By Daniel B. Gallagher, Crisis Magazine – When 60 Minutes is interested in you, you know you’re doing something either really good or really bad. The program’s April 12th segment on the surge in Catholic conversions suggests that the Church is doing something really good. Somehow, we’ve managed to welcome record numbers of converts into the Church, and there are signs the trend will continue, at least for the near future.
By Constance T. Hull, Catholic Exchange – I had a very difficult situation arise in the wake of my father’s death. A person in a position of authority, who by all accounts was filled with light and joy, led us astray. I knew it was false. I battled against it alone. The difficulty for me was the seemingly radiant light and joy emanating from this person. The things they said were half-truths and reminiscent of Pilate, which is why I left the situation deeply troubled in spirit. I was left to fend for myself spiritually ….
By Daniel Payne, EWTN News – The Diocese of Ogdensburg, New York, will pay out $45 million to abuse victims, part of a yearslong bankruptcy process that began after dozens of sex abuse cases were filed against it… The diocese said in a May 19 statement that the diocesan administration, along with “parishes, schools, and other Catholic entities,” would contribute into the settlement, which would be organized as a “survivor trust.”
NEWS
IPCC Retires Chicken Little, by Thomas Gallatin
By Thomas Gallatin, Patriot Post – The United Nations’ climate panel has admitted its extreme climate modeling is “implausible” as it backs away from climate alarmism dogma… “GOOD RIDDANCE!” posted President Donald Trump after the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) ditched its use of extreme climate modeling scenarios known as the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5. Trump added, “After 15 years of Dumocrats promising that ‘Climate Change’ is going to destroy the Planet …..
An Interview: The Pope and the President, by Nathan Pinkoski
By Nathan Pinkoski, American Greatness – The Italians have a venerable national tradition of commenting on papal controversies. This month, the Italian journal of geopolitics, Limes, has weighed in. They interviewed me on the recent exchanges between Pope Leo XIV and President Donald Trump… LIMES: Is Robert Francis Prevost an American pope or an American that happens to be the pope? In other words, is he a Roman pontiff or a patriot using his ministry to serve his own country? ….
The Saint Who Made Peace With Revolutionaries, Pennilessness, and His Mother, by Dawn Beutner
By Dawn Beutner, Catholic World Report – Bringing the Good News of Christ’s love to everyone was exactly how Eugene de Mazenod wanted to spend his priestly life… When he died on May 21, 1861, Charles-Eugène de Mazenod was mourned by French Catholics as a steadfast bishop, a zealous religious founder, and a humble and inspirational preacher. A century later, Pope Saint John Paul II named him a saint… Charles-Joseph-Eugène de Mazenod.. was born in 1782 into a family that could trace its noble lineage back for more than a century. …
The Moral and Political Wisdom of C.S. Lewis, by Daniel J. Mahoney
By Daniel J. Mahoney, The American Mind – The great Christian apologist and literary critic C.S. Lewis provides a surprising amount of moral and political wisdom despite not being a political thinker in any formal sense of the term. For example, the three lectures that form The Abolition of Man remain a must-read for understanding the crisis of our time, as well as the path to recovering the wisdom that will allow us to overcome it.
Fr. James Martin: The “Mastermind” Behind the Two Testimonies in the Vatican’s Synod Report on Homosexuality, by Diane Montagna
By Diane Montagna, Substack – Jesuit Father James Martin was a key figure behind the inclusion of two testimonies in the Study Group No. 9 report on homosexuality, released earlier this month by the Vatican’s General Secretariat of the Synod… In an article published today in the Spanish-language online publication Página Católica (reproduced below in English), the author of Testimony 1 — a Portuguese layman openly living in a same-sex union — is revealed to be closely linked to the Jesuit priest.
Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations: May They Become Perfectly One
Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – John 17:20-26 – 20 “I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory which you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 ….
Federal Prosecutors Indict Raúl Castro on 1996 Murder Charges, by Mary Rose
By Mary Rose, Zeale News – Federal prosecutors on May 20 announced charges against 94-year-old former Cuban President Raúl Castro for the 1996 downing of two civilian planes operated by Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue, reviving one of the most contentious episodes in the history of U.S.-Cuba relations… An indictment unsealed in federal court in Miami accuses Castro — who was Cuba’s defense minister at the time — and several other Cuban officials of conspiring to kill U.S. nationals, destroying aircraft, and murdering the four men who were aboard the two unarmed Cessna planes …
Archdiocese of Baltimore Proposes Nearly $170 Million Settlement for Abuse Victims, by Daniel Payne
By Daniel Payne, EWTN News – The Archdiocese of Baltimore is proposing nearly $170 million in compensation for abuse victims amid its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings there… A May 15 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court revealed that the archdiocese would contribute just under $44 million to an abuse settlement for survivors, while “settling insurers” would pay a total of $125 million into the fund… The insurance amount represents a 25% increase from an earlier proposed contribution of $100 million. …
If You Cheated to Become American, You Were Never American, by Brian Lonergan
By Brian Lonergan, Chronicles – While a public debate rages over how aggressively the federal government should enforce deportations, the Department of Justice recently took a quiet but consequential step toward restoring integrity to America’s immigration system… On May 8, federal prosecutors filed denaturalization actions in courts across the country against 12 naturalized U.S. citizens. The grounds for the actions could not be more serious: concealing material support for terrorist groups, committing war crimes, espionage, sexually abusing a minor, and other fraud committed during the naturalization process. …
Israel Relaunches, Rebrands Online Propaganda Campaign
By Harrison Berger, The American Conservative – Israel has relaunched and rebranded Act.IL, an online campaign originally designed by Israeli intelligence officials at the Ministry of Strategic Affairs to harass and intimidate American critics of Israel… Rebranded as RiseApp, the program is operated by Israel’s Reichman University (IDC Herzliya) and, according to the project’s website, aims to mobilize Act.IL’s existing database of more than 40,000 pro-Israel online operatives to counter what it describes as “antisemitism” and “misinformation.” …
Bp. Louis Tylka: “This is a Great Moment for the Diocese of Peoria and the Church”, by Jim Graves
By Jim Graves, Catholic World Report – Archbishop Fulton Sheen (1895-1979) will be beatified and receive the title of “Blessed” at a beatification Mass on Thursday, September 24, at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri… Sheen was among the most popular and best-known Catholic evangelists and clerics of his time, and was known for his programs on radio and television. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Peoria in 1919, although he lived much of his life in New York.
America’s Love Affair With the Road Endures, by Salena Zito
By Salena Zito, The American Spectator – Since the first American road, the Lincoln Highway, opened in 1913, Americans have found that their relationship with their nation and the roads that connect us north, south, east, and west is almost patriotic in concept… Whether you are on the road for hours or days, whether you stay in your home state or visit multiple others, there is a breadth of history, scenery and experiences that connect all of us ….
300 Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers Ask Congress to Defund Planned Parenthood Again, by Gavin Oxley
By Gavin Oxley, LifeNews – On behalf of more than 300 pregnancy centers across the nation, Seven Weeks Coffee and Americans United for Life (AUL) delivered a letter to Congress today, urging pro-life leadership to stand firmly for authentic women’s healthcare by defunding abortion providers like Planned Parenthood.
HHS Revives Religious Freedom Division in Civil Rights Office Restructuring, by Elise Winland
By Elise Winland, Zeale News – The HHS announced May 18 that it is reviving a dedicated division focused on religious freedom and conscience protections as part of a broader reorganization of its Office for Civil Rights (OCR)… President Donald Trump created the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division in 2018 during his first administration, but the Biden administration dissolved it in 2023, folding conscience and civil rights work into a single policy division, according to an HHS press release.
Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations: Consecrated in God’s Truth
Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – John 17:11-19 – 11 And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me; I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. ….
Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations: May They Become Perfectly One
Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – John 17:20-26 – 20 “I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory which you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 ….
Founder’s Quote
Patriot Post – “The aim of every political constitution is, or ought to be, first to obtain for rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of the society; and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous whilst they continue to hold their public trust.” —James Madison (1788)
Today’s Saint: St. Bernadine of Siena (1444)
Bellarmine Forum – IN 1408, St. Vincent Ferrer once suddenly interrupted his sermon to declare that there was among his hearers a young Franciscan who would be one day a greater preacher than himself, and would be set before him in honor by the Church. This unknown friar was Bernardine. …
