By Jonah McKeown, National Catholic Register – Anthropic had been in talks with the Pentagon as part of a $200 million contract negotiation that would have expanded Anthropic’s products throughout the U.S. defense apparatus. But the talks fell apart in late February in dramatic fashion… Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, pushed in public statements and in direct negotiations for Anthropic to allow the government to put its AI technology to work for “any lawful use” — including fully autonomous weapons systems and the mass surveillance of U.S. citizens… When Anthropic refused to “in good conscience” allow those uses of its product, the government took the unprecedented step of designating Anthropic as a “supply chain risk” …

By Juan Miguel Ibáñez de Aldecoa Quintana, Catholic Exchange – The history of Western thought can be read as a long dialogue between faith and reason. Far from being an inevitable confrontation, it has often been a demanding conversation—at times tense, yet profoundly fruitful. From the Church Fathers to contemporary physicists, humanity has sought to understand the mystery of the universe and the meaning of its own existence, accepting that all understanding is partial and provisional.

By Jacqueline O’Hara, Catholic Herald, (Complicit Clergy) – The (the USCCBs’ amicus brief) categorised ending birthright citizenship as an immoral attack on human dignity and so reduced a complicated moral and political issue to an incoherent emotional appeal. It also excluded or misinterpreted key Catholic teachings regarding the obligations of citizens, national leaders and immigrants. It was not even written by a Catholic… This half-hearted attempt at virtue-signalling from the USCCB was unpardonable. Not only that, but it damaged the bishops’ credibility at a time when the richness of authentic Catholic teaching, particularly regarding the contentious immigration debate, is needed more than ever.

By T. S. Flanders, Onepeterfive – Back in 2023, all orthodox Catholics of good will heard the news of His Excellency, Bishop Paprocki’s condemnation of heresy in one of the most prominent American journals, First Things. This was ostensibly a condemnation of Cardinal McElroy’s brazen challenge to Catholic moral theology in two pieces (here and here) at America—a connection underlined by Bishop Paprocki’s quoting verbatim from the cardinal’s first article. Nevertheless, His Excellency did say shortly thereafter (on Raymond Arroyo) that he did not want to name names, but had European cardinals also in mind.

By Jerry Dunleavy, Just the News – The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leader who was allegedly behind assassination plots aimed at now-President Donald Trump in 2024 has been killed amidst U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday… “The leader of the unit who attempted to assassinate President Trump has been hunted down and killed. Iran tried to kill President Trump, and President Trump got the last laugh,” Hegseth said.

By Hannah Brockhaus, EWTN – United States Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch has defended President Donald Trump’s deportation policies amid criticism from Pope Leo XIV and the U.S. bishops… “The larger question of immigration is something that will constantly be a source of debate and conversation between the U.S. and the Holy See,” the ambassador acknowledged in an interview with EWTN News’ Colm Flynn and Hannah Brockhaus… He added that Trump “had the courage to do something very difficult. I think people sometimes underestimate the difficulty of unwinding the chaos that had occurred” in the U.S. immigration system. …

By Catholic Apostolate Center – Patron Saints of Mothers – Sts. Perpetua and Felicity were martyrs who lived during the early persecution of the Church. Perpetua and Felicity lived very different lives before their eventual martyrdom. Perpetua was a well-educated noblewoman while Felicity was a slave woman. They became acquainted in prison, awaiting their death for being Christians. The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity is Perpetua’s diary of their time in prison together before their martyrdom. Being from the early 200s, it is one of the oldest surviving first person writings of the Church.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 16:19-31 – 19 “There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; ….

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture – St. John Henry Newman was once called “the most dangerous man in England” by the papal chamberlain, Fr. George Talbot, primarily because of the way Newman engaged the laity in supporting and even managing Catholic schools. Indeed Newman had to struggle in many of his educational projects because of a constant tension between lay involvement (which of course, is where the money was to come from) and the traditional desire of the English clergy to control any and all schools that claimed to have Catholic purposes or to serve Catholics.

By Brianna Lyman, The Federalist – If GOP senators pushed the SAVE America Act with the same urgency and full-throated support with which they’ve backed the decision to strike Iran, it would already be law… Republican senators have spoken with notable urgency and clarity about the war against Iran, saying the strikes are unavoidable, overdue, and necessary. This was the moment, delay was no longer an option, and decisive action was required, they argue — even though polling shows the strikes are unpopular, and they carry obvious military and economic risks.

By T. S. Flanders, OnePeterFive – War is Always the Wrath of God through the instrumentality of men… War is always the creation of more widows and orphans… This is why the Catholic Church is anti-war, but not pacifist… Sometimes, war is necessary. But war can only be waged if the conditions of just war theory are met. Let God see and judge. Let every Christian speak and act in whatever way which can provoke all men to charity and mercy, which alone will build a just peace and soften evil hearts. …

By Susan Ciancio, Catholic World Report – March 21st is World Down Syndrome Day, which was “created to celebrate the lives of people with Down syndrome and to make sure they have the same freedoms and opportunities as everybody else.”… But it is also a day to create an awareness that people with Down syndrome are human beings created in the image and likeness of God and have endless potential… Catherine and Andrew Daub understand these truths and have been champions for their son Will since he was born with Down syndrome in 2020.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Matthew 20:17-28 – 17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, 19 and deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”…

By Dan Hart, LifeNews – Data continues to show that red states are attracting more families with young children who move there as a result of more affordable housing and larger job growth than blue states, according to a new Institute for Family Studies (IFS) analysis… As reported by IFS Thursday, an “increasing correlation” is developing between how family-friendly a state’s policies are and how many families are forming within that state. As Ethics and Public Policy Center Fellow Patrick T. Brown observes, blue states are seeing a significant uptick in young people and families leaving and moving to red states, particularly in the years following the COVID pandemic.

By Lloyd Billingsley, Chronicles – (Here is a quote from Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger in her 1648-word response to President Trump’s State of the Union speech last week) “Here’s the truth: over the last year, through DOGE, mass firings, and the appointment of deeply unserious people to our nation’s most serious positions, our president has endangered the long and storied history of the United States of America being a force for good.”