By Matthew Bunson, National Catholic Register – Charles and John Carroll, St. Junípero Serra, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini and Venerable Fulton Sheen profoundly affected the United States and its citizens… As the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, American Catholics are able as well to reflect on an important truth: We live and pray and work as heirs — sons and daughters — inheritors of faith, successors to holy and extraordinary men and women who made timeless contributions to the life of the Church and of America.

By S.A. McCarthy, The American Spectator – The USCCB speaks eloquently about migrants’ dignity but too seldom about the safety and dignity of Americans… First of all, as the name suggests, TPS is not exactly the same thing as legal status, properly understood. Instead, TPS is intended to be temporary, which is exactly what the Supreme Court and the Trump administration agreed on. Second of all, returning to Haiti is in no way an unsafe or unreasonable option for Haitian nationals.

The Editors, National Catholic Register – A pair of fevers swept across America a half-century ago. The first was disco, the irrepressible craze that got Americans of all ages into polyester pants and out on the dance floor. The second was the U.S. bicentennial, which triggered a surge of patriotism the nation wouldn’t experience again for another 25 years, following the 9/11 terror attacks.

By Fr. Paul D. Scalia, The Catholic Thing – What is a thing worth? In economics, it’s relative. Prices fluctuate. Markets rise and fall. A thing is worth what someone’s willing to pay for it. Back in the 1980s, my LPs were worth a lot. With the arrival of CDs, they were worth almost nothing. Then, when vinyl became cool again, they had new worth… The problem is that we apply the same economic, relativistic thinking to other areas. We fail to recognize the intrinsic worth of anything. Thus, our leaders don’t treat their offices as worthy of respect. Instead of yielding to an office, they twist it for their own purposes.

By John M. Grondelski, Crisis Magazine – A father is not just a sperm manufacturer; his body is not just a factory. Fatherhood is a bond of persons, a communion to which both persons—father and child—have a right. The consequences that follow from paternity without the presence of the father are an injustice, whether they stem from parental abandonment or making a child from a corpse.

By Kevin Killough, Just the News – As media outlets shut down their climate desks, corporations retreat from climate targets, and polls of voters show they rate climate change lowest on their priorities, critics of the “climate crisis” narrative are saying it may be time to move on… American climatologist Dr. Judith Curry on Tuesday announced that she would no longer maintain her influential blog, “Climate Etc.”… “It’s time to declare victory against climate stupidity and move on,” said in her final post.

By Father Jerry J. Pokorsky, Catholic World Report – “Visualize World Peace.” It’s a noble sentiment, but Original Sin often gets in the way of our imaginings… Rather, let’s imagine political parties that seek healthy bipartisanship serving the common good. But the troubles in the Middle East, culminating in the War in Iran, have shattered the traditional political divide of the United States, and events promise to redefine the political/religious spectrum.

By Bruce Fein, The American Conservative – The American Declaration of Independence was thus a miracle.  The 56 signatories celebrated freedom. They signed their death warrants to secure unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness secured by government by the consent of the governed. They denounced taxation without representation. They proclaimed a duty to overthrow tyrannical governments to “institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

By Matthew Plese, OnePeterFive – Ss. Peter and Paul Are Always Mentioned Together – Ss. Peter and Paul is an interesting feastday as it honors both St. Peter and St. Paul. Interestingly, in the Church’s rubrics, any collect of St. Paul is always followed by one for St. Peter, and vice versa. This custom extends back to the Middle Ages. The Rubrics for the Roman Breviary and Mass, published in 1960, state the following as rubric #110 ….

By Vic and Judy Sower, Catholic Exchange – (My) confessor assigned me the penance of finding and praying the Litany of Trust, and within a few minutes of arriving home, I found it on The Sisters of Life website… When I prayed the Litany for the first time that evening, two verses spoke to me: “That You always hear me and in Your goodness always respond to me.” Jesus, I trust in You. The next verse was “That Your plan is better than anything else.”

By Riaan Van Zyl, Integrity Magazine – The gathering furthered the false Gospel of anthropocentrism while declaring total war on doctrinal stability… The consistory overhelmingly proved that the anthropocentric orientation of the religion of the Second Vatican Council has now reached its most developed expression in synodality and confirmed it is the central organizing principle of Leo’s reign… Leo XIV repeatedly defended the concept against critics who regard it as incompatible with traditional understandings of authority and hierarchy. Addressing the cardinals, he insisted that synodality is not opposed to authority but instead reveals its authentic nature through “listening, participation, and shared responsibility.”

By Mary Rose, Zeale News – The Texas State Board of Education voted June 26 to require public school students to read Bible stories as part of a statewide reading list, making Texas one of the first states to require biblical texts as part of its English language arts curriculum… The Republican-controlled board voted 9-5 with one member absent to adopt the reading lists, which were required under a 2023 state law directing the board to specify required vocabulary and at least one literary work for each grade level.

By Helen Raleigh, The Federalist – Backed by New York City’s socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani and far-left organizations, multiple Democratic Socialists of America candidates scored major victories in this week’s Democratic primaries in NY City. … The most striking upset came in New York’s 13th Congressional District, which includes Manhattan and the Bronx, where 32-year-old Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. ..

By Michael J. Mazza, Catholic World Report – The Church in the States has a long way to go before it recovers “the trust of our people”—and the document from the recent USCCB gathering will likely not help in solving those difficulties… Leaders cannot ignore the demands of justice and expect their people to follow (or to donate, for that matter). Neither can they paper over profound violations of the natural law and expect God to hear their prayers. The Lord is certainly merciful, but he is also just—and he cannot be fooled. …

By Thomas F. Farr, The Public Discourse – Evidence that the consensus is dying lies in plain sight. Recent Democratic administrations have openly, proudly abandoned the transcendent truths claimed in the Declaration, embracing instead radical human autonomy as America’s guiding vision. By so doing they are undercutting the moral ground on which America was established and on which it has flourished. Their flight from our founding principles constitutes an American apostasy, a treacherous betrayal of what has made our nation great. ….