Marriage

Fr. Gerald E. Murray, National Catholic Register – In his new book, Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter Into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion and Sensitivity (HarperCollins), Jesuit Father James Martin has written a critique of the Catholic Church’s dealings with what he calls the “the LGBT community.”… What is the “LGBT community”? This acronym describes three groups of people: those who engage in, or feel drawn to engage in, homosexual activity (lesbians and gays); those who engage in, or feel drawn to engage in, both heterosexual and homosexual activity (bisexuals); and those persons who reject their sexual identity and think that they are in fact a member of the opposite sex (transsexuals/transgendered persons)… Is this, in fact, a community? Not really.

By Fr. Nick Ward, Crisis Magazine – I’ll never forget the day a student pointed a handgun at my dad’s face, back when he was principal of Bishop Neumann High School in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. I was too young to be a student, so I wasn’t there, but the drama of that terrible morning was burned into the collective memory of the whole Catholic community in that town for years to come… That may have been the first (or among the first) Catholic-school shootings in U.S. history. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the last. Many of us are now sadly familiar with the shooting that happened in Minneapolis, where a gunman fired multiple shots from varied weapons into a Catholic Church during a school Mass.

By Marie Tasy, LifeNews – Deep in our souls we grieve over the senseless and horrific tragedy that took place this week at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. Two young schoolchildren were killed and 15 others were wounded by an individual who was clearly in need of major spiritual and psychiatric help. We add our prayers for the many victims and their families who are suffering such uncomprehensible loss… We are grateful to the first responders and medical professionals whose bravery, compassion, and unwavering dedication brought comfort and care to the injured children and to the entire affected community.

By Matthew McKenna, Catholic Exchange – One of the many issues with IVF is that numerous extra embryos are made in order to increase the chances of having a successful birth.  When these additional embryos are produced, they get stored (frozen) or discarded (aborted).  In the United States alone, there are anywhere from one million to ten million frozen embryos in storage.  What are we to do with these frozen embryos? Within Catholic theology there is a debate on this issue, with faithful, orthodox Catholics on both sides.

By Randall Smith,  The Catholic Thing – Imagine you are applying for a highly competitive job, and someone says, “I can tell you how to be more competitive than 98 percent of the other applicants.”  Would you be interested?… Let’s say he adds: “It’s not hard, but you may not like it.”  Perhaps it’s something like wearing a coat and tie to your interview, and you hate wearing a coat and tie.  I’m with you on that, but if you really want the job, wouldn’t you make that little extra effort?  Or would you complain? “Why should I wear a coat and tie?  Coats and ties are stupid!  If they want a coat and tie, the heck with them.”

By Glenn T. Stanton, The Federalist – It has been a long feminist trope that marriage and motherhood are garbage chutes to misery for women. Feminist sociologist Jesse Bernard warned in her 1972 book, The Future of Marriage, “[M]arriage introduced such profound discontinuities into the lives of women as to constitute genuine emotional health hazards.”… It is no wonder that only 32 percent of women believe marriage and motherhood lead to fuller, happier lives for them. And 47 percent of single young women believe singleness is a more direct route to happiness for women than being wed.

By Mary Mobley, The Daily Signal – Cakes could be set to make another Supreme Court appearance: On Tuesday, a Christian baker asked the court to decide whether the First Amendment protects her refusal to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding… This is similar to the 2017 case Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado, in which the court held that the First Amendment protected a Christian baker’s right not to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding… Cathy Miller, the owner of Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield, California, argues the Masterpiece precedent applies in her case.

By Hélène de Lauzun, The European Conservative – In July, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, presented a report stating that “the practice of surrogacy is characterised by exploitation and violence against women and children, including girls”… This is the first time that an international statement has been made on this sensitive subject in such unequivocal terms… The Casablanca Declaration, an international organisation bringing together associations and experts campaigning for the abolition of surrogacy worldwide, welcomed the report through its spokesman, Olivia Maurel, who was herself born through surrogacy and has made its universal and definitive abolition her cause. 

By Robert Lazu Kmita, PhD, OnePeterFive – I was writing diligently when, during a break, I read a short article by Mr. Phil Lawler on his Substack channel. The title immediately caught my attention: “The exodus of young Catholics. Nine out of ten ‘cradle Catholics’ leave.”[1]… We can do as much theology and philosophy as we like, we can read and quote all the Church Fathers and Doctors of the Church, but if we are unable to seriously and fruitfully discuss such issues, everything is — more or less, perhaps more — useless.

By Bridget Sielicki, Live Action News – Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family and longtime pro-life advocate, died Thursday at the age of 89. According to an announcement from Dr. James Dobson Family Institute, he is survived by “his wife of 64 years, Shirley; their children, Danae and Ryan; daughtethe r-in-law Laura; and two beloved grandchildren.”

By Emmy Griffin, Patriot Post – Media outfits such as The Washington Post and Forbes are shocked that mothers are leaving the workforce in record numbers… According to WaPo economics correspondent Abha Bhattarai, “The share of working mothers ages 25 to 44 with young children has fallen nearly every month this year, dropping by nearly 3 percentage points between January and June, to the lowest level in more than three years, according to an analysis of federal data by Misty Heggeness ….

By Alyssa Johnson, Op-ed contributor,  The Christian Post – Alyssa Johnson is the mother of a trans-identified teen in Oregon… I’m the mother of an estranged, gender-confused minor child… I haven’t seen her for years, and Oregon state law has allowed and enabled it. I’m far from the only one to whom it has happened, but here is a glimpse into the state machinery and how it has unfolded for so many of us… First, the worst part about losing your child to this scandalous system is that it profits off them. The next worst part is defending your reputation to everyone involved.

By Debbie Cowden, National Catholic Register – Don’t forget about the most important part of your children’s upbringing: their Catholic faith! Starting a new school year is a great time to introduce new habits so your family can live out the faith more fully. As a mom of four kids, three of whom are school age, I’m proposing realistic, easy-to-implement practices of the faith your family can begin this fall… These back-to-school tips are specifically geared toward supporting the normal rhythm of your day during the school year, whether sending your kids to school or home schooling.

By Carrie Gress, Ph.D., Catholic World Report – In 1917, during one of Our Lady’s apparitions at Fatima, the three shepherd children were given a vision of Hell. Our Lady warned that if people didn’t stop offending God then another war would come. In reparation, Our Lady asked “for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays.” She added, “If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church.”

By Cassy Cooke, Live Action – Safety regulations on abortion pills have been increasingly relaxed in recent years, and now, a group of 22 attorneys general have sent a letter to the FDA asking for the previous protocols to be reinstated… a coalition of 22 Republican attorneys general, led by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, sent a letter to Kennedy and Makary requesting that the previous REMS requirements be reinstated, citing a recent analysis from the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), which found that women experience serious adverse complications at a rate 22 times higher than the rate reported on the FDA label for abortion pills. …

By J.C. Miller, Crisis Magazine – Approximately a quarter of Catholics are married to non-Catholics, even among those married in a Catholic parish. As detailed below, interfaith marriages are more likely to have marital problems and produce children who are less religious. Like anything that involves marriage, this can be a very sensitive topic. Those married to a non-Catholic may view even a discussion of this topic or the data as an assault on them or a criticism of their marriage.

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – As the world’s fertility rate plunges toward the replacement level, with every indication that they continue dropping, the mainstream media have belatedly noticed the danger that lies behind that trend. It’s bad for the economy… As we grow older, the workforce will shrink, since there won’t be enough younger people replacing those who retire. That in turn means a shortage of active wage-earners paying into the Social Security system to support the payments to their elders. More ominously, as we older people decline in health, and need more care, there won’t be enough young doctors and nurses to serve us.

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – In a world fractured by individualism, instability, and cultural confusion, it is the family that possesses the power to heal. At least, that’s what the Catholic Church has continually taught, particularly in recent decades as attacks on the family have increased, and as so many families have broken apart, causing untold suffering and confusion… Pope St. John Paul II, in his apostolic exhortation Familiaris consortio, wrote: “The future of humanity passes by way of the family” (no. 86). Elsewhere in the same document he calls the family the “first and vital cell of society” (no. 42). …

By Tyler O’Neil, The Daily Signal – When students return to Christiansburg High School for classes on Wednesday, they’ll find at least one large “open plan” gender-neutral and multiple-stall bathroom… Parents are raising the alarm… “I would have been mortified at that age,” Alecia Vaught, 49, who has two grandchildren at the southwestern Virginia school, told The Daily Signal about the bathroom situation… The Daily Signal obtained photos of signs with symbols depicting a woman, a man, a half-man/half-woman, and a wheelchair. ….

By Emmy Griffin, Patriot Post – Jonathan Haidt, professor of social psychology at New York University (NYU) Stern School of Business, is a crusader for getting kids off screens. As a front-line witness to his students’ social shift from friend groups to being utterly lost in the online world, he has advocated for getting cellphones out of schools. In his most recent published research with Zach Rausch, an NYU colleague, and Lenore Skenazy, co-founder of the nonprofit Let Grow, whose mission is to promote childhood independence, the trio teamed up with Harris Poll to find out what kids desire as an alternative to being on their phones.

By Devin Dwyer, ABC – Ten years after the Supreme Court extended marriage rights to same-sex couples nationwide, the justices this fall will consider for the first time whether to take up a case that explicitly asks them to overturn that decision… Kim Davis, the former Kentucky county clerk who was jailed for six days in 2015 after refusing to issue marriage licenses to a gay couple on religious grounds, is appealing a $100,000 jury verdict for emotional damages plus $260,000 for attorneys fees… In a petition for writ of certiorari filed last month, Davis argues First Amendment protection for free exercise of religion immunizes her from personal liability for the denial of marriage licenses.

By Devin Schadt,. Catholic Exchange – It was seven years into my marriage and five years into being a father that I realized I didn’t know what I was doing (that’s putting it mildly)… A year prior to being married, I had surrendered my life to Our Lord Jesus. Nevertheless, I worked around the clock to impress my employer while attempting to launch a start-up graphic design agency, and in my “spare time” serve as a part-time youth director at our local parish. Meanwhile, I placed my marriage and new family on the back burner.

By Samantha Flom, The American Spectator – In any other context, the buying and selling of children would be rightly reviled. Yet when it comes to commercial surrogacy, many turn a blind eye… To be clear, babies are certainly worth celebrating — especially in an increasingly selfish society that depicts parenthood as a form of punishment. But not all methods of conception are created equal… With gestational surrogacy, babies created in labs are implanted into the wombs of women who are of no relation to them. Nine months later, the child gets ripped from the arms of the person who has become their entire world and sent home with strangers — people with whom they may share DNA but nothing more.   …

By Daniel Payne, National Catholic Register – Christine Williams… urged young Catholic husbands and wives to “be assured God wants what is good for you and your marriage.”… “Your fertility is a gift,” she said. “To cooperate with God in bringing life into the world is a great, unrepeatable miracle.”… She urged couples to “be open to one more child,” to “study the Church’s teachings,” and to “find a friend group that can be a source of support when days are hard.”… “Hard days will come and go,” she said. “Bring your basket. He will bless your efforts.” ….

By Emmy Griffin, Patriot Post – Being married and owning a home by age 30 is a rarity in 2025. In other words, the American Dream is slipping away. Here’s what happened, as well as some solutions… In the 1950s, being married and owning a home in your 30s was extremely common. The rate of occurrence was over 50%. Since then, however, the rate of homeownership for this demographic has dropped drastically. According to government data, this type of person today is a rarity, only accounting for 15% of the American population.

By Sam Barron, Newsmax – Under the Biden administration, the average American household lost nearly $1,100 of spending power a month, Scott said… “Why? Because the Democrats spent more than $4 trillion trying to solve a problem they created,” Scott said on “Rob Schmitt Tonight.” Ultimately it led to 9% inflation and interest rates so high that today, the average first time home buyer is 38 years old. Having a candidate running here in New York City on socialism is as clearly misguided as their last election attempt.”

By Jordan Boyd, The Federalist – “Love your spouse and share the Gospel.” Those were the wise words my Poppy uttered to a private dining room packed with his kids, grandkids, and great-grandchild last weekend… For 60 years, my Poppy and Grammy… have not only kept their covenant to cherish each other, but witnessed their legacy of love continue with the weddings of both of their children and four of their 10 grandchildren… They will be the first to tell you that their marriage is not perfect or easy. …

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – In recent years, birth rates all over the globe have been falling precipitously. The drop in birth rates has been especially dramatic in developed nations, many of which fell far below replacement birth rates decades ago… During this time, however, there is one developed nation that conspicuously resisted the trend. In the United States, fertility rates continued to hover near the replacement level throughout the 90s and early 2000s… Sadly, in recent years this has changed…dramatically. …

By Andrew Gondy, The American Spectator – Creating stable marriages and families is the most important way to reclaim our culture. Without these, conservatism is dead… In 1865, William Ross Wallace delivered a succinct and powerful cultural insight: “The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.” In contemporary American life, the startling emptiness of this cradle is forging a new battlefield for young conservatives… In late July, the CDC reported that U.S. birth rates have fallen to just 1.6 children per woman. This is the lowest recorded fertility rate in American history, and plunges our country well below replacement birth levels.

By Br. Joel Compacion Añasco, SC, Catholic Exchange – Furthermore, death is always difficult. It brings sorrow, longing, and many times confusion. Even Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus (Jn. 11:35). Our faith does not deny the pain of loss. But it does offer us a greater truth—that our suffering is not wasted. In Christ, death becomes not an end but a doorway to eternal life. For those who die in the Lord, death is a homecoming. And for those left behind, it becomes an invitation to trust, to hope, and to draw closer to the One who has conquered death.

By Jordan Boyd, The Federalist – President Donald Trump spent the last few months of his 2024 campaign promising to force taxpayers to foot the bill for a procedure that routinely destroys human life. His plans to pave the way for Americans to make “more babies” by subsidizing in vitro fertilization, however, are allegedly on hold… The Washington Post reported that as of Sunday, Trump’s White House is allegedly “backing away from proposals discussed internally to mandate IVF coverage for the roughly 50 million people on the Obamacare exchanges.”

By Abigail Nichols, The Federalist – ‘If someone tells you a pill is 100% safe, run for your life,’ he said… During an event challenging the idea that “scientific truth is … achieved by consensus,” Food andDrug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary laid out the agency’s goals to promote nutrition over prescription drug use and expressed concern about how politics have affected the scientific community in recent years.

By Jonah Apel, The American Spectator – Emphasizing the reality of biological sex is of course correct. Trump’s executive order is a significant win, and this answer is miles better than caving to the Left’s assertions or trying to seek some supposed middle ground between truth and falsehood. Men are not women, and in no way should conservatives give in to the Left’s false anthropological delusions… However, conservatives shouldn’t stop there. While affirming biological reality, we shouldn’t make the mistake of reducing the differences between men and women to only biological or chromosomal differences. What a woman is entails much more than just XX chromosomes

By Elise Winland, Catholic Vote – Planned Parenthood’s national service totals and its local affiliate data on the number of “gender-affirming care” services provided nationally don’t line up, according to a new report from The Daily Wire… In a July 24 article, The Daily Wire’s Macy Petty notes that Planned Parenthood’s latest annual report, 2023-24, shows a sharp decline in its “other procedures” subcategory — which includes “transgender” services — despite reports from local affiliates that those services are increasing. The subcategory also includes pediatric care, adult preventative care, and high complexity visits, including infertility services.

By Eric Sammons, Crisis Magazine – Young men: it’s time to step up. Don’t make excuses, don’t be a victim, and don’t let our feminized and destructive culture shape your life… Last week, the popular rapper Zuby, who has amassed a significant following on social media as a self-described “epitome of toxic positivity,” posted an article titled “My Honest Advice For Gen Z Men.” He includes 12 life tips for young men from his perspective as a “successful Millennial.” The article is actually quite good and I recommend young men read it. But as Catholics, we can go deeper. …

By  Jordan Boyd, The Federalist – When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the U.S. birth rate reached a new low, there was much speculation about the culprit — and potential solutions. Instead of investigating those causes, however, Americans who just learned their replacement rate had officially lagged to 1.6 children per woman were bombarded with headlines promoting yet another “promising” new male contraceptive pill.

By John Mac Ghlionn, The American Spectator – The American Academy of Pediatrics lit the fuse in 2023. Their recommendation to use GLP-1 weight-loss drugs in children and adolescents wasn’t just a nod to pharmaceutical innovation — it was a signal flare to industry, a green light to experiment on the developing brain. And experiment they did. A review of more than 310,000 patient records reveals the consequences: a 65 percent surge in prescriptions. Some might call this progress. They’re wrong. This is mass chemical intervention dressed up in a lab coat.

By Casey Chalk, The Catholic Thing – The gym is a near occasion of sexual temptation. At least mine is. Whenever I go, this husband and father of six, who is waging a losing battle against the notorious “dad bod,” has to navigate around scores of attractive twenty- and thirty-something females wearing clothes that in an earlier, more “prudish” age, would have been considered embarrassingly inappropriate for mixed settings. I just do my best to keep focused on the reps and reading my Magnificat between sets.

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – The central purpose of Humanae vitae is easily summarized and is well-known by many. In brief, it reiterates the long-standing Catholic and Christian belief in God’s plan for married love and the transmission of life—reasserting the moral impermissibility of contraception that attacks the procreative nature and unitive aspect of marriage… As Pope Paul VI stated, we cannot morally justify “any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, is specifically intended to prevent procreation—whether as an end or as a means.”

By Thomas Gallatin, Patriot Post – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new data showing that the U.S. dropped to an all-time low birth rate in 2024, as the average number of children a woman gives birth to in the country decreased to 1.6%. That places the U.S. in the same territory as many Western European nations, signaling growing concerns about population decline, as the birth rate required to maintain a stable population is 2.1 children per woman. This is a huge problem … unless you want mass migration.

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture – I have been discussing how to draw others to Christ and the Church, but when it comes to forming people as committed Catholics who will devote themselves to doing God’s will throughout their lives, nothing beats the family. It never fails to astonish me how frequently Catholics tend to ignore this fundamental factor in the salvation of their children. The Catholic family is the ultimate school of holiness for any and all paths in life, and young people who start life without a solid formation in both love and grace suffer an enormous disadvantage when navigating the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil.

By Brianna Lyman, The Federalist – “First world nations are dying,” Pat Buchanan warned in his 2002 book The Death of the West… “They face a mortal crisis, not because of something happening in the Third World, but because of what is not happening at home and in the homes of the First World.”.. And what was not — and still is not — happening at home is childbearing. Buchanan was referring to fertility rates, which have been on the decline for decades.

By Sheryl Collmer, Crisis Magazine – Our collective grief, especially here in Texas where we knew multiple generations of girls who spent the happiest of summer times at Camp Mystic, is a heavy lead blanket. The death toll keeps rising, and there are still so many missing… Texas reels to a slow-motion dirge. What strikes us hardest is the little girls, woken in the sleepiest part of the morning of July 4th, and swept away in the flood surge. …

By Judy Roberts, National Catholic Register – Born to various surrogate mothers using fertilized embryos from Silvia Zhang, 38, and her husband, Guojun Xuan, 65, the children were discovered as part of a police investigation after a 2-month-old from their home was taken to the hospital, the New York Post reported. That child had suffered a brain injury and is believed by police to have been shaken and struck by the family’s nanny (AP)… The other children in the home also are believed to have been abused. All since have been placed in the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services.

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – “God’s fidelity to his promises teaches us that there is a blessedness in old age, an authentic evangelical joy inspiring us to break through the barriers of indifference in which the elderly often find themselves enclosed.”  ~Pope Leo XIV, Message for the Fifth Annual Day of Grandparents and the Elderly

By Kevin Lowry, Catholic Exchange – When I told my wife that I wanted to write a book about men honoring their wives, she laughed… To be fair, it wasn’t a scornful laugh. It was more of a “Dude, you haven’t always done the greatest job in that area yourself” laugh of wry amusement. I didn’t quite catch if there was an eyeroll to go along with it… Of course, she’s right. I haven’t always been the best husband. …

By Jordan Boyd, The Federalist – Researchers in the United Kingdom, which rearranged its laws in 2015 to accommodate the “pronuclear transfer” trials, pitched their “three-person IVF” experiment as a means to lessen the chances of mitochondrial mutations that lead to genetic disorders in infants conceived via IVF… In (one) particular case, the UK researchers’ success in producing live babies born of three people’s DNA no doubt opens the door for bringing more people into the sacred act of reproduction. …

By Scott McKay, The American Spectator – BATON ROUGE — A man claimed he was unfairly fired from his job after he refused to use the pronouns that another employee said they used.
Luke Ash, a former library employee and pastor, said he knows that what he did was against the library’s code of conduct for employees, but he says calling his co-workers by the pronouns they identify with would be against his own beliefs… Ash worked at the library for fewer than six months. He was fired Thursday after having a conversation with a co-worker about another co-worker. In the conversation he refused to refer to the second co-worker by their proper pronouns.

By Craig Bannister, MRC TV – “Changing birth certificates for desired genders is falsifying records,” Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said, announcing that he is filing motions to intervene in cases where Indiana trial courts have ordered the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) to change the designation of sex on birth certificates to reflect preferred gender identities… “One should have no more ability to change the listed sex on a birth certificate years after the fact than to change the newborn’s listed length or weight,” Rokita explained in his office’s press release.

By Susan Berry, Ph.D., Catholic Vote – A 2012 study that drew a firestorm over its conclusion that children of parents in same-sex relationships fared worse on various social and emotional outcome variables compared with those in other family structure types has now been vindicated… Univ. of Texas at Austin sociologist Mark Regnerus, who conducted the highly disputed study, wrote that, “[w]hen compared with children who grew up in biologically (still) intact, mother-father families, the children of women who reported a same-sex relationship look markedly different on numerous outcomes, including many that are obviously suboptimal (such as education, depression, employment status, or marijuana use).”

By Calvin Freiburger, LifeSiteNews – The latest cinematic iteration of Superman hit theaters last week, and because we live in an era where a superhero can’t just be a superhero anymore, it was accompanied by all-too-familiar chatter about how woke it would be… the film’s director, James Gunn, threw fuel on the fire when he said in a pre-release interview, “Yes, it’s about politics,” and touted it as an “immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.” 

By Jules Gomes, The Stream – Bestselling author accuses Baylor University president of close ties to LGBT-affirming church… The world’s largest Baptist university has reversed its decision to accept a grant of $643,401 to promote LGBT inclusion in churches following intense backlash from Christian leaders… Baylor University, a private Christian school in Texas, announced on July 9 that it would return funding from the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation, but “remain committed to providing a loving and caring community for all — including our LGBTQIA+ students.”

By Jordan Boyd, The Federalist – In nine years, the Gaineses went from making traditional marriage the hill they die on to making it the hill they flippantly surrender… America’s favorite home renovation couple is in hot water with their supporters this week after viewers discovered their latest TV endeavor features a homosexual couple who bought their children via surrogacy.

By Rachel Quackenbush, Catholic Vote – Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Bishop Liam Cary, who has led the Diocese of Baker, Oregon, since 2012, and appointed Father Thomas Hennen of Iowa as his successor… Bishop-elect Hennen currently serves as vicar general and rector of Sacred Heart Cathedral in the Diocese of Davenport, Iowa… For more than a decade, Bishop-elect Hennen has been involved with Courage International, a Catholic apostolate offering spiritual support to individuals who experience same-sex attraction. He has served as both diocesan coordinator and chaplain for the local chapter in the Diocese of Davenport.

By Dawn Beutner, Catholic World Report – While Saint Thérèse of Lisieux seemed to live an ordinary life in a middle-class French family, her autobiography is far from ordinary. The Story of a Soul has inspired millions of Catholics to recognize that, for each of us, our “vocation is love!”1 The life stories of Thérèse’s parents, Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, can help us learn how to live our vocations within family life in an extraordinary way.

By Fr. Thomas G. Morrow, Catholic Exchange – The first question we must ask ourselves before diving into this topic is: Do we want to marry for life? In the twenty-first century that’s a tall order. How can we be sure that the person we’re dating is someone with whom we will be able to persevere throughout a lifetime? And how important is that whole perseverance thing?… Well, for a Catholic—indeed for any Christian—it’s extremely important. Jesus said, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her” (Mk. 10:11).

By Joy Pullmann, The Federalist – Over the weekend, CNN published a hysterical feature wailing over feminism’s fading appeal to younger women. It comes a few months after a similar New York Times feature. Of course, the legacy publications ingeniously blame “hatred” and misogyny for younger women seeking life patterns outside feminism. You see, it’s not patronizing or psychotic to tell women we can’t make choices that Cluster B covens don’t approve of.

By Isabel Brown, The Daily Signal – If there’s one thing the corporate media hates more than tradition, it’s motherhood… We’ve seen it time and again, from the glossy magazine covers glorifying “child-free” living to the snide late-night jokes about “breeders” and “stay-at-home moms.” It’s no longer subtle. The war on motherhood is loud, proud, and broadcast 24/7 across every major platform. And make no mistake—this isn’t just about personal choice. It’s a coordinated cultural campaign to devalue perhaps women’s most essential role: being a mother.

By Peter Wolfgang, Catholic Culture – Was Independence Day softening us up for the War on Terror, the way other pop culture in the ‘90s softened us up for same-sex marriage? Was Top Gun: Maverick softening us up for Operation Midnight Hammer?… Again, I know it sounds crazy. But are pop culture psy-ops by our national security apparatus really that unfathomable? If the-powers-that-be did seed 1990s pop culture with the antecedents of the coming LGBT revolution, as The Public Discourse alleged in 2010, why would they not do it to us on other issues as well?

By Emily Malloy, National Catholic Register – Laughter and music filled every inch of our house the weekend we moved in. It was a gathering for visiting missionaries during their two-week door-to-door ministry. The delightful sounds arose from 60 people, both parishioners and religious: the Sister Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará and seminarians from the Institute of the Incarnate Word. Prayer, song, food and friendship marked the evening. I am hard-pressed to conceive of a better way to have spent the first weekend in our new home.

By Greg Schlueter, Crisis Magazine – Influencer culture has captured the hearts and minds of our youth—and if we are not watchful, it could capture their souls as well… It began, as it often does, with a teacher’s question… “What do you want to be when you grow up?”… The responses, once peppered with dreams of firefighting, flying, and healing, have given way to a new, disconcerting consensus. The overwhelming answer: “A Social Media Influencer.” …

By Annette Bergeon, Crisis Magazine – In 1995, on the eve of the United Nations’ Fourth World Conference on Women, Pope St. John Paul II offered a tender, clear-sighted reflection titled Letter to Women. In a time marked by ideological division and cultural anxiety, he stepped into the fray not to argue, but to affirm, to thank, and to dignify. His words cut through slogans and stereotypes to acknowledge the full complexity of womanhood in the modern world. …

By Delano Squires, The Daily Signal – Conservatives in politics and culture are wise to make fatherlessness a focal point of their family policy priorities… Children who grow up with both parents are more likely to attend college and less likely to go to prison. Conversely, father absence is linked to poverty, teen pregnancy, youth crime, worse academic outcomes, and substance abuse… But there is something else that a society loses when millions of children grow up without a present father; namely, the power of the family name.

By Jim Daly, The Stream – The Southern Poverty Law Center recently updated its “Hate Map” to include Focus on the Family on its list of hundreds of “hate” organizations alongside racist and white supremacist groups… In particular, the SPLC cites Focus’s online publication, the Daily Citizen, as one of its primary offenders. According to the organization, we “demonize LGBTQ+ people, claiming they are unnatural and un-Christian.” We also “promote anti-trans pseudoscience, such as conversion therapy.”

By Mary Frances Devlin, The American Spectator – If anything has dominated Gen Z’s political experience more than the ascendance of President Donald Trump, it’s been the prominence of LGBTQ issues in every aspect of culture over the past decade… In the first instance, public opinion came first. President Trump’s victory in 2016 was a popular referendum on Obama-era progressivism that promised hope and change but delivered government overreach and overregulation. That Trump won the Republican nomination in the first place was a repudiation of the party’s neoconservative leanings. And nearly a decade after his entrance onto the political scene, American voters once again sent Trump back to the White House with an electoral mandate.

By John Mac Ghlionn, Catholic Herald – Pope Leo XIV recently issued a stark warning that deserves far more attention than it received. Speaking at a conference on AI and ethics, the pontiff warned that artificial intelligence could disrupt the cognitive, emotional and moral growth of young people. Then, without elaboration, he moved on, leaving the audience to quietly wrestle with the weight of what had just been said… This restraint is quintessentially papal – diplomatically measured, carefully worded and devastatingly understated. When the leader of 1.3 billion Catholics expresses concern about something affecting children, the reality is invariably worse than his measured language suggests.

By Leila Miller, Crisis Magazine – Catholic parents, do your daughters know that it’s okay—even good and holy—to desire a life as wife and mother, even above (and even forgoing) all other earthly considerations? Have you told them explicitly that they are free to pursue Holy Matrimony (a woman’s natural vowed state of life) as a goal in itself, bypassing the culture’s worldly expectations for young women today? If you have, praise God! This article is not for you… For the rest, consider these personal stories ….

By John Cuddeback, LifeCraft – Although the lack of manners today is generally noted with disapproval, we often do not think of manners as a central feature of how we raise our children. But manners are arguably the major instance of a concrete, tangible thing we are failing to pass on, to the great detriment of all of us… As a parent I understand why this happens. We focus on the larger things that obviously pertain to a right world-view and good moral standards. Manners—at least beyond the most rudimentary such as ‘please’ and ‘thank you’… —slip under the radar.

By Garrett D. Johnson, Crisis Magazine – Many years ago, I decided to attend daily Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Each morning on my way to Mass, I would drive past a house that flew the flag representing pride in all the different sexual identities that fell under the LGBTQ (this was pre-IA+ times) banner. I didn’t take much notice of it at the time, as these flags were all over the city. But, one day, I noticed the flag was becoming tattered, and I surprisingly felt a sense of joy.

By Elise DeGeeter, Catholic Vote – Since 2021, a remarkable shift has begun to reshape education policy nationwide: growth in the number of states that embrace school choice measures. Last week, New Hampshire became the latest state – and the first in the Northeast – to fully adopt a universal program… On June 10, Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed Senate Bill 295, removing income restrictions from the state’s Education Freedom Account program. Families can apply public education funds toward private school tuition, homeschooling, tutoring, and other schooling options.

By Emmy Griffin, Patriot Post – Yet another study proves that screen time has adverse effects on children, including anxiety, emotional irregulation, low self-esteem, aggression, conduct problems, and attention struggles… The American Psychological Association (APA) recently published a meta study that distilled the data from 117 studies involving the screen time usage of 292,000 kids ages 10 and younger. Predictably, the findings were not good.

The abortion pill reversal (APR) drug supplied by Abortion Pill Rescue Network (APRN) has saved the lives of more than 7,000 unborn children since 2007, according to estimates from Heartbeat International… Heartbeat International, a pro-life organization that operates APRN, announced the milestone in a June 12 article posted on “Pregnancy Help News,” a website the organization runs.

By Megan Garcia, Crisis Magazine – After Sewell’s death, I learned that my son had been involved in an intimate relationship with an AI chatbot named “Daenarys,” modeled on a TV character, on a popular platform called Character.AI… My son had become increasingly withdrawn over the months leading up to his death, and as his mother, I worried about him and sought mental health counseling for him to find out why his behavior had so drastically changed. It never quite added up… Only after I discovered his messages with the chatbot was I able to put the pieces together. In richly detailed chats lasting for months, the Character.AI bot manipulated Sewell ….

By Lyndsey Fifield, The Federalist – I wasn’t prepared for the level of rage that washed over my body as I watched this video of a roofing business owner in Florida blubbering over the detention of his illegally employed workforce… I also wasn’t ready for the flashbacks to my childhood it gave me, and my reaction was not kind… I’m still astonished by the attention this little tweet has gotten, but I understand why it has: Many, many Americans can relate.

By Nathanael Blake, The Federalist – The Glamor of the Sexual Revolution Is Fading… Pride seems subdued this year. The month-long celebration of all things gay, queer, trans, and the rest of the endless acronym is still happening, of course. But, the festivities seem muted, and corporations, perhaps chastened by the debacles of Budweiser and Target, seem less inclined to wallow in Pride for a month. The radical rainbow revolution has stalled, and even its prior victories, such as same-sex marriage, may be losing support.

By Caleb Kruse, The Stream – If there’s one thing that everyone, regardless of age, religion, or politics, can agree on, it’s that cell phones have overtaken our lives… That’s why Nebraska’s students, parents, and teachers alike recently welcomed Governor Jim Pillen’s signature banning cell phones in public schools. The bipartisan and nearly unanimously passed legislation aims to eliminate the distractions of cell phones in classrooms, which 72% of high school teachers nationwide say is a “major” problem. …

By Andrea M. Picciotti-Bayer, National Catholic Register – The Supreme Court Wednesday morning kept in place a Tennessee law banning medical “gender transitions” on minors… The 6-3 decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti protects vulnerable children from the snares of gender ideology and safeguards our Constitution from being manipulated by this sinister ideology… In 2023, Tennessee restricted medical “transition” treatments for minors, enacting SB1 — the Prohibition on Medical Procedures Performed on Minors Related to Sexual Identity. …

By Steven Thomas, Catholic Exchange – I would like to propose a new title for St. Joseph in his Litany: “Icon of Fatherhood.”  Allow me to explain why this title, and why now… Our world is in the midst of a great turning.  An unseen battle rages, and the speed of degradation visible all around us has increased exponentially… I would posit the breakdown of fatherhood goes hand in hand with the breakdown of society.  Sociological data affirms the importance of fathers on family dynamics and what happens when they are missing. To name only a few of the effects of an absence of one’s father …..

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – Although Pope Leo XIV looked slightly nervous when he first walked out on the Loggia after his election, he seems to have made the transition to pontiff with remarkable grace. As John Pinheiro notes in this analysis of Pope Leo’s first few weeks as pope, the Holy Father seems to be carefully charting a course as a “unifying” figure. Even his choice of name suggests this, as his predecessor, Pope Leo XIII is a remarkably popular pope among both liberals (for his emphasis on social justice) and conservatives (for his doctrinal orthodoxy, and resuscitation of Thomism).

By Francesca Pollio Fenton, CNA – At 8 years old, Minnesota native Joe Masek was exposed to pornography for the first time and went on to struggle with an addiction to it for 23 years. Through a series of actions he finally gained freedom and after experiencing a calling to help other men, he founded a ministry called The Freedom Group in 2023… About 100 men have gone through the ministry’s program each year since then. The group uses  a 12-month training system as well as additional courses and retreats to help men break free from porn addiction.

By Joseph Mattera, The Stream – We live in a cultural moment where confusion around masculinity is reaching a boiling point. As society reacts to decades of emasculation and passive male archetypes, many young men are being swept up by a pendulum swing in the opposite direction — toward a hyper-aggressive, self-exalting, and dehumanizing form of manhood… But the Word of God offers a vastly different — and far more glorious — vision for manhood. There are distinct ways God calls men to reflect His image, not through domination but through service, not by controlling others but by cultivating them.

By Victor Joecks, Patriot Post – The government spent decades trying to make fathers unnecessary. The failure of that experiment put society on the long-term path to collapse… Father’s Day is Sunday. It’s much less popular than Mother’s Day for a sad reason. Fewer fathers are involved in their children’s lives. That’s caused by two main factors, the first being children born to single moms. In 2022, almost 40% of births were to unmarried women, according to the CDC. The second reason is the prevalence of divorce.

By Catherine Maxwell, Daily Wire – Daily Wire host Michael Knowles exposed a Catholic college for teaching psychiatric nurse practitioner students “how to greenlight the castration, sterilization, and mutilation of gender-confused kids and adults” in an exclusive thread on X… Steph Williams, a lecturer who uses he/him and she/her pronouns, taught students at Mount Saint Mary College in New York how to halt puberty in children as young as nine, even if they did not experience gender dysphoria, Knowles revealed, based on a tip from advocacy group Do No Harm.

By Patrick O’Hearn, Crisis Magazine – Modesty is one of the lost virtues of our fallen world. As summer approaches, so begins the real test of the custody of the eyes. But the deeper issue of modesty isn’t primarily about what women wear. It begins and ends with fathers… Sadly, many Catholic fathers want to be liked by their children and so they remain silent when their daughter wears leggings in public and skimpy skirts at Mass. Or maybe we fathers are too busy with our careers and pursuits that our daughters’ emotional needs are neglected. We as men also need to model modesty in how we dress.

By Mark Haas, Catholic Exchange – On this Sunday, dedicated to honoring fathers, the Church has a powerful opportunity—not only to offer thanks for the men who give life, guidance, and protection to their families—but to renew our understanding of the irreplaceable role fathers play in passing on the Catholic Faith.
The Catholic Church has long understood the family as a “domestic church,” a term rooted in the early Church and echoed at the Second Vatican Council (Lumen Gentium, 11). In this domestic church, the father traditionally served as a kind of household priest—leading prayers, teaching the Faith, and modeling virtue.

By Bishop James D. Conley, The Catholic Thing – Today, we are faced with a similar problem, but on a wildly greater scale. Artificial Intelligence and related technologies will now be able to use our reliance on screen-delivered mediating technologies and throw us into something close to total confusion about what is real and what isn’t… Deep-fake videos are now often indistinguishable from real ones. Soon, you won’t know whether you are in a Zoom meeting with a real person or with an AI-created chatbot who looks just like a real person. Voices can now be faked to the point where even family members cannot tell the difference. “Proof of reality” is going to become a thing.

By Patrick Hampton, Patriot Post – My father then explained a fundamental conservative principle: personal responsibility. He believed that relying on government assistance could encourage dependence and discourage working hard. Instead, he emphasized the importance of taking responsibility for oneself and paying for one’s needs through effort and hard work. He explained that we should be self-reliant rather than expecting government programs to support us.

Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – The Catholic Church views the family as a fundamental unit of society and faith. Family roles and responsibilities are shaped by teachings on love, sacrifice, and service. And parents hold a primary duty to raise children in the Catholic faith… This duty goes beyond academic learning to include moral and spiritual formation. Parents are to teach their children about God, prayer, and the sacraments. Parents, as mentioned by Pope Leo, must model virtues like charity, patience, and honesty in daily life – helping their children to follow their example.

By Joshua Monnington, The Federalist – Fathers are some of the hardest people to buy gifts for. Ask them what they want, and they don’t know. They finally figured out something they wanted, but it’s too late for you to gift it — they already went out and bought it, again. Deep down inside, you just want to get the dad in your life a gift that will match his masculinity and not send him digging for the receipt. The bad news is that there’s no foolproof list; the good news is that this is (pretty much) as close as it gets.

By Eduardo J. Echeverria, The Catholic Thing – In light of Pope Leo XIV’s statement that the family is founded on the “stable union between a man and a woman,” the responses of the critics and boosters of the late Pope Francis’s view of conjugal marriage are striking. The former imply that Leo’s view of conjugal marriage as the two-in-one flesh union of a man and a woman reaffirms what Francis had denied, and the latter defend the continuity between Francis and Leo on marriage… On the one hand, the critics are wrong.

By Brad Mattes, LifeNews – New evidence shows a widescale coverup regarding the dangers of chemical abortion pills… A new peer-reviewed study by Charlotte Lozier Institute examined nearly 29,000 visits to emergency rooms by women who within 30 days had undergone either a surgical or chemical abortion… The research revealed widespread miscoding of these ER visits. Women who were suffering serious effects of chemical abortion were often coded as having a miscarriage.

By Joy Pullmann, Ex. Dir., The Federalist – Returning noncitizen children and noncitizen parents to their countries could save taxpayers hundreds of billions, especially in state budgets… A few simple calculations indicate that as much as one-quarter of U.S. public school enrollment could be anchor babies, meaning children with at least one parent illegally present in the United States. This alone amounts to at least $145.6 billion in public resources diverted from U.S. citizens every year.

By Aliyah Cohen, MRC TV – Meet Skye Tooley, a self-proclaimed “anti-bias educator” who once again made headlines for pushing blatant bias in the classroom… In a recent video, the Los Angeles teacher proudly told followers she’s “indoctrinating” her 5th grade students this Pride Month with lessons on queer icons and Pride flags… Tooley may have been awarded with a Human Rights Award by the California Teachers Association in 2023, but a quick scroll through her feed (and her track record) tells a different story. …

By Thomas Gallatin, Patriot Post – What is a family? That simple question has gotten more challenging to answer in the day and age in which we live, and intentionally so. But why?… The 5th Edition of the American Heritage Dictionary’s first definition offered for “family” is as follows: “A fundamental social group in society typically consisting of one or two parents and their children.” What is tellingly missing from that definition are the terms “father” and “mother.”… The core family — a father, mother, and their children — has formed the definition of family in the human context since the dawn of time. …

By Aliyah Cohen, MRC TV – Walk into Target this June, and instead of LGBTQ baby clothes or “tuck-friendly” swimsuits for minors, you’re hit with a wave of red, white, and blue. Flags. Fireworks. Father’s Day. The 4th of July — a whole month early… The historic backlash on Target’s 2023 Pride Month merchandise collection was no joke. According to Fox Business, the company lost over $9 billion in market value and saw its first sales decline in six years. …

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – It’s June. You know what that means, right? It means it’s the month of the Sacred Heart, of course!.. Unfortunately, some of my readers will have thought to themselves, with sorrow, “It’s Pride month.”… I don’t blame those who did. That’s how effective the architects of the culture of death are. You have to hand it to them: they are extraordinarily adept at twisting language, using the tools of modern marketing to transform society at the most fundamental level… However, just because the wider society is celebrating so-called “Pride” month, doesn’t mean that we cannot do our own part …

By Jack Rigert, Catholic Exchange – In a world increasingly confused about the meaning of love, identity, and commitment, the Church lifts up marriage not merely as a cultural tradition, but as a divine and sacred reality. Marriage is a sacrament—a visible sign instituted by Christ that communicates grace. But it is more than that: as Pope St. John Paul II taught, marriage is the “primordial sacrament”—the original sign through which God’s plan for humanity was made visible from the very beginning.

By P. Gardner Goldsmith, MRC TV – The University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Medicine announced on May 30 that, in compliance with a January Executive Order issued by President Donald Trump, it will “remove access to puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgeries for individuals under the age of 19,” marking a significant change in policy and procedure and handing a pyrrhic victory to Americans who believe in conservative values and the original intent of the Founders who wrote the U.S. Constitution.

By Mark Swanson, Newsmax – The Department of Education announced Monday that the month of June will now be recognized as “Title IX Month,” commemorating the 53rd anniversary of the federal civil rights measure being signed into law while highlighting how the previous administration undermined efforts to protect girls and women under the law… Title IX Month replaces Pride Month celebrated by the Department of Education under former President Joe Biden, who in 2022 declared June LGBTQ Pride Month. From there, Biden’s DOE Pride Month celebrations focused on gender ideology, critical race theory, and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

By Ireland Owens, The Stream – A host of American corporations are backpedaling from their involvement in gay pride events this year amid the Trump administration’s rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts across the country… A growing number of reports show that organizers of major gay pride parades and festivals across the U.S. are scrambling for funds due to several longtime corporate sponsors scaling back their support of LGBTQ events. Some scholars explained to the Daily Caller News Foundation that news of companies pulling back from pride events may reflect a broader shift away from DEI in corporate America.

By The Ruth Institute, The Stream – One of the most persistent myths promoted by LGBT advocates is that sexual orientation is fixed and cannot change. Research and clinical experience suggest otherwise. In this 39-minute video, Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse interviews Dr. Floyd Godfrey, a clinical sexologist and Christian counselor with decades of experience helping individuals overcome pornography addiction, unwanted same-sex attraction, and sexualized attachments.

By Peter Wolfgang, Catholic Culture – “Support for same-sex marriage among Republicans has dropped 14 points in the last 3 years, per Gallup.”… First, it’s not just a partisan thing. It’s a generational thing. Generation Z’s support for same-sex marriage has “plummeted” in recent years… Second, well, consider some of the comments in Metzger’s thread. Says Family Research Council’s Joseph Backholm: People are starting to see the big picture. SSM was sold on the basis that personal happiness is the greatest good. That was never true, but pretending it is has terrible consequences that we are just beginning to experience and come to terms with….

By Nate Jackson, Patriot Post – MAHA stands for Make America Healthy Again, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s director of the Department of Health and Human Services, is leading the charge. MAHA’s laudable goal is to make progress in addressing the health issues that are adversely affecting millions of Americans. Obesity is rampant, along with an increase in diabetes and other weight-related complications. Autism and attention disorders seem to have exploded, as have asthma, allergies, autoimmune disorders, and cancer.

By Simon Caldwell, Catholic Herald – Hundreds of woman in America and the UK are planning legal action after a contraceptive jab left them at risk of developing potentially lethal brain tumours… A study in France revealed last year that injections of medroxyprogesterone, marked under the brand name Depo-Provera, made if five times more likely for a woman to suffer from meningioma, a type of non-cancerous growth… A lawsuit was launched last week in Florida by 400 American victims of the drug, with about 200 women in the UK ….

By Morgan Sweeney, Dan McCaleb, The Daily Signal – President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and others on Monday thanked those U.S. service members who died serving their country during a Memorial Day event at Arlington National Cemetery… “We gather today to honor the incredible service members who rest in glory in this cemetery and burial grounds around the world, and in thousands of lonely places known only to God.” Trump said. “And every hour of peril and every moment of crisis, American warriors have left behind the blessings of home and family to answer their nation’s call. They’ve offered all that they had within them and given their last breaths to each and every one of us so that we might live safe and breathe free.”

By Michael Foster, The Federalist – The core problem is that nice guys’ self-sacrifice is rooted in a falsehood. It’s not motivated by strength or obedience to God — it’s motivated by insecurity and fear… For years, I’ve watched men in the Church try to gain respect by being nice and fail miserably. They serve, they sacrifice, they bend over backward to please everyone around them, especially their wives. But it doesn’t lead to the life they expected… Instead of respect, they get resentment. Instead of admiration, they get indifference. They’re overlooked, not honored. Their efforts go unnoticed, their sacrifices unappreciated.

By Sarah Cain, Catholic World Report – Pornography is an inversion of conjugal love, and it is becoming ever more extreme and violent. As pornography has become more widely accepted and trivialized in secular culture, its most dangerous elements have increasingly been adopted. With that adoption, the underlying ways in which men and women relate to one another have become disordered, often in very disturbing ways.

By Craig Bannister, CNS News – “Work requirements for able-bodied adults are good for three reasons,” Jordan said: They respect the taxpayers who have to fund the benefits… It’s good for our economy, which needs workers… It’s most important for the individual who goes to work… “Saint Paul Was a tentmaker,” Rep. Jordan noted: “He was doing two jobs: he was doing his missionary work and he was also doing manual, building tents. He was doing work. It is good for people.” ….

By Judie Brown, National Catholic Register – The power of creation is shared not with angels, but with mothers… We know, of course, that it is the mother who bears the child and nurtures her baby prior to birth and after. She is the central figure in that baby’s prenatal life, and hopefully in her life after birth as well. There are obvious exceptions to this, but in the normal course of events, mothers are the heroines who literally lay it all on the line to bear children.

By Jason Bedrick, The Daily Signal – Louisiana families are on the cusp of a transformative opportunity for their children—but that opportunity is in jeopardy of being swamped… Last year, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed into law the Louisiana Giving All True Opportunity to Rise (“LA GATOR”) Scholarship Program, which has the potential to be a legacy-defining achievement…. The policy gives Pelican State families the freedom and flexibility to customize their child’s education. Families can use their GATOR scholarships to pay for private school tuition, textbooks, curricular materials, special-needs therapy, and more. …

By Maisey Jefferson, The Federalist – Last week, The New York Times published in its opinion section a video by “filmmaker” Shaina Feinberg posing the question: “Is it possible to be a great mom and have a great career?” This question has purportedly “plagued” Feinberg… According to a short synopsis alongside the video, Feinberg’s mother “dreamed of a successful career as a performer,” but “then gave up those dreams to raise her daughters.” The Times describes this decision as a “loss” that “still haunts” Feinberg’s mother.

By Cathe Laurie, The Stream – It’s been said that motherhood is the toughest job you’ll ever love… I might add “and occasionally lament while crying for fear that you might be failing.” And yet the truth remains that motherhood — despite its messy glory — is the most important job in the world… Genesis 3:16 tells us that, as a result of the Fall, women bring forth children “in pain and sorrow.” If that isn’t the most honest description of motherhood, I don’t know what is. There most certainly is pain, from that first contraction until the last teenage eye roll. But this I know for certain: It is pain with a purpose.

By Samantha Koch, Patriot Post – One small step toward restoring the dignity of motherhood will be a giant leap for mankind… In modern society, motherhood is increasingly framed as a burden. Many women view this role as a goal for those who do not have any real ambition in life. Where this perspective used to exist primarily on the political Left, it is unfortunately a mindset for women who claim to espouse traditional values as well. Influencers across the political spectrum, from feminist content creators to those who generally promote conservative philosophies on their platform, perpetuate a narrative that belittles marriage, homemaking, and raising children.

By Jim Mishler, NewsMax – Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took to the airwaves Sunday to continue his attempt to get more attention focused on the factors that cause autism… Kennedy appeared on a New York radio show to continue pushing for more scientific analysis on the cause of autism. Kennedy said, “This is an epidemic. It dwarfs the COVID epidemic and the impacts on our country because COVID killed old people. Autism affects children and affects them at the beginning of their lives, the beginning of their productivity,” according to The Hill.

By Andrea M. Picciotti-Bayer, National Catholic Register – On Easter Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a case brought by a group of parents from Montgomery County, Maryland, who object to the indoctrination of their pre-K-through-eighth-grade children. The courageous defense of their children’s formation in Mahmoud v. Taylor can advance both religious freedom and parental rights under the law in our public schools… In the fall of 2022, the Montgomery County Board of Education decided to weave a collection of LGBTQ+-inclusive storybooks throughout the literature curriculum for their youngest learners.

By Joy Pullmann, The Federalist – For decades, the U.S. medical system has delivered amphetamines to skyrocketing numbers of Americans without clear evidence a defined disorder exists or of any long-term effects, says a New York Times Magazine article out Sunday. One in nine American children has an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder diagnosis now, including nearly a quarter of 17-year-old American boys. This record number is more than triple the diagnoses in the mid-1990s, says the Times.

By Hannah Hiester, LifeNews – The percentage of childless U.S. adults who say they never want children has doubled over the span of 20 years, rising from 14% in 2002 to 29% in 2023, a new study discovered… The research, performed by a team at Michigan State University, used data from the National Survey of Family Growth to analyze 80,000 adults’ attitudes toward having children, MSUToday reported. In addition to fewer people desiring children, the percentage of childless adults who plan to have children in the future also fell, going from 79% to 59% across the same time frame.

By Kari Jenson Gold, First Things – We take drugs to sleep and drugs to focus. Drugs to calm down and drugs to cure depression. We take drugs to prevent babies, and drugs to prevent puberty. We erase our wrinkles and rent our wombs. We don’t have sex, we just watch porn. And now, we take drugs instead of food. Everything that makes us who we are, everything human, is under attack.

By Thomas Gallatin, Patriot Post – Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was recently interviewed by CBS News. It was his first TV interview since becoming HHS chief… The wide-ranging interview focused primarily on Kennedy’s touted Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda. For Kennedy, a key feature of MAHA is addressing the quality of the foods Americans eat. As he contends, the “FDA needs to start regulating food again and saying, you know, not just when food is adulterated, when there’s bacteria in it, let’s look at the chemicals in it.”

By Kathy Schiffer, National Catholic Register – Moviegoers who see Angel Studios’ The King of Kings are in for a treat. The animated film tells a story within a story: The life, death and resurrection of Christ is recounted with the storytelling prowess of Charles Dickens, who explains the Passion as a bedtime story for his young children… This Lenten season, the movie industry has more Christian offerings than in any year in recent memory.

By Cardinal Newman Society, The Catholic Thing – Summer programs are a great opportunity for high school students to strengthen their academic and extracurricular skills, grow in their spiritual lives, get a head start on college visits, learn from distinguished professors, make lifelong friends, and experience what faithful Catholic education is all about. The Cardinal Newman Society presents a list of more than two dozen programs in North America and overseas.

By Andrea Mrozek and Peter Jon Mitchell, The Federalist – No man or woman remains young, healthy, and working forever, which makes a network of family supports more important as time goes on… While recently sharing a meal with a group of Gen Z and Millennial young adults, we discussed whether marriage is still relevant. Marriage was once almost a given, but the pathway to family life is far less straightforward today… This is the central question we ask in our new book, I…Do? Why Marriage Still Matters. We’ve identified at least five forces that have reshaped how young adults understand marriage and left them less confident about the prospect of enjoying a healthy married life.

By Laraine Bennett and Lianna Haidar, Catholic Exchange – Anxiety. Who has not had on occasion that panicky feeling, our heart racing as anxious “what if” thoughts flood our minds? This heightened stress response is the amygdala setting off alarm bells, preparing us to fight or to flee, telling us we are in danger… When we are in mortal danger, we need our amygdala to ready our bodies by quickening our breath, raising our blood pressure, sending cortisol and adrenaline to heighten our energy. But what if we are simply preparing to give a presentation at work? Or laying in bed trying to sleep?

By MassResistance, The Stream – Public school enrollment across the country is going down. By the thousands, families are saying they’ve had enough. They are either paying to send their children to private schools or they are taking on the burdens of homeschooling… It’s not hard to see why. By virtually every measure, public education in America is worse than ever before. High percentages of children in every grade are reading below their expected grade-point level. They can’t solve complex (or even easy) math problems. Their knowledge of civics, American government, and history is abysmal. They can’t write coherent paragraphs.

By Tim Young, The Daily Signal – President Donald Trump’s win in November was so sweeping of a mandate that Republicans won control of both the House and Senate… Control of Congress is critical to moving Trump’s vast America First agenda forward—and because of the slim majority held by Republicans in the House of Representatives, one would hope they’re working together in lockstep on behalf of the American people. …

By Brenda Baletti, Ph.D., Children’s Health Defense – According to a special investigation by journalist Sharyl Attkisson, the government has misled the public for decades about the science linking thimerosal to autism and other neurodevelopment disorders. It also continues to claim thimerosal has been removed from all childhood vaccines — even though some vaccines, including those given to children, still contain the ingredient… The U.S. government has long told the public that thimerosal, a mercury-based vaccine preservative ingredient, poses no harm to children, but that out of an abundance of caution, the ingredient hasn’t been used in childhood vaccines since at least 2001. …

By James Kalb, Catholic World Report – Last month, I suggested that subsidiarity comes from the idea that social order begins with the family, and proceeds from there to ever broader communities and ultimately to the whole world… This view makes the family the fundamental social institution. That means it isn’t just a private contract or a matter of legal or social prescription. It’s something more deeply rooted in human nature: a durable union of man and woman that is complementary and oriented toward bringing new life into the world.

By Anna Kaladish Reynolds, The Federalist – Fractured families have contributed to a rise in child poverty, violence in our communities, and poor educational outcomes. That’s the already well-established finding of the 2025 Hope and a Future report from Center for Christian Virtue (CCV). While the statistics are bleak, the report also points to a solution: In order to address the sharp rise in child poverty, violence, and poor educational outcomes, states should incentivize married parents and support intact families.

By Dr. Donald DeMarco, Catholic Exchange – Fear is a fundamental feature of our life.  It cannot be eradicated.  It differs from pain insofar as it anticipates something and is not experienced directly.  It is an anxiety about what might happen.  Existential philosophers refer to fear as rooted in our very existence.  They refer to it as “existential anxiety.”  Therefore, it is normal.  But how we respond to fear is another thing… When Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II, the first thing he said to his people was, “Do not be afraid.”  This is all good advice, but how does one overcome fear, and what are the consequences of allowing fear to have its way?

By Ken Blackwell, Patriot Post – App stores must secure parental approval and age verification before a minor under 16 years old can download an app of any kind… When I was growing up in Ohio in the 1960s, there was no such thing as a private teenage world. My friends and I all knew each other’s parents, and we were held accountable for our speech and our behavior by a network of moms and dads who knew one another. While local communities were knit more closely together back then, things are very different in America today. …

By Scott Ventureyra, Crisis Magazine – On February 5, three prominent biologists and presidents of major biological associations wrote a letter to President Trump and Congress opposing his January 2025 Executive Order 14168, titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” The letter alleges that scientific evidence contradicts the binary view of sex by emphasizing the complexity of sex determination involving chromosomes, hormones, and anatomy, and highlighting variations that suggest sex and gender are not strictly binary traits.

By Susan Ciancio, Catholic World Report – In the US, estimates of abortion of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome range from 60% to 90%. In Iceland, that number is nearly 100%, while in Denmark it’s 98%, and in Australia, it is about 90%… March 21, 2012, was the first World Down Syndrome Day. This day reminds the world how precious and special are those with Down syndrome and how we must be their voice so that they can attain their full potential.

By Catholic World News – The USCCB has issued an action alert asking the faithful to urge their members of Congress to “protect and support Dreamers, especially DACA beneficiaries and those who are part of mixed-status families.”… “Dreamers,” named after the DREAM Act, are immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children. DACA refers to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, President Barack Obama’s 2012 executive action deferring deportation of “Dreamers” and permitting them to work in the nation legally without providing a path to citizenship. …

By Vicki Yamasaki, Corpus Christi for Unity and Peace – The U.S. Catholic Church stands at a crossroads, marked by an aging flock, a growing immigrant presence, and a devastating erosion of faith and morals. The Pew Religious Landscape Study (RLS) for Catholics from 2007, 2014, and 2023-24 offers a sobering glimpse into this crisis for traditional Catholics rooted in the Magisterium’s truths: for every 100 Catholics entering, 800 Catholics leave, prayer is declining, belief in God is plummeting, and a super majority supports issues deemed morally evil by the Church—demographically propped up by immigrants yet spiritually adrift. …

By Ben Johnson,  The Daily Signal – As U.S. public school scores plunge yet again, a new study shows homeschool students are more likely to report positive mental health outcomes, to be married and have children, to volunteer in their communities, and to believe in God… The report’s findings come as President Donald Trump contemplates returning most of the federal government’s role in education back to the states and eventually abolishing the U.S. Department of Education… Compared to the other groups, long-term homeschoolers—those who spent at least eight years being educated at home—reported the lowest levels of depression and anxiety, were the least likely to say they “feel helpless dealing with life’s problems” …..

By Bronson Winslow, The American Spectator – While neither the Republican Party nor the Democratic Party is specifically Christian, the Democratic Party alone is demonic. The Republican Party is far more responsive to Christian concerns, if for no other reason than Evangelical Christians and theologically conservative Catholics make up a much larger part of that party’s base than they do the Democratic Party… The Democratic Party is not just non-Christian but demonic because its two greatest idols are the grave evils of LGBTQ immorality (especially the multi-threat of transgenderism) and abortion.

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – It is not uncommon to question why the Catholic Church is interested in contraception. Further, because the subject is rarely preached about or spoken of, it is often unclear what exactly the Church teaches and why… Modern society idolizes what it perceives as freedom, especially regarding human sexuality. Some assert that “love is love.” Sex is seen primarily as a matter of “self-expression” or “self-fulfillment.” This means one can love whoever they want and however they wish. However, proponents of this view never define what “love” is, or acknowledge the potential harm this view creates.

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – Among the dozens of Executive Orders President Donald J. Trump signed during the first few weeks in office were two Executive Orders: Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families and Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12. The first aims to expand educational freedom and opportunity for families, and the second addresses discrimination and protecting parental rights… Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families recognizes that parents, not the government, play a fundamental role in directing the upbringing and education of their children.

By Josh Hammer, The American Spectator – Democratic elected officials are also deeply split. California Gov. Gavin Newsom made headlines this week by repudiating certain facets of wokeism during an interview with Charlie Kirk, but congressional Democrats attending Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday evening took the opposite approach, beyond refusing to applaud: Rep. Al Green (D-Tex.) obnoxiously heckled the president and was kicked out of the House chamber within the speech’s first few minutes — deservedly so. In general, their conduct was positively buffoonish.

By Justine Brooke Murray, MRC TV – Even Oxford University admits that sexually mutilating people who already suffer enough psychological issues worsens their mental health. Their Academic Journal of Sexual Medicine recently published a study hoping to propagate the narrative that gender deluded individuals “face heightened psychological distress, including depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation” because their delusions are not “affirmed”…. Not because they’re deluded to begin with.

By John M. Grondelski, The Catholic Thing – A recent issue of The Atlantic carried Kristen Brown’s report, “The Coming Democratic Baby Bust,” which argues that the first Trump Administration was marked by a sharp fall in births in Democratic locales. Brad Wilcox from the Institute of Family Studies (IFS) and the University of Virginia has also just brought out a study speaking of a “Trump bump,” offering statistics that during Trump I, Republican counties had higher than expected fertility, Democratic ones lower ….

By Rachel Sheffield, Daily Signal – Vance also touted President Donald Trump as being “the most pro-family, most pro-life American president of our lifetimes.”… The most pro-life and pro-child institution that exists is marriage. Healthy marriage is the bedrock of healthy families and children. Declining marriage rates drive down birth rates. Married women are far less likely to have an abortion. And children raised by their married parents have on average the best outcomes on a host of factors: physical and emotional health, educational achievement, and poverty risk.

By Brittany M. Hughes, MRC TV – If you listen very, very closely, you can hear the sound of the world’s smallest violin being played just for leftists… Of course, you’ll have to struggle to hear it over the din of the LGBTQ mafia screaming and the media having an emotional meltdown over the fact that India’s first and only clinic for “transgender” people has closed thanks to USAID being shut down. According to Yahoo News, the facility was the only one in the country that offered “free general health consultations, HIV screening and treatment, mental health support, and gender-affirming services,” all paid for by U.S. foreign aid.

By James Baresel, Crisis Magazine – Western patriarchy had nothing to do with blanket, across-the-board control of women by men. Patriarchal authority of husbands over wives was one form of hierarchical authority among others, some of which gave women authority over men.

By Victor Davis Hanson, The Daily Signal – We talk about this white, monolithic, racist society that has to be overturned under DEI, but let me go back to 1960. I was born here, where I’m speaking, on 125-130 acres of a family farm that had been in my family since 1870… But my point is this, over where I’m pointing now, there was a farm run by Harry Gusegian. I shouldn’t even mention his name. It was a wonderful family. And they were from, they had escaped, his family, the Armenian genocide in Turkey. And he was very ethnic. He was very strong, proponent of Armenian culture.

By Kate Quiñones for CNA – HHS stated Wednesday that “there are only two sexes, female and male,” defining sex as “unchangeable and determined by objective biology.”… The announcement comes in the wake of President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14168, which affirms the biological reality of sex, as well as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation last week as secretary of the HHS… “There are only two sexes, female and male, because there are only two types of gametes… An individual human is either female or male based on whether the person is of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing eggs (ova) or sperm.”

By Alyssa Murphy, National Catholic Register – It was just a couple of weeks ago that the news broke: Ryan Anderson’s bestselling book When Harry Became Sally was back on the virtual shelves of Amazon’s online bookstore. As Catholics and conservatives applauded the news, it was a call and answer that occurred on the Twittersphere, or the X-sphere, Anderson pointed out… In recounting the tale to EWTN News, Anderson, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said that he found the decision “transparently political,” and he says despite the executive orders and the tide turning for those who believe in common sense, people’s guard should not come down on such issues.

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – On January 22, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, issued a pastoral letter called “The Christian Family, In Vitro Fertilization and Heroic Witness to True Love.” In his letter, Bishop Burbidge seeks to guide people of good will and the faithful to better understand the respect that is owed to the human person by addressing the inherent dangers and immorality of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and the perennial teaching of the Catholic Church regarding marriage, procreation, and family life.

By Lois McLatchie Miller, First Things – Elon Musk did the world a service by bringing the U.K.’s darkest crimes to light. The “grooming gangs” scandal, which took place over decades in our poorest, post-industrial towns, should never be forgotten, especially since many perpetrators still have not been brought to justice. Various authorities failed to investigate the crimes out of fear of being branded racist or Islamophobic, a symptom of Britain’s performative commitment to diversity and multiculturalism. Unchecked immigration was almost certainly a contributing factor, as was rampant poverty.

By Susan Ciancio, Catholic World Report – The Culture of Life Studies Program from the American Life League helps build a foundation of faith that every family needs as they walk the path to eternity with God… February is the Month of the Holy Family—a time to reflect upon the three people we can seek solace from in times of turmoil and share joy with in times of happiness. They are the ones we should strive to emulate, especially as we work to make our families holy and bring each member closer to God.

By Tristan Justice and Gina Bontempo, The Federalist – The confirmation of America’s new Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., offers a generational opportunity to reinvigorate the nation’s health before the twin epidemics of obesity and chronic disease become endemic.. “If I’m given the chance to fix the chronic disease crisis and reform our food production, I promise that within two years we will watch the chronic disease burden lift dramatically,” Kennedy said in his Phoenix endorsement speech of then-Republican nominee Donald Trump. “We will make Americans healthy again.”

By Todd Aglialoro, Catholic Answers – This has been National Marriage Week, and of course (Feb. 14th) is St. Valentine’s. A double reason, then, to honor one of the primordial forces of human nature: the inner drive of man and woman to seek out and cling to one another in a permanent, exclusive embrace, for their mutual aid and the bearing and raising of children… This force, however, once as constant as gravity and as powerful as the sun, seems to be… slipping.

By Jennifer Roback Morse, National Catholic Register – USAID has been systematically exporting the sexual revolution to countries that do not want it… The recent freeze on U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) expenditures has brought attention to that agency’s unaccountability and waste. But the problems with USAID run deeper than merely wasting taxpayer dollars or being opaque about its activities… Despite funding some worthwhile recipients, USAID has been systematically exporting the sexual revolution to countries that do not want it. Contrary to popular opinion, the sexual revolution is not the result of spontaneous cultural movements or impersonal historical forces.

By James Lalino, Daily Signal – “When you say that name [Rodney Glasgow], it’s like the emotions of wanting to just cry. I get chills. That name and what he did to our community was just unimaginable,” said a parent of a current Kentucky Country Day School student, granted anonymity due to the risk of their children being expelled from the elite independent school that costs a maximum of $30,200 per year… Glasgow runs The Glasgow Group.. is a Maryland-based for-profit educational consultant company that specializes in diversity, equity, and inclusion training for teachers and school administrators.

By Douglas Andrews, Patriot Post – Those crafty Communist Chinese haven’t fought a land war in nearly half a century, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t actively engaged in warfare… It’s just that the conventional kind is so unappealing to the ChiComs. As the great and ancient Chinese strategist Sun Tzu stressed, the real Art of War is to defeat one’s enemy without even fighting him. This is why, as author Peter Schweizer writes in Blood Money, every Chinese officer, soldier, and sailor has since 2006 been required to study Sun Tzu’s classic tract.

By Susan Berry, Ph.D., CatholicVote – Several major children’s hospitals in the United States have stopped giving puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and trans-related surgeries to minors in the wake of President Donald Trump’s executive order that threatens to withhold federal funding from institutions that continue the harmful treatments and procedures… On Jan. 28, Trump signed an executive order titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” in which he affirmed: “Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions.

By The Catholic Herald – The American bishops have applauded an executive order that seeks to prohibit biological men from competing in women’s sports… “We welcome the President’s EO that protects opportunities for women and girls to compete in sports safely and fairly,” Bsps. Robert Barron and David M. O’Connell… Bishops Barron and O’Connell are the chairmen of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committees on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth; and Catholic Education, respectively.

By Steven Ertel, LifeNews – The liberal media and abortion activists claimed that banning abortions would kill women… Women won’t get health care, they will be turned away when they have a miscarriage, and abortion bans will ultimately kill women. Those where the lies the pro-abortion left told people over and over again about what would happen if states ban abortions after the Dobbs decision overturning Roe. V Wade… Today, the CDC proved those claims totally false.

By Carl R. Trueman, First Things – The last decade witnessed a sharp turn against the so-called purity culture that emerged in the 1990s American Christian scene. Emphasizing abstinence and exalting virginity, it has since been blamed for promoting unhealthy views of sex and for damaging some of its adherents. Indeed, mockery of purity culture has become a standard trope, even within Christian circles, where it is often decried for causing trauma, that most elastic term in the dictionary of modern victimhood.

By Tyler Arnold, CNA – The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) banned biological men from competing in women’s sports on Thursday, Feb. 6, to comply with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump the previous day… A new NCAA policy that went into effect on Thursday afternoon states that biological men are no longer eligible to compete on women’s college athletic teams under any circumstance. The NCAA is the largest college athletic association and governs the athletic policies for the highest levels of college sports.

By Doug Mainwaring, LifeSiteNews – President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning men, including those who “identify” as female, from participating in women’s sports in order to “protect opportunities for women and girls to compete in safe and fair sports.”  … “The war on women’s sports is over,” declared the president to the delight of the crowd… The scene in the White House East Room on Wednesday, where the president was flanked by dozens of women and girl athletes who had been waiting for this moment ….

Dr. Sean M. Salai, D.Min, Catholic World Report – Americans have grown more worried about their pocketbooks and less concerned about the culture wars over the past decade, an annual family values survey has found… Deseret News reported Thursday that 71% of adults responding to a poll last year flagged “economic challenges” while fewer than half cited hot-button social topics as major issues facing the nation… That reflects a gradual flip-flop in 10 questionnaires dating back to 2015

By Moira Gleason, Daily Signal – Two conservative women’s groups urged the Senate to enact into law protections for women’s sports as President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring men from women’s sports Wednesday… “The war on women’s sports is over. Should have been done long ago,” Trump told a room packed with female athletes, government officials, and supporters… The order, titled “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports,” directs federal agencies to ensure entities that receive federal funding interpret federal Title IX law according to biological sex, not the sex someone chooses to “identify” as.

By Bishop Joseph Strickland, LifeSiteNews staff – On this week’s episode of A Shepherd’s Voice, Bishop Joseph Strickland explores the Fourth Commandment, “Honor your father and your mother,” emphasizing its critical role in strengthening families and society… Strickland discusses how honoring parents is not only a duty to family but also a reflection of divine order, highlighting the importance of proper respect, discipline, and gratitude within the family unit. He underscores that the breakdown of the family structure is at the root of many societal issues today and calls for a return to God’s plan for family life.

By Jules Gomes, The Stream – Research vindicates Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who faced robust questioning from senators at confirmation hearings… Vaccinated children are 170% more likely to suffer from autism and have a 212% higher risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as bacterial infections and allergies, according to a groundbreaking peer-reviewed study… Published in the Science, Public Health Policy and the Law journal on January 23, the study analyzed the data of 47,155 children in the Florida’s Medicaid program from birth to age 9 and concluded that increasing numbers of vaccinations are associated with an increased risk of autism.

By Theresa Farnan, Eric Kniffin, Mary Rice Hasson, First Things – Trump’s ban on gender transitioning has turned the tide on an indefensible cult,” writes Telegraph columnist Suzanne Moore. “The pretense that sex can be changed is over.” In just ten days, President Trump has worked a stunning reversal of ten years of federal policy. From the Obama years to the Biden era, progressives sought to “eradicate the biological reality of sex” and replace it with “an ever-shifting concept of self-assessed gender identity.” They largely succeeded.

By Moira Gleason, Daily Signal – Homeschool families in Virginia celebrated a victory Thursday after the Virginia state Senate backed away from a bill that threatened religious exemptions for homeschoolers… SB 1031 sought to get rid of an exemption that permits families in the state to homeschool their children because of their religious convictions. After initially voting to pass the bill, the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee acted on a motion to reconsider and voted 13-2 to pass by indefinitely on the bill, meaning the bill will not go to the Senate floor unless the committee takes the bill up again.

By Dawn Beutner, Catholic World Report – The 19th Italian saint had a magnetic effect on children and adults because he possessed an abundance of profound, Christlike joy… The tragedy of boys failing to grow into good men is not a modern phenomenon. While there are many reasons that young men today drift through life or engage in dangerous behaviors, this is not a new problem… In the twenty-first century, this probably has much to do with boys lacking father figures in their lives because of the Sexual Revolution. In 19th century Italy, another revolution was at least partly to blame: the Industrial Revolution.

By Justine Brooke Murray, MRC TV – How scary to think that up until now, civilized society allowed pseudo-doctors to chemically castrate and sexually mutilate children in the name of a cult-like ideology… It’s a barbaric practice widely condemned by the West when it’s carried out by the backward societies of the Middle East that remain stuck in the 7th century. But when our own children become the victims of that same barbarism, our virtue-signaling pop culture has not only normalized but encouraged the act in the name of “gender affirming care.”

By Angela Lill, Crisis Magazine – In all this talk about women’s role in the Church, a more vital and visible female role for the future of the Church has been drastically overlooked—that of the mother… The close of the synod a few months ago created a media buzz around the discussion of increasing women’s ministerial roles within the Church hierarchy, including ordination to the diaconate. There was a worldly clamor for “inclusiveness” and to “enlarge the spiritual motherhood” of women.

By Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell, The Daily Signal – President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday preventing the federal government from funding or supporting irreversible transgender medical interventions for minors… “Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions,” the order says. “This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end.

By David G Bonagura, Jr., The Catholic Thing – “Excellence,” along with its cousin “success,” is the most overused word in education. It adorns mission statements and admission pitches at all levels of both Catholic and secular schools, seeking to convince prospective students to enroll and prospective donors to give. The Catholic elementary school where I was educated, to name but one, had a citation on its outdoor sign: “A National School of Excellence.” The honor was bestowed by some accrediting agency that somehow wielded the majestic power to define what is excellent.

By Jeff Minick, Chronicles – Among the books in my collection is Judith Martin’s Miss Manners Rescues Civilization, in which the author addresses “lapses in civility.” I dip into this hefty volume from time to time, less for edification than for the pleasure of her tart observations… In the last three years, several female writers—wives and mothers for the most part—have also sought to rescue civilization, not just from social gaffes but from the radical ideologies infecting our culture and threatening the ruin of marriage and the family…

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture –
A few days ago, I reviewed Eduard Habsburg’s guide to successful married life (The Habsburgs on marriage and family). Today I offer ten rules drawn from my own experience and reflection. It’s not rocket science; not everybody needs to read a book to figure it out. But it does take thought, prayer and self-discipline to turn all of the points below into the strong habits that create good marriages. I divide my rules into two groups of five, each with its own heading ….

By Craig Bannister, MRC TV – As President Donald Trump begins has second term in the White House, Americans are voicing their opposition to the transgender policies and initiatives advanced by the Biden Administration, results of a New York Times/Ipsos poll released over the weekend reveal… More than three-fourths (77%) of U.S. adults say that society has at least far enough to accommodate transgender people, including half (49%) who think it’s gone “too far.” Notably, even 62% of Democrat Americans believe the nation has gone either far enough (39%) or too far (23%).

CatholicVote – The Episcopal bishop of Washington, D.C., delivered a stridently political sermon about “transgender children” and illegal immigrants in the presence of President Donald Trump during a traditional national prayer service held at the Washington National Cathedral Tuesday. Trump later characterized the sermon as “ungracious” and called on the bishop to apologize to the public… On the first full day of Trump’s second term, Episcopal Bishop of Washington Mariann Edgar Budde presided over the Service of Prayer for the Nation. Trump attended the service with his wife Melania, other family members, Vice President Vance, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-LA.

By Craig Bannister, MRC TV – In his inaugural address on Monday, President Donald Trump announced that, under his administration, the U.S. government will abandon social engineering and recognize the existence of only two genders: those dictated by biology… After promising to put an end to the previous administration’s weaponization of government and political persecutions, the newly-inaugurated president said the federal government will now stop imposing gender ideology on Americans: “This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.” …

By Timothy Goeglein, Daily Signal – Why are so many Americans waiting so long to get married?… One-third of young adults will likely never marry, according to recent research. Lyman Stone, a research fellow at the Institute for Family Studies, analyzed the data and came to some important conclusions… The Knot, a wedding website, ran a study finding that the average age of men and women getting married is now 32 and 30 respectively. The Pew Research Center found that 25 percent of adults over the age of 40 have never been married.

CatholicVote – A federal district court Thursday morning threw out the outgoing Biden administration’s pro-LGBTQ rewrite of Title IX, which critics say undermined women’s and girls’ sports. The ruling applies to the entire country… The U.S. District Court for the Eastern Division of Kentucky’s decision in the case Tennessee v. Cardona states that the administration’s “Final Rule and its corresponding regulations exceed the Department’s authority under Title IX.”

By Jack Rigert, Catholic Exchange – In the Theology of the Body John Paull II wrote, The human body, with its sex—its masculinity and femininity—seen in the very mystery of creation, is not only a source of fruitfulness and of procreation, as in the whole natural order, but contains “from the beginning” the “spousal” attribute, that is, the power to express love: precisely that love in which the human person becomes a gift—and through this gift—fulfills the very meaning of his being and existence. (JPII, Man and Woman, He Created Them, No. 15.1)

By The Stream – Despite being only 27 years old, Mason has a story to tell that is unlike most you will ever hear — and full of truth. In this 90-minute video, he shares his testimony of growing up in a religious Christian home, experiencing early childhood trauma, and his journey into — and later, out of — drugs, promiscuity, and the occult… But it took a near-death experience for him to come out of all those things… This fascinating video is an expose of the methods of the enemy and the power and grace of God. ….

By Steven Thomas, Crisis Magazine – Expecting to make America great without strong families is like racing your 800-horsepower Ferrari 812 Superfast in reverse… You can put focus on manufacturing, education, and politics all you want, but the most, and I mean the most essential thing that is needed to make America great is the restoration of the traditional family. As the family goes, so goes…well, really everything.

By CatholicVote News Feed – Homeschooling and private education are among the only long-term answers parents have to the increasing influence of DEI policies in public schools, according to Sheri Few, founder and president of United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE)… “Despite corporations and other institutions abandoning ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ (DEI), divisive policies are still being promoted by the U.S. Department of Education under the Biden administration,” said Few in a statement via email. …

CV News Feed – According to the results of a recent investigation, the Department of Justice (DOJ) under the outgoing Biden administration poured over $100 million into pushing far-left causes such as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in schools across much of the country… The Daily Wire’s Mary Margaret Olohan reported on Thursday that over the four years President Joe Biden has been in office, his DOJ “awarded over $100,113,942” to the various “woke” initiatives “through 102 grants, throughout 36 states, impacting 946 school districts and upwards of 3 million K-12 students.”

By Ashley Bateman, The Federalist – Pakaluk opens with the story of Hannah, a woman from a Reformed Jewish background whose search for meaning led her ultimately to procreation and the proliferation of family through child-bearing, what she called “this key to infinity.” At the time of her interview, Hannah had seven children, and described her choice to have a large family as a “deliberate rejection of an autonomous, customized, self-regarding lifestyle in favor of a way of life intentionally limited by the demands of motherhood.”

By Justine Brooke Murray, MRC TV – “There are only 2 genders, male and female,” announced President-elect Donald Trump at Turning Point USA’s America Fest on Sunday… No kidding. But our society has fallen to the point where proclaiming it is a stunning revelation. That is why Trump introduced his plan to make basic biology the official policy of the United States.

By Stephen Kokx, LifeSiteNew – Donald Trump is doubling down on his intention to study a possible link between vaccines and autism in children… During a free-flowing press conference at Mar-a-Lago Monday, the incoming president said there are “problems” with the massive increase in autism cases in America over the past several decades and that he intends to get to the bottom of it… “30 years ago, we had, I’ve heard numbers like 1 in 200,000, 1 in 100,000. Now I’m hearing numbers like 1 in 100.

By Mark Alexander, Publisher, Patriot Post – Here, then, is Virginia’s question and Mr. Church’s response transcribed from the New York Sun’s original text… According to The Sun editors: “We take pleasure in answering at once and thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the readers of the Sun.”… “Dear Editor: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, ‘If you see it in the Sun it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus? Virginia O’Hanlon, 115 West Ninety-Fifth Street.”… And Church’s response:

By Craig Bannister, MRC TV – Audio clips of SCOTUS Justice Samuel Alito dissecting and disproving arguments against a Tennessee law banning transgender medical treatments on minors went viral after the SCOTUS justices heard oral arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti (SB1)… At Wednesday’s hearing, Biden Administration Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar and ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio presented arguments on behalf of the plaintiffs… Their lawsuit asks (SCOTUS) to either strike down Tennessee’s law banning transgender medical procedures, such as hormones and puberty blockers, on minors or at least send it back down to a lower court for further scrutiny.

By Regis Martin, Crisis Magazine – … if we are to take seriously the injunction Jesus gives us in Matthew 18:3: “I assure you, unless you change and become like little children, you will not enter the Kingdom of God.” This is not an invitation for the adults in the room to set about infantilizing themselves, but to become rather like little children themselves. And how do they do that? By keeping their eyes wide open. “Reason is like an eye,” explains Luigi Giussani in his signature work, The Religious Sense, “staring at reality, greedily taking it in, recording its connections and implications, penetrating reality, moving from one thing to another yet conserving all of them in memory, trying to embrace everything.”

By Joy Pullmann, The Federalist – Americans who spent at least three high school years homeschooling or attending a Protestant Christian school are much more likely than public school graduates to express Christian beliefs and attend church as adults, finds a recently released survey. Those surveyed who spent at least three years in a Roman Catholic high school are about as likely to attend church and read the Bible as Americans who attended public schools.

By Judy Roberts, National Catholic Register – Amid the presidential campaign, the political football of illegal immigration figured prominently, but the children at the center of it were rarely mentioned… For all the talk about illegal immigration during the recent presidential campaign, one aspect that got little attention was the plight of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children said to have disappeared since crossing the border… Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, did raise the issue during October’s vice-presidential debate when he claimed the Department of Homeland Security had effectively lost 320,000 migrant children.

By Nate Jackson, Patriot Post – I can also tell you that true gender affirmation means affirming someone’s birth sex. Like George Orwell’s newspeak in 1984, the Left has turned this on its head. When a leftist says “gender affirmation,” he means a futile attempt to reverse God’s created order — to change, not affirm, gender, often through scientific and medical experimentation… Don’t ever call what the Left wants “gender-affirming care.” That is a lie.

By Joannie Watson, Integrated Catholic Life – People think I’m a Scrooge… My sister and I lament each year to each other that people are decorating for Christmas earlier and earlier. When I was growing up, decorating the day after Thanksgiving was considered early, and now it’s the norm, even among Catholics. Those of us who wait until even mid-December are the odd balls… And I look like a Scrooge. I don’t play Christmas music until at least after the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. We don’t put our tree until Gaudete Sunday.

By Joy Pullmann, The Federalist – Earlier efforts like these created some robust institutions. Pre-law students at Patrick Henry College, a Christian college founded in 2001, outscore Ivy Leaguers on the LSAT. In 1994, New Saint Andrews College opened with four students in Moscow, Idaho. It now has 220 students and 27 faculty. After opening in 2007 with 35 students, Wyoming Catholic College “has grown 30 percent in the last decade, from 124 to 178 students.” In 1971, Baptist preacher Jerry Falwell started Liberty University. It is now one of the world’s largest Christian universities, with 15,000 students on campus and 80,000 online.

By Jordan Boyd, The Federalist – Whether it is politically, scientifically, or artistically advantageous or not to acknowledge, IVF’s roots lie in accommodating the desires of adults without regard for the commodification of children. Purdy, Edwards, and Steptoe’s scientific development may have paved the way for millions of pregnancies and births, but it has also opened the door for horrors like switching embryos at birth, designer babies, motherless and fatherless children, the erasure of women’s vital role in reproduction, and fraud.

By Calvin Freiburger, LifeSiteNews – Walmart, America’s largest employer, says it will remove sexualized and transgender products targeted at children, review all funding of LGBT ‘pride’ initiatives, end ‘racial equity training,’ and stop participating in the pro-LGBT Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, among other victories for conservatives… The campaign to “de-woke” corporate America has claimed its biggest win yet, with the news that retail giant Walmart is abandoning a broad range of “diversity” initiatives it had previously invested heavily in.

By The Ruth Institute, The Stream – The transgender industry pretends to be concerned about resolving the mental distress of people with gender identity disorder. In fact, it’s a psychiatric and medical scam, detransitioner Walt Heyer tells Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse… Back in 1981, Heyer’s doctor lobbied to get gender dysphoria into the psychiatric reference guide, the DSM — not because it would help the patients, but because it would make it easier to sell wrong-sex hormones and genital surgeries. …

By Theresa Civantos Barber, Aleteia – Christians are called to reject consumerism and embrace simplicity, but what does this actually look like?… When you look at homes on Instagram or Pinterest, you’ll see lots of pictures of gleaming floors and pristine countertops. But those homes are not exactly the norm. Most of us have a harder time keeping our homes not only tidy but free of clutter… The environment around us greatly affects how we think and feel. Messy homes have been found to make us feel anxious, helpless, and overwhelmed. …

By Leah Libresco Sargeant, First Things – America is missing children because it’s missing marriages. However, fixing our fertility gap won’t happen by pressuring or humiliating singles. It requires fixing the broken dating cultures that are delaying marriage formation and leaving men and women feeling resentful of each other. The vast majority of young adults want to get married, but more and more find it isn’t working out as they expect. As a result, half of America’s drop in fertility is explained by the drop in marriage formation.

By Thomas Gallatin, Patriot Post – That wealthy, leftist, hate-promoting outfit known as the Southern Poverty Law Center has once again shown itself to be guilty of the very bigoted hatred it supposedly exists to expose and oppose… The SPLC has published an article about The Babylon Bee, the satirical website that has a straight-news sibling site called Not the Bee. In that piece, the SPLC revealed the identities and locations of six of the writers for the Bee who write under pseudonyms.

By Francis X. Maier, The Catholic Thing – What my age cohort did with that culture is another matter.  We now have a nation where a female Supreme Court justice is unable or unwilling to define what a woman is… We’re now a very long way from the (relative) innocence of the 1960s.  Which is why a tool like The Young Adult Playbook: Living Like It Matters is so valuable.  We live in a moment of intense cultural confusion and relentless noise.  For exactly that reason, the Playbook primarily targets young, college-aged adults, though it makes essential reading for parents as well.

By John Daniel Davidson, The Federalist – This shouldn’t be hard or need any clarification. Rep. McBride is a man, and Johnson should have said so plainly… House Speaker Mike Johnson failed to answer a very easy question lobbed at him Tuesday morning. He was asked whether Rep. Sarah McBride, an incoming freshman lawmaker from Delaware who identifies as transgender, is a man or a woman. McBride is a man who presents as a woman, so Johnson’s answer should have been easy: McBride is a man.

By Matija Štahan, Crisis Magazine – With the first successful implementation of Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface, Neuralink, at the beginning of the year, perhaps we will one day consider that the era of transhumanism was officially begun in 2024. What is transhumanism, though? It is a phenomenon that cannot be reduced to science. It’s not just an ideology either. Nor is it a philosophy or even (only) a hidden secular religion. Transhumanism is all that and more—it is the spirit that pervades numerous phenomena of our time. As I will try to demonstrate, that spirit is anti-Christian.

By Carrie Gress, American Spectator – There are easy steps we can take to start righting the women’s vote now so future elections don’t hinge on the unhinged…. Kamala Harris campaigned like she was running for the presidency of Planned Parenthood, not the United States, with abortion central to her campaign. She promoted a draconian future should Donald Trump be reelected. And it worked. At least for a large demographic of white, educated, single women. …

By Susan Klemond, National Catholic Register – During both of her unintended pregnancies, abortion initially had seemed like the obvious choice, White said… “It almost felt like that was what had been taught to us, and I can’t tell you where that had been taught to me,” she said. “It just seemed like that was the norm, like I’m young and I’m pregnant, so I should get an abortion.”

By Peter Martin, LifeSiteNews – This weekend, dioceses across the country will be taking up the United States Conference for Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) annual collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), the USCCB’s scandal-ridden charity arm… For years, the CCHD has given millions of dollars to groups that openly reject Catholic teaching and promote abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, contraception, and other grave evils in contradiction to the CCHD’s own stated policy.

By Matthew McDonald, National Catholic Register – Database Released In October Found That About 150 Catholic Hospitals Assisted Minors In Gender Transitioning During a Five-Year Period… Bishops should discuss and act on a recent report that Catholic hospitals have provided “pediatric sex-change services” for patients 17 and younger, two bishops told EWTN News recently… Their comments come as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops holds its annual fall meeting in Baltimore, which began Monday.

By John M. Grondelski, Ph.D., Catholic World Report – What is most interesting to me, however, is the “4B reaction” of this death cult. For those noninitiates who never heard of this movement… it is apparently a five-something-year-old South Korean “feminist” ideological import. The four “Bs” are words in Korean: 1) no dating men, 2) no marrying men, 3) no having babies, 4) no sex with men…. What is happening, I maintain, comes from a deeper and darker place: a sacralization, an idolization of politics into a false religion, so that a political loss becomes an act of faith and the casus belli for a war of religion against one’s opponents.

By Bishop James D. Conley, The Catholic Thing – Before Christianity came on the scene, ancient Greek and Roman pagans did not consider children to be fully human persons like adults. Indeed, it is not too strong to say that Christianity introduced the concept of children that we have today, in which we give children more concern than adults owing to their vulnerability. This was truly a revolutionary concept… Such a view comes directly from the commands of Christ, whose very strong view was also extremely counter-cultural.

By Mike Schramm, Catholic Exchange – There has been some chatter online recently about a conversation between Rainn Wilson, famous for portraying Dwight Schrute on TV’s The Office, 58, and Trisha Paytas, YouTuber, vlogger, and influencer, 36, on Wilson’s podcast, Soul Boom. The conversation is less about the content itself discussed and more about the dynamic between Wilson and Paytas. I included the ages of both because many of the comments in response to this uproar centered around the generation gap between the two individuals. ….

By Dakota Meyer, The Stream – … only a small part of America’s legacy is based on who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It’s prominently dictated by the actions and decisions of hundreds of millions of people who build their own legacies one day at a time, regardless of their circumstances or who the president is… The Greatest Generation taught us this 80 years ago, when it defeated Germany and Japan… They could have given up any time, and I doubt we would have blamed them. Instead, they cemented their legacies one person at a time.

By Christine Yeargin, Patriot Post – When parents send their children away for seven hours a day to those who statistically despise their values, not only do they forfeit their role as the biggest influence in their child’s life, but they hand it directly to those who oppose them… Voddie Baucham said, “We cannot continue to send our children to Caesar for their education and be surprised when they come home as Romans.”..

By Paul Senz, Catholic World Report – “I had no idea,” says Kevin Wells, “the story I/we had intended to write of a self-emptying priest during the pandemic would actually become a memoir about marriage—and the manner in which matrimonial graces work to dissolve the dark night.”… Priests are indispensable in the life of the Church… We may not always recognize the profound role priests play in our lives, but in some cases, the role is so dramatic that it cannot be ignored.

By Janet E. Smith, Ph.D., Crisis Magazine – We are on the brink of the 2024 presidential election—which, perhaps more than ever, has us on the brink of preserving this wonderful nation or losing it… Is it true that some Catholics still don’t know for whom they are going to vote, or if they are going to vote? What more do they need to know than they know already? Maybe a lot… A good case can be made for not voting or voting for a third-party candidate in “non-swing” states, but I believe it imperative for Catholics to vote for Trump in swing states. Indeed, somewhat indirectly, Cardinal Burke makes a strong case for this perspective… The only hope we have for changing the laws on abortion (and saving this country!) is to elect those who will work to defend free speech and freedom of religion, who will deport illegal immigrants, who will ensure that elections are fair.

By Dr. Donald DeMarco, Catholic Exchange – In 1848 at Seneca Falls, New York, in a Declaration of Sentiments, a group of feminists made the following statement: “The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having as direct object the establishment of absolute tyranny over her.”… Women decided to fight back. But their platform was defective. Their narrow view of history was a travesty of justice. …

By Kate Quiñones, CNA – The Biden administration announced on Monday that it will require insurance companies to cover over-the-counter contraception in what the White House called the “most significant expansion … in more than a decade” of access to birth control under federal law… The new rule requires insurance companies to remove the prescription requirement for coverage of contraception. The administration seeks to expand contraception in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, according to a White House press conference.

By Kylee Griswold, The Federalist – Kamala Harris has done her best to make abortion the central issue for female voters this election. Of course, Democrats can’t even define “woman” (They aren’t biologists!), but they have no problem defining women’s issues as “reproductive freedom,” which is just lefty-speak for abortion at any time for any reason. Luckily for the Republican Party and the rest of the country, not all women are abortion-loving childless cat ladies — which was abundantly clear in both of Trump’s town halls on Wednesday.

By Matthew McDonald, National Catholic Register – The bishop of Spokane says it’s time for Church leaders to confront the role of Catholic hospitals in immoral procedures on minors… Reacting to a recent report that shows that scores of Catholic hospitals have provided children with drugs or surgeries to change their gender identity, a U.S. bishop has called for a special meeting of the country’s bishops to address what he sees as a major breach of Catholic medical ethics… “As bishops, I think we need to confront Catholic health care, because they are violating their mission,” Bishop Thomas Daly

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – In a news release celebrating the meeting, New Ways Ministry identified the people who had spoken with the Pope along with Sister Gramick: two transgender individuals, the parents of another, and the co-director of a “gender medicine clinic.” If the Pope had any moral qualms about the choices they had made, or the operations they promote, his reservations were not recorded… Nor did the Vatican make any attempt to correct the record. The Vatican has been silent on the October 12 meeting. So once again New Ways Ministry has scored a major public-relations victory, with Pope Francis sitting by, smiling quietly.

By Jules Gomes, The Stream – Leading Catholic hospitals in the United States are performing transgender surgeries on minors, blatantly contradicting Catholic teaching from Rome and from the U.S. Bishops’ Doctrine Committee… A bombshell investigation conducted by Do No Harm, a secular organization that combats identity politics in medicine, has catalogued the cases of thousands of children subjected to irreversible sex-change interventions in U.S. hospitals between 2019 and 2023.

By Edmund Haislmaier, Joel White, The Daily Signal – Changes made to Medicare’s prescription drug coverage by the Biden-Harris administration and congressional Democrats—with not a single Republican vote—as part of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act are sending premiums sky-high, eliminating plans for at least 3 million seniors, and making it harder to access medications… The data shows that under four years of Biden-Harris administration policies … the national average monthly premium paid by Medicare beneficiaries for stand-alone Part D prescription drug plans has increased by 57%.

By Jonathon Van Maren, LifeSiteNews – I have spoken to thousands of students on pornography in the last several years, and I can state unequivocally that not only is porn addiction a growing problem – porn addiction is starting at younger and younger ages… I have met porn addicts who started when they were five years old and had been hooked for a decade by the time they turned 15. I have met teens who were first exposed at ages 7, 8, or 9. I most frequently hear that porn addiction begins around Grade 6, with one school I recently spoke at having an issue with pornography in Grade 5. This problem is real, it is growing, and every community must recognize and respond to that fact.

By Charles J. Russo, Catholic World Report – On October 8, 2024, in a 4-3 decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Scardina, the Supreme Court of Colorado may have finally ended the long-running ordeal of persecution by lawfare of Jack Phillips. The high-profile case began in the summer of 2012 after Phillips expressed his unwillingness to prepare a custom-made cake for individuals entering a same-sex “union” because doing so would have violated his Christian beliefs.

By John M. Grondelski, The Catholic Thing – Proponents of lax immigration policy, however, also employ population numbers. The American Chamber of Commerce has long pushed looser immigration with the claim that it will “boost economic growth” (and increase profits by paying lower wages), and that immigrants do jobs Americans won’t… This makes me want to ask: Is parenthood among the “jobs” immigrants will do that Americans won’t?

By Joy Pullmann, Ex. Editor, The Federalist – Contrary to propaganda messaging, our society is neither ‘overfeminized’ nor ‘pro-woman.’ It is deeply anti-woman… Since the 1960s, cultural leaders in media, Hollywood, academia, and politics have fiercely criticized men for expressing male characteristics, and have fiercely criticized women for expressing female characteristics. This has led some commentators on the right more recently to lambast what they call the “overfeminization” of society.

By Carrie Gress, Ph.D., National Catholic Register – Women were never intended to live in isolation or to live just for themselves. They are meant to be in relationships — thick relationships with husbands, children, God, extended family and spiritual children. The quicker we can get women to stop believing the lie that they were made to live for themselves or just a career, the quicker a pro-life culture can return. The best way to do this isn’t through long arguments or more academic papers, but by meeting women in familiar places. Convincing them need not be arduous. As one of my bosses used to like to remind me, honey attracts.

By Oliver Oliveros, Catholic Exchange – After reading Ryan Patrick Budd’s recent book, Salvation Stories: Family, Failure, and God’s Saving Work in Scripture, one is moved to ponder the effects of mankind’s rebellion against God’s commands. You’ll start to correlate the curses pronounced on Adam and Eve due to their disobedience with the interpersonal dysfunction we express from our adverse family relations… One of the curses on Eve affected her relationship dynamic with her husband, and the curse on Adam is related to his role as a provider (see Genesis 3:16-19).

By John M. Grondelski, Crisis Magazine – Our screen-based culture is flat and temporal, very immanent, very now, in some sense very ephemeral. None of those characteristics is conducive to openness to transcendence… First Things editor Mark Bauerlein spoke September 12 at Belmont House, in Washington, D.C., about his latest book, The Dumbest Generation Grows Up, the sequel to his 2008 Dumbest Generation. Both books are about the consequences of letting a generation come of age on screens.

By Carrie Gress, Washington Examiner – On a personal level, all of this appears innocuous enough. Live and let live, right? But if one shifts the lens wider to a national scale, crises quickly emerge. The problems that most haunted us as a nation are all related to women’s fertility: abortion, in vitro fertilization, surrogacy, and even immigration. American women are not having enough children, so immigrants are required to fund government spending.

By Jonah McKeown, CNA – A new analysis by researchers at the Institute for Family Studies examines the states that are attracting and losing families, and finds that families are leaving many of the most progressive U.S. states and heading for states that are considered more conservative or politically diverse… Reliably blue states — i.e., states that voted for Democratic presidential candidates in both 2016 and 2020 — lost 213,000 families with children in 2021 and 2022, the researchers said… Meanwhile, states that voted Republican in both elections gained 181,000 families.

By Robert Marco, Catholic Exchange – Leila Marie Lawler: “I started writing because I saw a need for women experiencing ‘feminism-induced anxiety syndrome’ to get some relief. Feminism is an ideology that can only succeed by means of a great, unrelenting effort to overcome the natural tendency of a woman to wish to be home, to make a home, to be a helpmate to her husband, and to nurture her children… “One of the ways feminism keeps a stranglehold on women—not just their actions but their psyches—is by insisting that managing a home is difficult drudgery …..

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – A remarkable drama is unfolding in the United Kingdom over an issue of utmost urgency: the question of whether doctors should be able to prescribe powerful “puberty blocker” drugs to children suffering from gender dysphoria… According to news reports, the British Medical Association, the largest professional organization of doctors in the UK, is in an uproar. Numerous doctors have reportedly quit the union after its governing council voted to reject a government report calling for a ban on prescribing puberty blockers to children and teens.

By Eric Sammons, Crisis Magazine – … Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been unique in modern American history in a number of ways. For one, he has campaigned on issues that most politicians don’t touch, including our nation’s health and nutrition, his primary focus… While many pundits highlight his controversial stance on vaccines, his own emphasis has been the rise of chronic illness among Americans, particularly the young… he points a finger at what our nation eats. He argues that our dependence on processed foods and sugar and other harmful foods like seed oils has led to a health crisis of catastrophic proportions.

By Susan Berry, Ph.D., Catholic Vote – Americans who come from two-parent families and who belong to churches or other places of faith report that they have more people to rely on for help and support during times of crisis… The finding comes from the American Enterprise Institute’s (AEI) 2024 American Social Capital Survey, which focused on Americans’ social life. The survey examined the increasing isolation of Americans over the past half-century, observing that Americans “participate in organized activities less often and join fewer community groups than they once did.” …

By John-Michael Dumais, Children’s Health Defense – In a bold experiment that addresses the growing concerns about smartphone addiction and teen mental health, British journalist Decca Aitkenhead challenged her two teenage sons and eight of their friends to go without smartphones for a month… The results, published this month in the U.K.’s Sunday Times Magazine, offer a compelling glimpse into how digital detox can transform young lives — and potentially address what author Jonathan Haidt, Ph.D., calls the “anxious generation.”

By Jason M. Craig, Crisis Magazine – “Marriage is a duel to the death,” said G.K. Chesterton, “which no man of honour should decline.” Marriage fully lived is, to borrow a form of battle uglier than dueling, mutual, assured destruction. But it doesn’t destroy persons and things, it destroys ego, pride, and selfishness. Oh, happy war that ends in both sides winning.

By Ray L. Flores II, Esq., Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D., Children’s Health Defense – Nine-month-old babies must receive multiple doses of an unlicensed mRNA COVID-19 vaccine to be considered “up to date” with their COVID-19 vaccination, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)… The CDC’s updated guidance, issued Aug. 30, states that children — as young as 6 months old — should get either two doses of the 2024-2025 Moderna vaccine or three doses of the 2024-2025 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

By Larry Chapp, National Catholic Register – Recently two Catholic apostolates to homosexuals both held important conferences promoting their respective organizations. Their starkly differing approaches raise the question of the proper relationship between the truth of doctrine and the mercy we need to show in our pastoral application of those truths… The first organization is the well-established ministry known as Courage International, founded in 1980 by Father John Harvey (1918-2010)… The second is Outreach, the relatively new ministry of Jesuit Father James Martin, which held a conference Aug. 2-4 at Georgetown University.

By Emma Waters, First Things – What began as a marriage recession has turned into a full-blown birth dearth. In 2023, the birthrate fell to its lowest point of 1.62 births per woman, well below the replacement rate of 2.1. The future of the US… is threatened by demographic decline. Our economy, Social Security, military readiness, eldercare, education, and more depend on new generations of children. On an individual level, this decline reflects a much darker reality… Pro-natalism, a movement against the decline in births, is making headlines as it draws prominent champions like Elon Musk. …

By Michael Hoffman, Crisis Magazine – Over the course of my relatively short career as an extraordinary proclaimer of the Word, my audience has responded with blank stares and occasional approving smiles. At least until this past Sunday, when I chose to read the longer version of the 2nd reading. St. Paul, who can sometimes be impenetrably obscure, is extremely and almost uncharacteristically blunt: “As the church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.”

By Anna Davis, Crisis Magazine – From public streets, restaurants, and yes, our beloved Catholic parishes, nothing is sacred anymore. And this wholesale lack of respect starts—and in my opinion ends—with how we dress for our respective days… What’s the big deal? If you don’t like it, look away… If you’re like me, you’ve probably noticed hardly anyone seems to be trying anymore… And we’re not talking ball gowns at the Met because in average settings that’s a bit nuts. We’re talking a baseline modicum of self-respect… Gone is the notion of “dressing for your day” as first heard by an ersatz employer in the not-too-distant past. What that even meant is still open for interpretation.

By Matt D’Antuono, National Catholic Register – As students return to college or go to college for the first time this fall, I would like to offer a few suggestions about how to stay Catholic in college. As it happens, I would suggest these same principles to anyone else as helpful practices for holding on to your faith… 1. Know your faith! … I grew up going to a Catholic Church, but hardly anything sank in. I was like a sitting duck for people to come and explain to me what was wrong with Catholicism. …

By Jack Rigert, Catholic Exchange – You on the other hand, are growing up in an unprecedented time in human history. A time when man has redefined marriage, demanded the right to kill their own children, and can no longer define what a woman is. All of this has shaken the very foundation of human civilization all over the world, and you, the most innocent and vulnerable, are experiencing the brunt of the resulting chaos. …

By Aliya Kuykendall, The Stream – Justice Kuehl… author of “Feminist to Feminine: Reclaiming the Value of Womanhood in God’s Story”… told The Stream about her conservative upbringing, how she became a passionate feminist, and then began to realize that the modern feminist movement wasn’t helping women or her own marriage… Along the way, she came across Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, which explain gender roles based on biological design. Those now inform her views of femininity. She encourages readers to find peace in biblical femininity and avoid either a fundamentalist or feminist ideology that reduces women to less than they actually are.

By Rachel Bovard, First Things – Conservatives lost the culture war decades ago, and as a result we are living not just under the political but also the corporate and cultural power of left-leaning CEOs, entertainment figures, and political leaders, many of whom do not have children, do not want them, and who adhere to an ideology that is either indifferent to or actively hostile toward traditional family life. Taken together with the well-documented phenomenon that Americans are having far fewer children, Vance’s statement becomes not just true, but prophetic. We are demographically destined to be governed by the childless.

By Jonathon Van Maren, LifeSiteNews – The public consensus has now changed. Even leftist politicians rarely debate that ubiquitous digital porn use has burned like acid through our collective sexual economy. The discussion is no longer “Is porn bad for our society?” but “How can we best deal with this problem?” Some, like vice-presidential candidate J.D. Vance, have floated the idea of banning porn …

By Carrie Gress, The Catholic Thing – Resentment is a powerful thing. Marxist revolutionaries have fostered it in the heart of followers for over a century. Few are aware that envy and resentment are also at the heart of the feminist ideology. I’ve written previously about the power of the “Gospel of Discontent.” Most believe feminism was some kind of spontaneous cultural spark necessary to recognize the humanity of women, unaware of its highly effective grooming first by socialists, then communists, and finally the New Left.

By Michael Haynes, LifeSiteNews – Addressing participants of Father James Martin’s pro-LGBT “Outreach” conference, D.C.’s Cardinal Wilton Gregory said the heterodox event is aimed at “becoming a more inclusive family of faith.”… “In many respects you are engaging in an act of synodality – the vision and invitation proposed by Pope Francis that sincerely and openly speaking and listening to one another under the light and guidance of the Holy Spirit is the way that the Church grows in perfection,” said Gregory.

By Robert W. Patterson, The Federalist – When labor champion Theodore Roosevelt became president after William McKinley succumbed to an assassin’s bullets, establishment kingmakers such as Sen. Mark Hanna, R-Ohio, went into shock. Equally threatened when Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016, the monied class suffered another coronary after the former president named Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, his running mate three weeks ago, sealing his commitment to remake the GOP into a working-class coalition. …

By Josh Hammer, Patriot Post – The elaborate ruse, intended to shield Democrats’ tongue-tied and dimwitted nominee-in-waiting from scrutiny during her extended post-coup rollout, has resurfaced this 2021 interview that Vance did with then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson: “We’re effectively (running) in this country via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too.”… Anyone who earnestly loves America must, by definition, care about making more American babies..

By James Jeffrey,  Catholic Herald – In a match to qualify for the quarter-finals of the women’s 66kg, the Italian female boxer Angela Carini lasted about 45 seconds in the ring against her Algerian opponent, Imane Khelif, a biological male, before she had to retire from the fight, unable to withstand the force of Khelif’s punches… Before those brief 45 seconds of the fight… Carini can be seen going through her pre-fight routine… She makes the sign of the cross, then genuflects on one knee, before getting up, turning around and going to meet her opponent.

By Mary Rice Hasson, Catholic World Report – In a recent interview psychologist Jordan Peterson asked Elon Musk why he is such an outspoken foe of so-called “gender-affirming care.” Musk countered that “gender-affirming care” is “a terrible euphemism…it’s really … child mutilation and sterilization.” “It’s very possible for adults to manipulate children who are having a natural identity crisis into believing that they are the wrong gender…and that they need to be the other gender…and that will solve their problems…Then they give them sterilizing drugs…called puberty blockers. Sterilizing drugs… so they can never have children…. It’s macabre. It’s evil.” Those were his words.

By Calvin Freiburger, LifeSiteNews – A team of conservative attorneys is making another attempt to force the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider its 2015 decision to force same-sex “marriage” on the country, starting with a brief to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of former Rowan County, Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis… After the Supreme Court’s controversial Obergefell v. Hodges ruling that forced all 50 states to recognize unions between members of the same sex as marriages, Davis declared that she would cease issuing marriage licenses, arguing that her required signature on the documents would constitute a personal endorsement of homosexual unions that violated her Christian beliefs.

By Brittany Hughes, LifeNews – Well this certainly doesn’t bode well for the future of civilization. Or, frankly, the benefit of humans in general… According to a new Pew study released this week, the percentage of adults under the age of 50 who say they probably won’t ever have kids has skyrocketed in recent years, jumping a whopping 10 points in the last half decade alone. In 2023, the share of adults ages 18 to 49 who say they’re now “unlikely to ever have kids” stood at a stunning 47 percent, up from 37 percent in 2018.

By Siobhan Heekin-Canedy, The Public Discourse – ,.. I hesitated to admit that when it comes to work and family, family comes first. I feared that acknowledging the priority of home and children would undermine my belief that women are needed in the public sphere… I had unconsciously absorbed our culture’s insistence that children and parenthood (particularly motherhood) are career obstacles to be overcome, rather than goods in themselves… with time and experience have I become aware of this cultural messaging and grown comfortable stating what I knew, deep down, all along: that children are more important than any job.

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – Our current society… is so influenced by an “eclipse of truth,” that practically every institution, whether implicitly or explicitly, teaches and reinforces a set of moral principles that are diametrically opposed to the Christian moral worldview… The words “sex education” can ring alarm bells in the minds of many Christian parents. And not without reason. Most of what passes for “sex education” is nothing more than sex miseducation. …

By Michael Toscano, First Thing – I was recently invited to lunch at an elite club in New York for work. When I made the mistake, unbeknownst to me, of pulling my dumb phone out of my pocket, I was promptly scolded by a doorman, who commanded me to “put it away.” “No phones allowed, sir,” he said. I couldn’t help but notice the relish with which he meted out the discipline, but my embarrassment soon passed. My envy, however, did not. This rarified stratum of American life had retained the power to stigmatize ill-mannered uses of tech. If only the rest of us had such freedom—if only it extended to the poor, working-class, and middle-class, too.

By Thomas Gallatin, Patriot Post – … the topic of transgenderism came up, specifically as it relates to children. Musk called gender-affirming care “a terrible euphemism,” instead labeling it “child mutilation and sterilization.”… “It’s evil,” he said. “You’re taking kids who are far below the age of consent.” He added, “It’s very possible for adults to manipulate children who are having an actual identity crisis into believing that they are the wrong gender.”… Musk responded: “Well, it happened to one of my older boys. I was essentially tricked into signing documents for one of my older boys, Xavier. This was really before I had any understanding of what was going on, and we had COVID going on, so there was a lot of confusion. And I was told Xavier might commit suicide.”

By Michael Haynes, LifeSite News – Father James Martin S.J.’s pro-LGBT group had its recent fundraiser hosted by two “married” homosexual men in a seemingly recurring event… In a social media post, the prolific LGBT advocate and Jesuit priest revealed details of the latest fundraiser for his pro-LGBT group, Outreach. “Thanks again to Brian Stevens and Alex Capecelatro for hosting a fundraising dinner for Outreach at their beautiful home in Provincetown, Mass,”

By E. Christian Brugger, EWTN News – The moral norms protecting the marriage bed are not “rules” created by the Church, but truths that we discover by attending to the natural law, which is inscribed on our hearts and has God as its author. It is important to understand that the Church does not legislate morality. Rather, the Church guards it and faithfully hands it on so that men and women in every generation will be able to make choices that lead to authentic human freedom and fulfillment.

By Anne Hendershott, Catholic World Report – George Soros’ Open Society Institute is often blamed for providing funding to faux Catholic organizations—like the now-defunct Catholics United and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good—in an effort to marginalize Catholic teachings on moral issues including abortion and LGBTQ issues. But a more overt and focused assault on the teaching authority of the Catholic Church is now coming from a billionaire power couple—Tim Gill and Scott Miller—who are working to discredit Church teachings on sexual morality by directly attacking the Magisterium.

By John Daniel Davidson, The Federalist – The conflicts roiling American society today are not primarily political or even ideological, but religious… America is supposedly a secular country, with separation of church and state, free exercise of religion, and so on. Yet we find ourselves in the middle of what amounts to a religious war. How could this be?… Because America, like all nations, is founded on religious claims, and relies on those claims for its coherence.

By Evan Feinberg, USA Today – What if the solutions are bigger and smaller than most people think?… What happened at Possum Trot… That’s the message of “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot,” a movie released this week. Named after a town in East Texas and based on a true story, it follows the story of dozens of local children who were taken from their families and put in foster care. Their lives were hard, and foster care made them harder. The kids were seemingly destined for a life of violence, jail, addiction, poverty and, in many cases, death.

By Ben Strong, LifeSite News – All young people dream of adventure, of a noble and worthy pursuit, of an unexpected call to set out on a quest. You can, therefore, imagine my excitement and delight, when, as a young man, I received the following note: I wonder if you might be in a position at this time to consider an adventure? For an adventure it shall be… It was an invitation to join an effort to start a small Catholic boarding school for boys – an invitation one doesn’t receive every day!

By Dr. Donald DeMarco, Catholic Exchange – The telephone rang at the Hayden household, deep in suburbia. It was a special consultant to the President for cultural affairs inviting Phyllis McGinley Hayden to the White House Festival of Arts.  Two thoughts crossed her mind, neither being the honor of being invited to the White House. She had to juggle her schedule to fit in an honorary degree at St. John’s University in Jamaica, New York. Her second thought was “Oh, I don’t like this!  I like to live quietly and peacefully.”

By Carrie Gress, The Federalist – For women, motherhood was largely erased as an essential and replaced with a vision of womanhood modeled after a masculine ideal. To maintain this new ideal for women — the pursuit of a career — women were sold the rabid dependence on contraception and abortion that we see today. It can be argued that feminism has been transitioning women into men for decades, with few noticing because of the enticing idols of achievement and independence.

By Adeline A. Allen, First Things – In the wake of the recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling on in vitro fertilization (IVF), much discussion has focused on the status of embryos on ice, many of whom are the so-called “surplus” embryos created in the IVF process. Are they persons? Don’t they deserve legal protection? We pro-lifers answer both questions in the affirmative. The more robust the defense of the least of these, our tiny brothers and sisters, the better.

By Joe Bukuras, EWTN News – A New York City Catholic church, previously caught up in LGBT controversy, hosted a “Pride Mass” Thursday evening using an altar shrouded with a gay and transgender “pride” flag at a local federal monument with sculptures of two same-sex couples and decorated by dozens of LGBT rainbow flags… “Out at St. Paul” is St. Paul the Apostle church’s ministry “to the Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans and Queer community,” which is made up of “mostly gay men,” Paul Snatchko, a spokesman for the Paulist Fathers, told CNA, the Register’s sister news outlet, last year.

By Fr. Thomas G. Weinandy, OFM, Cap., The Catholic Thing – What troubles me almost as much as this gay-pride militancy is the Church’s ambiguous response. Pope Francis has bemoaned the “air” of homosexual culture within the Vatican and seminaries… Over the years, however, I have learned, as have many others, that one should not give much credence to what Pope Francis says. It is what he does that reveals his true intentions. What he has done in relationship to homosexuality bears clear testimony to this hermeneutical principle.

By John Murdock, First Things – Should I have been surprised that ReproductiveRights.gov exists? Joe Biden has shifted from touting his long record of supporting the Hyde Amendment and opposing late-term abortions to making unfettered abortion rights the centerpiece of his presidential campaign. But the “dot gov” should still matter, and it does to me as a federal employee… ReproductiveRights.gov offers resources for avoiding reproduction or snuffing out life in its early stages.

By Nathanael Blake, Catholic World Report – The thesis of Joy Pullman’s new book is that “Western society is being erased by the purposeful destabilization of the institution that creates society: the natural family…”… Remember when gay activists told us that they just wanted tolerance—and that their agenda wouldn’t affect the rest of us?… They lied… What was sold as tolerance for a small minority of Americans who just wanted to quietly live their lives has become a new, mandatory civil religion.

By Nancy Flory, The Stream – The United States should not have a foster care crisis. With approximately 350,000 churches nationwide and more than 100,000 kids in the foster system waiting for placement, this is an area where people of faith could make a big difference… And some of them have… A new family-friendly film, Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot is based on the true story of a church whose parishioners adopted 77 of the most difficult kids their community’s foster care system had to offer.

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – In the marriage vows, the lovers pledge their troth “for better or worse.” They thereby acknowledge that they are entering into a relationship whose future cannot be predicted. They may be starry-eyed now, and naturally they expect to be happy together for years. But they know there are risks; things may get “worse.”… What does “worse” mean in a marriage? It may mean living together in illness or poverty. But it may also mean living together in a difficult relationship; the romance itself may become “better or worse.”

By Maureen Mullarkey, The Federalist – Pope Francis’ coy two-step on sexual mores hangs over Catholic culture like the sword of Damocles. Papal ambiguity weakens the Catholic Radio Association’s current effort to resist newly mandated reporting rules about workforce diversity. Driving the rules is an ideological ambition to demolish the scaffolding of traditional behavioral norms regarding sex.

By Hayden Daniel, The Federalist – It’s that time of year again. The time when, for 30 seemingly never-ending days (of “Pride Month.”), rainbow flags… take over entertainment, corporate logos, and the streets of cities across the country. Not even ruby-red states can escape the influence… The centerpiece of this debauched revelry is the “pride” parade. Now there are so many of these in the U.S. that some outlets feel the need to rank them, and even smaller locales feel the need to host festivities. With the growth of these processions as a nationwide phenomenon, the frequency of grown men showing up to them in full BDSM gear, stripper attire, or even just a diaper has also increased.

By Louis Knuffke, LifeSiteNews – The pro-LGBT advocacy group Outreach, run by Fr. James Martin, S.J., published an op-ed blasphemously arguing that the sexually immoral agenda of the rainbow “Pride Month” is compatible with the traditional devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus… Robert Bordone, who serves on the so-called “LGBTQIA Ministry Team” at the Paulist Center in Boston (responded) to remarks of Martha-Ann Alito, wife of SCOTUS Justice Samuel Alito, both devout Catholics… He wrote, “As a gay Catholic, however, I was most especially struck by the notion that the message of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Pride flag somehow stand in opposition to each other. Mrs. Alito’s comments are part of a broader trend in recent years in which some Catholics who oppose Pride celebrations seek to raise the profile of this feast day ….

By Steven Ertelt, LifeNews – The beauty of fatherhood is that it instills in men an unmistakable sense of mission and purpose, which speak to the masculine soul in a particularly profound way. And the rewards are too many to properly catalogue here, but a few that come to mind are the indescribable thrill of seeing your newborn’s face for the first time, the utter joy of witnessing the first steps of a one-year-old, the delight and satisfaction in witnessing your child surpass your own skills and abilities, the heart-melting experience of hearing your child say, “I love you.”

By John M. Grondelski, Ph.D., Catholic World Report – Catholic parents, heirs of social teaching that affirms their primacy in the educational enterprise, have a special mission to seize the moment and realign the misalignment of values operating in the American public school establishment. Children are parents’, not schools’. Parents, not schools, are the first and best educators of children. Schools work for parents and should not arrogate any more substantial “partnership.” Education exists for children, not for schools… And, if education exists for children, then educational dollars also exist for children, not schools. …

By Jordan Boyd, The Federalist – A Texas-based general surgeon who exposed his Houston children’s hospital for secretly continuing a child transgender mutilation program faces four felony counts from (Biden’s DOJ) for speaking out… Shortly after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered his state’s Dept. of Family and Protective Services to investigate the transing of children as abuse in 2022, Texas Children’s Hospital… claimed that it would no longer offer chemical castration and other body-butchering services to pediatric patients… As 33-year-old whistleblower Dr. Eithan Haim soon discovered, however, at least three Texas Children’s physicians continued to castrate children as young as 11 years old after the program was allegedly halted. …

By Jennifer Roback Morse, EWTN News – The Vatican’s release of the document Fiducia Supplicans late last year created massive confusion throughout the Catholic world. How should faithful Catholics respond to this document? And perhaps more importantly, how should we respond to the issues the document purports to address?… After six months of observation and reflection, I would like to propose an answer. We should focus not on people who, for whatever combinations of reasons, seek to change the Church’s teaching on homosexual acts. Instead, we should focus on those persons who have journeyed away from an LGBT identity.

By Anthony Esolen, American Greatness – I have spent many years reading, writing, and thinking about family life and what kinds of things are good and innocent, healthy and soul-building, in the day of a child. One of the responses I typically get is that I am “romanticizing” a way of life that was peculiar to white people in the United States shortly after the second World War, ignoring all the evils which were attached to that way of life, such as racism, the exploitation of workers, and so forth. …

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – Societies once almost universally respected the family and the rights of parents to raise and educate their children, recognizing the family’s unique role as the essential unit and “vital cell of society” (Familiaris consortio, 42). They upheld that parents have an irreplaceable responsibility and are best suited to teach and transmit cultural, social, spiritual, moral, and religious values that are not only essential for the good of the family itself, but also are essential for the good of society.

By Kate Quiñones, Catholic News Agency – Archdiocese of Denver Catholic preschools will now be allowed to participate in Colorado’s universal preschool (UPK) program after a federal court ruled Tuesday that the state’s decision to exclude Catholic preschools was unconstitutional.
Two Catholic parishes with preschools… as well as a Catholic family and the Archdiocese of Denver asked the Denver federal court to stop the Department of Early Childhood from excluding them from the UPK program because they prioritize the admission of Catholic families and have religious expectations for teachers.

By Genevieve Harding, LifeNews – Washington, DC – Today Democrats in the U.S. Senate will hold a vote on Senator Ed Markey’s (D-MA) so-called “Right to Contraception Act,” more accurately titled the Payouts for Planned Parenthood Act. This misleading bill would funnel money to abortion giant Planned Parenthood, override conscience protections and create a “right” to abortion drugs.

By Rachel Watkins, Catholic Exchange – The school year is ending, and the spectrum of emotions that come along with it are a myriad. For many people, this time of year means nothing more than the peace that comes with not worrying about school busses during the morning commute. But for others, this time of year comes with many more emotions… For some parents, their children love their teachers and schools, the parents love their teachers and schools, and all is well… For many who homeschool it is the same; their children are happy, and they are happy.

By Anthony Esolen, The Catholic Thing – We are trying to rebuild the sheepfold. It is a thankless task. The ground has been turned to mud. The blood and bones of slaughtered sheep are everywhere. Neighbors are laughing and throwing stones. The sheep have wandered astray. The sheepdogs have been breeding with the wolves… If a bishop cannot help, he might at least have the grace to quit kicking down the posts. If he cannot bless us, he might at least not curse us. He might get out of the way.

By Marie Meaney, D.Phil., Catholic World Report – Nothing but God can truly satisfy the restless human heart. But there’s a hierarchy to things, to what is more important and what is less so… Much ink has been spilled on Harrison Butker’s recent commencement speech at Benedictine College. Given the indignant articles and commentary in so many places, one would have thought that Butker wanted women to remain barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen without ever venturing into the professional world. …

By McKenna Snow, Catholic Vote – Pope Francis has apologized for his use of a deprecating slang term against gay men in seminaries… “The Pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he extends his apologies to those who felt offended by the use of a term, reported by others”… “Pope Francis is aware of the articles that came out recently about a conversation, behind closed doors, with the bishops of the CEI (Italian Episcopal Conference)”… during the May 26 meeting with the bishops of the CEI, “Pope Francis used demeaning Italian slang to highlight that openly gay men should not be admitted to Italian seminaries.”

By Janet E. Smith, Crisis Magazine – Last summer, when Fr. Alex Mugalaasi from Uganda invited me to visit to speak in five seminaries, each with 250 seminarians and about 20 priest faculty, I jumped at the proposal. And, oh, am I happy that I did! It was clearly an opportunity of a lifetime and a divine appointment… The Church in Uganda is strong and needs to stay strong; it is under powerful attack from Western influence which wants it to ditch “traditional values” and embrace the LGBTQ+ agenda of the West. …

By Jay Thomas, First Things – As the father of two young boys—and the spiritual father of many more—I am increasingly concerned about the state of young men in our disintegrating society. Our culture is producing adult-sized boys and infantile men. Absent real challenge or adventure and without an established masculine community handing down the rites and responsibilities of maturity, boys are often bereft. They need more than a desk or a sports team. These concerns led me to the Blue Ridge.

By Clare Marie Merkowsky, LifeSiteNews – Jason Evert reached even more young people after a group of self-professed witches targeted his chastity talks at three Catholic schools in Sydney, Australia… On May 19, a group of witches in Sydney, Australia, celebrated cancelling Evert’s talks at three Catholic schools but did not realize this would result in Evert reaching even more young people, as three other schools quickly booked Evert, with one of the schools livestreaming the talk to eight additional high schools. …

By Anne Hendershott, Catholic World Report – …then again, the United States is an outlier in monetizing and commodifying the creation of designer children on demand. Rejecting previous concerns about how sex selection could raise concerns about creating societal gender imbalances and would lead to the destruction of normal embryos of the non-desired gender, few seem concerned about discrimination against female children now that according to the most recent reports, it appears white couples in the United States prefer girls.

By Msgr. Charles Pope – … most all of us have heard of the uproar regarding Harrison Butker’s commencement address at Benedictine College. Of course he also has many supporters, of which I am one… The negative reaction on the “woke” left is, sadly, more of the same “cancel calls” from those who so often shout, diversity, equity and and Inclusion. As is most often the case, they don’t really mean “DEI” for those who oppose their views. Theirs is a very qualified and limited diversity and inclusion. It is one thing to oppose what Harrison Butker said, but it is another to demand he be sanctioned, fired, or severely fined. In effect, too many of the “woke” demand that he must not be allowed any access to the public square, the NFL or any public forum; he must be silenced.

By Bishop James Conley, Substack – Since my conversion to the Catholic Church in college, I have always known my total dependence on God, recognizing this as a defining feature of the human condition. I believed Jesus’ words, “Apart from me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5), but this truth became twisted with a lie. I had been raised according to the common American stereotype of the self-made man who solves every problem himself. When things aren’t going well, he doesn’t show weakness, he just works harder. As a Christian, I adapted this to: he prays and works harder.

By Karen Mahoney, Catholic World Report – Dr. Kloess is board-certified by the American Academy of Family Physicians and a member of the Catholic Medical Association. His medical interests include natural family planning, women’s healthcare, wilderness medicine, and medical ethics… “I wanted to practice consistent with my faith and once I got into my practice, I had difficulty being able to do that,” Dr. Kloess explained. “I looked for opportunities that might allow it, but they were few and far between.”

By Michael Toscano, First Things – Sarah Huckabee Sanders, governor of Arkansas, appears uncowed by Big Tech. Inspired by Jonathan Haidt’s new book Anxious Generation (which I reviewed favorably in American Affairs), on May 6, Sanders sent a letter to her fellow governors in all fifty states, exhorting them to “work together” in rescuing America’s children from the “dark sewer of social media and screen addiction.”

By Al Perrotta, The Stream – ..we’re witnessing history being made… Chief’s Owner’s Wife Defends Kicker Harrison Butker; Even Bill Maher Is Blasting Left’s Effort to Cancel Him… For the first time in the history of the NFL, people are paying attention to something a kicker has to say. In this case, the media and the Left continue having a fit over Kansas City Chief’s kicker Harrison Butker’s advocacy for parenthood… But here’s the good news. The people are with Butker.

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you’” (49:14-15)… Elsewhere, Isaiah writes this evocative passage: “As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem” (Is 66: 13). The Psalmist uses much the same analogy, writing, “Like a child quieted at its mother’s breast; like a child that is quieted is my soul. O Israel, hope in the Lord” (Ps 131:2-3).

By Anthony Esolen, The Catholic Thing – In his speech, the young man said that the greatest of all titles for a woman is that of a wife and mother, and as he did so he praised his wife, and came to the point of tears. For saying what was not controversial when I was young, but what is abominated now, he has been the target of abuse and hatred… The Sisters of Saint Scholastica, whose forebears founded Benedictine College, sneered at the “limited” vision of homemaking that Butker admired …

By Ann Burns, Crisis Magazine – All of these claims are unfounded. Butker is not advocating for a new face of Catholicism, nor is he promoting the 1950s. After all, if the 1950s were so idyllic, the heinous push for birth control, abortion, and sexual license would not have followed in the 1960s. Reading this kind of agenda into his speech reveals our own misconceptions of what it means to be traditional. Tradition has nothing to do with poodle skirts or watching Leave It to Beaver and everything to do with rejecting the heresies of modernism. Or as Butker explains, it means fearlessly living out our Faith, knowing full well it is wildly countercultural.

By Douglas Andrews, Patriot Post – The Kansas City Chiefs’ devout Catholic kicker gave a stirring commencement speech, and the woke Left went ballistic… I’m not a Kansas City Chiefs fan. But I just became a Harrison Butker fan… “I’m on this stage today,” he said, “and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation. I’m beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school… would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker..”

By Brianna Lyman, The Federalist – Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker is being dragged for stating during a 2023 commencement address that one of the most important titles a woman can have is “homemaker.” But as a young, college-educated woman myself, I wish someone had told me those things years ago… Throughout my college years, female students were encouraged to develop a sense of hyper-independence. Get your degree. Enter the workforce. Rise to the top. You don’t need a man!

By Stephen Kokx, LifeSite News – Former Tyler, Texas, Bishop Joseph Strickland and current San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone are among the first prominent clergy in the United States to express public support for Harrison Butker after the star NFL kicker came under attack from mainstream media outlets for delivering a pro-family commencement address at Benedictine College last Saturday in Atchison, Kansas… Strickland and Cordileone both issued statements on X this week praising Butker for his speech, which has caused leftists and sports pundits alike to flip out because he had the audacity to suggest female graduates might find more meaning raising children than in professional accolades.

By Catholic Vote – Christians on X are rallying behind Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker for his commencement speech at a Catholic college in Kansas, especially after his remarks were met with backlash from the NFL and secular media… Butker encouraged the Benedictine College graduates on May 12 “to be authentically and unapologetically Catholic,” as CatholicVote previously reported… In the speech, he condemned abortion, in vitro fertilization, surrogacy, “Pride month,” and euthanasia. …

By Katrina Trinko, Daily Caller – But Butker isn’t drawing widespread ire because of his lack of nuance. He’s drawing widespread ire because he advocated a viewpoint that goes against our elites’ mentality, because he pushed back against the worldly idea that career success is what matters most, not our relationships and time with our loved ones… He’s drawing hate because, despite women’s happiness declining over the past 50 years, corporate America doesn’t want to hear that many moms would be happier if they could stay at home with their kids, or if their jobs were more accommodating to prioritizing family.

By John Zmirak, The Stream – Over at The Christian Post, you’ll find a story that at first might depress you. On second thought, it ought to cheer you up. And then on deeper reflection, it should sober you profoundly, and remind you of the life-or-death, heaven-or-hell war in the trenches that all Christians are engaged in.

By Theoni Bell, EWTN News – As mothers, we respond whenever someone gets hurt. We show compassion when feelings are crushed. We “take care” when someone is sick. No matter what we are engaged in, we know our whole day will go on pause if anyone in the family is wounded… When a family experiences the loss of a baby, “going on pause” is exactly what needs to happen because everyone in the family is wounded. Whether a mom suffers an early pregnancy loss, stillbirth or infant death, or the death of a child through illness or accident, no one should ever feel guilty to take time to grieve and heal.

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Spirit & Life Blog, Human Life International – Christians typically speak of God as our “Father.” This is for good reason. Christ Himself spoke in His prayers to the “Father.” When asked by his apostles to teach them how to pray, He taught them a prayer that we now know as the Our Father (The Lord’s Prayer)… And yet, in his apostolic letter on the “dignity of women,” Mulieris dignitatem, Pope St. John Paul II says, “in many passages [of Scripture] God’s love is presented as the ‘masculine’ love of the bridegroom and father (cf. Hosea 11:1-4; Jer 3:4-19), but also sometimes as the ‘feminine’ love of a mother” (no. 8).

By Robin Turner, The Stream – When I was a young girl, people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up. As far back as I can remember, I would tell them I wanted to be a wife and mother. I even dressed up as a homemaker for career day in the ninth grade. I chose this as my career, and I think it’s the most rewarding job there is… But in spite of my strong maternal instincts, there are days when I feel as if I’m fighting a losing battle when it comes to training my children.

By Catholic Vote – A priest in the Diocese of Oakland, California, stated in a Thursday column for Outreach that his parishioners “applauded” when he came out as “gay” during a homily… “After I made the announcement, I looked into the congregation, and there were many LGBTQ people in tears,” wrote Fr. Aidan McAleenan. “At the end of the homily, the congregation rose in rapturous applause.”… “[W]ith time, I saw how my announcement had actually increased the bond between the parish and myself,” McAleenan continued.

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture – The recent exchange of letters discussing transgendered persons between Sr. Jeannine Gramick and Pope Francis led Sister Jeannine to write an article about it which was jointly and propagandistically published on the New Ways Ministry’s daily blog and in the National Catholic Reporter. One hardly knows what to make of this exchange, which is why we must think more deeply than these correspondents did in order to make sense of the issue. …

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – By the end of the year, Kitty had been raped multiple times. She also had been repeatedly subjected to sexual violence, of a sort that has become shockingly common… Ultimately, Kitty blamed her disturbing sexual encounters on the easy accessibility of online pornography, in which men “can scroll through an endless stream of videos in which women are hurt and humiliated, in which men are aggressive and entitled and physically abusive. The existence of these videos on porn sites suggests that these things are sexy.”

By Peachy Keenan, The American Mind, The Claremont Institute – We don’t have to fight the Left; they are dying out all by their lonesomes… It’s time for me and the other “far-right” natalists to admit defeat. Liberals are committing genetic suicide and going extinct, despite our efforts to talk them out of it. They are running right off the cliff and into oblivion. New baby data shows that last year saw the lowest American birth rate ever. It’s the lowest since they started tracking it. Yikes! …

By Joy Pullmann, The Federalist – The bureaucracy that controls Western life is feminized, the longhouse argument goes; implying that women have won. But is that true? Is it “winning” for women to wield power at the expense of their sexual counterparts, the other half of humanity, without which there is no humanity? Are women happier ostensibly being in charge? It seems obvious the answer to that is a resounding no.

By Brian Mark Weber, The Patriot Post – As birth rates across the West are declining, conservatives know there’s a simple solution… From rampant inflation to campus riots to yet another trial for Donald Trump, there’s no lack of news headlines these days. While the 24/7 news cycle captures just about everything happening in major cities and small towns alike, some of the biggest stories are ignored… One of these stories is the declining birth rate in the West. …

By Gavin Ashenden, Katherine Bennett, Mark Lambert, Catholics Unscripted – The conversation discusses the document Dignitas Infanata issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) in the Catholic Church, which addresses transgender theory. The hosts express frustration that it took the Church so long to address this issue and highlight the importance of good teaching on the topic. They also discuss the Cass review, which criticized the NHS for its approach to gender identity services for children and young people. …

By Christopher Manion, The Wanderer – Last week we saw how Joe Biden considers his support of abortion until birth to be his reelection campaign’s “silver bullet.”… But abortion isn’t the only round in his chamber. The Obama-era leftovers that populate the executive branch are skilled at utilizing their bureaucratic swagger to impose illegal and binding rules on the population at large in myriad ways, usually under the guise of “regulations.” A lot of them… And while 2024 might be Joe’s last gasp, they are far from finished.

By Oliver Oliveros, Catholic Exchange – Admittedly, it will take more than a moral attitude to prevail over lust. It is a mistake to look at it solely as a flaw in human behavior. One must also see that there is an adversary who plans for our demise… Growing up in Catholic school, the concept of spiritual warfare was treated as an afterthought. Yet, many saints and the church fathers discussed it, and it was certainly an important part of our Savior’s ministry. But because of the oversight, I had the naïve idea that as long as you were not possessed, you did not have to worry about the demonic realm.

By Emma Waters, Daily Signal – In a recent sting operation, the FBI arrested and charged a Chicago man for knowingly distributing material on child sexual assault and boasting about sexually abusing his young nieces and nephews… The man’s arrest came less than a week before he and another man identified as his husband were set to collect their newborn son from a commercial surrogate in California… Commercial surrogacy is a contractual agreement where someone pays a woman to gestate and birth an unrelated child for a fee. …

By Eduardo J. Echeverria, The Catholic Thing – Homosexual love is not a gift, indeed, it is a false love, because it is incapable of fulfilling the vocation to chastity, of perfecting the being of the person and developing his existence; and hence of being ordered to the natural law, the order of Creation, and hence to God. As a disordered form of love, it not only lacks integration but is a counter-integration by virtue of being an offense against the vocation to chastity, making it unable to realize the integrity of the person and the integrality of the gift of self.

By Joe Doyle, Catholicism.org – According to Politico and the State House News Service, the Catholic Schools Foundation—the philanthropy which raises funds for parochial schools in the Archdiocese of Boston—hosted Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey as its speaker, at the organization’s Annual Gala in Boston, on Thursday night, April 11th… Healey is a partnered lesbian, endorsed by Planned Parenthood, who has credited the nation’s largest abortion perpetrator as the force which made possible her political career.

By Emily Zanotti, National Catholic Register – The (birth control) pill is known to have a number of side effects. The Mayo Clinic acknowledges that women may suffer everything from minor headaches, stomach pain, and breakthrough bleeding, to heart attacks and strokes, deep vein thrombosis, and liver disorders. It also lists several of the most common influencer complaints as potentially concerning developments in need of immediate medical attention: headaches, belly pain, dizziness, nausea and depression.

By Daniel B. Gallagher, Catholic World Report – How can a magisterial document with a subheading consisting of three short paragraphs dedicated to the “relational structure of the human person” not even mention the family?… The expressed intent of the recent declaration of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is to “illuminate different facets of human dignity that might be obscured in many people’s consciousness” (Dignitas Infinita, Presentation). To the extent that the Declaration—though not intended to be comprehensive—selects topics that are indeed heavily “obscured” today, it succeeds.

By John M. Grondelski, Ph.D., Catholic World Report – Carney’s book is a superbly written tour de force contending that multiple cumulative socio-cultural factors are responsible for the current family-unfriendly environment. Culture is like the atmosphere: it’s usually invisible but necessary—and when contaminants get into it, they spread in many unforeseen ways, often overlapping with each other while boosting their mutual toxicity. Carney insists that what ails family formation and support in the United States today is, at root, cultural. That’s important, because it saves us from spinning our wheels ineffectively in places that won’t ultimately effect change (e.g., government or economics). …

By Steve Wilson, Just the News – The House Committee on Education approved a bill that will end the requirement that requires state approval for homeschooling curriculums… House Bill 550, by Rep. Beryl Amedee, R-Gray, would end the requirement home study programs be approved by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education… Amedee said she homeschooled her three sons and she’s worked as an advocate to help other parents with homeschooling issues, which she says includes eight pages of law governing homeschooling.

By Founder and President Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, The Ruth Institute, The Stream – Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse spoke at the recent Live Action Young Leaders Summit about how the Sexual Revolution came about and the many rotten fruits it has produced. Watch as she explains its three interlocking branches: contraception ideology, divorce ideology, and gender ideology… Learn how these aspects of our culture are ruining lives and society, and why the traditional biblical view of morality is the solution to our broken world.

By The Ruth Institute, The Stream – Studies show that marriage is an excellent predictor of happiness… What’s the status of marriage in America today? The good news is that since 2012 there has been an increase in the number of children being raised in intact families, says Dr. Brad Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia and the author of Get Married: Why Americans Should Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families and Save Civilization. …

By Emmy Griffin, Patriot Post – What do they mean by describing children and marriage as “penalties”? Well, they are stating their analysis from a purely materialistic perspective. A child, you see, sets a woman back in her career; it takes her years to recover lost ground, and in many cases, she never fully recovers her pre-family income and employment trajectory… Labeling a child as a “penalty” demeans the most important work a person can do — raising and nurturing children ….

By Jim Kenaston, The Stream – Despite all the uproar over the White House’s official proclamation of “Transgender Day of Visibility” being observed on Easter Sunday this year, it turns out it’s just one of 47 commemoration days or weeks that the LGBTQ+ community has sprinkled throughout the year — not including the entire month of June, which has been proclaimed “Pride Month.” Until last week, I was unaware that in 2009 an activist had declared March 31 to be “Transgender Day of Visibility.”

By Michael Nevradakis Ph. D., The Defender, Children’s Health Defense – Mark Blaxill, father of an autistic adult daughter (discusses) what he called the ‘coming tsunami’ of autism caregiving, as the autistic children of the 1990s onward reach adulthood… Every year this time, public health officials, the media, and some autism organizations tell us how autism should be celebrated and embraced – how it’s a condition more akin to a quirk than a lifelong disability, one for which a growing number of diagnoses is a sign of “inclusivity.”

By Tierin-Rose Mandelburg, MRC TV – The MRC has reported on other groups sounding the alarm on these treatments. In July, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) acknowledged that puberty blockers have the potential to cause sterility, though that group continued to advocate for using tax dollars to fund said treatments. In March of this year, the National Health Service (NHS) in England banned puberty blockers for minors, citing studies

By The Ruth Institute, The Stream – Maybe the White House should try promoting this celebration… In light of the White House urging all Americans to celebrate its third annual Transgender Day of Visibility, the Ruth Institute has discerned the need for Adult Appreciation Week, set to take place April 3-9… “’Transgender’ people are not the only ones who need and deserve ‘visibility,’” said President Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse… Therefore, the group will officially honor adults who …..

By Mary Harrington, First Things – No one is coming to save us. We cannot wait for the “silent majority” to rise up and demand a return to common sense, or mumble about postponing action until we’ve re-Christianized the West, or until we’ve devised a fully worked-out post-Christian metaphysics of human nature… We must speak the truth anyway. And wherever possible, we must redirect law and policy from the abolition of human nature to its flourishing… Should this project be accused of oppressing or stigmatizing “the vulnerable,” we must recall that in reasserting the necessity of norms we are not attacking the most vulnerable. We are defending them.

By Joan Frawley Desmond, EWTN News – W. Bradford Wilcox, by contrast urges the young to drop a “me first” approach to love and marriage in favor of a “family first” path to the altar. In his latest book, Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization (HarperCollins), the University of Virginia sociologist, who also serves as director of the National Marriage Project, deploys a trove of research and data to back his claim that marriage and children bring personal fulfillment. …

By Jonathon Van Maren, The European Conservative – No conspiracy theory is as far-fetched as the idea that there are 72 genders… Ask anyone in your life to define a ‘conspiracy theory,’ and you’ll likely get a different answer. From elections to vaccines, from the ‘deep state’ to Ukraine, there is only one thing that most people now agree on: that establishment narratives are false. There are a range of key contributing factors to this—the internet and social media, the collapse of trust in institutions, increasing polarization, and much more. But one prominent issue that has proven to be a catalyst for all these trends has been largely ignored: the rise of the transgender movement.

By Charles J. Russo, Catholic World Report – Despite an acute shortage of caregivers willing and able to be respite or placement resources for children and youth in need, officials forbade a Christian couple in Washington from serving as foster parents… Discrimination against Christians continues unabated as for the third time in four years public officials have sought to not allow qualified Christians to serve as foster or adoptive parents because they reject the current orthodoxy on gender ideology.

By Susan Ciancio, Catholic World Report – “My value doesn’t come from what I can do. It comes from who I am—a human being created in the image and likeness of God.”… To celebrate World Down Syndrome Day last week, the family of three-year-old Will Daub, or Iron Will (as they call him), created a brilliant video in the hopes of sharing Will’s accomplishments with the world and to illustrate the beauty of people with Down syndrome. …

By Kurt Zindulka, Breitbart – The practice of sexually ‘transitioning’ children will be remembered as one of the “greatest ethical scandals in the history of medicine,” a report commissioned by French senators stated… (the report) found that the medical industry embarked upon the practice of giving children life-altering transgender treatments with little evidence of its effectiveness while ignoring the side effects… The report found that while parents were often pressured by doctors to put their children on puberty-blocking drugs to prevent suicide, there is little proof that this course of action has any better outcomes for the child.

By Nathanael Blake, Catholic World Report – We should not expect much courage from politicians, but Christians are called to bear witness to the truth, regardless of what opinion polls show. And the truth is that IVF is wrong… When my wife and I said “No” to in vitro fertilization, we assumed that we were rejecting our last hope of bearing children. Our years of infertility were unexplained and unresolved, despite the best efforts of the Catholic Ob/Gyn practice we had been going to. They had been thorough, and the physician who offered us a second opinion had nothing to add—except pushing us to try IVF.

By Ashley McGuire, Institute for Family Studies – I can’t remember the last article I wrote that led to more unsolicited positive feedback; many wrote to me with their own additions to my short list of suggestions. Movies like Singing in the Rain, The Music Man, and Swiss Family Robinson were notable standouts. However, my list was admittedly male-dominant, and I recently found myself craving a little Scarlett O’Hara spice. So, one rainy afternoon while home alone with my daughter and nothing pressing on my time, we turned it on.

By Lou Aguilar, American Spectator -But the biggest blast took place across the Pond in the socialist-sinking United Kingdom. Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) just stopped prescribing puberty blockers for children. For the left-compromised ministry to basically acknowledge the irreparable damage these treatments can do to kids should start a chain reaction of sanity around the world. Even the usually reserved Times of London called the practice “quack medicine,” urging that it be “reined in entirely.”

By Jonathon Van Maren, The European Conservative – I first came across investigative journalist Jennifer Bilek’s work in 2020, when her essay “The Billionaires Behind the LGBT Movement” was published in First Things. It was a stunning piece … Bilek also runs the Substack Jennifer’s Newsletter and the blog The 11th Hour, where she explains her focus: I write at the intersection of humanity, technology, and runaway capitalism. At this intersection stands transgenderism, what I believe is a glamorous ad campaign generated by elites, invested in tech and pharma, to normalize the changing of human biology. …

By Kale Zelden, Catholic World Report – The growing youth mental health crisis… In Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up, Shrier now turns her attention to the mental health establishment itself, asking the simple but obvious question: why are our kids so messed up? This book will likewise make very few friends for Shrier, as she is taking on a behemoth of under-appreciated size and reach, a new Leviathan—the Mental Health machine. But that is to her credit. What she lays out in her new book is important for everyone in the fields of medicine and education. But, most importantly, those of us with skin in the game: parents.

By Jonathon Van Maren, The European Conservative – Around 25% of Gen Z in America now identify as LGBT, compared to 3% of the general population… How do nations become post-Christian? To quote Ernest Hemingway: Gradually, and then suddenly… For decades, the United States has been a bastion of religiosity, bucking the trend of secularization, but in recent years, the needle has begun to move. According to a 2019 poll, between 20% and 25% of American adults now identify as ‘nones’ ….

By Evan Poellinger, CNS News – The Fifth Circuit Court of appeals has ruled 2-1 in favor of a Texas law requiring pornography websites to use age verification on their websites. The law, which was signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) last June, and originally scheduled to take effect in December, 2023, mandates such websites “use reasonable age verification methods” in order to “verify that an individual attempting to access the material is 18 years of age or older.”

By Tyler Arnold, Catholic News Agency – While some lawmakers and transgender activists have claimed that puberty-blocking drugs and transgender surgical procedures are “life-saving medicine,” the study disputes that claim. The research did not find any statistically significant reduction in suicides among adolescents who received “medical gender reassignment” through hormonal or surgical interventions.

By Charles Collins, Catholic Herald – A new study claims one-in-three young adults in the United States will never marry… Writing for the Institute for Family Studies (IFS), Lyman Stone said these are close to the lowest levels ever observed for marriage rates… “Many commentators will blame these declines on the increased delay in marriage. While there’s some truth to this, the situation is extreme at higher ages, too,” he wrote…

By Peter Pinedo, Catholic News Agency – Since the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) are human children, debate over fertility treatment has erupted anew… Here’s everything you need to know… What is IVF?… IVF is a medical procedure that fuses sperm and egg in a lab environment to conceive a child outside of the sexual act. The live embryo is then later implanted into a uterus to continue developing until birth… According to the Mayo Clinic, IVF is typically used as a “treatment for infertility” that “also can be used to prevent passing on genetic problems to a child.”

By Chuck Mason, The Stream – A Catholic couple’s fight with Indiana Child Services to raise their “transgender” son according to their faith provides a shot across the bow to all Christian parents — if a child’s gender preference is not accepted, Child Protective Services (CPS) will take the child away… Fox News reported Indiana CPS removed a child from his Catholic parents because they wouldn’t use his chosen name or pronouns that reflected his chosen gender orientation. CPS relocated the male child, who identifies as female, to a “gender-affirming” foster home after the child reported his parents to the authorities. …

By Carrie Gress, The Catholic Thing – The idea that Catholics must embrace feminism to engage non-Catholic women has been repeated so frequently that it’s simply accepted as a truism. But is it actually working? … Before answering that question, let’s take a close look at the work of St. John Paul II. He is generally invoked as the reason why we must have a Catholic feminism. As pope, John Paul was clearly interested in upholding the dignity of every woman. His 1988 Apostolic Letter, Mulieris Dignitatem ….

By Kennedy Hall, Crisis Magazine – No amount of money or personal development in education or the business world is worth the pain that comes with the regret of closing yourself to new life… Last weekend we decided to take a trip across the border to Port Huron, Michigan, to do a bit of shopping. Like the majority of Canadians who make the same international trip in search of lower prices and cheap gas, we shopped at Hobby Lobby, Target, and T.J. Maxx. I may have stopped into Wild Bill’s Tobacco Shop to stock up…Who am I kidding?