids was her worst nightmare… Originally from Cuba and raised in Miami, Florida, my mom grew up in a Catholic family that did not consistently practice their faith. However, when my grandmother was dying, my mom discovered the power of the rosary, which played a huge factor in her rediscovering the Faith several years later. …

By Star Parker, Patriot Post – The abortion issue won’t go away, as so many politicians wish it would… It persists because the discussion and debate are about our very existence. What is life?… The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade, which has defined the abortion landscape in the United States since 1973. That landscape defined a right to abortion protected by the U.S. Constitution.

By Edward Pentin, National Catholic Register – The final report of Study Group 9 includes testimonies from ‘married’ gay men, questions whether same-sex relations are sinful, and draws strong criticism for its treatment of Courage International… A study group’s final report from the 2024 Synod on Synodality released Tuesday has been roundly criticized for attempting to change the Church’s teaching on homosexuality and for misrepresenting an apostolate, in good standing with the Church, that ministers to same-sex-attracted faithful.

By Bishop Joseph E. Strickland, Bishop Emeritus, Pillars of Faith – We are watching Catholicism increasingly presented not as the narrow road to salvation, but as a vague humanitarian project designed to offend no one. And this confusion reaches even deeper… Many Catholics no longer hear about: Judgment, Hell, Sacrifice, Penance, Chastity, Mortification, The necessity of confession, The reality of spiritual warfare, Or the eternal consequences of sin… Instead, too often they hear a gospel of perpetual affirmation. But a gospel without repentance is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our Lord did not say, “Remain as you are.” He said: “Go, and now sin no more.”  

By Joseph Pearce, Crisis Magazine – If the Church is to continue to transform and humanize the world, how can she dispense with beauty in her liturgies, that beauty which is so closely linked with love and with the radiance of the Resurrection?  ~Cardinal Ratzinger… This question, asked by the future Pope Benedict XVI, is purely rhetorical. The answer is that the Church cannot continue to transform and humanize the world if she dispenses with the beauty of the liturgy. “Without this,” Cardinal Ratzinger continued, “the world will become the first circle of hell.” …

By Bishop Louis Tylka, National Catholic Register – Archbishop Fulton Sheen offered 4 million listeners (a week) around the world much-needed truth on the radio with The Catholic Hour. The now-Venerable Fulton Sheen is revered as one of the most effective evangelists for Jesus Christ… Very soon, he could become the first American native-born bishop to be canonized a saint… As bishop of the Diocese of Peoria, where Fulton Sheen was born, ordained a priest, and first answered God’s call, I know how gravely the world needs Fulton Sheen’s legacy: clarity in confusion, hope in anxiety, truth spoken with love, and a reminder that life is worth living because it is rooted in Christ.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – John 15:18-21 – 18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, `A servant is not greater than his master.’ …

Bellarmine Forum – GREGORY was born of saintly parents, and was the chosen friend of St. Basil. They studied together at Athens, turned at the same time from the fairest worldly prospects, and for some years lived together in seclusion, self-discipline, and toil. Gregory was raised, almost by force, to the priesthood; and was in time made Bishop of Nazianzum by St. Basil, who had become Archbishop of Cæsarea.

By Mark Haas, Catholic Exchange – Amid a world ripe with uncertainty, fear, and sorrow, the Catholic Church stands as a loving and consoling mother, guiding her children toward the eternal embrace of Jesus Christ in heaven. The Catholic Church describes herself as a she. She is not merely an institution or an assembly of believers—she is a living, breathing organism: the Bride of Christ. She is our spiritual Mother, nurturing us along our journey toward heaven.

By Richard K. Vedder, The American Spectator – Not only has DEI lowered productivity and thereby the standard of living, but the Star Chamber-like behavior of some DEI administrators of campus and probably corporate dealings with managers, unquestionably, sometimes led to fear, intimidation, self-censorship, and a decline in true freedom of speech and expression. The recent attacks on the academy by governments, wealthy donors, and others are at least partly justified by what economists call the “negative externalities” associated with the growth of DEI practices that originated largely on college campuses before spreading to corporate America.

By Chris Jackson, Hiraeth In Exile, Substack – Rome can tolerate ambiguity on sin, bishops who undermine marriage, synodal reports that place divine revelation under pastoral review, and German defiance. It can tolerate obscene slogans in the shadow of St. Peter’s. It can tolerate almost anything… But let Tradition secure bishops for survival, and suddenly everyone remembers law, unity, obedience, hierarchy, and wounds to the Mystical Body… How convenient. …

By Craig Bannister, MRC TV – On Wednesday, the Supreme Court denied a last-ditch effort to stop Louisiana from immediately complying with the High Court’s ruling requiring redistricting to erase the state’s race-based map, setting the stage for the redistricting effort to begin on Friday… “A Louisiana legislative committee that oversees redistricting will meet Friday to hear public comments on a new congressional district map after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week to overturn the existing version,” Louisiana Illuminator reported Monday, citing State Senator Caleb Kleinpeter (R-Port Allen) …

By Kennedy Hall, Crisis Magazine – The word “prudent” gets thrown around a lot, and it is often misused. Recently, a friend posed a question to me about the prudence of the forthcoming SSPX consecrations, and it was not the first time I had been asked. There are, of course, many people who are sympathetic to the Society of St. Pius X to varying degrees. The consecration of bishops without papal approval, however, is something that troubles many consciences, for obvious reasons.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – John 15:12-17 – 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. …

By Justin Logan and Sumantra Maitra, The Federalist – President Trump is right to withdraw troops from Germany and from Europe. Neocon Republicans and Democrats are wrong. There is already a template for a rapid withdrawal from Europe: the one that took place after the end of the Cold War — incidentally, also the last era when the U.S. had a balanced budget. Our only criticism is that Trump’s current withdrawal numbers don’t go far enough. (In fairness, the president promised on Saturday that he is “going to cut way down. And we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000.”)

By Elise Winland, Zeale News – Secretary of State Marco Rubio met privately with Pope Leo XIV and other Vatican officials May 7 to discuss the Middle East, the Western Hemisphere, and the need to promote peace and human dignity, according to statements from the Vatican and U.S. officials… The discussions reaffirmed the “shared commitment to fostering good bilateral relations between the Holy See and the United States of America,” according to a translation of the Vatican statement. …

By Victor Davis Hanson, Senior Contributor, The Daily Signal – Gerrymandering, or the protocol where states allot congressional seats by population, is in the news recently, and some states do it transparently politically, depending on the makeup of their state legislatures. Others go through the operation, sometimes genuine, sometimes not so much, of having a nonpartisan body redistrict… Now we’re in a gerrymandering war where some of the states are trying to redistrict and improve either the Democratic or Republican turnout. …

By Michael Haynes, European Conservative – The Catholic Church’s prohibition on the use of contraception is clear and unchanging, yet the tragic demise of the Vatican academy tasked with examining such matters is so great that its president remains unable to say whether he agrees with Church teaching or not… In a world heavily permeated by sexual proclivity and the complete degradation of morals and ethics relating to the sanctity of life, the clear guiding hand of the Church is sorely needed. Her teachings on issues such as abortion, euthanasia, and sexuality are widely unpopular but increasingly serve as the last bastion in the defense of life.

By Bellarmine Forum – By Bellarmine Forum – Apparition of St. Michael the Archangel – IT is manifested, from the holy Scriptures, that God is pleased to make frequent use of the ministry of the heavenly spirits in the dispensations of His providence in this world, and especially towards man. Hence the name of Angel (which is not properly a denomination of nature, but office) has been appropriated to them. The angels are all pure spirits; they are, by a property of their nature, immortal, as every spirit is.

By Filip Mazurczak, Catholic World Report – “Compared to most other bishops in communist Poland and likely much of the world at the time, Wojtyła’s response to sexual abuse was exemplary,” says journalist and canon lawyer Tomasz Krzyżak… Tomasz Krzyżak, an expert in canon law and journalist who has conducted research in Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance and the newly opened archives of the Archdiocese of Kraków, disagrees with those claims. He says that the future Pope St. John Paul II, “dealt with sexual abuse seriously, applied the provisions of canon law, and never covered anything up.”

By Jonah McKeown, National Catholic Register – Kaminski, Sinha, and Murphy founded Petrine based on their own experiences of the positive effects of Catholic men living together… The idea for Petrine, the founders told the Register, was born from the founders’ recognition that amidst the well-documented modern epidemic of loneliness among young men, bringing young Catholics together under one roof is a powerful way to prepare those men for their future vocations …

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – What does the Pope think about the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran? We don’t know; he hasn’t said. Complain about that if you like. Pope Leo has made it clear that he opposes the US war against Iran, but he has not said what American action, if any, would be justified… Pope Leo has said—as has every other Roman Pontiff of the nuclear era—that he longs for a world in which no country, including the US, has nuclear weapons. It follows, therefore, that he does not want Iran to have a nuclear weapon. So Trump’s complaint is false.

By Victor Davis Hanson, American Greatness – Today’s Democratic Party has abandoned its traditional working-class, patriotic roots and embraced a radical Jacobin ideology built on division, coercion, and political extremism… For the past century, the agendas of the Dem. Party were predictable. They professed concern for working Americans and supported blue-collar unions…  Unemployment insurance, a 40-hour work week, disability insurance, and Social Security… Still, many Democrats were socially conservative.

By Breccan F. Thies, The Federalist – The American medical establishment has been working for over 100 years to fabricate a mental health crisis, but with contemporary perceptions of depression and sadness at all-time highs, coupled with prescription drug use run rampant, they may have created a real one… An enormous amount of Americans are diagnosed with some form of mental illness, invariably leading them to be prescribed intense regimens of drugs that manufacturers and doctors claim will resolve the issues.

By Elise Winland, Zeale News – The U.S. Supreme Court’s April 29 ruling on Louisiana v. Callais has sparked a wave of redistricting activity in Republican-led states, with Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi moving to reshape congressional maps… As Zeale News previously reported, the high court’s 6-3 ruling struck down Louisiana’s congressional map, which included a second majority-black district, as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. That decision narrowed when states may intentionally draw majority-minority districts under the Voting Rights Act.

By Michael Pakaluk, The Catholic Thing – If I were created a Cardinal and dispensed from the canonical requirement to be ordained a deacon or priest – my vocation is as a layperson – this is how I would counsel the Holy Father on the first anniversary of his pontificate… “Holy Father, the first thing you must do is correct Francis, because only the pope may aptly correct a pope.  There is no need to judge his motives.  But he often caused confusion and distress, and his attempts to unify often seemed rather to divide.

By Craig Bannister, CNS News – The notification provided to Descano by Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General Civil Rights Division, cites the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Safe Streets Act, “both of which prohibit recipients of Federal financial assistance from discriminating based upon race, color, or national origin”: “Our investigation will also determine whether your office is engaged in a pattern or practice of depriving persons of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, pursuant to 34 U.S.C. § 12601.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – John 15:9-11 – 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

By Chelsea Jordan King, National Catholic Reporter, (Complicit Clergy) – Dubbed by some as the “climate pope,” Francis made care for creation central to Catholic social teaching in the 21st century… Leo has not retreated from that position. Rather, he is propelling it forward… From the earliest days of his papacy, (Leo) signaled continuity by calling for “urgent action” on climate change and emphasizing humanity’s responsibility to live in a “relationship of reciprocity” with the natural world.. he has insisted there is “no room for indifference or resignation” in responding to the climate crisis. …

By Fr. Francesco Giordano, STD, Catholic Exchange – In a world of abortion pills, euthanasia debates, cloning, hospital rationing, and endless moral gray zones, the question of cooperation with evil is anything but abstract. It is one of the most practical moral issues ordinary Christians face. Anyone living “in the world” will eventually confront it: in medicine, politics, education, business, family life, and even taxation. The issue is unavoidable because our actions often become occasions, opportunities, or instruments for the actions of others.

By Scott McKay, The American Spectator – On Tuesday night, Indiana held primary races for some of its state Senate seats. That isn’t normally an occurrence meriting national attention, but this time it was… This year’s primaries were a test, one that the legacy corporate media completely failed to understand. And though the results were unmistakable, they’re still being fundamentally misinterpreted.

By Rob Marco, Crisis Magazine – I recently watched an interview with actor Shia LaBeouf that a friend tipped me off to. For the record, I didn’t make it very far into the interview, which was recorded the day after LaBeouf was released from jail on bail for a drunken physical altercation at a bar in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. The actor appeared to be somewhat inebriated, was dropping f-bombs left and right, deflecting responsibility for his recent objectionable behavior, and probably making his agent panic backstage.

By Carole Novielli, Live Action – The National Abortion Federation is a sought-after resource for the media regarding abortion… NAF took the lead in introducing mifepristone in the U.S., and early donors to NAF included the abortion pill manufacturer Danco Laboratories, LLC… NAF operates the largest national, toll-free, multi-lingual hotline for abortion information and abortion financial assistance in the U.S. and Canada… In 2021, NAF sought to hire an “Intelligence Analyst” to create “dossiers” to track pro-life activities, individuals, and groups.

By Dr. Mark Lowery, Catholic World Report – The tragic impasse that exists in our culture on the issue of homosexuality stems from two errors… On the one hand, many moderns have embraced an autonomous view of reality: “I can do what I want as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else.” According to such relativism, homosexual acts are perfectly legitimate so long as they are between two consenting adults. In stark reaction to such subjectivism, many others embrace a moralism that easily turns venomous when it vilifies and demonizes: “Homosexuality is wrong because God said so” (and nothing more).

By Bishop Joseph E. Strickland, Pillars of Faith – In every age, the Church is called to love sinners while never blessing sin. Authentic charity calls every soul to repentance, chastity, holiness, and conversion through Jesus Christ. True pastoral care does not affirm souls in patterns of behavior that separate them from God. A shepherd who sees danger and remains silent is not merciful… The attempt to normalize or redefine homosexual relationships within the life of the Church is part of a broader effort to transform Catholicism into something more acceptable to the modern world. But the Church does not belong to the modern world. The Church belongs to Jesus Christ. …

By Diane Montagna, Substack – On Tuesday, the Vatican published the Final Report of the Synod on Synodality’s study group on “controversial doctrinal, pastoral and ethical questions,”prominently featuring two anonymous testimonies from openly homosexual men in “same-sex marriages.”… The decision was immediately praised by Fr. James Martin, SJ, as “a significant step forward in the Church’s relationship with the LGBTQ community.”… What neither the Vatican nor Fr. Martin has acknowledged, however, is that one of the testimonies appears to have been written by a man featured in a 2023 NY Times article receiving a blessing alongside his same-sex partner from the same Jesuit priest, just one day after the publication of Fiducia Supplicans.

By Angeline Tan, Live Action – (New Mexico) Gov. Grisham signed the bill during the state’s 2026 legislative session. This move will significantly decrease transparency around abortion practices, eradicating New Mexico’s only legal framework for garnering abortion data… The former law mandated that abortionists file confidential statistical reports within five days of performing an abortion. While these reports obscured any identifying details about patients, they supplied vital public health information utilized to keep tabs on statewide trends. …

By Casey Chalk, Crisis Magazine – I confess that I sometimes allow myself to be deceived. When things are going well professionally, when election results go the way I hoped, when I seem to be getting along with everyone I know—I can be disarmed into thinking that I am at peace with the world. Then, like a thunderclap, I’m jolted back to the truth of the matter: the world is not my friend.

By Jordan Boyd, The Federalist – The company responsible for manufacturing the most popular abortion pill on the market are more concerned about its profits than the harm its drugs are inflicting on women and babies… The confession from mifepristone maker Danco Laboratories came in its defense against Louisiana’s landmark lawsuit targeting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s “mail-order abortion scheme.” The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously granted Louisiana’s request for a stay, effectively pausing the FDA’s mail-order abortion drug permissions ….

By Dan Hart, LifeNews – As the U.S. birth rate continues to plummet to record lows, data shows that a significant percentage of liberals are deprioritizing the importance of marriage and having children, especially among teens. Among conservatives, however, the phenomenon does not appear to be occurring… In an article published Friday by the Institute for Family Studies (IFS), sociologists Brad Wilcox and Grant Bailey highlight how the aspirations that many liberals claim to have about marrying and having children are not lining up with their real-world behavior, which appears to be heavily influenced by negative media narratives. …

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – John 15:1-8 – 1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. 2 Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ….

Catholic Culture – The Roman Martyrology commemorates St. Peter Nolasco (1182-1258), born in France, but later settled in Barcelona, Spain. After taking part in the Crusades against the Albigensians, he used his inheritance to free Christian prisoners held by the Moors. He later founded the Order of Our Lady of Mercy (Mercedarians) beginning in 1218 devoted to ransoming Christians.

By M.D. Kittle, The Federalist – Indiana conservatives just sent a message to RINOs everywhere: FAFO. These voters are mad as hell and they’re not going to vote for spineless Republicans anymore… Hopefully GOP senators performing in the failure theater production of “debating” the SAVE America Act heard Indiana’s message loud and clear… Most of the Republican Indiana state Senate candidates endorsed by President Donald Trump won primary races Tuesday against incumbents who voted with Democrats to stop a congressional redistricting bill. …

By Dr. Donald DeMarco, Catholic Exchange – A metaphor needs a ground, just as an airplane needs a runway.  It has no meaning when it is separated from the base from which it is launched.  Marriage cannot be detached from its mooring and most assuredly not for political reasons.  Beautiful things will derive from a good marriage, and they will be properly honored in poetical verse.  But the genesis of marriage, that two-in-one intimacy between a man and a woman, will always be the way it is divinely described in the Book of Genesis.

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – This summer Pope Leo will face two serious challenges to his authority: one from the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), which has announced plans to consecrate new bishops without a papal mandate; the other from the German bishops’ conference, which is introducing a ritual for the blessing of illicit conjugal unions. On paper the two cases are quite different, involving distinct theological and canonical principles. But the Vatican’s treatment of the two wayward groups will surely invite comparisons, for two reasons. …

By Regis Martin, National Catholic Register – A young man, alone and forlorn following a late-night revel that has left him empty and unfulfilled, wanders into a darkened church that appears to be no less empty than the party he just left. Seeing that he is the only one there, he sits down and, amid the surrounding silence, stares into the darkness… He sees a light flickering in the distance. It is the light coming from the sanctuary lamp, upon which he fixes his gaze. It occurs to him in a single lightning stroke that if that light is true, if it actually signifies something real ….

By Steve Cortes, The Daily Signal – Despite this litany of abuses and clear anti-Catholic bias in the ongoing War on Faith, bishops continually insist on inserting themselves into highly partisan U.S. politics to side very publicly with Democrats. From the bishop of Rome himself, Pope Leo XIV, to various American bishops, on certain issues, these prelates seemingly take every opportunity possible to attack the church’s political protectors and join in league with the oppressors of Catholics.

By Paul Gottfried, Chronicles – Recently, I forced myself to reread (despite the accompanying torture) Lillian Hellman’s 1976 memoir, Scoundrel Time. Since its publication, this memoir has offered readers a progressive view of the film industry in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Hellman was a politically outspoken Hollywood scriptwriter who produced scripts for such films as Watch on the Rhine and Little Foxes, and was the longtime lover of fiction writer Dashiell Hammett.

By Steven Ertelt , LifeNews – The Supreme Court has restored mail-order abortions while the lawsuit from Louisiana and multiple states continues. This means babies will continue dying and women will continue being injured by the dangerous abortion pill… Responding to requests from two makers of the dangerous abortion pill, the Supreme Court reversed the block on mail-order abortions the 5th Circuit Appeals Court put in place late Friday… The high court’s order temporarily allows the Biden mail-order abortion rule to continue.

Fr. Mario Alexis Portella, Crisis Magazine – It would have been beneficial to Sarah Mullally had Pope Leo said the same thing—that the Church of England is merely an ecclesiastical community that needs to be in full harmony with the Roman Pontiff. Or if he had mentioned that Cardinal John Henry Newman, after his conversion to Catholicism, never engaged in any “dialogue,” for he knew that full communion could only be found within the Mystical Body of Christ, which is the Catholic Church.

By Auguste Meyrat, The Catholic Thing – Although the idea of a midlife crisis feels like an outdated concept these days, there is still something to be said about it. It may look different for men today, but they are still forced to confront certain personal challenges that arise around their forties… This is because men at this point in their lives often must assume responsibility for everything and everyone everywhere: at home, at work, and in the community.

By Victor Davis Hanson,. The Daily Signal – We’re in the eighth week of the Iran waropens in a new tab, and things are starting to heat up even though there’s not kinetic action. What do I mean by heating up? The Iranian government has ceased to exist. We don’t know, and the Iranians don’t know who holds power… There is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard. There is the theocracy, there is the elected people in Parliament, and there is a regular military. And those four groups operate in schizophrenic fashion.

By Elise Winland, Zeale News – Key leaders in the pro-life movement, once among President Donald Trump’s strongest backers, are openly criticizing the President and his administration for failing to restrict access to abortion drugs, despite Republican control of the White House and Congress… Even though the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, abortion remains widely available in the U.S., with mifepristone now accounting for roughly 3 in 5 abortions nationwide.

By Elise Winland, Zeale News – Dem. congressional candidate J.P. Cooney, running for Virginia’s 7th District on a platform that stresses bipartisan accountability and nonpartisan integrity, is facing scrutiny over reported 2021 text messages that appear to mock Catholic nuns who attended the Jan. 6 rally in Washington, D.C… The messages… date to February 2021. At the time, Cooney and his colleague Molly Gaston were serving as DOJ prosecutors and referenced a NY Times photograph showing religious sisters in traditional habits and veils attending the Jan. 6, 2021, rally while wearing Trump scarves ….

By Shawn Fleetwood, The Federalist – Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court opinions are often poorly argued and lack coherent legal reasoning. And in the high court’s latest release, Justice Samuel Alito made sure she knew it… The Alito-driven smackdown happened late Monday when the Supreme Court released an order related to its landmark Louisiana v. Callais decision, in which the majority (led by Alito) determined that Louisiana’s most recent congressional map is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. …

By Ishmael Adibuah, EWTN News – On Monday, the Holy See Press Office confirmed that Pope Leo XIV will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on May 7… The meeting follows a period of tension between the Holy See and U.S. President Donald Trump. In April, Trump publicly attacked the pontiff on social media, calling him “weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy” in response to the pontiffʼs appeals for peace amid the U.S.-Israel war on Iran… Leo XIV has called repeatedly for a peaceful resolution to the armed conflict in the Middle East. In April, he described Trumpʼs threats against Iranian civilization as “not acceptable.”

By  Fr. Jerry Pokorsky, Catholic Culture – Intelligent irony without faith may be amusing, but often cynical, even vicious. Some comedians challenge the existence of God and His benevolence due to the various difficulties they find, particularly in the Old Testament. The brilliant and appropriately censored quips of George Carlin are insightful and hilarious. But he hated the Catholic Church, and his comedic attacks are legendary. …

By Thomas P. Harmon, Catholic World Report – Catholic schools and universities speak frequently, and rightly, about the formation of the whole person. They speak about service, solidarity, human dignity, vocation, and the call to holiness. What they often speak about less confidently is citizenship. One can move through a good deal of Catholic education in America today hearing many worthy things about community and discipleship, while hearing much less about the formation required for life in a republic. That lack is a problem—and an opportunity.

By Brianna Lyman, The Federalist – The SAVE America Act would amend the 1993 National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) to require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and voter ID to cast a ballot in federal elections. The current “safeguard” preventing noncitizens from registering to vote and voting is a tiny square box on the federal registration form asking applicants to attest they are telling the truth about their citizenship status. In other words, the honor system.

By Jed Babbin, The American Spectator – Unable to exit the alliance, the administration turns to troop movements to redefine US strategy…. President Trump has made no secret of his disdain for our NATO allies. In the past month or so, he has called them “cowards” and NATO a “paper tiger.” But, as I have written elsewhere, his notion that we should just get out of NATO is blocked by both the NATO Treaty and by a specific U.S. law that requires either a resolution passed by both houses of Congress or a two-thirds vote of the Senate. Neither is going to happen.

By Paul Kengor and Grace Reilly, The American Spectator – The Texas Congressman confronted a pro-abortion professor with the undeniable barbaric reality of the practice… It is easy for abortion activists to avoid the gruesome reality of abortion and just focus on the light-hearted talking points  of “ choice” and “women’s rights.” That is exactly what American University Professor Jessica Waters hoped to do when she testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government this past week. Rep. Brandon Gill made that impossible, questioning her in detail about barbaric abortion procedures in a tense exchange that has since gone viral.

By Bellarmine Forum – A DOMINICAN friar from his fifteenth year, Michael Ghislieri, as a simple religious, as inquisitor, as bishop, and as cardinal, was famous for his intrepid defence of the Church’s faith and discipline, and for the spotless purity of his own life. His first care as Pope was to reform the Roman court and capital by the strict example of his household and the severe punishment of all offenders.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – John 14:27-31 – 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, `I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe. …

By Catholic World News – Pope Leo XIV appointed Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala of Washington, DC, as the new bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia… Born in El Salvador in 1970, Bishop Menjivar-Ayala was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington in 2004 and appointed an auxiliary bishop in 2022. He was the subject of a 2023 Washington Post essay, “He was an undocumented immigrant. He became ‘Your Excellency.’“

By Tyler Arnold, EWTN News, Catholic World Report – In New York, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who provide care to terminally ill people, faced a warning from the state Department of Health for “refusing to assign a room to a resident other than in accordance with the resident’s gender identity.” They are also fighting the rules in court… On April 30, Trump’s DOJ published a report on “anti-Christian bias” it alleges plagued the federal government under Biden’s presidency. It documents rules and regulations that damaged religious liberty related to abortion, contraception, and gender policies. It alleges weaponization of the government against Christians, including pro-life protesters.

By Daniel J. Flynn, Chronicles – A Laffer Curve exists for everything, and the Age of Trump’s overlap with the most brazenly biased media illustrates this truth.
How else to explain the coexistence of two forces pulling so hard in opposing directions? The more that activist journalists try, the less they influence public opinion. The less they influence public opinion, the more they try. Instead of demonizing Trump in the mind of the citizenry, they more successfully immunize the mind of the citizenry from their demonization attempts.

By Thomas Gallatin, Patriot Post – The DOJ’s Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias recently published its report for “Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias within the Federal Government.” This follows a report released in the middle of last month, which highlighted how the Biden Justice Department targeted pro-life activists for prosecution using the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act… This latest report digs even more deeply into the Biden administration’s anti-Christian bias, exposing how this bias influenced governmental policy and the application of law across the whole of the federal government. …

By Al Perrotta, The Daily Signal – “But I think very often, they don’t talk about what really matters. And what really matters are the institutions that we’re talking about today. And I think that the Bible fully and completely underscores the importance in a strong, confident nation of strong families, strong marriages, strong parents, kids who were raised well. A faith- and religion-based community that is nourishing to those communities.”… America’s seen the breakdown of these institutions since the 1960s, with a decimation of marriage and birth rates, the collapse of community, a decrease in church attendance, and an increase in loneliness. ….

By Dan Fitzpatrick, Catholic Stand – Many adults say today’s children and young adults are the me-generation, the selfie-generation, or the narcissistic-generation. But it is today’s parents that bear the blame for this…. Modern culture has conditioned young people to believe that “everybody deserves a trophy.”  As such, many in this age group wrongly assume that they are the most important people of the world… This is not to say that self-centeredness only affects the younger generation. …

By Anthony Esolen, Catholic Thing – The German episcopate appears all agog, not to say hot and lathery, to extend blessings to men who bed down with men, and women with women, apparently believing that Saint Paul and Saint Jude have nothing to teach them: Germany having led the way toward a world in which families are rich with children and stronger than ever; the love between man and woman is celebrated in song and confirmed in customs and laws; the popular culture is, in its most public manifestations, wholesome and clean;

By Stephen Soukup, American Greatness – In the week-plus since the latest attempt on President Trump’s life, many on the Right and in the political Center are, at long last, waking up to the possibility that the political opposition today is not entirely normal. It’s not unprecedented either, but it’s far from what we have come to expect in the so-called “civilized” world. As the polymath and public intellectual Eric Weinstein put it on Twitter/X, “These aren’t deranged liberals. They are normalized revolutionaries.”

By Daniel Payne, EWTN News – The Archdiocese of New York has agreed to a nearly $1 billion settlement for victims of clergy abuse, one of the largest abuse settlements in U.S. Church history that comes after more than half a decade of litigation… The New York-based law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates said in a press release on May 1 that the archdiocese had agreed with an abuse victims’ committee to recommend a settlement of $800 million, which would be paid “into a trust for approximately 1,300 survivors who have brought sexual abuse claims” …

By David Catron, The American Spectator – If the title of this column seems to exaggerate the potential impact of last week’s Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, it’s probably because most political pundits have focused on its effect below the Mason-Dixon Line. But the majority-minority congressional districts that will need to be altered pursuant to the Court’s ruling are far more pervasive than most realize. Ballotpedia, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey, estimates that these racially gerrymandered districts account for 148 seats in the House of Representatives.

Zeale News – The Carthusian order was founded in 1054 by St. Bruno. They are known for their intense fasts, solitude, and discipline – as well as for the production of chartreuse. King Henry II had ordered the death of St. Thomas Beckett and established a Charterhouse there as an act of reparation. The community first went to London in 1371. They came to care for and pray for the victims of the bubonic plague that was ravaging Europe at the time.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – John 14:21-26 – 21 He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. ….

By Steven Ertelt, LifeNews – A federal court issued a ruling today that temporarily blocked mail-order abortions and, if ultimately upheld, could save tens of thousands of babies from abortions… The federal appeals court temporarily blocked a Biden administration rule allowing the abortion drug mifepristone to be dispensed through the mail, a victory for pro-life advocates working to protect women and unborn children from unregulated chemical abortions that bypass state laws protecting babies from abortions.

By David B. McGarry, The American Spectator – But with every batch of innovation and economic progress comes a fit of techno-skepticism and panic; the Luddite impulse will never be quelled entirely. Most recently, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) introduced “legislation that would enact a reasonable pause to the development of AI to ensure the safety of humanity.” The linguistic gamesmanship of “reasonable” and “safety of humanity” obscures …

By S.A. McCarthy, LifeNews – The presidency of Joe Biden was a dark, though relatively brief, chapter in American history, replete with widespread prosecution and persecution of American Christians. President Donald Trump repeatedly pledged on the campaign trail to establish a federal task force to investigate and eradicate the anti-Christian bias evinced and enacted by the Biden administration, and has delivered on that promise. On Thursday morning, the U.S. DOJ published a 209-page report entitled, “Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias within the Federal Government” ….

By Bishop Joseph Strickland, Pillars of Faith – We live in a time when the world seems to be unraveling before our eyes. Nations are in turmoil. Wars and rumors of wars fill the headlines. Moral confusion spreads like a fog across cultures and generations. What was once clearly recognized as truth is now debated, denied, or even condemned… And many look at this and say: this is a political crisis … a cultural crisis … a failure of leadership among nations… But I say to you today: The crisis in the world is not merely a failure of governments – it is a failure of grace refused, and at times, grace neglected or obscured at the altar. 

By Peter M.J. Stravinskas, Catholic World Report – Our saint of the day, Athanasius of Alexandria, was probably born in that city between 296 and 298 A.D., a hub of the Greco-Roman world at that time, culturally, politically, intellectually, and morally. It was in that city that, centuries earlier, Jewish scholars rendered the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, giving us the Septuagint text, used by all the authors of the New Testament. Athanasius had a stellar education, fluent in both Greek and Coptic—although he admits ignorance of Hebrew.

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture – In the rising tide of sexual immorality—or in judging the pitiful state of the world—devout Catholics tend to remember the famous statement by Our Lady of Fatima that “More souls go to hell for sins of the flesh than for any other reason” (July 13, 1917). Ever since that time, we have been citing this statement as an indication that more souls go to hell for sexual sins than for any other cause. But this is not necessarily what Our Lady meant, and we will certainly not achieve Heaven simply by avoiding these sins ourselves.

By Jordan Sekulow, LifeNews – The Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias – established by President Trump’s Executive Order 14202 and led by the DOJ – has released its landmark 2026 report. It is a comprehensive, government-confirmed account of what the ACLJ has been fighting against for decades. The findings are sweeping, sobering, and, for those of us who have been on the front lines of these cases, entirely unsurprising… This report is a factual accounting – agency by agency, case by case, policy by policy – of how the Biden Administration weaponized the power of the federal government against people of faith. And the ACLJ’s own cases and advocacy are woven throughout its pages.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – John 14:1-6 – 1 “Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. …

By Austin Ruse, Crisis Magazine – Journalist Josh Hammer is steamed at Tucker Carlson  for many reasons, but most recently he is upset because Tucker said, “Muslims love Jesus.”… Hammer is plenty annoyed that Tucker says anything that is complimentary of majority Muslim countries. You cannot say, according to Hammer, that cities in the Gulf states tend to be cleaner and safer than, say, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, or really almost any major American city. ….

By Jacob Airey, Live Action – The Prime Video adult animated superhero series “Invincible” recently stunned viewers with a blatant abortion propaganda episode, involving the titular hero and his girlfriend, Atom Eve… In the series, a couple discusses a female character’s pregnancy and decision to have an abortion… A similar storyline was featured in the comic book of the same name… In both circumstances, the decision to have an abortion was normalized and justified. …..

By Mary Rose, Zeale – Many Catholics can recite many of the prayers of the Mass by heart, but – if they’re honest – can’t fully explain them. The Mass is full of deeply meaningful gestures and words that are widely memorized through repetition but may leave most without a clear sense of what is being done and said or to whom… Theologian Edward Sri spoke to Zeale News about how every element of the Liturgy is legible – if only Catholics are given the tools to understand it.

By John Melnikov, Catholic Exchange – The truth of the matter is that teens want to fight for something meaningful. There is an inherent desire in the hearts and souls of teenagers today to be part of social movements that employ activism for the greater good of a segment of society, or society itself writ large. While this is a wholly noble desire, the problems that arise from desire without focus can lead to internal restlessness, anger, and confusion… Parents can address the desire for meaning through activism ….

By Victor Davis Hanson, Daily Signal Senior Contributor – We’re approaching 60 days of the so-called Iran war, and we’re still getting these loud voices that Donald Trump has failed, that the war’s not going well… It’s completely nonempirical. It’s antithetical to the evidence… Here we are at 60 days, and Iran is losing about $500 million in input per day. It’s running out of storage space in a week or two for its daily output of oil, at which point they either have to stop pumping or they’re going to have—if they don’t stop pumping—their wells will collapse.

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – In Rome, a new book by Italian journalist Massimo Franco is drawing new attention to the claim that at the papal conclave of 2025, the electors saw Cardinal Prevost as a strong candidate because they were anxious to recover the confidence of American Catholic donors. Delia Buckley Gallagher, a capable reporter herself, treats that hypothesis as she introduces the book. But I’m not convinced.

By Josh Hammer, The American Spectator – One might be inclined to ask who started this latest bout of mass, iterative gerrymandering. … The reality is that both parties have gerrymandered their respective controlled states for a very long time. That is a tedious and uninteresting observation. The more interesting and pressing question, as this rare mid-decade redistricting war nears its end, is this: Looking at the aggregate nationwide redistricting efforts, which party will come out on top in advance of the midterm elections this November?

By Monica Migliorino Miller, Catholic World Report – Faced with a German Church that may be, at this point, a schismatic ecclesial body, Pope Leo XIV made remarks on April 22nd that stirred controversy and debate… First of all, I think it’s very important to understand that the unity or division of the Church should not revolve around sexual matters. We tend to think that when the Church is talking about morality, that the only issue of morality is sexual. And in reality, I believe there are much greater, more important issues, such as justice, equality, freedom of men and women, freedom of religion, that would all take priority before that particular issue. The Holy See has already spoken to the German bishops.

By Andrew J. Peach and Peter C. Fulweiler, Catholic Exchange – The Fellowship of St. Joseph (“FOSJ”) is flourishing. FOSJ is a men’s group in Wilmington, Delaware, devoted to the spiritual development of its approximately two dozen members. Started during the COVID lockdowns, the group meets a pressing need among Catholic men hungry for Christ in an increasingly hostile and vacuous culture. Entering its sixth year, FOSJ continues to thrive, with members expressing gratitude for the insight, consolation, and joy of the meetings.

By Joseph R. Wood, The Catholic Thing – The new month brings a trifecta on my ecclesiastical calendar: a full moon, First Friday, and the feast of St. Joseph the Worker… My calendar’s tracking of astronomical events is a holdover from long ago, when the Church had its own astrology. It accepted the possibility of the influence of the heavens on earthly events as natural causes, much as the relative orientation of the earth to the sun causes seasons, and the sun and moon cause tides.

By T. S. Flanders, OnePeterFive – The Crusade of Eucharistic Reparation is a lay sodality run by OnePeterFive in partnership with Benedictus and Mass of the Ages… This crusade was called by His Excellency, Bishop Athanasius Schneider in June of 2020 in response to the profanations of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament during the COVID crisis. Now he has also added the intention of the reversal of Traditionis Custodes… A crusade is a spiritual war called by the clergy, but waged primarily by the laity. …

By ACI Prensa – In the plan of salvation, the Blessed Virgin Mary holds a special place. By virtue of her role to be the mother of the Son of God by divine election, she was conceived immaculately — i.e., without the stain of original sin — and by fidelity to her son has been crowned queen of heaven and earth… Everything Mary said and did leads to Christ. Who knows a child better than a mother? And what good and loving child does not know his or her mother and love her with all of his or her heart?

By Randall O’Bannon, Ph.D., LifeNews – As you see in the accompanying chart that we have linked to, we have made substantial progress in reducing the number of abortions and lowering the abortion rate over the past thirty years. At the same time, though, as long as abortion is legal, each year we will keep adding to the total of lives lost to America’s greatest holocaust.