News

By Paul Murano, Church Militant – America is being influenced by demons, and the signs are abundant, according to a seasoned exorcist… Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, exorcist for the diocese of Syracuse and research associate professor at the Catholic University of America made these observations on June 11 in his online journal, Exorcist Diary. In his diary, Rossetti warns of what he sees as signs of America’s demon-infested society.

By Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D., Breitbart – The bishop of Tyler, Texas, has urged the faithful to educate themselves about the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, insisting that its mission statement is contrary to Christian belief… “Please educate yourself on this!” Bishop Joseph Strickland wrote in an Independence Day tweet in reference to the BLM mission statement… “Toward the end of this statement 2 points are made that are contrary to FAITH,” he continues, “#1 opposing the nuclear family (where is dad?) and #2 opposing God’s plan for sex as a union of male & female. This agenda is DANGEROUS!”

By Gregg Re, Fox News – Secoriya Williamson, the father of 8-year-old Secoriea Turner, told reporters that his daughter had been killed after at least two people in a crowd of armed people opened fire on a car she was riding in with her mother. Authorities said the mother had attempted to drive through illegally placed barricades in the area when the vehicle came under fire Saturday night…

By Fr. Joseph M. Esper, Catholic Exchange – It goes against our sinful human nature to renounce vengeance and to leave our malefactors unpunished, but this is what is expected of us. “‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” (Rom. 12:19).  This very difficult teaching was obeyed by the saints — although in some cases, not without much struggle — and we must also heed it.

n his annual report, made public on July 3, the president of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority (AIF) does not mention the October 1 police raid on the AIF offices, nor the abrupt departure of the agency’s top two officials… Carmelo Barbagallo, who took over the AIF last November, shortly after the raid, reports closer cooperation with the financial-oversight agencies of other nations, and boasts of an “intensification of prudential supervision” of Vatican transactions.

By Msgr. Charles Pope – We in the West live in a place and at a time in which almost every burden of manual labor has been eliminated. Not only that, but creature comforts abound. Everything from air conditioning to hair conditioning, from fast food to high speed internet, from indoor plumbing to outdoor grilling, from instant computer downloads to instant coffee machines… Yet despite all this it would seem that we still keenly experience life’s burdens, demonstrated by the widespread recourse to psychotherapy and psychotropic drugs… It is increasingly clear that serenity is “an inside job.”

By Tony Perkins, LifeNews – You can treat churches differently–but you can’t get away with it. That was one federal court’s message to New York leaders last week, when it called out the state’s double standards on coronavirus orders… Hypocrisy, which has been spreading faster than COVID, won’t stand up to the legal challenge, Judge Gary Sharpe warned. Liberals may have selectively OK’d mass gatherings, but the Constitution isn’t a document of “freedom for me, but not for thee.”

By Lawrence P. Grayson, EWTN News – The Fourth of July is typically a day of joyous festivities celebrating America’s birth as a nation. Today, however, the country is experiencing spirit-wrenching events. The nation has undergone several months of lockdown and restrictions on its constitutional freedoms of assembly and religion due to a viral pandemic. Riots have occurred in cities across the country, sparked by the egregious death of a black man by an excessively combative police officer.

By Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, LifeSiteNews – You begin with my initial observation: “It is undeniable that from Vatican II onwards a parallel church was built, superimposed over and diametrically opposed to the true Church of Christ,” and then quote my words about the solution to the impasse in which we find ourselves today: “It will be for one of his Successors, the Vicar of Christ, in the fullness of his apostolic power, to rejoin the thread of Tradition there where it was cut off. This will not be a defeat but an act of truth, humility, and courage. The authority and infallibility of the Successor of the Prince of the Apostles will emerge intact and reconfirmed.”

By Fr. Paul D. Scalia, The Catholic Thing – We all sense that the current crisis in our nation is more than just a passing bit of social unrest. The anger legitimately directed at racism and police brutality has somehow morphed into an indiscriminate rejection of the past, a desire to sever us from all that came before… This renunciation might seem all-of-a-sudden to many people. In fact, it’s been prepared for years by bad education and, even more, the erosion and weakening of that foundational virtue, piety.

By Fr. Richard Heilman, Roman Catholic Man – There is no doubt we are living in troubled times. This, while Godless leaders in our nation have usurped the phrase, “This is a battle for the soul of America,” as they seek to enact laws for unrestricted abortion up to birth; as they refuse to protect life even at birth; as they seek the expansion of euthanasia; as they espouse a complete denial of God’s creation of male and female as based upon biological fact and natural law; as they seek the indoctrination of our children in our schools and libraries; as they seek to remove all of our religious freedoms.

By Jonah McKeown, CNA – The Archdiocese of San Francisco is pledging to comply with the city and county public health orders barring indoor public Masses and limiting outdoor services, including funerals, to 12 people… City Attorney Dennis Herrera sent a letter June 29 to the archdiocese’ lawyer, ordering the archdiocese to cease-and-desist indoor public Masses and giving it one day to comply… “Upon reviewing the reports of multiple San Francisco parishes holding indoor Mass over the last few weeks, the Health Officer has concluded that the Archdiocese is putting not only its parishioners but the larger community at risk of serious illness and death,” the letter said.

By Texas Right to Life – St. David’s doctor: “So as of right now, his quality of life — he doesn’t have much of one.”
Melissa: “What do you mean? Because he’s paralyzed with a brain injury he doesn’t have quality of life?”
St. David’s doctor: “Correct.”
Alarmingly, the doctor reiterated the scary reality that she had zero say in whether her husband lived or died. The doctor told Melissa, “but at this point, we are going to do what we feel is best for him along with the state and this is what we decided… this is the decision between the medical community and the state.”

By Marcellino D’Ambrosio, Ph.D., Catholic Exchange – I once knew a woman who called herself “a recovering Catholic.” It seems that as a child, she was taught a religion that was all about guilt. Impossible demands were placed on her requiring strenuous efforts that were doomed to frustration. Turn the other cheek. Don’t even THINK about romantic flings. Love your enemies… Attempting this by sheer willpower was all too much for her, leading to an abiding sense of guilt. No wonder she rejected such a religion….

By Chad Groening, Billy Davis, OneNewsNow – Sen. Braun introduced the Reforming Qualified Immunity Act last week, which he told Carlson was necessary because Democrats have seized the issue of police reform, leaving Republicans on the outside of a big issue… “Chuck Schumer has already decided he can make hay of this in the election,” Braun said, “and we will end up on the short side of it again.”.. “I thought Republicans controlled the Senate,” Carlson shot back. “So you’re taking your cues from Chuck Schumer [and] saying, He might criticize me, therefore I have to pass a law that makes it easier to sue police?”

By Austin Ruse, Crisis Magazine – Pope Francis has condemned racism, and what Catholic could possibly disagree? Responding to the killing of George Floyd, the Holy Father said: “My friends, we cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life.” I have to think he would agree that racism against whites by blacks should also be condemned… But it seems there is something of an open season on whites by blacks and this has to be concerning.

By Paul Murano, Church Militant – His criticism came in the form of a video message delivered on Tuesday at Rome’s Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. In his message addressed to the Global Institute of Church Management, a U.S.-based nonprofit, the cardinal explains why the Church’s spiritual mission is no excuse for bad financial management… “Undoubtedly, money is one of God’s gifts, [but] it is also a source of temptation,” he said. “To say that the Church is not a business provides no justification for us to be inefficient, much less for us to be corrupt.”

By Lauretta Brown, EWTN News – U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts cast the swing vote in June Medical Services v. Russo Monday, striking down a Louisiana law that required doctors at abortion facilities to have admitting privileges at a local hospital within a 30-minute radius… The surprising decision disappointed pro-life advocates who were hopeful that he would uphold the Louisiana regulation, especially given his dissent from the 2016 Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt Supreme Court decision striking down a similar regulation in Texas.

By Katrina Jackson, Opinion contributor, USA Today – My desire to author the legislation came from listening to the stories of women hurt by abortion as I sat on the Louisiana Health and Welfare Committee and placing myself in their shoes. As I listened, I learned that the women of Louisiana were suffering because of the negligence of medical professionals and deplorable conditions at our state’s abortion facilities… It was alarming to me, for example, that one of our state’s primary abortion clinics, Delta Clinic of Baton Rouge, had a decades-long history of unsanitary conditions and substandard medical care that most recently led to a woman requiring a full hysterectomy following an incomplete abortion.

By Constance T. Hull, Catholic Exchange – When I saw the video of Fr. Stephen Schumacher from the Archdiocese of St. Louis standing in front of the city’s statue of St. Louis, while surrounded by an angry mob, I knew it was a pivotal moment for priests in this country. This young priest attempted to engage with an angry mob set on destroying a statue of a saint they know nothing about, which was evidenced by the ignorance being shouted at him as he attempted to offer a history lesson about the king and saint… He put his life in danger in order to spread the Good News.

By Anne Hendershott, The American Spectator – With the exception of a few courageous bishops, most Catholic leaders have remained silent about the mob’s destruction of the statues of the Father of California’s Catholic missions, St. Junipero Serra — replete with the callous desecration of the sacred symbol of the crucifix. It may be time now for the laity to get involved in the debate as Black Lives Matter advocates are now promising to destroy the sacred statues, religious stained glass, and revered icons that adorn Catholic churches. Claiming that the “European” depictions of Jesus are a “gross form of white supremacy,” Shaun King, one of the most well-known Black Lives Matter activists, is demanding that “they should all come down.”

By Victor Davis Hanson, Townhall – When mobs tore down a statue of Ulysses S. Grant and defaced a monument to African American veterans of the Civil War, many people wondered whether the protesters had ever learned anything in high school or college… Universities are certainly teaching our youth to be confident, loud and self-righteous. But the media blitz during these last several weeks of protests, riots and looting also revealed a generation that is poorly educated and yet petulant and self-assured without justification.

By Charlie Butts, OneNewsNow – Hugh Brown of American Life League tells OneNewsNow that Kreft’s firing, after standing up for Catholic beliefs, makes it clear the hospital employee was not working for a genuine Catholic hospital… Brown says many fellow Catholics have “sold their souls” in the decades following the Roe v Wade ruling… “And until that stops,” he says, “the church is going to continue to get smaller, to be more marginalized. And I think that the persecution of the church, it’s invited on itself because it refuses to stand for what it believes.”

By Sean Fitzpatrick, Crisis Magazine – In the Byzantine Divine Liturgy, there is a petition for “a good defense before the awesome judgment seat of God.” I often find that abortion flashes through my mind at that prayer. Given the outrageous atrocity that abortion is in the free world, the free people should expect to answer for it when the Judge takes His seat. Do we have a good defense? What did we do? What could we have done?

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – If I read the column correctly— if even the Post has finally grasped the truth that competition can enhance educational quality— then the Espinoza decision really could be a watershed moment in American history. We could witness an explosion in educational alternatives, a burst of entrepreneurial creativity, and an end to the encrusted and inefficient government educational monopoly.

By Micaiah Bilger, LifeNews – With the words “under any circumstances,” Joe Biden signaled Monday that he supports the killing of unborn babies for any reason through all nine months of pregnancy… “Women’s health care rights have been under attack as states across the country have passed extreme laws restricting women’s constitutional right to choice under any circumstance,” Biden said Monday in response to the news. “Today the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed that states cannot put in place laws that unduly burden a women’s right to make her own health care decision with her doctor.”

By Cheryl Sullenger, LifeSiteNews – “We can be sure that if RHS Planned Parenthood resumes abortions in St. Louis, it will continue to put the lives and health of women at risk,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “Licensing this Planned Parenthood was a big mistake that will be paid for by women who will continue to be abused as they have been in the past.”… “I hope that Gov. Parson and the DHSS can find the will to somehow continue their fight to close the RHS Planned Parenthood,” said Newman. “If they don’t, we can only expect more avoidable human tragedy there.”

By Jules Gomes, Church Militant – Critics have questioned the need for the creation of yet another organization in the Amazon region… “In addition to various national bishops’ conferences and CELAM, Latin America already has several sub-regional bodies of bishops, like the Andean region, the Bolivarian region, the Antilles and so forth,” Julio Loredo, president of the Italian section of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) told Church Militant… “Most have one thing in common: They are guided by people aligned with the several strains of liberation theology,” the Peruvian expert on liberation theology explained.

By Thomas FitzGerald, American Conservative – The U.S. Supreme Court’s Chief Justice, John Roberts, has taken upon himself the Solomonic role of American philosopher king left vacant at Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement. Seemingly committed above all to the institutional legitimacy of the Court, Roberts has in the last few weeks cast a series of votes in the Bostock, Espinoza, and June Medical Services cases that appear to show him to be trying to placate both sides of America’s culture wars by offering something to each.

By Randall Smith,  The Catholic Thing – The legend has it that a crowd had gathered outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia as the deliberations of the Constitutional Convention were concluding in 1787. As Benjamin Franklin exited the Hall, a woman called out, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” To which Franklin replied: “A republic, if you can keep it.”… Who cares about the Constitution anymore? Many Americans still do. And all Americans should. Not the Constitution created out of various interpretations of the Bill of Rights, but the Constitution itself and the form of the Constitutional order it was written to create and protect.

By John-Henry Westen, LifeSiteNews – Tom Zimmer said in 1983 that ‘right now, in the United States, there’s a man who has the hand of God on him…and God is going to use him in the future…his name is Donald Trump.’… What if I told you that there was someone who prophesied in the early 1980s that Donald Trump would bring America back to God?

By Constance T. Hull, Crisis Magazine – If a woman’s primary objective is having a place of authority within the hierarchy when she argues for equality, then she is misunderstanding both the nature of the priesthood and her call to serve Christ as a woman in the Church. Any movement on the part of men or women in the Church that is predicated on power in relation to the priesthood becomes unmoored from the priesthood Christ instituted at the Last Supper… When Our Lord instituted His priesthood, He did so by showing His apostles that to be one of His priests is to be a man of service and radical self-emptying.

By Franciscan Media – In 1776, when the American Revolution was beginning in the east, another part of the future United States was being born in California. That year a gray-robed Franciscan founded Mission San Juan Capistrano, now famous for its annually returning swallows. San Juan was the seventh of nine missions established under the direction of this indomitable Spaniard… Born on Spain’s island of Mallorca, Serra entered the Franciscan Order taking the name of Saint Francis’ childlike companion, Brother Juniper.

Blog by Emily, Total Whine – For some women, this manifests as a decision to leave the workforce to be a Stay-at-Home-Mom (SAHM)… Unfortunately, as women make the best choice for their family, it can give way to something ugly. Women are hit with personal attacks on social media, unkind questions at family gatherings, and judgmental presumptions of strangers, just to name a few. It is incredibly isolating, and makes every SAHM look for camaraderie.

By Fr. Nnamdi Moneme, OMV, Catholic Exchange – Why did I go to visit the sick and dying woman in a moment of lockdown when there was a red alert for the Covid-19 virus? Well, I reflect on what happened on the day that I was ordained a Catholic priest… This is why the words of Pope Francis a few days ago about priests who chose to attend to the sacramental needs of the faithful at the height of Covid-19 was both painful and disappointing to me. He had this to say about those priests who tried to administer the sacraments despite the lockdown measures, “This priestly creativity has scored some ‘adolescent’ expressions against the [lockdown] measures of authorities who have an obligation to safeguard people’s health.”

By Chris Woodward, OneNewsNow – In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a Louisiana law regulating abortion clinics in the state. The law requires abortionists to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, a requirement the court said violates abortion rights… Pro-life activists were surprised to witness Chief Justice John Roberts, a George W. Bush nominee, side with the court’s liberal justices. He ruled in favor of a similar Texas law in 2016 so was expected to rule similarly… “We are going to keep fighting,” Carol Tobias, speaking for National Right to Life…

By Micaiah Bilger, LifeNews – In her sworn testimony, Larton admitted that she has seen aborted babies’ hearts “beating independently” after they are born. She also confirmed that some aborted babies’ bodies are fully intact… Larton explained that most aborted babies come out of the womb in pieces, but sometimes ABR sees fully intact bodies. Asked about those situations, Larton replied, “They just, sometimes they fall out” of the mother when she delivers the baby in the abortion operating room. When questioned about how often that occurs, she replied, “Once every couple months.”

Media Editors, Patriot Post – No country is more open, more generous, and has done more for the cause of freedom than America has… Dennis Prager has traveled all over the world. But at the end of every trip, he returns home with a new appreciation for America. Why? Because no country is more open, more generous, and has done more for the cause of freedom than America has.

By Msgr. Charles Pope – Physical hunger is a serious problem; We are obliged to assist the starving and malnourished. But even more prevalent these days is spiritual hunger, if not outright starvation. As is the case with physical hunger, the source of spiritual hunger is not God, who has given us abundant grace and truth; it is we who are the source. It is a strange starvation to be sure, for it is largely self-inflicted. Further, it seems to be at an advanced stage.

By Jules Gomes, Church Militant – Francis has criticized Trump as “not Christian” because of the president’s immigration policies. In 2017, the pope put down Trump for his decision to rescind DACA: “The president of the U.S. presents himself as pro-life and if he is a good pro-lifer, he understands that family is the cradle of life and its unity must be protected.” … Francis later ratcheted up his anti-Trump rhetoric: “A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not of building bridges, is not Christian.”… Pope Francis addressed the themes of unity and prophecy in his sermon, castigating “speeches that promise the impossible.”… “Start serving and shut up. Not theory, but testimony,” the pontiff scolded.

By Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, The Claremont Institute – That is the missing half of the half-truth: ideas, by themselves, do not do a darn thing. People have to do something about those ideas. Someone has to inject those ideas into functioning institutions that make decisions that affect people’s lives. Ideas, by themselves, do not have consequences. People’s actions have consequences… We have no right to whine and complain about the “Left’s Long March Through the Institutions.” They marched largely unopposed! We lost a game we never even showed up to play. We weren’t even watching from the bleachers.

By Tony Perkins, Family Research Council – “Unnecessary.” That’s the word the majority of justices used to describe a law that would have kept 10,000 women a year safe. Women, who, when they walk through the doors of Louisiana’s abortion centers every year, are under the assumption they’ll be protected. That their doctors care. Jamie Lee would give anything to warn them — to tell them to turn back and go home — but she’ll never have the chance. She bled to death in the back of her sister’s car because her abortionist didn’t want to call an ambulance over the seven-inch gash he put in her uterus… These are the third-world conditions the Left fought for — and won…

By Mary Jo Anderson, Crisis Magazine – President Trump issued an executive order on Friday, June 12, to block the visas and property of some International Criminal Court personnel. Within hours a mushroom cloud of denouncements by Blue-Checks loomed over social media. “More U.S. thuggery.” “The U.S. Rogue Regime continues.” The Court is “blackmailed by lawless gang posing as diplomats.” The International Criminal Court (ICC) complained that the Executive Order is “an unacceptable attempt to interfere with the rule of law.”

By Steven Ertelt, Life News – On behalf of President Donald Trump, the White House issued a statement slamming the ruling and saying it “devalued the lives of unborn children.”… “In an unfortunate ruling today, the Supreme Court devalued both the health of mothers and the lives of unborn children by gutting Louisiana’s policy that required all abortion procedures be performed by individuals with admitting privileges at a nearby hospital,” the White House said. “States have legitimate interests in regulating any medical procedure—including abortions—to protect patient safety….”

By Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D., Breitbart – “Abortion violently ends the life of a child, and often severely harms women,” writes Kansas City Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann in a statement. “Abortion becomes even more destructive when basic health and safety standards are ignored, and profit margins are prioritized over women’s lives.”… “As Catholics, we condemn abortion as a grave injustice that denies the fundamental human right to life,” Archbishop Naumann said. “Yet even as we seek to end the brutality of legalized abortion, we still believe that the women who seek it should not be further harmed and abused by a callous, profit-driven industry.”

By David Limbaugh, The Stream – How long can this nation survive when its main cultural and educational institutions preach a relentless, unchallenged stream of anti-Americanism to young people (and others) who lack the background to resist this toxicity?… Along with others, I have long argued that the American left has a major problem with America as founded. Yet Democrats are outraged by the suggestion, and too many Republicans seem insufficiently concerned about it. They better wake up.

By Bradley Eli, M.Div., Ma.Th., Church Militant – Chief Justice John Roberts — a Catholic — cast the deciding vote in the High Court’s first major abortion ruling of the Trump era… Roberts sided with four liberal justices Monday in the case of June Medical Services v. Russo, allowing the U.S. Supreme Court to nullify Louisiana’s abortionist admitting-privilege law. Concurring with the liberal majority, Roberts wrote that the status quo must be preserved… “The legal doctrine of stare decisis requires us, absent special circumstances, to treat like cases alike,” Roberts penned. “The Louisiana law imposes a burden on access to abortion just as severe as that imposed by the Texas law, for the same reasons. Therefore Louisiana’s law cannot stand under our precedents.”

By Fr. Mike Schmitz, Ascension Presents – Making small sacrifices is not just for Lent, because sacrifices and penance are necessary. As Christ said: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” ~Luke 9:23… And this is true all year long. But when Jesus said to deny yourself, he didn’t mean to always go against what you want. Really. He meant there are things I want that will not make me more like him—a lot of things, actually. So following him often means dying to self by denying myself those things.

By Charlie Butts, OneNewsNow – David O’Steen, executive director of the National Right to Life Committee, says 40 percent of those who participated in the annual Gallup poll on social issues believe terminating the life of a preborn baby to be morally wrong… “Once again this shows that most Americans, in this particular poll a plurality of Americans, identified as feeling abortion is morally wrong,” O’Steen tells OneNewsNow. “This has been consistent ever since Roe v. Wade.”

By Dan McLaughlin, National Review – There is a saying — perhaps as old as Aristotle — that courage is the first virtue, because it makes all the others possible. We usually associate courage (or its absence) with leadership by elected officials: There are times when it is hard to stand up for your principles, to stand against your own party, or both. From judges, we are told, the important thing is to follow, not to lead: to have the ascetic self-discipline to apply the Constitution and laws as written, and not to put your own policy preferences above the letter of the law… Two of today’s Supreme Court decisions, on abortion and separation of powers, are further evidence of this. …

By Paul Smeaton, LifeSiteNews – A Catholic priest in Missouri addressed hundreds of angry protestors while defending a statue of St. Louis in the city named after the sainted king on a day when Catholic laity praying at the statue were physically attacked by protestors… Father Stephen Schumacher, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, joined Catholic laity in Forest Park on Saturday who placed themselves between the already vandalized statue and activists calling for it to be torn down.

By Msgr. Charles Pope – Let’s look at each of the eight stages. The names of the stages are from Alexander Tyler’s book and are presented in bold red text. My brief reflections follow in plain text… 1) From bondage to spiritual growth – Great civilizations are formed in the crucible. The Ancient Jews were in bondage for 400 years in Egypt. The Christian faith and the Church came out of 300 years of persecution. Western Christendom emerged from the chaotic conflicts during the decline of the Roman Empire and the movements of often fierce “barbarian” tribes. American culture was formed by the injustices that grew in colonial times. Sufferings and injustices cause—even force—spiritual growth. Suffering brings wisdom and demands a spiritual discipline that seeks justice and solutions…

By Alyssa Murphy, EWTN News – Archbishop Cordileone said the toppling of the statue had affected him greatly: “I’ve been feeling great distress and a deep wound in my soul when I see these horrendous acts of blasphemy…and disparaging of the memory of Serra who was such a great hero, such a great defender of the indigenous people of this land. Someone who was very much a part of my life growing up. I grew up very close to the first mission that he founded in San Diego. So it inflicted a very deep wound in my soul.”… The archbishop performed an exorcism for what he called “an act of sacrilege, an act of the evil one,” adding: “This is the activity of the evil one who wants to bring down the Church, who wants to bring down all Christian believers….

Complicit Clergy, Jun 29, 2020 – Fr. Robert Altman speaks about challenges perpetrated on the faith over the past 50 years and why Catholics must hold fast to the one true faith. WATCH

AP – The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a Louisiana law regulating abortion clinics, reasserting a commitment to abortion rights over fierce opposition from dissenting conservative justices in the first big abortion case of the Trump era… Chief Justice John Roberts joined with his four more liberal colleagues in ruling that the law requiring doctors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals violates the abortion right the court first announced in the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973… In dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote, “Today a majority of the Court perpetuates its ill-founded abortion jurisprudence by enjoining a perfectly legitimate state law and doing so without jurisdiction.”

By Complicit Clergy, June 28, 2020 – Fr. Robert Altier issues a warning to beware of false prophets who preach a different message than Jesus Christ.

By Martina Moyski, Church Militant – But “We’ve gotta watch the Vatican,” former prosecutor and investigative journalist Liz Yore urged on War Room Pandemic last week, as she alerted the public to the Vatican’s ties with the CCP… The Vatican’s Global Compact on Education, scheduled for Oct. 15, has partnered with “One People, One Planet [which] is sponsored by, none other than, Huwei [a telecommunications provider blacklisted by the United States due to national security concerns]” Yore reported… Yore said bluntly: “Pope Francis is virulently anti-American and communist … .”

By Franciscan Media – Peter (d. 64?) Saint Mark ends the first half of his Gospel with a triumphant climax. He has recorded doubt, misunderstanding, and the opposition of many to Jesus. Now Peter makes his great confession of faith: “You are the Messiah” (Mark 8:29b). It was one of the many glorious moments in Peter’s life, beginning with the day he was called from his nets along the Sea of Galilee to become a fisher of men for Jesus.

By Fr. Dwight Longenecker, The Stream – The study of history reminds us that during times of social unrest the population is sifted. It unleashes the violence and hatred that simmers within the human heart. When the violence breaks out society goes through a kind of grain harvest… People are cut off and taken to the threshing floor where they receive a thrashing not a threshing. In times of unrest violence rumbles through society, destroying property, threatening lives, raising stress levels and making people aware of hidden streams of injustice, resentment and fear. It’s like we’re taking a beating.

By Msgr. Charles Pope, National Catholic Register – The parable of the vineyard owner was a true warning of the destruction that was sure to come unless repentance and faith replaced the obstinate refusal to obey and believe. It is tragic that things were so bad that God had to act drastically in order to reset the moral and spiritual order, to and save even a few… I would argue, based on prophecy, that we are nearing such a time now and that we must urgently pray for both mercy and repentance. The warnings and prophecies of Our Lady in the past one hundred years have become more urgent and even dire.

By Most Reverend Bishop Joseph Strickland, The Wanderer – Pope St. John Paul wrote: “Returning now to the initial question: can it perhaps be said that, after the failure of Communism, capitalism is the victorious social system, and that capitalism should be the goal of the countries now making efforts to rebuild their economy and society? Is this the model, which ought to be proposed to the countries of the Third World, which are searching for the path to true economic and civil progress? The answer is obviously complex. …

By Allen West, CNSNews – Last week former President Barack Obama appeared with his former Vice President “Basement” Joe Biden in a video conference. I was truly taken aback when Obama referred to what is happening in America as an “awakening,” a “movement.”… It was at that moment that I reflected upon how Obama and his administration responded to a real awakening — a movement that occurred during his presidency.

By Msgr. Charles Pope – In the 4th Century, St. Augustine lamented the decline of Rome and Roman culture… things were falling to pieces, decadence was everywhere. He struggled to understand this and accept it. In his sorrow he wrote The City of God which contains his own observations and explanations of a time much like our own wherein a civilization was collapsing… There is something of a cycle that empires, nations, cultures and civilizations go through. They rise, sometimes heroically in a great struggle, they thrive, but then see decadence and disorder set in as their very greatness turns to greed and then laziness…

By Lianne Laurence, LifeSiteNews – UN Sec. Gen. Antonio Guterres is calling for a “multilateral” level of governance with the “teeth” to “function as an instrument of global governance where it is needed.”… “The problem is that today’s multilateralism lacks scale, ambition and teeth,” Guterres said during a Thursday press conferenc… “And some of the instruments that do have teeth, show little or no appetite to bite, as has recently been the case with the difficulties faced by the Security Council.”

By Robert Royal, The Catholic Thing – People talk a lot about “cultural Marxism” now… Marx himself would have looked askance at much of what falls under that rubric today. He had, for example, a rather low view of the non-white races – on the basis of the settled science of his time. Curiously, though there are statues of Marx all over Europe, none have been torn down recently.

By Jason Scott Jones, LifeSiteNews – In 2013, the New York Times published a bleak essay titled “The End of a Catholic Moment,” mourning the loss of the prestige and influence Catholics had had in America only a few years earlier… In 2005, Republicans built their party platform on Catholic social teachings, Democrats anxiously sought the approval of Catholic “values voters,” and the mainstream media broadcasted Pope Saint John Paul II’s splendid funeral with such reverence that it “almost felt like an infomercial for the Catholic faith.”

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture – A family member texted me on Wednesday to suggest that Bishop Robert Barron’s response to an important question had been inadequate. As Catholics decried the toppling of the statues of St. Junipero Serra in several California locations, Bishop Barron noticed that many wanted to know what the bishops were going to do about it. He responded that this is the wrong question because.. it is the province of the laity to engage directly with the larger secular world.

Interview with Phil Lawler – Archbishop Vigano: The solution, in my opinion, lies above all in an act of humility that all of us, beginning with the Hierarchy and the Pope, must carry out: recognizing the infiltration of the enemy into the heart of the Church, the systematic occupation of key posts in the Roman Curia, seminaries, and ecclesiastical schools, the conspiracy of a group of rebels—including, in the front line, the deviated Society of Jesus—which has succeeded in giving the appearance of legitimacy and legality to a subversive and revolutionary act.

By Bailey Duran, CNSNews – Conservatives are flocking to Parler, which considers itself an “unbiased social media network,” after two conservative accounts were banned from Twitter earlier this week… Over 500,000 Parler accounts were created, an increase of 50%, after Logan Cook (known on Twitter as Carpe Donktum) and The National Pulse Editor-In-Chief Raheem Kassam were banned from Twitter, the Daily Caller reports… Logan Cook is a conservative meme maker who edited the video of two toddlers with the fake CNN news logo claiming one of the babies was racist.

By Steven Ertelt, LifeNews – President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to overturn Obamacare, which forces Americans to fund killing babies in abortions… In a legal brief filed late Thursday night, the Trump administration argued that the individual mandate is not constitutional and that the entire law must therefore also be struck down… “The individual mandate is not severable from the rest of the Act,” U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco and other Justice Department officials said in the brief.

By William Mahoney, Ph.D., Church Militant – Pope Francis is calling priests “adolescents” for offering the sacraments during pandemic-related lockdown… Speaking of clerics trying to administer the sacraments during lockdown measures, Francis said, “This priestly creativity has scored some ‘adolescent’ expressions against the [lockdown] measures of authorities who have an obligation to safeguard people’s health.”… He added that the majority of priests, however, have been “obedient and creative … ” saying these compliant priests were “fathers” and not “teenagers.”

By Fr. Richard Heilman, Roman Catholic Man – “The Church is dying because her pastors are afraid to speak in all truth and clarity. We are afraid of the media, afraid of public opinion, afraid of our own brethren! The good shepherd gives his life for his sheep.” -Robert Cardinal Sarah

By Jacob Tate, OnePeterFive – If you think the circles you run in are different, think again. I love Catholic and conservative podcasts, news sites, blogs, and radio shows as much as you do, but they are in large part becoming way too focused on the negative. Sure, there is plenty of negative on which to focus, but that has always been the case, and it is the job of Christians — of saints — to be the light to a negative, evil world.

By U.S. Grace Force – This week we talk with Micahel Hichborn about the need for Catholics everywhere to rise up together and battle the evils we are seeing grow in our society, as well as how the Marxist mentality has crept into the foundation of America and the Church. It’s time for us to unite in a counter offensive.

By Fr. Mike Schmitz, Ascension Presents – When we treat Christianity as a project, that leads to rigidity. When we treat Christianity like a projection, that leads to laxity. If you’re just looking at what Christians are supposed to do and then following those instructions, you’re treating your faith like a project and that’s bound to make you rigid. At the other extreme, if you see Jesus as a softy or a buddy who’s going to look the other way when you do the wrong thing, that’s just your projection of who he is. This mentality is bound to make you lax.

Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – I believe fatherhood – at least the fatherhood I was privileged to experience from my father and grandfathers, and the pastors of my youth – is on the brink of extinction. And I believe that a great deal of the unrest that we are experiencing right now – the growing violence, ideological extremism, militant secularism, immorality, polarization, and the epidemic of incivility – can be traced to the absence of strong, stabilizing father figures in people’s lives.

By Charles J. Chaput and Michael P. Farris, First Things – In casinos, hundreds to thousands of gamblers gather for hours on end in close proximity to eat and drink, pull slots, and handle poker chips every day of the week. In churches, people gather for about an hour, usually once a week, and generally do not interact with one another as much as casino patrons do. So how does opening the one while restricting the other keep the public safe? We can’t find a good answer. Policies like this simply discriminate against religious believers.

By Charlie Butts, OneNewsNow – An international coalition against forced abortion and sexual slavery is stepping in to help the elderly women impacted by China’s anti-Christian campaign… OneNewsNow has reported on the crackdown against the Christian and Muslim faith groups in China in which Christian pastors are forced to preach communist propaganda with the gospel and congregations are forced to mix patriotic songs with hymns.

By William Kilpatrick, Crisis Magazine – … a false narrative. As numerous scholars, both black and white, have shown, the narrative is not supported by the data. In his book Taboo: Ten Facts You Can’t Talk About, Wilfred Reilly, a black professor at Kentucky State University, writes, “There is no epidemic of police murdering Black people.” He points out, for instance, that “the total number of unarmed Black people shot by police last year was nine,” while “the total number of unarmed whites shot by police was forty.”

By Doug Mainwaring, LifeSiteNews – A priest well-known for his pro-life activism has penned an open letter to U.S. bishops asking them to use their authority to allow clergy to publicly advocate for the political party in the upcoming 2020 election that is pro-life and pro-religious freedom. The priest also asks for the right to name and discredit the opposing political party… “The rights of the Church and the common good are under attack in unprecedented ways by the Democrat Party,” Fr. Frank Pavone

By Mary Margaret Olohan, The Daily Caller – A top executive at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America has been fired over allegations of racism… The organization’s board of directors announced Tuesday that they had “parted ways” Monday with Laura McQuade, who had served as chief executive of Planned Parenthood of Greater New York since 2017, the New York Times reported. The news came after allegations of both abusive and discriminatory behavior towards black Planned Parenthood employees.

By Robert G. Marshall, Catholic Culture – Poorer nations often depend on the WHO to eradicate Tetanus. In 2014, the Kenyan Catholic Bishops questioned whether the Tetanus vaccination program supported by WHO and the Kenyan government was linked to a population control program, reported in other countries. A hormone added to the vaccine, which causes infertility and multiple miscarriages in women, was suspected…

By Jonah McKeown, CNA – “Should certain statues be placed in museums or storage? Perhaps. Should we let a group of vandals make those decisions for us? No,” Bishop Donald Hying of Madison said in a June 23 letter… “If we allow the commemorative and visual history of our nation to be destroyed by random groups in the current moment of anger, how will we ever learn from that history? Does toppling and vandalizing a statue of George Washington because he owned slaves, really serve our country and our collective memory?”

For years, the Rev. Johnny Hunter has been imploring the black community to speak out against the “lynching” of unborn babies in abortions… Hunter, a pastor and leader LEARN, the largest African American evangelical pro-life ministry in the U.S., gave a powerful sermon linking abortion to racism in the film Maafa21… “The time has come for us to realize that we, our people, are no longer being illegally lynched one or two at a time at the end of a dirt road. It’s time for us to realize that our people are being womb lynched!” Hunter said.

By Aldo Maria Valli, Church Militant – Now it is very difficult to read, for example, a document like the Abu Dhabi Declaration, signed by the pope and the grand imam of Al-Azhar in February 2019, without thinking about what Viglione writes about the plans to conquer the Church from within. All the more so because Pope Francis is the darling of the Masons (who saluted the Abu Dhabi Declaration as a moment of historic shift for the Church, in a positive sense. In the same way, it is difficult to study the Second Vatican Council without experiencing disturbing reminiscences of the Masonic plans to infiltrate the Catholic hierarchy.

By Rev. Michael P. Orsi, CNSNews – The recent celebration of Father’s Day occurred at a time when our land is experiencing chaos, anarchy, and rebellion, all of which can be summed up as lawlessness… We didn’t reach this point overnight. The past few decades have seen traditional precepts of law — that is to say, natural law, God’s law — set aside in favor of an array of highly questionable individual rights… Our legal system has normalized abortion for the sake of an imagined right to total personal autonomy.

By Tim Hains, Real Clear Politics – Bob Woodson, founder of the Woodson Center, joins Tucker Carlson with insight on ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight.’… “In the past 50 years, $22 trillion has been spent on poverty programs. Seventy percent goes not to the poor but those who serve poor people,” he said. “So many of those people taking office use this money to create a class of people who are running these cities, and now after 50 years of liberal Democrats running the inner cities, where we have all of these inequities that we have, race is being used as a ruse, as a means of deflecting attention away from critical questions such as why are poor blacks failing in systems run by their own people?”

“Yes, I think the statues of the white European they claim is Jesus should also come down. They are a form of white supremacy. Always have been…. All murals and stained glass windows of white Jesus, and his European mother, and their white friends should also come down. They are a gross form of white supremacy. Created as tools of oppression. Racist propaganda. They should all come down.”… The cancel culture is coming for the Catholic Church, and it is coming quickly.

By Dr. Donald DeMarco, Catholic Exchange – We have elevated “openness” to the status of a principle and in the process have forgotten what it is that we should select. Therefore, we are left hungry. Political correctness, the attempt to please everyone, is a restaurant without a menu, a church without dogma, a life without purpose. When we are open to everything, we find ourselves dedicated to nothing.

By Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D., Breitbart – Veteran Vatican journalist Edward Pentin has launched a fascinating “who’s who” of the Catholic college of cardinals, meant to serve as a racing form to handicap, and perhaps influence, the next papal election… The cardinals entering a conclave “need to be able to discern the righteous from the rogues, the saints from the schemers, the apostles from the bureaucrats,” Pentin contended. “Because of the importance of their choice, and their future careers, cardinals have historically sought to be well informed about their colleagues’ real and feigned beliefs and behaviors.” …

Msgr. Charles Pope – In today’s Gospel (Thursday of the 12th Week) we come face to face with the ultimate necessity of allowing the Lord to transform us. The Lord, in the Sermon on the Mount, is offering us a whole new life and we must choose to accept it and see our life change, based on it, or we will simply be unfit to enter the Kingdom of Heaven…Our flesh hates these sort of “all or nothing” scenarios. We prefer things to be vague and fuzzy… Our flesh hates these sort of “all or nothing” scenarios. We prefer things to be vague and fuzzy. We prefer a “many paths to God” scenario.

By Stephen P. White, The Catholic Thing – A spirit of Gnosticism has been sweeping our nation. It proclaims that a person is whoever or whatever that person claims to be. At the same time, a similar spirit (or is it the same spirit?) strives to wring from America a forced confession: that this country’s “true identity” can and must only be found in the very worst version of itself.

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – We’re now in the middle of the Religious Freedom Week proclaimed by the USCCB… In Virginia, state officials are recruiting informers to report on churches that violate the governor’s emergency orders by not requiring masks… In New York, the US Dept. of Justice has found “a troubling preference for certain First Amendment rights over others”—specifically, a willingness to relax emergency rules for liberal demonstrators, while keeping the lid tightly sealed on religious congregations.

By Father Raymond J. de Souza, EWTN News – But why did he earn the papal favor of St. John Paul II to get the appointment to Washington in the first place? Part of the reason he was able to delay his day of reckoning was because he was held in good esteem and elevated to the highest offices. Why? What was it about McCarrick that attracted favorable attention under John Paul?… But why subsequently Washington and a cardinal?… There is a Marian dimension to the story that helps to explain. …

By Steven Ertelt, LifeNews – Republicans in the Senate today reached a milestone on one of the most important things they and a president can do to protect human life and safeguard the Constitution: confirm judges… “President Trump, Leader McConnell, and Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham have delivered an historic victory with the confirmation of 200 judges in the president’s first term, and with all appellate-level vacancies now filled,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser… (she said) “It is critical that we re-elect President Trump so he can continue working with the pro-life Senate majority to confirm judges who respect the Constitution and the inalienable right to life. …”

By Martin Bürger, LifeSiteNews – Abp. Wilton D. Gregory of Washington, D.C. made the claim, contrary to Christian teaching, that a person’s “human dignity” begins at birth. He said this to AP in comments linking racial justice to pro-life advocacy… “Birth is only the first moment of a person’s human dignity, which is never lost throughout the journey of life,” Gregory stated in an email, according to the AP… The “seamless garment” theory that sees issues such as intrinsic evils like abortion as morally equivalent to societal ills like poverty was championed by the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin.

By Dennis Prager, The Stream – So, why the silence? Why aren’t all rabbis, priests and pastors telling their congregations and telling America — in tweets, on Facebook, in letters to the editor, on television and radio, in opinion pieces — that there is one race, the human race, and that the only antidote to racism is to deny that race determines our worth, not to affirm its significance?

By Bishop Joseph Strickland, Diocese of Tyler, Texas – One of the experiences which accompanied the COVID 19 Shelter at Home Orders was that all parents became “home school” parents. But, in a sense, all parents already WERE “home school parents”. Some simply choose to share that educational mission with others outside of the home as their children mature. I say that because parents are the “first teachers” of their children. That very phrase is a part of the Baptismal Rite.

CNA – The statement came from Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Eric Dreiband and U.S. Attorney General Matthew Schneider of the Eastern District of Michigan. They are overseeing the U.S. Department of Justice’s monitoring of state and local policies related to the novel coronavirus epidemic… “New York City had vigorously enforced restrictions on religious gatherings, including by sending police officers to disperse numerous gatherings of the Jewish community, including outdoor funerals,” said the Justice Department in its June 22 statement.

By Msgr. Charles Pope – The Gospel for today’s Mass (Tuesday of the 12th Week of the Year) features three hard sayings of the Lord’s. They are difficult for us moderns to hear because they offend against modern sensibilities; we are easily taken aback by their abruptness. Here are the first two “offensive” sayings: Do not give what is holy to dogs, (Mt 7:6) or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces (Mt 7:6).

By John Stonestreet and Roberto Rivera, CNSNews – For years, I’ve worried and warned about the dangers posed by gene editing technologies, such as CRISPR. In the words of one of its inventors, CRISPR makes the human genome “as malleable as a piece of literary prose at the mercy of an editor’s red pen.”… At least, that’s the promise that has yet to materialize… In 2018, a Chinese scientist announced he’d used CRISPR to genetically modify human embryos. At the time, more “respectable” scientists denounced his actions as “unethical,” given how new the technology was and how little ethical oversight there was for using it.

By Robert Royal, The Catholic Thing – Chief Seattle, who gave his name to the currently troubled city in the State of Washington, was pure Native American (father Suquamish, mother Duwamish). A mighty warrior, he essentially eliminated the rival Chimakum tribe in a battle on what is now the Quimper Peninsula. Like other native chiefs, he owned slaves. And he was a convert, probably in his fifties, to Roman Catholicism..

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture – The Book of Revelation describes this in eschatological language—language which is symbolic of the battle between good and evil, God and Satan which fulfills and concludes our history. John is lifted up to heaven in a second vision, and he begins to learn of these things through the opening of seven seals which conceal the secrets of the times which lead up to the end. More visions follow, but here I will discuss the vision which introduces the seven seals themselves…

By Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D., Breitbart – Exiled Chinese dissident Guo Wengui alleged this weekend the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) “allocates $2 billion a year” to pay off the Vatican for its silence concerning Chinese atrocities… In a June 20th interview on The War Room, Mr. Guo said the CCP earmarks massive sums each year to win the allegiance of foreign countries including the Vatican, Italy, and Australia. Among them, the Vatican receives up to 2 billion dollars from the Chinese Communist Party every year, he said.

By Martin Bürger, LifeSiteNews – Donald Trump has praised Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò for his open letter to the U.S. president on the “children of darkness” and the “deep state,” explaining, “He’s right in what he says.”… In his powerful letter, the former apostolic nuncio to the United States had warned the president that the current crises over the coronavirus pandemic and the George Floyd riots are part of the eternal spiritual struggle between the forces of good and evil. Viganò had encouraged Trump to continue the fight on behalf of the “children of light.”

By Chad Groening, Billy Davis, OneNewsNow – Fox News reported a record-setting audience of 7.7 million watched the rally live on the cable news network – making it the most-watched primetime event on a Saturday night… Regarding the President’s campaign speech Saturday night, Horowitz says America heard an “irresistible message” about Election Day… “If you vote for the Democrats, you’re voting for the party that enables and encourages, and eggs on and incites, the rioters and looters,” Horowitz says. “I think it’s winning position.”

By Patrick J. Buchanan – We erect statues to remember, revere and honor those whom we memorialize. And what is the motivation of the people who tear them down and desecrate them?… In a word, it is hate. A goodly slice of America’s young hates this country’s history and the men who made it. It hates the discoverers and explorers like Columbus, the conquistadores and colonists. It hates the Founding Fathers and the first 15 presidents, all of whom either had slaves or coexisted with the injustice of slavery. But hating history and denying history and tearing down the statues of the men who made that history does not change history.

By Paul Murano, Church Militant – A group of pro-LGBT Church leaders are ignoring the call to chastity and encouraging Catholics with disordered sexual desires to “be themselves.”… The online conference, fronted by well known pro-LGBT advocates, offered little moral guidance to Catholics dealing with same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria… Jesuit homosexualist Fr. James Martin, who led the conference, summed up its aim, which did not include calling all Catholics to live according to all Ten Commandments… “We’re gathering together those who minister with LGBT Catholics in order to build community, share best practices and worship our Creator…

By Fr. Nnamdi Moneme, OMV, Catholic Exchange – Jesus first invitation to us in the Gospel is this: “Fear no one.” His second invitation is that we give constant witness to all persons in all times and placed without fear or favor, “What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.” Our God speaks to us His children even in the dark and painful moments of our lives, offering us a message of hope and renewal to the world.

By Monika Jablonska, Crisis Magazine – Think of everything that Karol Wojtyła brought with him to Rome: his teachings, his knowledge, his holiness, his philosophy, his way of looking at certain things, and his concerns about family, youth, human rights, and more. All of this—his experience and contribution—came from events and people who shaped his mind and heart in the early years of his life.

By Judy Roberts, EWTN News – “I do feel like people are troubled, anxious and confused,” Martin said. “People feel rudderless. They don’t know what’s going to happen to their country. … I think people are really worried about what’s happening in America: the polarization, hatred, irrationality, hostility to Christ and the Church from certain sectors. We are in a horrible spiritual battle manifesting itself in very visible ways.”

By LifeSiteNews – As we had reported earlier, Archbishop Viganò had thanked Bishop Athanasius Schneider for his June 1 statement, according to which the controversial Abu Dhabi statement signed by Pope Francis – and which states that the “diversity of religions” is “willed by God” – has its roots in the Second Vatican Council’s endorsement of a natural right to religious liberty and thus the concept of a natural right to believe in a false religion.

By CNA Staff – Trump emphasized his claim that cities most dramatically impacted by protests, rioters, or looting are those in which Democrats are in power… “It’s all Democrats, usually liberal Democrats. Take a look. Whether it’s Chicago, it’s Democrat, Seattle, it’s Democrat. The state of Washington. It’s Democrat. Portland, it’s Democrat. All of these places are run by Democrats. Twenty out 20 are Democrat-run,” the president said. “They don’t know what they’re doing. And if Biden got in, this country would be a disaster.”

By Joseph Enders, Church Militant – The United States bishops are praising illegal immigration — again… On Thursday, the USCCB released a statement supporting the Supreme Court’s 5–4 decision to block Pres. Trump’s order ending Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) amnesty program… the program is designed to protect from deportation illegal aliens who entered the United States as children… Since 2008, the USCCB has received over $750 million in government payouts to resettle immigrants, typically making up 30–40% of its entire annual budget.

By Michael Pakaluk, The Catholic Thing – I believe firmly that everything important can be said, not in three words, as Wittgenstein maintained, but in 1000 or less. Therefore, I wish in today’s column to explain the reasoning in the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Bostock, and what is principally wrong with it… It is important to criticize the Court’s reasoning, because, in a misguided high-mindedness, it holds that any lamenting of the practical consequences of its decision belongs to the realm of policy rather than to what the law says.

By David Limbaugh, The Stream – This year has been one body blow after another to the nation we love. First, there was the coronavirus, and we thought, “How can this get any worse?” Then came the economic shutdown and the incalculable pain and suffering it brought. Next were the riots, the radicals’ unopposed seizure of a section of Seattle and the maniacal efforts throughout the country to defund the police. Now a series of rulings from the “conservative” Supreme Court are wreaking untold havoc on the Constitution and the rule of law.

By John Jakubisin, CNSNews – The Supreme Court is expected to rule this week on an abortion case that is similar to a 2016 case in which Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the conservative minority on the court,  Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. Given the similarities in the two cases, court-watchers are anxious to see if Roberts will side with the liberal wing of the court, like he did in two major rulings last week, or if he will stick to his earlier reasoning.

By Chad Groening, OneNewsNow – A pro-family activist says the idea that the ongoing violence and insanity is going to hurt President Donald Trump’s re-election is just “fantasy.”… Violent outbreaks over the weekend in Seattle, Minneapolis, and Charlotte left four dead and more than a dozen people injured and/or wounded. And while not attributed to any certain protest, Chicago saw 14 fatally shot and more than 100 people wounded by gunfire over Father’s Day weekend… It is “simply fantasy,” says Camenker, to think that the violence and protests are going to damage Trump’s chances for a second term.

By Bishop Joseph Strickland – Vote for Candidates who Respect and Protect Marriage and the Family – In our consideration of morally coherent Catholic citizenship we have considered the fundamental Right to Life and the Right to Religious Freedom. Now, we turn to the urgent challenge of defending the first and most vital cell of society, marriage, and the family and social order founded upon it.

By Complicit Clergy – A group of Catholic activists have created a video of their personal speeches to Catholics who identify as LGBT to substitute for a canceled conference… Outreach 2020 was supposed to be an “LGBTQ Catholic ministry gathering” taking place at New York’s Fordham University between June 18 and June 20 this year. It was canceled due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic… Keynote speakers would have included Bishop John Stowe, OFM of Lexington, Kentucky; Sr. Jeannine Gramick, IBVM (formerly SSND), co-founder of New Ways Ministry ….

By Stephanie Mann, EWTN News – John Cardinal Fisher, the former Bishop of Rochester—Henry VIII had stripped him of that title—was sentenced to death on June 17, 1535. The sentence pronounced against him brought a flush of color to his sunken cheeks, eyewitnesses remarked. As a traitor, he would be drawn to the place of execution on a hurdle, hanged, cut down still alive and then endure vivisection.

By Peter Hasson, LifeNews – Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King called Monday for the removal of statues, murals and stained glass windows that depict Jesus as a “white European,” which he claimed “are a form of white supremacy.”… “Yes, I think the statues of the white European they claim is Jesus should also come down,” King, a former surrogate on Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign, wrote on Twitter. “They are a form of white supremacy. Always have been.”

By Fr. Dwight Longenecker, The Stream – Pride is the problem, and pride is not just boasting or strutting. Pride is not simply vanity and showing off. Those are just the superficial symptoms of pride. At its most basic level pride is the rock solid, basic, undeniable assumption that “I am right.” I and my family, my tribe, my race, my nation … we are right. We are not wrong. We cannot be wrong. We are never wrong… This problem is at the foundation of human nature. It is the way we’re wired. It is the root problem, and the reason it is a problem is because it leads to another conclusion….

By Francis Lee, Crisis Magazine – To rescue the remnants of the USCCB’s integrity, the time has come for the bishops institution to end their submissive relationship with the federal government… Once their taxpayer-subsidized budgets are lost, the current number of thirty-three offices will decrease to the basic number required to evangelize. Bishops will be forced to give up their mansion homes and lavish lifestyles and live in solidarity with the brother priests in their charge. In return, our pastors will not be hindered from speaking the truth of Our Lord Jesus Christ out of fear of the federal government.

By Trey Brock, Church Militant – Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, a self-identified “practicing Catholic,” supports abortion, gay “marriage” and many other evils diametrically opposed to Church teaching… In this week’s episode of Mic’d Up, Michael Voris interviews George Neumayr, author of the upcoming book, The Biden Deception… Biden’s shortcomings go beyond his inherently immoral stances in politics. His economic policies, for example, have proven disastrous.

By Bishop Joseph Strickland – The Right to Religious Freedom Should Inform our Voting… In his World Peace Day message for 1988, Pope St John Paul II said: “Religious freedom, an essential requirement of the dignity of every person, is a cornerstone of the structure of human rights, and for this reason an irreplaceable factor in the good of individuals and of the whole of society, as well as of the personal fulfillment of each individual. It follows that the freedom of individuals and communities to profess and practice their religion is an essential element for peaceful human coexistence. […]

By Dave Andrusko, LifeNews – On Sunday, thirty-five years will have passed since Saint Teresa of Calcutta spoke at the 1985 National Right to Life Convention. Escorted by John Cardinal O’Connor, her appearance in front of a huge audience and a constellation of pro-life Members of Congress was a once in a lifetime experience for everyone blessed to attend… Mother Teresa, as she was then known, spoke of the love that God has for each of us and for the unborn child…

Fr. James Altman Father’s Day Homily – Fr. James Altman discusses the freedom of speech and the obligation we have as Christians to speak the truth. He also discusses the importance of fatherhood and the implications of fatherless families.  

By Beth Baumann, Townhall – Larnell Evans Sr., Harrington’s great-grandson, told Patch about his family’s history… “This is an injustice for me and my family. This is part of my history, sir,” Evans explained. “The racism they talk about, using images from slavery, that comes from the other side — white people. This company profits off images of our slavery. And their answer is to erase my great-grandmother’s history. A black female. … It hurts.”

By Brad Miner, The Catholic Thing – A simple employment dispute, right? Wrong. The Court ruled that “homosexual” and “transgender” are actually sexes, not just sexual preferences, and since Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars discrimination based on sex, “gays” and transgender people may not be fired from their jobs if the reason for dismissal has to with their newly defined “sex,” now firmly put into law as equal to (i.e., the same as) heterosexuality. This is despite the fact that nobody really believes such equality was in the minds of those who wrote and approved the original law.

By Pete Baklinski, LifeSiteNews – “We’re honoring men across America who exemplify the characteristics of Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus Christ. What does a ‘Joseph’s Heart’ man look like? He’s a man who honors and is faithful to the Word of God. He’s a hard-working and courageous man. He’s a man who will protect women and children and all the people who have been entrusted to his care,” she said.

By Fr. Mike Schmitz, Ascension Presents – Fr. Mike explains how being at home with our family is one of God’s favorite ways to make us holy—if we are honest about the areas where we need to grow in our relationships with family members… Fr. Mike has observed that college students often have a profound encounter with Jesus through their college’s Catholic community. They find that they are praying more, receiving the sacraments more, participating in more service opportunities, and so on. Then they get back home for Thanksgiving, Christmas ….

By Catholic News Agency – A statue of Catholic missionary St. Junipero Serra was toppled in a San Francisco park Friday, along with statues of Francis Scott Key and Ulysses S. Grant…The statues were torn down Friday evening from Golden Gate Park, by a group of about 100 people… During the eighteenth century, the saint founded nine Catholic missions in the area that would later become California, many of those missions would go on to become the centers of major California cities…

By Sam Rohrer, CNSNews – Where are the fathers? A generation ago, the Supreme Court defied the God of heaven and declared legal the murder of our babies—and our fathers were silent… When the Ten Commandments were declared to be poison to our children’s minds, our pastors were silent. When the courts and culture continue to attack God’s model for family by redefining marriage and human sexuality, why is there such continuing silence?

By Charlie Butts, OneNewsNow – When a woman becomes pregnant, oftentimes her male partner pushes for abortion or simply deserts her – and pressures inflicted on her ultimately send her to an abortuary. Ken Harrison, chairman of Promise Keepers, likens the situation to the biblical account of Adam and Eve and the apple when God inquired of Adam … and he blamed the woman God had made.

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – Father Dan Moloney, the Catholic chaplain at MIT, was forced to resign within 48 hours after making a public statement that both the university and the Boston archdiocese found unacceptable… In an email message to Catholic students—his only way to communicate with his flock, since the campus is closed—Father Moloney condemned racism. He voiced opposition to the death penalty. He argued that Christians should cultivate an attitude of mercy rather than hostility. …

By Bishop Joseph Strickland – The Pre-eminent Moral Mandate: The Right to Life… The most important foundational teaching and principle of Catholic Social Teaching is that every human life is sacred from conception to natural death, because every man and woman is created in the Image of God. Further, there is a fundamental Right to Life, which is confirmed in the Natural Moral Law, the Sacred Scripture, and the unbroken Tradition of the Catholic Church. Every Civil Law must respect that fundamental Human Right to Life, or such a law is an unjust law.

By Gretchen R. Crowe, Our Sunday Visitor – This devotion (to the Sacred Heart of Jesus) came about when Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the latter part of the 17th century and implored her to spread the message of his passionate love for all to the world… “My divine heart is so passionately fond of the human race and of you, in particular, that it cannot keep back the pent-up flames of its burning charity any longer,” Jesus told her. “They must burst out through you and reveal my heart to the world, so as to enrich mankind with my treasures.”

By Deborah Castellano Lubov, Zenit – Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has left the Vatican to visit his sick brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger in Bavaria… The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, confirmed this to ZENIT English, this afternoon… “I can confirm that this morning the Pope Emeritus went to Germany to visit his sick brother. The Pope Emeritus is now in the city of Regensburg, where he will spend the necessary time.

By John Horvat II, CNSNews – When Antifa and other groups’ militants took over a six-block section of Seattle’s Capitol Hill precinct, the liberal media treated the occupation lightheartedly… Regardless of what it calls itself, there is a difference this time around. These are not crazy mixed-up children. They are revolutionaries with guns and an agenda. They also have unlimited media coverage that extends their influence far beyond their paltry numbers.

By Michael F. Haverluck, OneNewsNow – “We’ve reached a point in our society where we dissect everything and try to ascribe some nefarious notion to it,” the renowned brain surgeon told Stephanopoulos. “We really need to move away from that – we need to move away from being offended by everything, of going through history and looking at everything, of renaming everything… “I mean, think about the fact that some of our universities – some of our prestigious universities – have a relationship with the slave trade. Should we go and rename those universities?”

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – Catholic dioceses are complying with the governors’ orders, instructing pastors to take down the names of the parishioners who show up for Mass or for Confession. Being required to register by name for Mass— worse, for Confession— is a flagrant violation of the rights of the faithful. It’s a policy of dubious legality, enforced according to a gross double standard. Why are Church leaders cooperating?

By Micaiah Bilger, LifeNews – Joe Biden is facing continued criticism from Catholic leaders for touting his Catholic faith but not really living it… The presumed Democrat presidential nominee supports abortion on demand and other positions that directly contradict the Catholic faith. Earlier this week, Biden received an endorsement from Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion chain in America… “It’s a disappointment when he tries to claim to be Catholic and throws the teachings out the window,” Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life told the Church Militant.

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – But there’s a disadvantage to Kindle. And I don’t mean only the pleasure of handling a physical book, or the ability to flip back and forth easily through the pages. I mean the fact that you can buy a Kindle book, but you still don’t own that book. You can’t lend the book to a neighbor, or pass it along to a child. You don’t have physical possession. Amazon does.

By John Grondelski, National Catholic Register – For more than half a century, we have pretended that sexual intercourse does not necessarily have anything to do with procreation. The teaching of the Catholic Church, which is really nothing more than the reality of sex, is that procreation and unity go together. Sex is connected to procreation and sex is connected to love and those connections are inseparable… But we have spent half a century trying to justify an ethic that claims they are separable.

By Ryan T. Anderson, Public Discourse – Justice Neil Gorsuch’s majority opinion claims to apply a simple and straightforward test: “An employer violates Title VII when it intentionally fires an individual employee based in part on sex.” But he refuses to consider what applying this simple—in reality, simplistic—test actually requires—and not just under Title VII, but under every nondiscrimination law that includes “sex” as a protected category, notably including Title IX. After all, Gorsuch’s argument is an argument about the logic of sex discrimination.

By Martina Moyski, Church Militant – Fr. Cameron Faller reflected on the lessons the pandemic has taught and what it has revealed about our faith, “for better or for worse.”… Father Faller, vocations director for the San Francisco archdiocese, said the main lesson is that church lockdowns must never happen again… “Back on March 16, the federal initiative was called ’15 days to slow the spread.’ Those 15 days would’ve ended on March 31. It’s June 14,” he said.

By Michael Brown, The Stream – I remember that sinking feeling as the election results were announced in November 1992. William Jefferson Clinton would be the next president of the United States. George H. W. Bush was out. Yet we were so close to having a conservative majority on the Supreme Court who would overturn Roe v. Wade! At least that’s what I thought… It was at that moment that another feeling struck me, a realization that has stayed with me over the decades. This realization was powerfully underscored with the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision this past Monday.

By Martin Bürger, LifeSiteNews – Doctors at the Vatican’s Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital successfully performed a rare surgery on a 28-week-old unborn baby with a major congenital anomaly, thereby significantly increasing the child’s chance for survival… The hospital released a stunning video showing glimpses of the procedure, which lasted about 45 minutes.

By Al Perrotta, The Stream – During a Rose Garden appearance touting the surprising employment numbers, President Trump veered off onto the topic de jour: Equality. In his brief soliloquy on equal justice and fairness, he evoked George Floyd, expressing hope Floyd was happy at seeing the issue of equality being addressed. That such discussions made it a “great day.” The President was speaking a tone of unity, preaching what MLK preached… The video could not be clearer.

By Bishop Joseph Strickland – In short, faith and Life must come together for Catholics. The full Deposit of Faith must be guarded – and it must inform every area of our life, including our social and civic participation. That includes our voting. This overriding insight was elaborated upon in 2002 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in its excellent teaching on the Participations of Catholics in Political Life: “The social doctrine of the Church is not an intrusion into the government of individual countries. It is a question of the lay Catholic’s duty to be morally coherent, found within one’s conscience, which is one and indivisible…” ….

By Fr. Richard Heilman, Doug Barry – We are seeing people kneeling before the growing mob, and capitulating to their cause. We need to see this as it is, an attack on the two fundamental aspects of our society; our spiritual leaders and our law enforcement… The mob, manipulated by the ruling class, wants us to kneel to their agenda of fear and destruction… I Kneel for God Alone!

By Philip Kosloski, Aleteia – The heart symbolizes the center or “core” of our being, from which prayer and moral actions originate… The heart is mentioned frequently in the Bible, especially in the New Testament, where Jesus frequently uses the term to explain spiritual truths… Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God… For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be… You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength…

By Chad Groening, OneNewsNow – Cathie Adams, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, says Trump supporters are tired of the relentless attacks by Democrats and the media against the president… “For Donald Trump to hold a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma and have a million people who want to show up, and not to have a facility large enough I think is so fabulous,” Adams submits. “If the Democrats keep doing what they do … it just fills the auditorium and expands beyond anything an auditorium can hold for Donald Trump. So just keep it up, Democrats.”

By James Patrick Reid, The Catholic Thing – All of creation is from the beginning a gift, a token of the Giver’s love. Hence there is continuity between the natural and the sacred, and commonplace substances serve as matter for sacraments. There is continuity between sacred iconography and painting as such, because art was never supposed to be profane… Profanum means “outside the temple (Lat., fanum).” But in Genesis, God creates the whole world to be His temple, the house of His image.

By Msgr. Charles Pope – Does God love the souls in Hell? Yes… How could they continue to exist if He did not love them, sustain them, and continue to provide for them? God loves because He is love. Although we may fail to be able to experience or accept His love, God loves every being He has made, human or angelic… The souls in Hell may have refused to empty their arms to receive His embrace, but God has not withdrawn His love for them. He permits those who have rejected Him to live apart from him. God honors their freedom to say no, even respecting it when it becomes permanent, as it has for fallen angels and the souls in Hell.

By Allen West, CNSNews – And so here we are today in America, and both sayings have relevance, the former more so than the latter. Everyone is screaming, shouting, rioting, looting, and committing acts of violence in the name of combatting “systemic racism.” Truly, there are many folks, empty wagons, making a lot of noise, while so many others are whistling past the graveyard, not grasping the real issue in America… The bottom line is simple: The Great Society – the grand endeavor of the progressive, racist President L.B. Johnson has failed…

By John Zmirak, The Stream – But my real problem with the recent decision is that it will launch a persecution of Christians. And that’s something I oppose. I know, I know, “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” But that only really works with real live deadly martyrdom. A terrifying experience, surely, but usually over quickly, and followed by an eternity in heaven with Jesus Himself. That’s pretty much guaranteed, if you’re a martyr, most Christians believe. Many of us could face that, provided the death would be quick.

By Victor Davis Hanson, Townhall – The current Black Lives Matter Revolution has “canceled” certain movies, television shows and cartoons, toppled statues, tried to create new autonomous urban zones, and renamed streets and plazas. Some fanatics shave their heads. Others have shamed authorities into washing the feet of their fellow revolutionaries… But inevitably cultural revolutions die out when they turn cannibalistic. Once the Red Guard started killing party hacks too close to Mao, it began to wane.

By Micaiah Bilger, LifeNews – A viral video of a Black Lives Matter protest is exposing the hypocrisy of a movement that claims to fight to protect black Americans… the video shows a black man confronting medical workers who gathered for a Black Lives Matter protest outside a hospital… In the short video, the man asks the medical workers, many in lab coats and scrubs, if “all black lives matter, or just some black lives.”… “All black lives matter,” the protesters respond… Seconds later, though, when he asks them about abortion, the protesters remain silent and look confused.

By Constance T. Hull, Crisis Magazine – For months, we have been told that we must be exiled from the public celebration of the Mass, and, in some dioceses, from the Sacraments as a whole, for the sake of the common good… Imagine the surprise of many of the lay faithful at seeing some bishops and priests marching in the streets in various demonstrations around the country in direct violation of current public health and safety protocols that are still restricting or suspending the public celebration of the Mass and the Sacraments in many dioceses.

By Gualberto Garcia Jones, LifeSiteNews – We will show you how the violent riots tearing American cities apart are part of the anti-American, anti-Trump Resistance movement. We will also show how the Resistance effort itself is part of a long string of Marxist efforts aimed at destroying what is left of Christian civilization in America, and how George Soros is likely playing a leading role in causing this mayhem.

By Dan Burke, Catholic Exchange – Although the assiduous practice of the virtues will not suffice to bring the soul to God, the manifestation of goodwill implied by this practice is very necessary. The sailor who is anxious to reach the port does not lazily wait for a favorable wind, but begins at once to row vigorously; similarly, the soul who seeks God, while waiting for Him to attract it, does not abandon itself to indolence; on the contrary, it searches fervently on its own initiative: making efforts to overcome its faults, to be detached from creatures, to practice the virtues and to apply itself to interior recollection.

By John-Henry Westen, LifeSiteNews – Seattle was in mayhem last week as a six-block area was occupied by openly communist groups. The police were unwilling to enter the zone, and the Democratic governor was clueless. President Trump warned that he had to take action. Interestingly, we also learned last week that Heaven foretold there would be a communist takeover of America if Heaven’s warnings were not heeded. It seems that that is happening right before our very eyes.

By Philip Kosloski, Aleteia – Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is ancient, finding its inspiration in various passages in the Bible. However, a more focused devotion was promoted by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 17th century, including a specific “consecration.”The consecration promoted by St. Margaret Mary was intended to unite the Christian faithful more closely to Jesus, looking to the example of St. John the apostle, who “reclined upon [Jesus’] chest during the supper”

By Fr. Nnamdi Moneme, OMV, Catholic Exchange – Moses reminded the Jews how they had been blessed by God, “Remember how for forty years now the Lord, your God, has directed all your journeying in the desert…He fed you with manna, a food unknown to you and your fathers…He brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery…He guided you through the vast and terrible desert with its serpents and scorpions.”… They were blessed by God but they did not live the blessed life that God demanded and for which He had set them free from bondage in Egypt. …

By Steven Ertelt, LifeNews – Joe Biden received the enforcement of the Planned Parenthood abortion business today and he promoted the abortion giant afterwards, saying he would do everything possible as president to promote their pro-abortion agenda… “We will protect women’s constitutional right to choose, and I am proud to stand with you in this fight,” Biden added, using another euphemism for killing babies in abortions.

By R. R. Reno, First Things – Put simply, Bostock gives the LGBT movement a powerful bulldozer with which to demolish all public expressions of dissent from its agenda. This is a great irony. In the Civil Rights Act of the mid-1960s, Congress passed unprecedented legislation in order to counter a powerful social consensus against full equality for African Americans. It used the power of the law to protect an unpopular, poor, and disempowered minority. Now the Supreme Court is doing the opposite. …

By Msgr. Charles Pope – Praying the rosary today I marveled once again at the Fatima prayer, which is recited at the end of each decade: O my Jesus, forgive us our sins; save us from the fires of Hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy!… I have often wondered how God reacts to a prayer like this. I am awed by the power of this simple prayer, even if said in a distracted way. God is surely pleased that we ask for the salvation of souls and that we have in mind especially those who are most in need, most lost, most wayward.

By Joseph Enders, Church Militant – “No American should be forced to choose between the dictates of the federal government and the tenets of their faith,” said President Trump… President Donald Trump is taking a stand for religious freedom… On Friday, his administration finalized a regulation defining “gender” as a person’s biological sex, changing the 2016 rule in Obama’s Affordable Care Act, which defined gender identity as “one’s internal sense of gender.”… Trump’s new rule overturns and supplants the definition by Obama.

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – In the Bostock decision, the Supreme Court interpreted the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to mean things that, in all likelihood, not a single member of Congress intended at the time the bill was enacted. At any time in the 56 intervening years, Congress could have amended that Act, or passed other legislation, to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Congress never did so. This decision is a pure act of judicial legislation.

By Anna Abbott, EWTN News – With record numbers unemployed, “nonessential” businesses shuttered, livelihoods shattered and rioting in major cities, apologist Trent Horn and economist Catherine R. Pakaluk’s Can a Catholic be a Socialist? (The Answer is No — Here’s Why) (Catholic Answers, El Cajon, 2020) is eerily prescient… The opening chapter, “The Return of Socialism,” explains why economic distress leads to support for socialism. One can see why “Medicare for all” and “universal income” look like lifesavers in a time of crisis.

By Craig Bannister, CNSNews – By preventing Pres. Trump and his supporters from communicating with the American people via social media platforms, Big Tech is attempting to ensure the president won’t win reelection in November, Media Research Center (MRC) President Brent Bozell (writes)… “It is the greatest form of censorship, not to mention election manipulation, this country has ever witnessed,” Bozell warns in his opinion piece, “2020 and Big Tech – Election isn’t just about Trump vs. Biden. It’s about fate of democracy.”

By Maria Gallagher, LifeNews – In a dramatic turn-around from the Obama Administration, President Trump and his Cabinet have initiated an agenda which makes pro-life policies a top priority… From filling the Administration with pro-life personnel to directing funding away from Planned Parenthood, the Trump Administration has pursued a consistent and unwavering dedication to ensuring the protection of preborn children and their mothers.

By Christopher Manion, The Wanderer – By the way, these persecuted communities also comprise the millions of black children who are targeted by abortion mills in inner cities. Why haven’t the bishops issued a pastoral letter on that monumental racist crime?… Don’t expect them to any time soon. At their annual meeting last November two-thirds of our shepherds voted to affirm that abortion was the “preeminent” political issue facing Catholics in the coming election. The USCCB bureaucracy immediately reversed that decision with regard to its programs, but today we can affirm that the minority of bishops has prevailed in practice: Abortion is not the “preeminent” political issue for Catholics, racism is.

By Msgr. Charles Pope – He who has an ear, let him hear … Jesus used these words often in the Gospels, especially in His parables. The expression seeks to appeal to those who have a soul that wants to hear. Obviously, all humans have ears, and most of us can hear, but that does not mean we listen or are willing to listen. Many have hardened their hearts and have thus acquired an ear that is deaf to the teachings of the Lord.

By Helen Andrews, The American Conservative – Six months ago, when journalist Christopher Caldwell published a book asserting that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had grown into a “rival constitution” that superseded the old Constitution, everyone laughed. The New York Times review accused Caldwell of rehashing old segregationist arguments. Singled out for particular ridicule was the sentence on the penultimate page of The Age of Entitlement where Caldwell advises conservatives that “the only way back to the free country of their ideals was through the repeal of the civil rights laws.”… No one is laughing now.

By Fr. Ed Broom, OMV, Catholic Exchange – Our interior state can be compared to the weather changes that change, modify, and vary constantly. One day, you awake and there is sunshine streaming through your window pane; the birds are singing joyful songs of praise; the fragrance of spring flowers penetrates and permeates wherever you go; the blue sky and gentle breeze lift your heart; still more: everybody seems to have a winning smile radiating from their countenance. Seems to be the portal of Heaven… Then the following day presents to you, in marked contrast…

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – A few days ago, in NY City, two black pro-life women were arrested on the sidewalk outside a Planned Parenthood facility. PP had called the police to report the women. When the police arrived, they ordered (them) to disperse, saying that they were violating Mayor Bill de Blasio’s social distancing orders. When they refused to leave, the women were arrested… The night before (the women’s) arrest, NY City had been convulsed by yet another night of protesting, marred by widespread violence and looting. Thousands of people participated in these protests, congregating in tight spaces, often with absolutely no effort at preventing the spread of Covid-19.

By Rachel Alexander, The Stream – In a surprisingly decisive 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include gays, bisexuals and transgenders. Title VII prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. In 1964, Congress intended “sex” to refer to bias against men or women. It did not intend the word to include sexual orientation and gender identity… Trump appointee Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the opinion for the majority in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia. He claimed that the word “sex” was meant broadly when the law was drafted.

By Terence P. Jeffrey, CNSNews – Here is the opening segment of Justice Samuel Alito’s dissenting opinion—joined by Justice Clarence Thomas—in which Alito summarizes their objecting to the majority opinion written by Gorsuch: “There is only one word for what the Court has done today: legislation. The document that the Court releases is in the form of a judicial opinion interpreting a statute, but that is deceptive… “Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination on any of five specified grounds: ‘race, color, religion, sex, [and] national origin.’… Neither ‘sexual orientation’ nor ‘gender identity’ appears on that list. …

By Anthony Esolen, Crisis Magazine – In 1998, a giant of a man appeared before the state legislature in Wisconsin. He was the future Hall of Fame defensive lineman, Reggie White—the Reverend Reggie White, “The Minister of Defense,” whose church in Tennessee had been burned to the ground by arsonists a couple of years before. White had had two ambitions in life. One was to play professional football, and the other was to preach the word of God. He did both. His works for charity were prodigious. He fought especially for harmony among the races. To those politicians in Madison, he said that God had endowed each ethnic group with peculiar gifts, so that all together they made up a mosaic which showed the face of God. …

By John Clark, EWTN News – For millions of Catholics — as we all know quite well — neither clerical Baptism nor Communion nor Confession nor Matrimony nor Confirmation nor Holy Orders nor Anointing of the Sick has been available for months… The end-of-life sacramental issues have been the most newsworthy. In some dioceses in America, dying without the sacraments has become the new normal. Many a Catholic goes to bed at night worried that if he gets sick anytime soon — with any illness — his call to the rectory might go unanswered, and sacramentally unaddressed.

By Jason Morgan, The Remnant Newspaper – Parents, now finally able to see what they are getting for their tax or tuition dollars, have not been amused. It is not the online-ness of the classes that is the problem. It’s the classes themselves… Whether your child is enrolled in a “Fat Studies” course or one of the endless varieties of Race, Class, Gender, and Grievance 101, you have probably stood by agog as he, she, ze, xe, or shim has Zoomed with an “intellectual” explaining the finer points of lesbian protest literature or Maoist theater. Fifty thousand dollars for fifteen PowerPoints about Haymarket is pretty steep, eh Dad? …

By Micaiah Bilger, LifeNews – On Monday, Thomas disagreed with the high court about taking a Second Amendment case out of New Jersey, Rogers v. Grewal. According to Breitbart, the state requires people to show a “justifiable need” to own a handgun before the state will issue them a permit… A majority of the Supreme Court justices refused to hear the case, but Thomas disagreed, writing: “One would think that such an onerous burden on a fundamental right would warrant this Court’s review. This Court would almost certainly review the constitutionality of a law requiring citizens to establish a justifiable need before exercising their free speech rights.”

By H. von Spakovksy & R. T. Anderson, The Stream – In what dissenting Justice Samuel Alito called one of the most “brazen abuse[s]” of the Supreme Court’s authority, a six-member majority of the court led by Justice Neil Gorsuch has rewritten Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sexual orientation and gender identity in the definition of “sex.”… Why bother trying to pass the proposed Equality Act when you can get the justices to make law for you?… Title VII prohibits an employer from failing or refusing “to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual … because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”

By Most Rev. Joseph Strickland, The Wanderer – In the aftermath of the tragic and unjust killing of George Floyd, many are using the phrase “social justice.” But what they mean when they use that pregnant phrase may, and often does, vary substantially. Any genuine discussion of authentic social justice, as well as authentic human and civil rights, should consider the great treasury of Catholic Moral Teaching referred to as the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church.

Fr. Robert Altier, June 14, 2020 – Fr. Robert Altier describes the choice we each much make either for God or for Satan.

By Fr. Frank Pavone, Crisis Magazine – “Catholic social doctrine talks about taking care of those who can’t take care of themselves, people who need help. With regard to abortion, I accept my church’s position that life begins at conception. That’s the church’s judgment. I accept it in my personal life. But I refuse to impose it on equally devout Christians and Muslims and Jews and—I just refuse to impose that on others.” — former Vice President Joe Biden.

By Deacon Mike manno, JD, The Wanderer – If you can get a copy of (Saul Alinsky’s book, Rules for Radicals), or look it up on the Internet, you can read the rules yourself. And as you examine them, you’ll be able to make the connection to how the Radical Left is using them today against both Church and state through such issues as healthcare (control it and you control people), poverty (keep people poor, they are easier to control), education (control what people know), religion (make generic, all good comes from the state), and class warfare (divide and conquer).

By Christopher A. Ferrara, The Remnant Newspaper – In the course of representing this diverse clientele on the legal issues presented, I have been struck by the parallels between Roman Catholic traditionalism and Orthodox Judaism. Both constituencies represent marginalized minorities within their religious cohort, both are victim to backstabbing and betrayal by their own supposed co-religionists, and both are radically countercultural on social and moral issues.

By Jennifer Gregory Miller, Catholic Culture – How do we live in the present moment in this Tempus per Annum, Time of the Year or Ordinary Time? What does this time mean for one’s spiritual life?… A few years ago I explained a little about what is Ordinary Time in Our Ordinary Walk of Life: Understanding Tempus per Annum, but it seems this “Ordinary Time” is still misunderstood. I read so many comments regarding Ordinary Time with similar thoughts of seeing it as a break to catch up from the previous liturgical seasons.

By Chad Groening, Billy Davis, OneNewsNow – Fort Bragg, Fort Hood, and Fort Benning are three of the most high-profile U.S. Army bases in the country, where literally millions of Americans have trained over the years. All three bases after named after Confederate generals, however, so they are now the latest target of Democrats, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the media… Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy are holding a “bipartisan conversation” about renaming roughly a dozen military bases that bear the names of Confederate leaders.

By Steven Ertelt, LifeNews – President Donald Trump has once again issued a pro-life rule that will protect pro-life Americans and help save babies from abortion. This time, his administration has issued a rule to block the effects of a dangerous Obamacare provision that could be used to compel doctors to participate in abortions… The Department of Health and Human Services finalized a rule today that revises 2016 provisions of the Obamacare section 1557 rule that had redefined discrimination “on the basis of sex” to include “pregnancy termination.”

By Robert Royal,  The Catholic Thing – Every day on Earth is a day of battle for women and men of true spirit against various evils – for Christians, that includes the evils lurking in our own hearts… But not every day on Earth is a day for outward engagement, even to remedy historic injustices or to defend law and order. There are days of inner battle and silence as well, that may even be more important and more challenging than an outward clash.

By Msgr. Charles Pope – In many places this Sunday, the (moved) Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ Our Lord is celebrated.
While you may puzzle over my title for today’s blog, allow me to delay the explanation to a bit later. On a solemn feast like this, many things might be preached and taught. Let’s look at three areas for reflection: the Reality of the Eucharist, the Requirement of the Eucharist, and the Remembrance of the Eucharist.

By Regis Martin, EWTN News – Let’s do a thought experiment: What is the single most necessary thing we need to know? Indeed, the very best news we could possibly hope to hear?… Is it the incarnation of God no less? And who is the mediating figure here but a young Jewish maiden of maybe 14 or 15 years of age, who boldly said Yes to God and thereupon set in motion the entire mystery of our redemption?

By Fr. George Rutler, Church Militant – Rioters also gathered in our nation’s capital in Logan Circle, by another irony named for a Civil War general, John A. Logan, who said: “Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten, as a people, the cost of a free and undivided republic.” But many in our latest generation have not merely forgotten that cost, they were never taught it in the first place. 

By Edward Pentin, National Catholic Register – “The force of attraction,” that is the wounded Heart of the Crucified Risen One, and the “power of Satan,” the father of lies, the “murderer from the beginning” who seeks to extinguish truth in the heart of man… “At the root of this is the work of Satan, who wants to build an actual anti-creation,” Cardinal Caffarra said. “This is the ultimate and terrible challenge which Satan is hurling at God. ‘I am demonstrating to you that I am capable of constructing an alternative to your creation. And man will say: it is better in the alternative creation than in your creation.’”… “This is the frightful strategy of the lie,” the cardinal continued, “constructed around a profound contempt for man.” …

By Gayle Somers, Catholic Exchange – Our Sunday Gospel reading begins midway through a long conversation Jesus had with people who tracked Him down after His miraculous feeding of the five thousand (Jn 6:25-50). They were looking for more bread, but Jesus used their physical hunger to direct their thoughts to another kind of bread: “For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world” (Jn 6:33). It worked: “They said to Him, ‘Lord, give us this bread always’” (Jn 6:34).

By Michael W. Chapman, CNSNews – There are “rapes, robberies, and all sorts of violent acts that have been occurring in the area that we’re not able to get to,” she said… “So it is not a right for us not to be able to deploy our officers here,” the chief added… The Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct building and an approximately six-block area was taken over by radical leftists, including Black Lives Matter activists, on Tuesday, June 9. The area is now called the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or CHAZ.

By Susanne Maynes, LifeNews – “We’re devastated, grieving, and outraged by violence against Black lives. We must continue to demand accountability, justice, and an end to the inequity that continues to define every moment of life for Black America from the racist institutions that uphold white supremacy.”… this statement was made by none other than Planned Parenthood… It’s tempting to dig into the rich irony of the phrase “racist institutions that uphold white supremacy” when that accusation is made by an organization whose founder’s goal was the elimination of African Americans.

By Paul Ollinger, Forge – When our son was a year old, my pregnant wife and I endured a grueling day of travel from northern Michigan to Los Angeles, where we lived at the time… The fun was just beginning when our flight home finally took off… I shared my hellish tale with my colleague Jen, whose older children had taught her parenting strategies I hadn’t yet learned… Jen said. “When you travel with babies, your only goal is to arrive.”

By Msgr. Charles Pope – We all cling to certain things. Perhaps there is a sentimental attachment, or perhaps we think we might need some thing one day; even though that day never comes. Much of this is harmless. But certain attachments actually have negative impacts, hindering us from what we need to do… For example, we cling to an old car that frequently breaks down, or to an old wound that keeps us from relating to others in a healthy way free from past trauma.

By Charles Coulombe, Crisis Magazine – The apogee of collaborationist Catholicism, alongside its more radical co-religionists, was undoubtedly the day of my birth: November 8, 1960. It was the day John F. Kennedy was elected president. He had already paid the price of admission to the Oval Office with a speech before the Houston Ministerial Association the previous September 12, in which, after vigorously defending religious pluralism and a confessionally neutral state, he declared that, contrary to common newspaper usage, I am not the Catholic candidate for president.

By Michael Hichborn, Lepanto Institute – In July of 2019, the Lepanto Institute published a report on a $750,000 grant from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) that went to an organization called the Ignatian Solidarity Network (ISN). At issue was the fact that ISN has published a number of articles affirming homosexuality and transgenderism and hosts an annual conference that includes workshops geared toward indoctrinating high school aged children in homosexual and transgender activism.

By Fr. Mike Schmitz, Ascension Presents – Fr. Mike explains how being at home with our family is one of God’s favorite ways to make us holy—if we are honest about the areas where we need to grow in our relationships with family members… Fr. Mike has observed that college students often have a profound encounter with Jesus through their college’s Catholic community. They find that they are praying more, receiving the sacraments more, participating in more service opportunities, and so on. Then they get back home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or—in the most recent cases—a lockdown.

By Catholic Exchange – In recent months we have been witnessing the formation of two opposing sides that I would call Biblical: the children of light and the children of darkness. The children of light constitute the most conspicuous part of humanity, while the children of darkness represent an absolute minority. And yet the former are the object of a sort of discrimination which places them in a situation of moral inferiority with respect to their adversaries, who often hold strategic positions in government, in politics, in the economy and in the media. …

By Tom Ciesielka, LifeNews – New York’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo, his Attorney Gen. Letitia James, and NY City Mayor Bill de Blasio are being sued… for violation of civil rights by prejudicial orders and selective enforcement… Thomas More Society Special Counsel Christopher Ferrara explained the key points of the lawsuit: “These orders, both the emergency stay-home and reopening plan declarations, clearly discriminate against houses of worship. They are illegally content based, elaborate, arbitrary and pseudo-scientific. …

By Martin Bürger, LifeSiteNews – A Catholic dad in Illinois, dismayed over Cardinal Blase Cupich placing severe post-pandemic restrictions on the resumption of public Masses in the Archdiocese of Chicago, has launched a public campaign to have churches fully reopened… Joe Lazar, a father and pro-life activist, has launched a campaign called “Reopen my Church.”… “Catholics in the Archdiocese of Chicago are being persecuted by our local leadership in an unprecedented fashion,”

By Dr. Taylor Marshall, YouTube, June 7, 2020 – What did Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò mean when he warned President Donald Trump with the obscure Latin phrase: Solve et Coagula – which is the tattoo printed on the two forearms of the Free-masonic Sabbatic Goat?… Dr. Marshall will explain what “Solve et Coagula” means and why occultists and magicians use the term.

By Peter Kwasniewski, LifeSiteNews – In the magnificent book In Sinu Jesu: When Heart Speaks to Heart — The Journal of a Priest at Prayer, Our Lord emphasizes the importance of these visits and expresses His displeasure at churches that are kept locked: The Most Holy Eucharist is not only My Sacrifice offered to the Father, although in a bloodless manner; it is not only the sustenance of souls, nourishing them with My very Body and Blood; it is also the Sacrament of My divine friendship, the pledge of My burning desire to remain close to all who seek Me, to all who need Me, to all who would spend time in My company.

By Sister Isabelle, OCD, Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles – Dear tender hearted Savior, You never let the cries of Your children go unheard. We thank You and praise You for coming to comfort us in our sorrow. Your amazing love for each one of us carried you through the darkest days of your time on earth. Please, dear Lord Jesus, fill us to overflowing with Your merciful love for one another, that we can spread Your light to all we meet.

By Robert B. Greving, Crisis Magazine – Statistics in the criminal justice system show that blacks are more likely to be arrested for violent crimes, incarcerated, and victims of police shootings. Some conclude this is because of racism on the part of the police. In our medical system, however, we see a similar disproportionality. Blacks are more likely to suffer and die from heart disease and stroke. Why, then, do we not hear cries of racism and “Black Lives Matter” against doctors? After all, both crime and health are largely matters of behavior.

By Charlie Butts, OneNewsNow – “We had planned this before the riots taking place in Washington,” begins Mark Harrington, head of the pro-life organization. “We’re trying to teach people that what’s happening in the streets is due directly to what has been happening in the womb for now almost 50 years and that the current violence and rioting in our major cities is a result of our unwillingness to love our preborn neighbors as ourselves, and that’s why we see the violence in the womb now spilling out into violence in the streets.”

By Michael Voris, Church Militant – A wave of anti-police sentiment is being pushed around the country by Marxist Democrats… The hate for police — a type of hate which is apparently okay because the Marxists give that hate their seal of approval — is being backed by not just Antifa, but also some backers of Black Lives Matter… Now, their hatred of all things police fails on a number of levels. First, many police officers, including police chiefs around the country, are black themselves. …

PragerU, Sept. 16, 2019 – Which poses a bigger threat to black communities: Racism? Or absent fathers?… Candace Owens and Larry Elder show just how important black fathers are in turning boys into responsible and happy men–and how their absence has had a tragic impact on millions of black Americans.

By David Carlin, The Catholic Thing – But in addition to my many “privileges,” I had some real advantages growing up in Pawtucket. First and foremost, I had two married parents with a very strong sense of parental duty. They worked hard, they played by the rules, they put family above individual self… I had the Catholic religion and its many Pawtucket churches. The religion reinforced the lessons in good conduct that I had learned at home and at school. It taught me to behave myself, and it taught me to feel guilty when my behavior fell below ideal standards …

By Mat Staver, LifeNews – Earlier this week, I told you about the hazards and warnings concerning the Gates Foundation-backed Moderna dangerously rushing to produce a COVID-19 vaccine. But there is far more behind the “vaccine raace” and it all circles back to computer-entrepreneur-turned-Big Pharma-lobbyist Bill Gates… Perhaps it is no surprise that all the top 5 pharmaceutical companies working on a COVID vaccine are using aborted baby cell lines in their research and all of them are funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

By Patrick J. Buchanan – On Gn. George Washington’s orders, the Declaration of Independence, signed in Philadelphia, was read aloud to his army. On hearing it, the troops marched to Bowling Green, decapitated and pulled down the statue of George III, and sent the remnants to be melted down into musket balls… It was a revolutionary act, a symbolic statement. These once-loyal American subjects were now rebels and no longer owed allegiance to the king. They would fight to end his rule in America.

By Thomas Gallatin, The Patriot Post – It doesn’t take long after listening to the demands of Black Lives Matter activists to realize that BLM’s primary goal is not the protection and betterment of black Americans but rather the promotion of radical leftist politics. Furthermore, follow the money and it becomes apparent that BLM is little other than a Democrat fundraising operation masquerading as a black civil-rights movement.

By Paul Murano, Church Militant – Bill Gates, WHO, and various national governments may be teaming up to create a worldwide system that will make vaccinations mandatory in order to travel from one country to another… As researchers and pharmaceutical companies race to create a COVID-19 vaccine, moral and constitutional questions linger, including whether plans are afoot to narrow the freedom to reject vaccines in the name of the common good… Life News reports that billionaire Bill Gates is engaged in a plan that will make vaccines available — and perhaps mandatory — for all.

Introduction by Michael J. Matt, Written by  + Carlo Maria Viganò, The Remnant, Wednesday, June 10, 2020 – Introduction by Michael J. Matt: Over the past half century of crisis in the Catholic Church, one of the main points of division among Tradition-minded Catholics centered around the question of whether there was something inherently contrary to Tradition about the Second Vatican Council itself, or was it merely the Modernist interpretations of the Council that flowed abundantly into the lifeblood of the Church after the close of the Council in 1965… Over the past few decades, many conservative commentators were ready to admit that the so-called “Spirit of the Council” had led to much devastation in the Church.

By Martin Barillas, Church Militant – According to the OSF website, Soros has given away $32 billion since 1984 to “individuals and organizations across the globe fighting for freedom of expression, transparency, accountable government and for societies that promote justice and equality.”

By Edward Pentin, National Catholic Register – President Donald Trump has responded to Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s open letter to him published on Sunday… “So honored by Archbishop Viganò’s incredible letter to me,” President Trump tweeted on Wednesday evening. “I hope everyone, religious or not, reads it!”… In his June 7 letter, Archbishop Viganò, who served as apostolic nuncio to the United States from 2011 to 2016, praised President Trump’s leadership as he faced criticism for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the protests over the death of George Floyd.

By Brian Bird, Public Discourse – “COVID-19 has reminded us, in dramatic fashion, that the true purpose of healthcare is to preserve life and ease suffering. Advocates of euthanasia aim to “put the white coat” on the procedure, to borrow imagery used by Margaret Somerville, such that what was once called killing is now euphemistically termed ‘medical assistance in dying.’ “

By Stephen P. White, The Catholic Thing – When the bishops of the United States issued their first pastoral letter on racism in forty years, titled “Open Wide Our Hearts,” in November of 2018, it was not front-page news. At the time, the Church in the United States was reeling from the McCarrick scandal, the Pennsylvania grand jury report, and the Viganò testimony.

By Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle, Catholic Exchange – Saint Louis teaches us about the many fundamental aspects of a true devotion to Mary, which ultimately unites us to Jesus. This devotion is a smooth, short, perfect, and sure way of attaining union with our Lord, in which Christian perfec­tion consists… This devotion is a smooth way… It is the path which Jesus Christ opened up in coming to us and in which there is no obstruction to prevent us reaching Him.

By Peter Wolfgang, The Stream – I like black history because I like American history. Black History is American history, and conservatives ought not to be defensive about it. Lots of good stuff there that will surprise you, amaze you, make you weep with happiness and shake with rage… If you don’t know it, you don’t know your own country… Where to Start ….

By Phil Lawler, CNSNews – For more than a dozen years, I have been sitting on the planning board in the little New England town where we live. Our task is to ensure that as the community grows, the new developments are in harmony with the spirit of the town—which is rural, scenic, and rich in historical character.

By Susan Jones, CNSNews – Invited to speak at the White House on Wednesday, a number of black conservative Trump supporters praised the president for what he’s already done for the black community and for what he’ll do now about law enforcement… Several of the guests slammed “media lies,” none more harshly than Raynard Jackson, a Republican political consultant: “What I’d like to say to you, Mr. President, is kind of off the beaten path. I’d like to say to all of the media here that I wish they would quit lying about what you’ve done, specifically for the black community. …”

By Micaiah Bilger, LifeNews – States may inform women that life begins at conception before they go through with an abortion, a federal appeals court said this week… The case — a victory for pro-life advocates, unborn babies and mothers — involves a Missouri informed consent law and a challenge by “Judy Doe,” a member of the Satanic Temple. Doe claimed the law violated her religious freedom because she does not believe that “the life of each human being begins at conception.”

By Michael Warren Davis, Crisis Magazine – From Rome to Washington, the Successors to the Apostles wasted no time in affirming the popular narrative surrounding George Floyd’s death. They were perfectly ready to believe that Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin used excessive force against Mr. Floyd because he.. is conditioned to regard a black person as a self-evident threat. They were immediately convinced that Officer Chauvin targeted Mr. Floyd for brutalization solely on the basis that he was black…

By Doug Mainwaring, LifeSiteNews – President Donald Trump has responded to Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s open letter to him, published June 6 by LifeSiteNews… “So honored by Archbishop Viganò’s incredible letter to me,” wrote the President in a Tweet… “I hope everyone, religious or not, reads it!” he added… In his powerful letter, Archbishop Viganò, who rose to international prominence in 2018 as a Vatican whistleblower, warned the President that the current crises over the coronavirus pandemic and the George Floyd riots are a part of the eternal spiritual struggle between the forces of good and evil.

By James Robison, The Stream – Please read this open letter to President Trump from Carlo Maria Viganò, a former ambassador to the U.S. from the Vatican. To me, it sounds in so many ways like a message from our heavenly Father — not only to the president, but to everyone with ears to hear. It clearly emphasizes the truth about the spiritual battle in which we are engaged. In the invisible spiritual realm, the principalities and powers of darkness have prevailed because the church gave them ground. ….

By Bishop Joseph Strickland – One of the experiences which accompanied the COVID 19 Shelter at Home Orders was that all parents became “home school” parents. But, in a sense, all parents already WERE “home school parents”. Some simply choose to share that educational mission with others outside of the home as their children mature. …

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – In April of this year, President Trump temporarily halted funding from the World Health Organization over concerns that it had grossly mishandled the COVID-19 crisis. Since then, he has threatened to make the decision to withhold funding permanent… For the WHO, the loss of U.S. funding is no small thing: The U.S.’s contributions of some $400-$500 million per year to the WHO amount to approximately 14 percent of the organization’s operating budget.

By Dr. Alan Keyes, Church Militant – Thus, for the Deathcrats, “Black Lives Matter” in death not as they come to life: Whether it’s the death of a black man at the hands of a white or the extinction of millions of black children on demand from their mothers through abortion… God and Christ will be banished. Lifeless worshippers of evil will have ascended to the place of God, determined to worship themselves alone and to revel in the evil that they do without hands and see without eyes, in enduring darkness.

By Chad Groening, Billy Davis, OneNewsNow – Forbes reported last year that the U.S.-China trade war, begun by President Trump, resulted in a year of the weakest economic growth in China in several decades. China’s lopsided trade surplus with the U.S. also shrank… Steven Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute, says it is no secret China has been working furiously for decades to realize its plans to dominate the world, known as the 100 Year Plan, which began in post-World War II China in 1949.

By Michael Pakaluk, The Catholic Thing – Pope John Paul II visited the Maison des Esclaves, the “House of Slaves,” on the island of Gorée off the coast of Senegal in 1992. And President Obama visited it as well in 2013, over thirty years later. What did each say, and what does the difference tell us?… The “House of Slaves”, with its ominous “Door of No Return,” said to be the last sight of Africa for slaves being loaded on boats for the New World, was made a museum in 1962 and is now a major tourist destination.

By Fr. Mark Goring, Companions of the Cross – “As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead. The only arms which will remain for you will be the Rosary and the Sign left by My Son. Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the Pope, the bishops and priests.”

By Declan Leary, Crisis Magazine – In most election years past, the great impending event of November would have been dominating news cycles already. But even with two clear candidates set to face off in the fall, election news is shockingly close to radio silence. For two months, Trump’s public image was centered entirely on coronavirus response, until even that was eclipsed by nationwide riots. And America, after five long decades of trying hard, seems finally to have forgotten who Joe Biden is.

By Susan Jones, CNSNews – “Our central problem is the breakdown of the family. Seventy-five percent of all black children are born out of wedlock. They don’t have a father… When I was growing up, men were everywhere. Everybody had a dad. A good one or a bad one, but they had one… There’s no social program, government intervention that’s going to take the place of that. We as black people need to put more focus and use our imagination to reinforce the institution of marriage and family.”

By Robert Royal EWTN News – Harvey Mansfield, a longtime Harvard professor and one of the most astute commentators on public matters, once remarked, “You can tell who has power in a society by who is allowed to get angry.”… That was an unusual insight in “normal” times; it looks almost like a truism now, as the United States — and the Catholic Church — emerge from the nightmare of yet another instance of police misconduct against a black man and the subsequent protests, looting and riots. …

By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky, Catholic Culture – The Trinitarian dogma is the foundational mystery of our faith, revealed over time, from Genesis to Pentecost. With every Sign of the Cross, we reaffirm not only our belief in the Trinity. We renew our faith in the totality of Revelation. The Father is Creator (Genesis), and the Son is Redeemer (the Gospels). After the Cross and Resurrection, the Son returns to the Father in the Ascension.

By Ben Shapiro, Townhall – With the death of George Floyd — a heinous atrocity virtually every American decries — unity should have prevailed. Americans hate police brutality; Americans care about black lives; Americans despise looting and rioting; Americans want to protect citizens but preserve the ability of the police to stop crime… Instead, the country seems to be falling apart. That’s because of the utterly chaotic political and media response to the Floyd tragedy: a response that demands agreement but, most of all, requires compliance. You must kneel.

By Micaiah Bilger, LifeNews – At least two possible coronavirus vaccines that are on a fast track for development use cell lines from aborted babies… These include Janssen Research & Development USA, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, and the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, which could be the first to make a coronavirus vaccine available in the United States, according to the report… Both research groups are on a Trump administration short-list for funding to develop a coronavirus vaccine by January 2021, the report states.

By Msgr. Charles Pope – There are some today who speak of annulment as “just another name for a Catholic divorce.” However, this is not correct. An annulment (more technically described as a “Declaration of Nullity”) is a recognition by the Church, based on evidence, that what may in fact have seemed to be a marriage, was not due to some intrinsic flaw at the time the vows we exchanged.

By Dr. Maike Hickson, LifeSiteNews – There is a small part of an interview conducted by the well-respected American historian and book author, William Thomas Walsh, with the Fatima seer Sister Lucia that might now strike a special note with us, in light of the ongoing disorderly and revolutionary conditions in the U.S… Sister Lucia of Fatima was one of three children who witnessed apparitions of the Blessed Mother in 1917 in Fatima, and she continued to receive messages from heaven for years afterward.

By JD Flynn, CNA – The White House said Sunday that Washington’s archbishop was invited to attend an event with President Donald Trump several days before it took place, amid media reports that the archbishop did not learn of the event until the night before it took place… White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere told CNA June 7 that “Archbishop Gregory received an invitation to the President’s event at the St. John Paul II Shrine the week prior to the President’s visit. He declined due to other commitments.”… Correspondence between Archbishop Wilton Gregory’s office and the White House indicates the same.

By Most Rev. Joseph Strickland – I write on June 1, 2020, the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church. A relatively new addition to the Liturgical Calendar, but a very ancient title attributed to our Lady. On February 11, 2018, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued a decree, at the request of Pope Francis, to inscribe this memorial in the General Roman Calendar on the Monday following Pentecost. It is to take precedence over any other memorials.

By John Horvat II, LifeSiteNews – What Catholics Need to Hear… This message engaging in petty politics is not the one Catholics and Americans need at this time. The key issues that need to be addressed go far beyond whether one likes the President or not… Indeed, it is “baffling” that Catholics hear only this posturing when they crave spiritual leadership and direction. The vague progressive platitudes invoking social justice and human dignity do nothing to stop the violence and everything to provide it cover.

By Eduardo J. Echeverria, The Catholic Thing – The Second Vatican Council was gripped by St. Paul’s vision of cosmic redemption in Christ. (Col 1: 9-23) In this light, the Council affirmed, “The good news of Christ continually renews the life and culture of fallen man . . . as it were from within; it fortifies, completes and restores [it] in Christ.” (§28) This view “gives Christ, the Redeemer of man, center of the universe and of history, the scope of completely renewing the lives of men ‘by opening the vast fields of culture to His saving power’.” (§58)

By Fr. Ed Broom, Catholic Exchange, OMV – How much time and energy is exerted in obtaining a degree from some prestigious University? How much blood, sweat and tears are expended to win a trophy from some sporting event? What amount of time and energy can even be consumed in preparing for a surprise birthday party?… If we can expend so much time, money, emotional and physical energy for such natural pursuits, should we not at least expend more of our time and energy in what is the greatest of all arts, “The art of all arts” and that is learning the Practice of Prayer?

By Chad Groening, Billy Davis, OneNewsNow – Americans are witnessing an “insurrection” against President Donald Trump, not protests demanding justice, and it will only help the President on Election Day, predicts a conservative author-journalist… “I think Donald Trump is going to be more popular than ever,” Jerome Corsi tells OneNewsNow… Some current headlines disagree, however, including an Axios campaign story describing “brutal” poll numbers that suggest Trump has lost independent voters.

By Melanie Arter,CNSNews – HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that he hopes the recent protests are the beginning of Black Lives Matters protesters “being concerned about the many young black men who will be killed in the streets of Chicago this weekend.”… As far as the protests are concerned, I’m very proud of the people who engage in peaceful protest. That’s one of the pillars, one of the foundations of our nation, and we should always protect that. …

By William Kilpatrick, Crisis Magazine – “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.”… So wrote Vladimir Lenin. The Communist Revolution which he engineered did seem to pack many decades of change into a relatively short time. The old tsarist order was quickly overthrown, and, almost overnight, Russia was transformed from a Christian country to an officially atheist state.

By Mat Staver, LifeNews – Current efforts to push immunization passports began in 2018, well before COVID-19. This is important to recognize that this is not a temporary situation or a knee-jerk reaction that will fade away… We are fighting a well-planned, well-funded new level of surveillance. It was conceived by Bill Gates before this disease happened and if radicals get their way, it will continue permanently—or until we rise up to fight it… A roadmap, updated in March of 2019, gives a chilling 5-year plan that we are exactly halfway through. It advocates the following restrictions for travel in Europe…

By Dennis Prager, Townhall – It takes a lot to build a civilization, and though it is much easier to destroy a civilization, it takes a lot to do that, too… But now we have four roots of evil that are guaranteed to do so… No. 1: Victimhood… The first is victimhood. The more people who regard themselves as victims — as individuals or as a group — the more likely they are to commit evil. People who think of themselves as victims feel that, having been victimized, they are no longer bound by normal moral conventions — especially the moral conventions of their alleged or real oppressors… Everyone knows this is true.

By Micaiah Bilger, LifeNews – An overwhelming majority of Americans believe the killing of George Floyd by police was horrific and unjust, and the officers who killed him should be prosecuted… Without question, it is something that most conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats, pro-life advocates and abortion activists agree on. And it should unite us… But the subsequent riots resulting in the deaths of even more innocent black Americans, the politics of Black Lives Matter and Democrat leaders championing the cause have many conservative pro-life advocates concerned that political gains – and not racism or the destruction of human life – are the real goal.

By Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, LifeSiteNews – There are faithful Shepherds who care for the flock of Christ, but there are also mercenary infidels who seek to scatter the flock and hand the sheep over to be devoured by ravenous wolves. It is not surprising that these mercenaries are allies of the children of darkness and hate the children of light: just as there is a deep state, there is also a deep church that betrays its duties and forswears its proper commitments before God. Thus the Invisible Enemy, whom good rulers fight against in public affairs, is also fought against by good shepherds in the ecclesiastical sphere. It is a spiritual battle….

By Dov Fischer, American Spectator – Racism is not “systemic” in America. It does not permeate the System. We Americans are a good people. We just are. People of every imaginable minority — except for Orthodox Jews who wear yarmulkas — now are so woven into the American fabric that America’s social cloth without them would like wool after a bunch of moths had lunch. Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Gays and Lesbians, and all — all such communities are quite prevalent throughout the media, the entertainment industry, academia, doctors and nurses in hospital settings, law firms. Name it. This country simply is not systemically racist. It is such a damned lie.

By Patriot Post, Media Editors – The myth of systemic racism.

By Allen West, CNSNews – It has been two weeks since my motorcycle crash on I-35, at the speed of 75 mph. I just cannot reiterate my sincere and humble gratitude for the outpouring of prayers… As you are reading this missive, I am undergoing surgery on my right shoulder socket to repair the fracture. It is a bit of a struggle to sit and prepare the missive, and I am experiencing neck pain. However, God’s grace has enabled me to survive and even get back into my running routine, back to four miles.

By Msgr. Charles Pope – Last week on the blog we discussed the rise of vocal, extreme secularism, as exemplified by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (here). Extreme secularism is not merely a worldly attitude devoid of God, it is a position that actively denies that faith, prayer, and/or religious expression play a role worthy of recognition. Militant secularists go further, seeking to remove any religious practice or mention of God from the public square.

By Charlie Butts, OneNewsNow – The Pro-Life Action League says there is a solution for the pro-life counselors who are reluctant to man the sidewalks outside abortion clinics out of concern of being arrested… The concern is not unfounded, as, for example, eight pro-life prayer warriors were arrested outside an abortion clinic in early April in Charlotte, North Carolina, even though they were following the law. But Eric Scheidler of the Pro-Life Action League does not think that should deter pro-lifers from doing what they can to save babies from abortion.

By Ken Blackwell, The Stream – As an African American who has held elected office at the state and local level, and served as the US Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Commission, I believe a full and frank discussion on issues of race and injustice is important… I also know too well that many places are far more dangerous for me as a black Christian man than the United States… The religious freedom executive order signed (by Pres. Trump) Tuesday addressed this reality: about a million Christians (mostly people of color) were killed for their faith in the past decade.

By Dorothy Cummings McLean, LifeSiteNews – The former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington from 2000 until his retirement in 2006, was revealed in 2018 to have been a serial sexual predator… After revelations that McCarrick had been notorious within clerical circles for his misconduct for decades, American Catholics were promised a full investigation into his case. Of special concern is why McCarrick became both the Archbishop of Washington, a position that carries significant political influence, and a cardinal despite his reputation.

By Russell Shaw, The Catholic Thing – My immediate practical suggestion, therefore, is that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) create a blue-ribbon commission to study the impact of the lockdown on the Church in America and make recommendations for the future. Among the things to be examined are these: How did being cut off from most usual exercises of priestly ministry affect priests’ attitudes toward their priesthood?… How did being without the Eucharist and other sacraments for so long impact the laity?…

By John Grondelski, EWTN News – Abortion and Social Justice was the title of a book edited almost 50 years ago… the editors wanted to situate discussion of abortion not as part of sexual ethics or even bioethics but as a social justice question. Nine years ago, ex-priest Thomas Williams returned to the same question, writing about “Abortion as a Social Justice Issue” and detailing the baneful consequences flowing from the fact that “de facto abortion is excluded presently from the realm of Catholic social teaching.”

By Michael Voris, S.T.B., Church Militant – D.C. insiders tell Church Militant that Gregory is trying to pull a ‘fast one.’… In addition to an obvious violation of civil rights (an employer cannot order employees to particpate in a political protest), the “rally” is also timed to coincide with another protest where leaders will be boisterously demanding that Trump be deposed. D.C. insiders tell Church Militant that Gregory is trying to pull a “fast one” and “mingle D.C. clergy into that other rally” to make it appear that his clergy also want Trump deposed.

By Bishop Strickland, The Wanderer – Religious freedom is called the first freedom in the American polity for good reason. It ensures that the leavening role of revealed truth helps us to form our conscience and shape the choices we make as individuals, families and, as a society.
The American founders fled coercive approaches to religion which compelled adherence to a particular sect. An incorrect interpretation of the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights has arisen in our day which promotes a notion of a Church/State separation that is hostile to religious institutions….

By Michael Brown, The Stream – Drew Brees, longtime quarterback of the New Orleans Saints and one of the most popular players in the NFL. And, to my knowledge, a man never before accused of being racist… all hell broke loose against him when he said that he “will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country.”… He was referring to the practice of some NFL players to kneel down during the national anthem as a sign of protest, and he was expressing his disagreement with it.

By William Mahoney, Ph.D., Church Militant – The pope has congratulated an American bishop for showing solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement (BLM) while a Vatican official has compared racism to the Wuhan virus… Pope Francis called Bp. Mark Seitz of El Paso on Wednesday to congratulate the Texas prelate for leading a public prayer demonstration in solidarity with BLM. Meanwhile, prefect of the Pontifical Council for the Family (PCF) Abp. Vincenzo Paglia compared the Wuhan virus to racism… carrying a sign reading “Black Lives Matter,” Seitz said, “I expressed to the Holy Father that I felt it was imperative to show our solidarity to those who are suffering.”

By Jason Jones, The Stream – It seems like a bad time to tell you about may latest film project. But in fact Divided Hearts of America couldn’t come at a more fitting moment. Its goal is to unearth the founding truths on which our country is built. And to challenge the dehumanizing lies that pit black against white, rich against poor, and mothers against their babies… As walking wounded, we’re vulnerable to passions of the moment. To mindless tribal divisions. But most of all to pseudo-intellectual actions plans, or ideologies. The kind of gibberish you hear online from Antifa, or white nationalists.

By Martin Bürger, LifeSiteNews – Left-wing billionaire George Soros has indicated that the coronavirus pandemic paves the way for societal changes previously thought impossible, calling it “the crisis of my lifetime.” Soros had lived through the Second World War as a youth… “Even before the pandemic hit, I realized that we were in a revolutionary moment where what would be impossible or even inconceivable in normal times had become not only possible, but probably absolutely necessary,” he said during an interview on May 11.

By Micaiah Bilger, LifeNews – Church Militant reports pro-life advocates Bevelyn Beatty and Edmee Chavannes were arrested May 30 on the sidewalk outside the Margaret Sanger Planned Parenthood Center in Manhattan… The women were arrested after allegedly violating city social distancing guidelines because of the coronavirus. Beatty and Chavannes said they were social distancing… “Let me tell you something, Christians get it the worst,” Beatty said of their pro-life outreach. “I have not been so harassed by the police until I started doing this! Christians get it the worst!”

By Msgr. Charles Pope, EWTN News – I write this with deep respect for Archbishop Gregory and I admire the work he is doing to reunite our archdiocese, which has been so rocked by the scandal. But I appeal to all bishops to hear the cry of your faithful who long for just this sort of clarity and strong denunciation when it comes to less “safe” issues such as abortion, same-sex attraction, transgenderism and the like. Your faithful want and need your strength.

By Brian Burch, RealClearPolitics – There is no better place for Americans to be right now than in church, kneeling in prayer and imploring God to heal our land. President Trump and first lady Melania Trump, during a trip to Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., spent part of Tuesday doing exactly that… Sadly, the presidential visit to the shrine was denounced by those who should have welcomed it most. And while there is no good time for partisan vilification by religious leaders, it is particularly devastating now when tensions are high, and grief is great.

By David Nussman, Church Militant – The archbishop of D.C. is angry at President Trump for visiting a Catholic shrine… The president and the first lady went to St. John Paul II National Shrine on Tuesday — the same day Trump signed an executive order on religious freedom… But Washington, D.C. archbishop Wilton Gregory was not pleased with the president’s public visit, saying in a statement, “I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated.”

By Perry West, CNA – With disturbing and frightening news dominating the headlines in recent weeks, a psychologist and a priest suggested that Catholics take care to guard their psychological and spiritual health… Above all, the priest said, the current time is one for conversion, and a recognition that we as a society cannot separate ourselves from God and build a perfect utopia… “We pray for peace and for the end of hatred, but, as I mentioned before, the most important thing is rejecting the godlessness of our own self-reliance and learning to depend more on Jesus alone as the salvation of man,” he said.

By Jim Denison, The Stream – Since January, Americans have been dealing with four seismic events that echo some of the gravest crises in our history. From impeachment (1974), to a global pandemic (1918), to an economic crisis (1929, 2008), to a racial crisis (1968, 1992), we are facing systemic challenges that are embroiling our nation.

By Jonathan Abbamonte, The Population Research Institute – The race is on to find a vaccine for COVID-19. The good news is that many of the world’s largest vaccine companies are developing promising vaccine candidates using ethically-derived cells. The bad news is that  many of the leading vaccine candidates for the 2019 novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV2) are being developed using fetal cell lines that were originally derived from the tissues of aborted babies in the 1970s and 80s.

By David Warren, The Catholic Thing – As I write, the violence levels in American domestic rioting have fallen; and the official death rates from the Batflu are also declining. But I am writing dangerously, some hours before this column will appear… Who knows what the media will be shrieking by publication time? There could be spikes to report in either “index.” Dow Jones might be shooting himself down. Some other catastrophe may have been announced.

By Jake Dima, LifeNews – Retired St. Louis Police Department Captain David Dorn was killed early Tuesday morning outside of a local pawn shop he was reportedly defending from suspected looters, more than 40 years after his time at the police academy, and 13 years after his retirement from the police department… Dorn, 77, died at 2:30 a.m. in the middle of a street after being shot in the torso by suspected rioters, according to the police incident report… “The fact that he was protecting and serving, this is the way, I feel in my heart of hearts, that he would have liked to leave this earth,” Dorn’s son, Brian Powell, told KMOV4.

By Scott L. Buchanan, Public Discourse – That the nuclear or “traditional” family has rapidly unraveled in most of the Western world is hardly news. The ongoing demise of this particular type of kinship—composed of faithfully married men and women, along with the children they produce—is now so common that the persistence of intact family life often elicits surprise.

By Dorothy Cummings McLean – The Catholic Diocese of Madison has warned civil authorities that it is prepared to take them to court… The May 22 order, which represents the city’s and county’s reopening plan, allows several public establishments to operate at 25% capacity. The 50-person cap imposed on places of worship does not apply to shopping malls, bars, restaurants, spas, gyms, salons, museums, movie theaters, community centers, bowling alleys, skating rinks, trampoline parks, and many other public venues.

By Armstrong Williams, The Daily Signal – Our societal problems are being exponentially magnified by the decline in the quality of personnel who advance to commanding, decision-making roles in police departments and mayoral offices. This impotence and incompetence is also on full display among the elected officials serving in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

By Melanie Arter, CNSNews – Attorney General Bill Barr announced Thursday that the Justice Department has evidence that Antifa and similar extremist groups instigated violent activity… “While many have peacefully expressed their anger and grief, others have hijacked protests to engage in lawlessness – violent rioting, arson, looting of businesses, and public property, assaults on law enforcement officers and innocent people, and even the murder of a federal agent. Such senseless acts of anarchy are not exercises of First Amendment rights”

By Philip Kosloski, Aleteia – The devil loves chaos. Ever since his fall from Heaven Satan seeks to divide the world. His first action was to divide the angels, which was followed-up by tempting Adam and Eve in the garden, driving a wedge between the first humans and God. The division is the devil’s playground and it shouldn’t be surprising. The word “devil,” comes from the Greek word diabolos, which can be translated as, “to divide,” “to separate,” or more literally, “to throw against.”

By Patti Armstrong, National Catholic Register – Ultimately, civil authorities will not solve our spiritual problems. We should pray and fast for them and for strong leadership in our Church, but we can also create a fortress of spiritual protection by putting ourselves under the sovereignty of the Sacred Heart of Jesus… Jesus revealed the extent of his burning love for us through visions to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a nun in Paray-le-Monial, France, during the 17th century.

Posted by Complicit Clergy – On Pentecost Sunday morning, as report after report of rioting and looting flashed across the TV from a night of bedlam, the absence of God, the absence of the Church or any of its prelates was conspicuous. Where were the TV Evangelicals weighing in on how looting and burning people out of their homes and businesses is evil? Where were any Roman Catholic bishops preaching about how the wanton destruction and theft of peoples’ property are sinful?

By Joseph Pearce, EWTN News – Is civilization worth defending? Should we aim to conform to it so that we can be considered civilized? Should we aim to bring our children up according to its norms so that they can also be considered civilized? Should we try to make our country and our world as civilized a possible? The chances are that most people will answer in the affirmative to all of these questions. Most people, even in the dark ages in which we live, consider being civilized a good thing.

Children of God for Life – Children of God for Life announced the news that pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Pasteur has discontinued the production of their Poliovax vaccine that is produced using aborted fetal cell lines, MRC-5… In addition, Sanofi also switched the manufacturing of their Pentacel and Quadracel polio combination vaccines from using MRC-5 to the moral Vero (monkey) cells and will continue production of their separate polio vaccine, IPOL which also uses Vero cells. This means that for the first time in decades, Sanofi Pasteur will no longer have an aborted fetal version of polio vaccine.

By John Zmirak, The Stream – Pope Francis has tried to change historic Church teachings on marriage and capital punishment. In each case he’s used a fig leaf of ambiguity and “development” to hide stark contradictions. He has punished and even closed faithful religious orders. A whistleblower archbishop, Carlo Maria Viganò, who exposed Francis’ knowledge of the sex predations of Theodore McCarrick (former cardinal of Washington) now lives in hiding, for fear of his life.

By Msgr. Charles Pope – In ancient Greek mythology the dog Cerberus guarded the entrance to Hades (the misty and gloomy underworld, the abode of the dead), permitting anyone to enter but none to leave. Cerberus  is usually depicted as a three headed dog and some have tried to link this to his seeing the past, present and future. Cerberus’ name comes to us in a Latinized version from the Greek, where he was called Κέρβερος (Kerberos).

By Michael Warren Davis, Crisis Magazine – Should Catholics be excommunicated for holding views on race which are found to be insufficiently woke? The Jesuits seem to think so… In a June 1 editorial, America magazine urged Catholics to “hunger for [social] justice like we do the Eucharist,” and that includes seeking “repentance and reconciliation” for the crimes of the white race. All whites are automatically culpable of those crimes by the fact that our skin contains less melanin.

By Michael W. Chapman, CNSNews – Unlike his predecessor Barack Obama, President Donald Trump has not officially recognized June as “LGBT Pride Month” by issuing a proclamation about it. Trump did not do this during the first three years of his administration and did not do so this year… However, Trump did issue proclamations declaring June as National Homeownership Month, as well as National Ocean Month, and Great Outdoors Month. He also proclaimed June as African-American Music Appreciation Month and as National Caribbean-American Heritage Month.

Complicit Clergy – Fr. James Altman of La Crosse, Wisconsin preaches about the riots sweeping the nation and comments on Archbishop Wilton Gregory’s chastisement of President Trump for visiting the John Paul II shrine. We encourage Catholics to contact Archbishop Gregory to respectfully let him know how you feel about his comments

By Micaiah Bilger, LifeNews – The Trump administration continued to stand up for the rights of unborn babies this week when it rejected a United Nations aid plan that promotes abortions… According to the pro-life organization C-Fam, which lobbies at the United Nations, the U.S. representatives to the UN refused to approve the UN agreement on global humanitarian assistance for the coronavirus and other emergencies because of the pro-abortion agenda within the plan.

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – “I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles,” said Archbishop Wilton Gregory after President Donald Trump visited the St. John Paul II Shrine in Washington… Do you want to know what I find baffling and reprehensible, Archbishop Gregory?

By John Zmirak, The Stream – Angry, larcenous mobs organized by radical terrorist groups roam America’s blue cities at will. The same mayors like Bill de Blasio who threatened to seize church and synagogue property six weeks ago, if they violated “social distancing”? Now they won’t use the police to protect the livelihoods and job sites of millions of their citizens. Media that slant every action of President Trump and his allies by reaching for comparisons with Hitler, now spin the march of hooded violent anarchists as “mostly peaceful demonstrations.”

By Pete Baklinski, LifeSiteNews – Former U.S. Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has strongly criticized Washington Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory as a “false shepherd” for rebuking the John Paul II National Shrine for “allowing” President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump to go through with a long-planned visit yesterday… “Unfortunately, the Catholic Church is led by many false pastors,” stated Viganò in a June 3 letter to priests and laity of the Archdiocese of Washington (read full letter below).

By Catholic News Agency – Amid burgeoning conflict regarding the president’s response to riots across the country, President Donald Trump visited the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday morning… While a shrine spokesman said the visit was initially planned as the signing of an international religious freedom executive order and had been scheduled some time ago, Washington’s archbishop (Wilton Gregory) called Trump’s visit to the shrine “reprehensible.”… The president’s visit now comes shortly before he will sign an executive order “to advance international religious freedom.”

By Lianne Laurence, LifeSiteNews – Hell is “not closed or empty,” and Our Lady’s plea at Fatima for prayers and sacrifice to save souls from eternal damnation remains “urgent and for today,” Fr. Serafino Lanzetta told the Rome Life Forum… A parish priest of St. Mary’s, Gosport, in the diocese of Portsmouth, U.K., where he is a member of a Marian Franciscan community, Fr. Lanzetta gave an address on “co-redemption and Marian consecration in the light of the Fatima message for our times,” for the 7th annual Rome Life Forum.

By Chad Groening, Steve Jordahl, OneNewsNow – Marie Fischer, a member of the Project 21 Black Leadership Network, says it has been like a perfect storm… “We’ve never had it on this level,” she tells OneNewsNow… “The most frightening aspect of this to me … seems to be the complacency of leadership that’s allowing the violence to continue to spiral,” he describes. “It’s shocking to me. The few number of arrests that have taken place during all of this looting and rioting and shooting and killing is stunningly small.

By Fr. John Zuhlsdorf – The following prayer was composed by John Carroll, Archbishop of Baltimore, in 1791. He was the first bishop appointed for the United States in 1789 by Pope Pius VI. He was made the first archbishop when his see of Baltimore was elevated to the status of an archdiocese. John was a cousin of Charles Carroll of Maryland, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – Dr. Feiermann did not elaborate, but it’s interesting to think about what it means that homosexual activity by priests, if it involved only other adults, was “not an issue.” The psychiatrist didn’t mean that it was “not an issue” for him, because he notes that nobody was “sent to the program for that issue.” And who was sending them? Their bishops. The implication is that these bishops saw homosexual activity by priests with other adults as “not an issue.”

By Emily Finley, Crisis Magazine – It was not the head of the Catholic Church who finally condemned the tyrannical decrees of various state governors that churches are to be “nonessential,” while marijuana dispensaries, liquor stores, and abortuaries can remain open. It was President Donald Trump. He said that he is “correcting this injustice and calling houses of worship essential.”… In earlier times, the Church willingly submitting to state decrees in gross violation of its freedom to practice the faith would have been a scandal of epic proportions. …

By Brian Burch, Catholic Vote – CatholicVote President Brian Burch released the following statement in response to the visit by the President and First Lady to the St. John Paul II Shrine in Washington, D.C… “The fact that the President of the United States chose the shrine of Saint John Paul II to announce a new Executive Order protecting religious minorities should have been celebrated by all those who love the Church, religious freedom, and the courageous example of St. John Paul II. It is regrettable that the Archbishop of Washington chose this occasion to engage in a partisan attack on the President, especially when the country is in desperate need of healing and unity.

By Francis X. Maier, The Catholic Thing – Within the lifespan of the boomer generation, there was a time when most Americans believed they had a stake in ownership of the nation. Most knew the basic ideas of the Founding. Most had a shared sense of national history… Yet despite their differences, most Americans even then felt that they shared and had some say in the course of the country. Many still believe that. As the years go by, though, their act of faith seems to have less and less grounding in fact. We were a republic. We’re now, at least in substance, an empire.

By Alliance Defending Freedom – President Donald Trump issued an executive order Tuesday that prioritizes international religious freedom concerns for United States foreign policy. Specifically, it requires the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development to create long-term strategic plans for advancing religious freedom internationally, provides $50 million per year for religious freedom programs, and requires U.S. foreign service members to receive extensive training on religious freedom.

By Dr. Miake Hickson, LifeSiteNews – Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, in an interview with LifeSiteNews (read full interview below), explains the history of the apparitions of Our Lady in Civitavecchia, Italy which took place 25 years ago. During these miraculous events, Our Lady referred bac

By Fr. Paul John Kalchik, Church Militant – On Pentecost Sunday morning, as report after report of rioting and looting flashed across the TV from a night of bedlam, the absence of God, the absence of the Church or any of its prelates was conspicuous. Where were the TV Evangelicals weighing in on how looting and burning people out of their homes and businesses is evil? Where were any Roman Catholic bishops preaching about how the wanton destruction and theft of peoples’ property are sinful? 

By Most Rev. Joseph Strickland, The Wanderer – I was once a baby. If someone had killed that baby, he would have killed me. I would not be writing this. In fact, I was once an embryo and then a child in the womb and had someone killed me at that stage of my life, he would have killed me… That’s the point the director of The Anscombe Bioethics Centre in Oxford, England, made in a 2016 paper on the ethics of embryo research. David Albert Jones asked: “What then is the significance of destroying a human embryo?” He answered with a clarity all too often missing: “It is destroying a human being at the first stage of his or her life.”

By Susan Jones, CNSNews – Fox News’s Laura Ingraham lives in Washington, D.C., and on Sunday night, she said she witnessed some of the rioting, including the arson at the historic St. John’s church… “I felt like I was back in Iraq in 2006, in February, except I actually felt a lot safer on the streets of Baghdad than I did at times in D.C. last night,” Ingraham told her audience Monday night.

Fr. Mike Schmitz, Ascension Presents – Throughout the Gospel of the John, Jesus says, “Remain in me” or “abide in me,” which—in simplified terms—means whatever you do, invite Jesus along. Ask him to “come with.” This is a way to grow in your relationship with him, but it’s also a smart thing to do because, after all, Jesus said: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

Fr. Mark Goring, Companions of the Cross, June 2, 2020 – Do I Believe in EVOLUTION?

By David Mills, a senior editor, The Stream – On Friday, the Supreme Court refused to overrule California’s limits on religious services. Like other gatherings of their sort, they could fill at most 25% of their occupancy limit… As the Alliance Defending Freedom noted, the decision was “procedural in nature, narrow in scope. The court simply chose not to grant temporary relief on an emergency motion.” That’s true, but not exactly the point. All the justices, pro and con, believe the law must treat churches fairly. That’s the problem.

By William Mahoney, Ph.D., Church Militant – A recent survey of nearly 2,000 young Catholics in 39 states shows the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) is being attended more frequently by 18- to 39-year-olds… The online poll by Bridgeport, Connecticut priest Fr. Donald Kloster asked young people who attend the TLM their thoughts… Dispelling a popular notion that love of the Tridentine Mass is merely nostalgia on the part of an older generation, 90% of the young respondents say they were not raised in the traditional rite from at least the age of 7.

By Melanie Arter, CNSNews – The cities that saw violent protests over the death of George Floyd were run by progressives, because progressives “don’t know how to police,” former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani told Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” on Saturday… “Cities run — I’m sorry to get political – cities run by progressive, they don’t know how to police, I’m sorry, 30 cities went up last night. I looked at every one of them Every one of them has progressive Democratic mayor,” Giuliani said.

By Martin Bürger, LifeSiteNews – Now, “we hear the same expressions slavishly repeated in the civil sphere, through which the attempt is made to indoctrinate the masses that ‘nothing will be as it was before.’”… Thus, according to the former Apostolic Nuncio, “Modernism and Covid-19 are part of the same brand.” For people having “their gaze towards the transcendent it is not difficult to understand that the greatest fear of those who want us to believe that the race towards the abyss is both unavoidable and unstoppable is that we will not believe them, ignore them, and unmask their conspiracy.”

By Msgr. Charles Pope – In the first reading for the Memorial of Mary Mother of the Church (from Genesis) the Lord asks two important questions that speak to the core of many of our problems. Let’s look at each question in turn… I. “Adam, where are you?” – God’s first question has almost the quality of a plaintive cry. Because Adam is the head of his household, when God calls Adam He is also seeking Eve… Of course, God knows where Adam and Eve are. He is really saying, “Adam, Eve: your heart has been hidden from me. What has happened? …”

By Hadley Arkes, The Catholic Thing – The Court has been the main engine in reshaping what passes as our “culture,” as it gradually swept away the legal and the moral restraints on pornography and abortion, and set in train an understanding of “sex” that would be more and more “liberated” from a framework of marital commitment.  And now that project of sexual liberation would be given its radical further step this year as the Court faced the issue of transgenderism.

By Marie Smith, LifeNews – During the recent virtual meeting of the World Health Assembly-the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO)-the US submitted its written Explanation of Position (EOP) on the COVID-19 Response Resolution, disassociating itself from a number of paragraphs, including two related to “sexual and reproductive health”… The US statement expressed regret at the failure to achieve consensus language in all areas of the resolution and explained….

By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky, Catholic Culture – An ideology is an idea or system, devised by man and imposed on society by elites, if and when those elites have the power to do so. Communism, socialism, capitalism, libertarianism, tribalism, nationalism, racism, and even multiculturalism are habits of the mind. Of course there are many more ideologies, often variations on the same themes… Ideologies may reflect some degree of reality, but always fall short of the whole.

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – All this week, CWN carried headlines about tight government restrictions on Catholic churches—restrictions that raised serious questions about religious freedom. So on Friday, when the US Conference of Catholic Bishops sent out a notice about the annual observance of Religious Freedom Week, which will be held June 22-29, it seemed a very timely announcement… No such luck. The USCCB offers a generous packet of material, including themes for each day of the week and background materials on adoption, health-care policy, migration, and the plight of religious minorities in Asia and Africa.

By Charles Coulombe, Crisis Magazine – Call the generation of which I am an exceedingly junior member either “the Baby Boomers” or the “Generation of ’68” and you evoke two similar but distinct images. The first makes one think of self-indulgent hippies-turned-self-indulgent old people; the second, revolutionaries-become-establishment. While neither is completely accurate, neither is entirely false.

By Dwight Longenecker, The Stream – I’m the pastor of a church in a part of town that is challenged socio economically. The folks who live around our campus do not have the advantages with which I have been blessed. Homes and hearts and lives are broken. Many struggle with low income and high unemployment. There is a sub-culture of crime, low aspirations and high addiction. Prostitution and human trafficking simmer in the run down hotels around our church. The homeless wander in we wonder what we can do about it.

By Bevil Bramwell, OMI, The Catholic Thing – Today we celebrate the moment when the Holy Spirit became the soul of the Church. This is, to say the least, significant because it puts Catholics squarely in the middle of a great spiritual battle. Jesus told us: “in this world you will have trouble.” (John 16:33) The current pandemic, for instance, is just one among many of the works of “the prince of this world.” And if we are not going to allow the Devil to dictate what our lives in this world are going to be, we cannot let ourselves obsess over worldly evils.

By Micaiah Bilger, LifeNews – Based on Worldometer abortion statistics, there were an average 3,484,800 abortions per month in the world so far in 2020. That means that between March and May, the time of the coronavirus shutdowns, approximately 10.5 million unborn babies were aborted… The number of abortions in the U.S. during that same time period was approximately 215,600, an estimate based on the latest abortion statistics from the Guttmacher Institute.

By Jason Gale, Catholic Exchange – First, let us look at the idea that we must get them to love Jesus before we teach them systematically. This idea can be challenged with the simple principle that you cannot love (or love rightly) what you do not know. The idea that we can simply influence the person’s will to love without addressing the intellect is theological backward… To understand this principle, we can look at the Trinity.

By Susan Jones, CNSNews – “The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization,” President Trump tweeted on Sunday… National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien told ABC’s “This Week”… that Antifa (far left anti-fascists) are to blame for the eruption of violence in American cities… It’s the violent Antifa radical militants that are coming out, under cover of night, traveling across state lines, using military-style tactics to burn down our cities. And they’re especially targeting the most venerable parts of our cities, George. The minority section, the African-American sections and Hispanic areas and burning down businesses of people that are trying to get a leg up…

By Trey Brock, Church Militant – Studies consistently show that parents choose homeschooling due to the overall environment of other schools, the quality of academic instruction and the lack of moral instruction… When looking at test scores, homeschooled children consistently outperform the general population of students… Looking at the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or the SAT, homeschoolers score about 72 points higher than the national average… Homeschoolers are still achieving well beyond their public school counterparts… Turning to the American College Test, or the ACT, the national average is 21 out of 36, whereas homeschoolers are just under 23 out of 36.

By Msgr. Charles Pope – What a wondrous and challenging feast we celebrate at Pentecost! A feast like this challenges us because it puts to the lie a lazy, sleepy, hidden, and tepid Christian life. The Lord Jesus said to the apostles, I have come to cast a fire on the earth (Luke 12:49). This is a feast about fire, a transformative, refining, purifying fire that the Lord wants to kindle in us. It is a necessary fire, for as the Lord first judged the world by fire, the present heavens and the earth are reserved for fire. Because it is going to be the fire next time, we need the tongues of Pentecost fire to fall on us to set us on fire and bring us up to the temperature of glory.

Protestant leaders are outshining Catholics — and especially the bishops — in the fight for religious freedom… As fear of the Wuhan virus quickly closed Catholic dioceses across the nation, Catholic bishops complied… Heavy-handed Democratic governors were more severe with restrictions than Republican governors… a very rare display — one Catholic pastor from the diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin took the bishops to task for their negligence… Catholic priest: “Turn in your crozier, bishop. You’re not worthy of it.”

By Charlie Spiering, Breitbart – Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the four liberal justices to side with California’s legal argument that they had the right to shut down or limit religious services… Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch, and Brett M. Kavanaugh voted against… In his dissent, Kavanaugh argued that “comparable secular businesses” such as supermarkets, stores, hair salons, and marijuana dispensaries were not subject to the same restrictions as churches.

By Beth Baumann, Townhall – Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms had a passionate plea for those in her city late Friday evening: go home and stop causing destruction in the name of George Floyd. The Democratic mayor explained that she is the mother of four black sons and continually worries about their safety, but rioting won’t change things.

By Fr. Mike Schmitz, Ascension Presents – When someone says something hurtful to you, it is wise to give them the benefit of the doubt. What does that mean? It means ask yourself, “Do I firmly believe that this is a person of good will?” If so, is there anything that can help you better understand their behavior?… Give them the benefit of the doubt that they are just tired, or “hangry”, or having a bad day for some reason. Especially in marital relationships, think of how many times your spouse has said hurtful things to you, while you knew that they still loved you.

By Shane Kapler, Catholic Exchange – Pentecost is often spoken of as the “birth” of the Church. It is an apt metaphor: The Church, which you could say had been growing in utero in the persons of Mary, the Twelve, and the small community of disciples, now emerges into the world. And when she does, we can already glimpse all of the distinguishing features by which she will be known as an adult.

By J.M. Phelps, OneNewsNow – OneNewsNow spoke to a former head of the Special Operations Division (SOD) of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) about the global drug trade, which uses precursor chemicals in illegally manufacturing narcotics and psychoactive substances. According to Derek Maltz, China’s participation in the global drug crisis an “underreported story” and that “it’s been going on for years and the average person doesn’t even realize it.”

By Mica Soellner, Washington Examiner – …a new finding shows the county medical examiner concluded the death of George Floyd was not a result of asphyxia or strangulation… An autopsy of Floyd was conducted Tuesday following his death on Monday after Chauvin restrained him for nearly nine minutes by pressing his knee on Floyd’s neck… The full report… is pending but so far has found “no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.”… The report says the underlying health conditions, combined with Chauvin’s restraint and any possible intoxicants in Floyd’s system, likely contributed to his death.

By Maike Hickson, LifeSiteNews – President Donald Trump announced today that the US will cut ties with the World Health Organization (WHO) which has been under heavy criticism for the way it handled the coronavirus as well as for it being strongly influenced by China… “China has total control over the World Health Organization despite only paying $40 million per year compared to what the United States has been paying, which is approximately $450 million a year,” Trump said.

By Mary Margarete Olohan, The Stream – The governor of Illinois has withdrawn restrictions on religious services amid the coronavirus pandemic following lawsuits from the Thomas More Society… The nonprofit law firm hailed Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Thursday announcement as a victory after the governor said he would remove mandates on Illinois churches requiring no more than 10 people to be present at services… The mandates will be replaced by recommendations from the Illinois Department of Health.a

By Solène Tadié, EWTN News – Indeed, countless people worldwide have shown their extraordinary capacity to reinvent themselves to adapt to the new challenges brought about by this unprecedented situation. And such a dynamic was particularly strong in the Catholic world, as the sense of dereliction caused by the suspension of public Masses made countless faithful rediscover the sense of spiritual communion and total abandonment to God.

By Franciscan Media – During the Hundred Years War, Joan led French troops against the English and recaptured the cities of Orléans and Troyes. This enabled Charles VII to be crowned as king in Reims in 1429. Captured near Compiegne the following year, Joan was sold to the English and placed on trial for heresy and witchcraft. Professors at the University of Paris supported Bishop Pierre Cauchon of Beauvis, the judge at her trial; Cardinal Henry Beaufort of Winchester, England, participated in the questioning of Joan in prison. In the end, she was condemned for wearing men’s clothes.

By Francis Lee, Crisis Magazine – What led you to choose your priestly vocation in the Institute and your personal devotion to the Traditional Latin Mass? … I came to know the Traditional Latin Mass when I was about thirteen years old. The Mass I attended was celebrated by priests in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. I was inspired by the sacred reverence of the Latin Mass and soon found myself serving at the altar, which I had done for several years at my former Novus Ordo parish. I was quickly drawn to the overall beauty of this ancient form of worship and, as a language enthusiast, was interested in learning Latin.

By Anthony Murdoch, LifeSiteNews – A county in Wisconsin has banned “Religious Entities” from having over 50 people inside due to the coronavirus, despite allowing for a 25 percent capacity maximum in restaurants, bars, and malls… Father Richard Heilman, the pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Pine Bluff, Wisconsin located in Dane County, called this “discrimination” and organized a rosary rally at the Wisconsin State Capitol this afternoon. Heilman told LifeSiteNews that he has been doing rosary walks on the Wisconsin State Capitol almost daily since May 1.

By Martin Bürger, LifeSiteNews – Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of President Donald Trump’s top coronavirus advisors, has called on the Church not to distribute Holy Communion during the coronavirus pandemic, but last month said sex with strangers is fine “if you’re willing to take a risk.”… Asked if the Eucharist can be distributed in a safe way, Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, responded with an emphatic “no.”… “I think for the time being, you just gotta forestall that,” Fauci told America Magazine during an interview on Tuesday.

By John Zmirak, The Stream – In a piece I wrote with Jason Jones a few weeks ago, we pointed up the looming threat of famine around the world, thanks to America’s open-ended, moving-goalposts lockdown. Millions who rely on U.S. food exports and aid will now go hungry. This amidst a historic plague of locusts that has spread from the Horn of Africa to India, devastating farmers… We asked if “Woke” liberals care about the fate of all those brown people. So far, none seem to. The fate of these millions of mostly non-white, non-Christian poor people means little to Nancy Pelosi, Gretchen Whitmer, and Andrew Cuomo. They want to continue the lockdown until … when, exactly? They never say. …

By Patrick J. Buchanan – Biden’s gaffe and Burchard’s slur have this in common: Both manifest a measure of condescension toward a large bloc of voters… Hillary Clinton did something similar in 2016… At a closed-door gathering of contributors, she volunteered, to their amusement, that half of all Trump’s voters belong in a “basket of deplorables” for being “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic.”… Their pathologies are part of their character, Clinton was saying. And while many were “irredeemable,” fortunately, they are “not America.”

By Stacy Trasancos, National Catholic Register – I think it has a lot to do with where we live in Texas. I was born in Texas and then lived two decades in various parts of the Northeast as an adult before moving back home a few years ago. There’s an attitude here I haven’t found in other parts of the country. East Texas people tend to use common sense and take care of themselves. They’re straight-talkers. The idea that we are subject to government dominance is foreign to us.

By Jonah McKeown, CNA – The new laws aim to criminalize anything Beijing considers “foreign interference,” secessionist activities, or subversion of state power, the Washington Post reports. The laws also could allow Chinese security forces to operate in the city… Cardinal Joseph Zen, Bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, told CNA that he worries that the new laws will be used to subvert the freedom of religion that Hong Kongers currently enjoy… Hong Kong has had broad protections for the freedom of worship and for evangelization, while in mainland China, there is a long history of persecution for Christians who run afoul of the government.

By Trey Blanton, Church Militant – As previously reported, the ACLU of Texas filed a lawsuit against seven of the twelve (and growing number of) sanctuary cities in late February of 2020. On behalf of their clients, the Texas Equal Access Fund and Lilith Fund for Reproductive Equity, the suit complained of constitutional violations to the First, Fourth, Fifth and 14th Amendments on the basis of abridging free speech, free association, content and viewpoint discrimination, violating Bills of Attainder, and the laws being vague.

By Steven Ertelt, LifeNews – President Donald Trump today signed an executive order holding social media giants like Facebook and Twitter accountable for censoring pro-life conservatives. The big tech companies have repeatedly subjected leading pro-life groups to substandard treatment, subjecting them to shadowbans, false factchecks, and prohibiting them from advertising to grow their audience.

By Msgr. Charles Pope – A few weeks ago we considered the words of Gaudentius of Brescia, who pondered the image of bread as a symbol for the Church (The Bread and the Wine and the Power of the Cross to Transform Them). Like individual grains of wheat, we are brought together by water (baptism), but flour and water are not truly bread until they are baked in fire (the Holy Spirit)… Last week in the Breviary, another Church Father, Didymus of Alexandria, combined the images of fire and water, comparing the Church to a vessel of clay…

By William Kilpatrick, Crisis Magazine – As it happens, I was in the middle of writing a piece—the article you are now reading—about Islam’s Trojan horse–like infiltration of Western society. Was the Corpus Christi incident a case of that? So far, we know that the shooter, Adam Alsahli, had expressed support for terrorists online, and that he was born in Syria and seems to have attended a university in Saudi Arabia. At some point he must have migrated to the U.S.  So, at the least, he seems to be guilty of migration infiltration ……

By Jennifer Hartline, The Stream – I had an unsettling experience this weekend when I attempted to go to Confession at a local church. I described it in a short Facebook post because I believe it is important that we realize what’s happening, or what likely will happen in parishes around the country… Briefly, here’s what happened. Waiting at the open church door was a masked woman holding a clipboard. She said hello and asked for my full name. I replied that I only wanted to go to Confession. She said that she was required to get my full name and contact information for tracing purposes.

By Claire Dwyer, Spiritual Direction – The visiting American priest bowed his head in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament at the Mother House of the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta. Suddenly, there was a gentle rustling at his side, and a sister pressed a note into his hand. He unfolded it to see Mother Teresa’s handwriting: Father, please pray for me – Where is Jesus?… Glancing at the tiny nun across the room, he met her intense gaze for the briefest of moments before she turned again to the Blessed Sacrament on the altar.

By Fr. Jean Pierre de Caussade, S.J., Catholic Education Resource Center – The soul who is not committed solely to the will of God will find neither its satisfaction nor sanctification in the various methods — not even in the most excellent devotional exercises.  If that which God Himself chooses for you does not satisfy you, from whom do you expect to receive what you desire?  If you turn from the food prepared for you by God’s own will, what food could satisfy a taste so depraved?

By Daniel Guernsey, Crisis Magazine – It’s been a strange and difficult semester for Catholic schools and colleges. Our institutions offer a unique social, spiritual, and intellectual formation that depends on personal presence, but students have been exiled from our classrooms, chapels, and athletic fields… For Catholic educators who have struggled to build on the strong relationships formed in the first three quarters of the school year, the serious limitations of distance education are obvious.

By Chris Woodward, Steve Jordahl, OneNewsNow – Responding to President Donald Trump’s support for churches to immediately reopen because they are “essential,” Gov. Gavin Newsom announced draconian rules that include no congregational singing and limiting building capacity to 25 percent or 100 people, whichever is less… “At the same time we have shopping malls opening up and down the state packed with people,” says Pacific Justice Institute attorney Brad Dacus, “the governor expects churches to be greatly limited on their ability to function.”

By Stephen Beale, Catholic Exchange – Pentecost, it is often said, is the birthday of the Church. So what can we learn about the Church from the account of Pentecost in Acts 2?… There is, of course, so much that is happening here—the wind from heaven, the reversal of Babel, the wonderful sermon of Peter and the response it elicits—but perhaps the most enduring image from this event remains those mysterious ‘tongues of fire’ that split off over the heads from the apostles. In seeking to learn from this event, perhaps this, its most enigmatic element is an irresistible place to start.

By Cheryl Sullenger, LifeNews – Sixteen unsealed excerpts of sworn video testimony from Planned Parenthood executives was released yesterday by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), which shows in their own words that Planned Parenthood was involved in obtaining “donations” of fetal tissue organs from women having abortions, only to illegally sell it to middle-man organ procurement companies for profit.

By Lianne Laurence, LifeSiteNews – “Distortions” of the sacraments that took place in churches during the coronavirus lockdown, and that are taking place as they open up again, could result in Catholics losing a sense of the sacred, says Cardinal Raymond Burke… “The sacred in the highest sense, in the sense that we see and we experience, the sacred is Christ Himself in our midst acting to sanctify us”… Through the sacraments, Christ acts “to forgive our sins, to fortify us with the gift of his Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist, to forgive our sins and strengthen us in serious illness,” Burke pointed out.

By Stephen P. White, The Catholic Thing – Aminor kerfuffle erupted earlier this month when Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York made the unforgivable mistake of saying complimentary things about the president of the United States. The occasion for this crime was a group phone call between several hundred Catholic leaders and educators, and members of the Trump administration, including the president… The purpose of that call was to highlight the financial plight of Catholic schools, which, like so many other institutions, face immense challenges in the wake of the pandemic and economic disruption.

By Msgr. Charles Pope – Back in April, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York excluded the possibility that God had anything to do with the dropping numbers of COVID-19 in New York State: During a press conference on April 13, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo contended that God has nothing to do with the notable decrease in COVID-19 cases across the state… “The number is down because we brought the number down,” he told reporters. “God did not do that. Faith did not do that. Destiny did not do that.”.. “A lot of pain and suffering did that,” Cuomo, a professing Catholic, continued. “That’s how it works. It’s math.”

By Jules Gomes, Church Militant – In a preliminary analysis of the declaration shown to Church Militant on condition of anonymity, the Arab-speaking converts say that Cdl. Müller’s reading is not based on the “Islamic theological implications of the Arabic text,” and this reflects his inability to see through the “deception” and fall for the “fake human rights rhetoric.” 

By Christine Rousselle, CNA – Howard County Executive Order #2020-09 outlines the conditions and regulations that must be met for non-essential businesses–which in Maryland includes churches and other houses of worship–to resume operations… “There shall be no consumption of food or beverage of any kind before, during, or after religious services, including food or beverage that would typically be consumed as part of a religious service,” the order says in a section delineating norms and restrictions on religious services.

By Dr. Maike Hickson, LifeSiteNews – Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has responded to a German Rabbi, Jehoschua Ahrens, who called the Viganò Appeal concerning the corona crisis and its dangers for constitutional liberties a “shock,” adding that he is glad that the German bishops have distanced themselves from it… The Italian prelate defended issuing the May 7 appeal, stating: “I think it is the duty of each one of us to express our concerns about a situation that, taking advantage of the Covid crisis, goes far beyond reasonable safety measures, imposing on entire nations the deprivation of constitutional freedoms.”

Father James Altman, Saint James the Less La Crosse Wisconsin, Tuesday Morning 8:00 AM Mass – WATCH

By Susan Klemond, National Catholic Register – Staying at home doesn’t have the same appeal as it did before this spring… As summer approaches and COVID-19 stay-at-home restrictions are gradually being lifted, I think many of us will be glad to go out for more than just groceries… St. Paul would understand those feelings. Toward the end of his ministry, he was required to spend two years under house arrest in Rome. To make matters worse, he was bound by a chain and assigned a guard during that time… Despite these limitations, St. Paul continued to preach to crowds that came to his home, helped to build up the Church in Rome and probably wrote four epistles.

By Star Parker, Patriot Post – President Donald Trump stepped up to declare houses of worship “essential places that provide essential services” to the American people… “The governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important, essential places of faith to open right now for this weekend,” he said… The president raised eyebrows by declaring that he will “override” governors if they don’t do it… The president takes an oath of office during which he swears to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”.. The First Amendment of our Constitution protects the right to “free exercise” of religion.

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – This morning, in an effort to shift my thoughts away from the epidemic and the lockdown, I thought I’d look back a few months, to remember what I was writing before this unhappy subject began to dominate our consciousness… my mind flashed back to an excellent column that I had read just a few minutes earlier, by my friend Michael Pakaluk. Unfortunately, his topic was the lockdown; my bid for a day’s break from that conversation was thwarted… the single sentence that stood out, as I read Michael Pakaluk’s piece, was this: A huge opportunity will have been lost if, when the lockdowns end, the lines outside confessionals aren’t as impressive as the lines of patrons outside restaurants.

By Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Crisis Magazine – The worry is that “the dictatorship of relativism” becomes more than a metaphor. When uncertainty reigns—whether it is the uncertainty surrounding a pandemic or the deeper uncertainty of a society lost in the grimpen of relativism—fear soon follows. We cannot live forever with the terror of not knowing, so we will be tempted to sacrifice our freedoms for an answer. In the face of uncertainty, we will not only search for answers, but also long for an authority who will supply the answers.

By Dr.  Stacy A. Trasancos, McGrath Institute for Church Life – The human soul with the faculties of intellect and will depends on the corporeal senses to input data, as any scientist knows, but the synthesis of that data into relationships and theories is performed in the higher thought of abstraction. In Catholic teaching, faith and reason go hand in hand… Not all scientists view science through the lens of faith, however. The strict materialist admits the existence of nothing without empirical evidence, and therefore does not see the human soul as animating science but rather as something external to find and manipulate. …

By Melanie Arter, CNSNews – “I can absolutely do it if I want to, and I don’t think I’m gonna have to, because it’s starting to open up. We need our churches and our synagogue and our mosques. We want them open – churches, synagogues, mosques and others. We want them open, and we want them open as soon as possible,” Trump said… “I can tell you I know a lot of pastors, a lot of rabbis, imams. They want to take care of their people. They don’t want anyone getting hurt or sick, and they’re going to take care of their people. We need these people. We need people that are going to be leading us in faith, and we are opening it up and if I have to, I will override any governor that wants to play games,” he said.

By C. Douglas Golden, The Western Journal – It’s a number that informed so many of our public policy decisions regarding COVID-19: 3.4 percent… On March 3, in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made a remark during a media briefing that guided how we viewed the threat posed by the novel coronavirus… “While many people globally have built up immunity to seasonal flu strains, COVID-19 is a new virus to which no one has immunity. That means more people are susceptible to infection, and some will suffer severe disease,” Tedros said during the briefing… “Globally, about 3.4 percent of reported COVID-19 cases have died.

By Bishop Joseph Strickland, Diocese of Tyler, Texas – As we approach the upcoming elections in the United States, the candidates stand on religious freedom must be paramount in our choices in the ballot box. The soft persecution of faithful Christians, across the confessional spectrum, is obvious to anyone who cares about religious freedom. The growing hostility toward the symbols of our religious heritage, the mocking of the values informed by religious faith and the overt and open hostility toward people of faith and religious institutions is increasing.

By Rodney Pelletier, Church Militant – In 2015 (Pope Francis) asked China’s Catholics to be “spiritually united to the rock of Peter, upon whom the Church is built.”… But on September 22, 2018, the Vatican reached a secret agreement with the Communists and days later Pope Francis asked Chinese faithful to “place your trust ever more firmly in the Lord of history and in the Church’s discernment of his will.”… The deal legitimized bishops in league with the schismatic Chinese Patriotic Association, a parallel church set up by the Communists beholden to the atheist government.

By Peter Hasson, LifeNews – New York nursing homes were forced to accept more than 4,500 coronavirus patients from hospitals thanks to an order from Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a tally by The Associated Press found… Cuomo has come under heated criticism for his March 25 order forcing recovering COVID-19 patients into New York nursing homes — a decision blamed for the state’s high body count among the elderly. The governor waited roughly six weeks before reversing the order on May 10.

By Fr. Gerald E. Murray, The Catholic Thing – Our colleague and friend Fr. Gerry Murray shows this morning that, even after all we’ve been through and all that’s been done, we’re not entirely out of the woods when it comes to the abuse crisis. And that we’re also only a few weeks away from two years since the McCarrick revelations, with no sign that the promised report on the scandal is about to appear. All of this should remind us that we need to continue our efforts, daily and without letup, to keep our Church – from the local parish to the highest offices in the Vatican – on the right path.

By Msgr. Charles Pope – Since Pentecost is approaching, in today’s post we will consider some of the biblical images for the Holy Spirit, and in so doing, strive to learn more about what God the Holy Spirit does for us. These descriptions do not reduce the Holy Spirit to simply fire, water, or tongues. Rather, the Holy Spirit is described as being like these things but at the same time greater than they are… Scripture says, When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting (Acts 2:1).

By Mary Rice Hasson and Theresa Farnan, Public Discourse – Take a moment as well to appreciate why it is so vital to assist families whose children are educated outside the government school system. Catholic schools are a consistent success story in the often mediocre “big picture” of American education. Catholics, of course, find the deepest benefit in the religious aspect of Catholic education, as our children are nurtured in faith, and love for God and the Church. The intellectual and moral discipline developed through studying the faith and putting it into practice lay the foundation for a lifetime of faithful citizenship and service.

By Tony Perkins, LifeNews – Planned Parenthood is no “small” business. In 2018, America’s hulk of an abortion provider reported net assets of $2.2 billion — so the idea that they would be competing for stimulus loans is absurd. And yet, to the shock of people up and down East Capitol Street, that’s exactly what dozens of its affiliates did. Even Republicans, who’ve come to expect this kind of larceny from Planned Parenthood, have a hard time believing it… the Democrats’ favorite abortion tycoon managed to rip off $80 million from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). And the Trump administration wants it back. Now.

By Fred Lucas, The Stream – State and local governments should get ready to reopen K-12 schools, but also prepare hospitals and public transportation systems for a possible second wave of COVID-19, according to a new round of recommendations from the National Coronavirus Recovery Commission (NCRC)… The NCRC, assembled by The Heritage Foundation, is made up of 17 experts with experience in government, public health, disaster response and relief, academia and education, business, and the faith community. Launched April 6, the panel now has released a total of 264 recommendations.

By Clare Marie Merkowsky, LifeSiteNews – The Secret Garden Education Pathways seeks to help Catholic children with special needs “go to the heart of learning” — namely, the Catholic Faith — to further the student’s learning ability… Walsh said the first reason she decided to start this organization was the realization that students who have difficulties learning academically will also have trouble learning about the Faith… When she worked in a secular school, Walsh taught two Catholic high-schoolers. She asked them a question about Purgatory and learned that they knew nothing about their faith.

By Randolph May, CNSNews – But who can doubt that this year, on this Memorial Day, we should not also solemnly remember all the doctors, nurses, physician assistants, other medical personnel – and all other myriad first responders and essential front-line workers – who have risked their lives, and in some instances sacrificed them, to secure the well-being of us all. Like our fallen soldiers, we remember their sacrifice and honor their memory on this Memorial Day… In his Farewell Address, Ronald Reagan reminded us: “If we forget what we did, we won’t know who we are. I am warning of an eradication of that – of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit.”

By Fr. Paul D. Scalia, The Catholic Thing – We have perhaps forgotten this “out of the world” part of the Christian life. We found some measure of security and prosperity in the world, so we grew comfortable and sought to make a home here. Science, money, and government-provided, much-desired stability and security. We gave science a mystic authority, like a primitive people believing in the medicine man. We trusted in the power of money and of the state to keep us from all ills. We made gods out of them, willingly sacrificing for the security they could provide.

By Father Roger J. Landry, EWTN News – The centenary of the birth of Pope St. John Paul II on May 18 is not the only anniversary of note connected with him this month. On May 25, the Church marks the 25th anniversary of his landmark encyclical on Church unity entitled Ut Unum Sint, taken from Jesus’ prayer to the Father on Holy Thursday, “May they all be one”… This encyclical was the most courageous papal ecumenical proposal since the schism with the Orthodox in 1054 and the Protestant Reformation in 1517. It confirmed as “irreversible” the Second Vatican Council’s commitment in favor of Church unity and called all Catholics, as well as our brothers in sisters in other churches and ecclesial communities, to renew and increase their efforts to respond to Christ’s appeal to work for full and visible communion.

By Paul Murano, Church Militant – In the government’s attempt to save lives, Wuhan pandemic lockdowns have led many people to take their own, say doctors on the West Coast… Physicians in Northern California attest that they have seen more deaths from suicide than from COVID-19 during the pandemic lockdown. “The numbers are unprecedented,” said Dr. Michael deBoisblanc of John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, California, saying that he’s seen a “year’s worth of suicides” in the last four weeks alone.

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture – The problem is that, as a general rule in the West, our bishops too often appear to be more concerned with maintaining their image as respectable “players” in the larger socio-political order, where they have approximately zero influence and certainly zero control, than they are with putting God’s house in order, where they still (even after decades of general incompetence and neglect) have nearly complete control.

By Martin Bürger, LifeSiteNews – Cardinal Raymond Burke also added, ‘It must be clear that it is never morally justified to develop a vaccine through the use of the cell lines of aborted fetuses.’

By Melanie Arter, CNSNews – President Donald Trump announced on Friday… all churches, synagogues, and mosques to open now, adding that he is overruling the nation’s governors… “Today I am identifying houses of worship, churches, synagogues, and mosques, as essential places that provide essential services. Some governors have deemed the liquor stores and abortion clinics as essential, but have left out churches and other houses of worship. It’s not right. So, I’m correcting this injustice and calling houses of worship essential,” Trump said.

By Aci Prensa, CNA – After Fr. Pérez fell sick with the virus, he was admitted to a public hospital where he shared a room with other patients, some of whom died… “When I was in that place, there came a time when I did feel like God could call me into his presence,” he said… “And that’s when you discover abandonment, the total abandonment of saying to the Lord: ‘Here I am, if you want to call me, I am willing; if you want to leave me, I am also willing. I only ask that you please give me the strength to give absolution and attend to my brothers who are suffering from the disease just like I am’.”… Fr. Pérez believes God is using the pandemic to heal hearts. “God is making us see what is truly important..”

By Msgr. Charles Pope – What is curiosity? At its heart, curiosity as we are using the word here is a response to an encounter with mystery. The Latin root of curiosity is cur, meaning “why.” Having encountered mystery, we ask questions such as “Why?”, “What is this?”, “What does this mean?”, “Who are you?”, or “Why are you this way?” Mystery engenders curiosity. This analysis of curiosity raises another question: What is mystery? ….