News

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – Why is it still newsworthy, then, when a prominent Catholic calls for “zero tolerance” today?… Answer: because for all the talk, for all the pledges, for all the touted policies and programs, the Vatican has not adopted a “zero tolerance” mentality regarding abuse… Last week, when the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors held a conference on Safeguarding in the Catholic Church in Europe, Pope Francis send a strong message of support, citing the event as “a sign of the Church’s continuing efforts to protect the most vulnerable in our midst.”

By John Zmirak, The Stream – I have a proposal for President-Elect Donald Trump’s new attorney general and Department of Justice: Launch a RICO investigation of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Conduct the national investigation which my church’s bishops have so far dodged into 1) the systemic cover-up of clerical sex abuse and 2) the human trafficking conducted by church-controlled nonprofits of illegal immigrants… The DOJ should also investigate the role which the Vatican itself has played in encouraging the sex abuse coverup ….

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.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 19:41-44 – 41 And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes. 43 For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, 44 and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

By Sean Fitzpatrick, Crisis Magazine – The law of God commands us to perform corporal works of mercy but also to obey the just laws of our land. And there is nothing unjust in having laws that govern the process of immigration—and Catholics should stand by those laws with confidence… Many Catholics viewed Donald Trump’s campaign promise to deport millions of illegal immigrants with the same seriousness they have for Republicans stumping about abortion: big talk, little delivery. But something serious is in the air.

By Chris York, News Editor, The Kyiv Independent – Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) against Dnipro, east Ukraine on the morning of Nov. 21, Kyiv’s Air Force reported… If confirmed, it would be the first time the Kremlin has used such a weapon in an attack on Ukraine… In the early hours of Nov. 21, a country-wide air raid alert sounded due to the threat of ballistic missiles, and later, the launch of several Russian Tu-95MS bomber aircraft… According to Ukraine’s Air Force, the attack targeted the city of Dnipro using a number of different missile types. …

By Steven Ertelt, LifeNews – In a secret ceremony, Joe Biden awarded the former CEO of America’s biggest abortion business… Biden presented the nation’s highest civilian award to Cecile Richards, who ran the Planned Parenthood abortion giant for years and was responsible for it killing millions of babies… “The ceremony was not listed on Mr. Biden’s public schedule, nor was his decision to award the medal to Ms. Richards publicly announced until after the presentation,” …

By Michael Pakaluk, The Catholic Thing – The Virgin Mary’s mother was called “Hannah” in Hebrew, but we know her as “Anne” through the Latin via the Greek.  This Hannah and her husband, Joachim, according to old tradition, confirmed since by popes, brought their daughter, Mary, to the temple when she was a girl, to dedicate her to God.  The commemoration of this “Presentation of Our Lady” is the feast which the Church celebrates today.

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.

CV News Feed – In a Wednesday op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal, businessmen Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy called out Planned Parenthood by name while outlining their plan for the soon-to-be established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – of which President-elect Donald Trump appointed them co-commissioners… Musk and Ramaswamy outlined that, as one part of its plan to make the government run more efficiently, DOGE will “take aim” at the millions of taxpayer dollars currently being sent annually to abortion giant Planned Parenthood.

By Michele Chronister, Catholic Exchange – Tradition tells us that St. Anne and St. Joachim, the mother and father of Mary, suffered from infertility for many years. Pious tradition tells the story of Joachim going out to the desert to pray, where Anne and he were both given a message from God that they would conceive a child. Joachim rushes home to Anne, and Mary is (immaculately) conceived. Icons of St. Anne and St. Joachim typically feature the moment when they are reunited at the city gates, overjoyed by the promise that God has made them.

By Franciscan Media – Mary’s presentation was celebrated in Jerusalem in the sixth century. A church was built there in honor of this mystery. The Eastern Church was more interested in the feast, but it does appear in the West in the 11th century. Although the feast at times disappeared from the calendar, in the 16th century it became a feast of the universal Church.

By Carl E. Olson, Catholic World Report – “Fascism” in the U.S. is just about as real, imbedded, and powerful as is “synodality” in the Catholic Church… The 2024 elections are now two weeks in the rear-view mirror, but the conversations… over the what, why, and how of November 5, 2024, continue. While there is no shortage of opinions and analysis (or venting) in the secular press, I have not seen much about the interesting—again, a polite word—takes offered by some left-leaning Catholics. Since my preferred form of evil social media is Twi—er, X, that’s where I’ve mined for the nuggets that follow.

By Jason Jones & John Zmirak, The Stream – The Mirror in Great Britain reports: WW3 fears as Sweden tells citizens to prepare for nuclear war and stockpile food and water … Sweden has issued five million pamphlets warning its citizens to stockpile food and water — just hours after Volodymyr Zelensky’s chilling video address to Vladimir Putin warned US missile strikes “will speak for themselves.”

Author Don Schwager , Servants of the Word – Luke 19:11-28 – 11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. 12 He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive a kingdom and then return. 13 Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten pounds, and said to them, `Trade with these till I come.’ ….

By Jonah McKeown, CNA – The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide whether or not it will take up the case on Nov. 22… A St. Louis pro-life group has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to declare unconstitutional a rural Illinois town’s now-defunct “buffer zone” law, which previously impeded the group’s peaceful protests and counseling outside the town’s abortion clinics.

By Tyler Arnold, Catholic News Agency – President-elect Donald Trump has chosen several Catholics to serve in his Cabinet and other parts of his administration, including environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., three-term Sen. Marco Rubio, Rep. Elise Stefanik, and, in an announcement Monday evening, former Rep. Sean Duffy… The 45th and soon-to-be 47th president made more than a dozen announcements within 10 days of his electoral victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. Many of his Cabinet nominees and other administration official picks have yet to be announced.

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 CatholicVote – The Russian government this week warned that it would respond to Ukraine’s use of American-made missiles, okayed late last week by the Biden-Harris administration, in the ongoing deadly war between the two Eastern European nations… “Russia has said that Ukraine’s use of long-range ATACMS missiles against its territory marked a ‘new phase of the Western war’ against Moscow, and has said it will react ‘accordingly,’”… “Ukraine used the US-made missiles to target a military facility in Russia’s Bryansk border region overnight, Moscow said… just days after Washington gave the green light for Kyiv to use the long-range weapons against Russian targets.”

By Robert Shine, New Ways Ministry, (Complicit Clergy) – Bishop John Stowe, OFM, Conv., was honored with New Ways Ministry’s Bridge Building Award for his consistent and strong support of LGBTQ+ Catholics… The ceremony honoring Bishop Stowe, who leads the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky, was held last Friday at Trinity Washington University in Washington, D.C., at which he offered remarks about the state of LGBTQ+ rights in both the Catholic Church and U.S. society. Stowe told attendees that “in this era of polarization, the need for bridges is all the more critical,” and even where relationships have been built ….

By Tyler Arnold, Catholic News Agency – Pro-life advocates plan to push federal- and state-level legislative and policy reforms on abortion when the United States Congress and many state legislatures enter into session in January 2025… Many plans look toward regulating the abortion drug mifepristone, which is used in chemical abortions. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion policy group, chemical abortions accounted for 63% of all abortions in 2023, which is an increase of 10 percentage points from 2020 and more than double what it was in 2014.

By Nathanael Blake, Catholic World Report – A new study examining the family policies of Fortune 100 companies reveals an unmistakable trend toward policies that conflict with the principles and precepts articulated by Christians, most clearly by the Catholic Church… Christian social thinkers have urged the development of a humane economy that provides justice for workers and support for families. Unfortunately, big businesses today appear to have little sense of how to achieve this, even when they are trying to be generous to their employees.

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 Francis X. Maier, First Things – I spent the evening after November 5 on YouTube. The site was full of time-compressed videos that tracked news media icons and Hollywood celebrities as election night wore on. The clips were mesmerizing. It was like watching a Carnival Cruise ship gradually sink. Passengers went from champagne to life jackets in just six hours. Jimmy Kimmel, Rachel Maddow, the always unpleasant Joy Reid, and so many others found themselves trapped in a Greek tragedy, with the bill for their jumbo helping of hubris suddenly due.

By Virginia Allen, Daily Signal – Sitting before members of Congress on Capitol Hill Tuesday, retired Border Patrol agent J.J. Carrell told the lawmakers that the “United States federal government is the world’s largest child sex trafficking organization in modern history.”… “I state with complete certainty that [President Joe] Biden, [Vice President Kamala] Harris, and [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas intentionally, strategically and purposely weaponized illegal immigration and use it as a tool to fundamentally transform America” …

By Fr. Timothy Welles and James Valois, Catholic Exchange – From my earliest memories, Mary beckoned me to relationship with her. When I finally took Mary up on being devoted and praying to her, it transformed my life and continues to do so. Late in the fall of 1972, when I was in third grade at St. Mary’s school in Green Bay, I sat in the front of the room right next to a statue of our Blessed Mother. One day the statue of Mary seemed to come alive, and Mary spoke three simple words to me: “Pray to me.” ….

By Franciscan Media – Born in Grenoble, France, of a family that was among the new rich, Rose learned political skills from her father and a love of the poor from her mother. The dominant feature of her temperament was a strong and dauntless will, which became the material—and the battlefield—of her holiness. She entered the Visitation of Mary convent at 19, and remained despite family opposition.

By CatholicVote, CV News Feed – President-elect Donald Trump’s newly announced “border czar” Tom Homan outlined how the incoming administration plans to end the humanitarian crisis at the nation’s southern border… (said) Trump’s second-term border policy has “three rails.”.. The first rail is a “deportation operation”… The second rail, he indicated, is to secure the border… “The third rail,” Homan went on, “is we got over 300,000 missing children.”

By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky, Catholic Culture – Jesus promises, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Mk. 13:30-31) The promise is astonishing. Only God could make such an assertion. Jesus is indeed the Son of God, true God. But He is also true man. And He uses our humanity to fulfill His divine guarantee… As we prepare to stand before God for our particular judgment at the end of our earthly lives, will we have confidence in the saving words of Jesus? In these tumultuous times—when even authentic Catholic teaching seems up for grabs—we ask, with Saint Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go?

By Daniel Payne, Catholic News Agency – The Diocese of Oakland, California, has announced that it will pay up to $200 million to settle hundreds of abuse claims filed against it… The diocese said in a Friday update on its website that it had filed a proposal in bankruptcy court that would create a survivors’ trust “to provide compensation of between approximately $160 million and $198 million or more for approximately 345 claims.”… Just over $100 million will be provided by the diocese directly, the announcement said, while up to $81 million would come from property in the diocesan real estate portfolio.

By Nicole Silverio, Daily Signal – Jose Ibarra, the alleged murderer of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley, traveled from New York City to Georgia after requesting a humanitarian flight, his roommate testified Monday… “In Manhattan, we requested a humanitarian flight to come here to Atlanta,” Flores-Bello said when asked how they arrived in Georgia.

By Kevin Schmiesing, Catholic World Report – Given the history, the norms of canon law, and the character of civil law, the Church in the United States is caught on the horns of a dilemma… In what is now a decades-long trend, reports of American Catholic dioceses declaring bankruptcy continue to filter into the news… To a large extent, this financial retreat is fallout from the ongoing clergy sexual abuse scandal and the legal liabilities it has carried. But it is also the latest chapter in a long history of struggle, as the Catholic Church has sought to secure and defend its property rights within the context of American civil law.

By LifeSiteNews – After the election, Bishop Strickland wrote, ‘We must pray for our leaders – as we pray for ourselves, our families, and our Church – to more and more turn to the truth that God has revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ, Truth Incarnate.’… Soon after the election, the bishop stated that the American people’s decision in favor of President Trump was “a step in the right direction” and an “opportunity.”… “My attitude for this election is that it has given us an opportunity, but an opportunity that we can’t take for granted,” Bishop Strickland said.

By Susan Berry, Ph.D., CatholicVote – The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to Republican David McCormick for U.S. senator from the Keystone State… The state high court ruled on the recount of votes for the U.S. senator’s race between McCormick and incumbent Democrat Sen. Bob Casey that mail-in ballots with either missing or incorrect dates are not to be counted… The court’s ruling was a repeat of its earlier decision. ….

By Diego López Colín, CNA – The Vatican has approved a series of liturgical adaptations for Indigenous communities in the Mexican state of Chiapas… (Cardinal Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, bishop emeritus of San Cristóbal de las Casas) expressed his hope that this approval “will encourage the process to promote similar adaptations in other Indigenous groups.” To this end, he invited his brother bishops and pastoral workers to “have an interest in giving liturgical value to many Catholic expressions of our native groups and not see them as simple folklore.”

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 19:1-10 – 1 He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And there was a man named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector, and rich. 3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” …

By Father Jeffrey F. Kirby, Crux – The spiritual life is enriched by several wellsprings. The Church nourishes and promotes these spiritual wellsprings and encourages the faithful to use them as they seek to draw closer to God… The wellsprings include the written Word of God and the Church’s sacred liturgy. In addition, the wellsprings include faith, hope, and love, which are the three central virtues of the Christian way of life. These virtues are called the theological virtues since they possess a supernatural expression that deals directly with our relationship with God ….

By T. S. Flanders, OnePeterFive – No, too many bishops are doing their best to be bureacrats and vicars of the Roman Pontiff, contrary to Lumen Gentium 27. But Bishop Strickland is different. He takes seriously his consecration as a bishop and wants to “watch over” (Greek: episkopos) the passing down of the deposit of faith… This has put him at odds with the majority of bishops, who have tried to ignore him or shun him, until the Dictator Pope cut off the head of his diocese without justification, while his brother bishops stood by silent… He’s no longer welcome at the ballroom in Baltimore.

By Fr. Nnamdi Moneme, OMV, Catholic Exchange – In the words of Christian writer George MacDonald, “God is easy to please, but hard to satisfy.”… I was reminded of this quote when reflecting on the widow in Mk 12:38-44. Jesus watched casually as all the rich worshippers gave large amounts from their surplus wealth. He instantly became excited when the widow dropped in her two coins. He did not want His disciples to miss out on her unique giving: Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.

By Franciscan Media – Born Caterina Offreducia, Agnes was the younger sister of Saint Clare, and her first follower. When Caterina left home two weeks after Clare’s departure, their family attempted to bring her back by force. They tried to drag her out of the monastery, but her body suddenly became so heavy that several knights could not budge it.

By Peter Wolfgang, Catholic Culture – Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Every September 8th my family and I gather together to commemorate America’s first thanksgiving, the Mass celebrated in Florida in 1565 expressing gratitude to almighty God that the Spanish crown claimed the future sunshine state for God and country. Like millions of other Americans on that day, we eat the same food the Spaniards and the Timucuan natives shared at the first Thanksgiving: “hard biscuits and cocido—a rich garbanzo stew made with pork, garlic, saffron, cabbage and onion—washed down with red wine.” Yum.

Msgr. Charles Pope – As winter approaches and the end of the liturgical year draws near, we ponder the passing quality of this world and the fading of its glories. Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel reading must surely have shocked, even horrified, His apostles. Let’s look at His stunning words and seek to apply them in our own life… In today’s Gospel, Jesus is at the top of the Mount of Olives with His apostles. From this vantage point, they look across the Kidron Valley to the magnificent Temple and all of Jerusalem spread out before them. The apostles marvel at the glorious beauty of the Temple. Its large, perfectly-carved, white, gilded, ashlar stones gleam like the sun. Indeed, it was one of the wonders of the ancient world, so beautiful and majestic.

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 Anthony Stine, Return to Tradition – We originally published a post praising Bishop Shawn McKnight for eliminating heretical music in his diocese. But alas, he now has succumb to pressure from the modernists and revoked his original order.

By Robert Royal, The Catholic Thing – I’m quite convinced that the populist movement in the secular sphere is going to bleed over more and more into the Church as well. You can, for instance, suppress the Latin Mass, but you cannot suppress the desire, especially among young people and families, for a deeper, richer, more beautiful worship than the thin liturgy given us after Vatican II… We are going back – to a road that will lead authentically forward. Only those who are not listening will be surprised by what they will soon hear.

By Shawn Carney, LifeNews – Donald Trump is the most pro-life president in U.S. history. No other leader of the free world has matched his commitment to defending life, from defunding abortion providers to decisively reshaping the Supreme Court… As we look to a second Trump term, two pro-life policies are likely to take center stage and immediately should be adopted… A third—a national abortion ban—is not likely to get traction at this time.

By Louis Knuffke, CatholicVote – At the USCCB Fall Plenary Session this week, Patrick Kelly, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, presented the organization’s commitment to evangelization and parish life through its new initiative, COR… The COR initiative — named after Cardinal Newman’s motto, “Cor ad cor loquitur” (“heart speaks to heart”) — is designed to meet the spiritual and social needs of Catholic men through regular small group meetings that emphasize prayer, formation, and fraternity. …

By Fr. Kevin Drew, Catholic Exchange – On November 11, 1918, the disaster for Western Civilization known as World War I ended.  An armistice was signed at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month.  After the war, the United States, following the lead of France and England, laid to rest the remains of an American soldier—his name “known but to God”—on a hillside in Virginia overlooking Washington DC… November 11th is now Veteran’s Day, a day we honor all military veterans, dead and alive.  And that hillside overlooking DC is called Arlington National Cemetery.  It features the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, symbolizing honor and reverence for soldiers who gave their lives for their country.

By Michael Haynes, Snr. Vatican Correspondent, LifeSiteNews – Among the many proposals raised by the Amazon Synod and its final document are the opening of the clerical state to women and admitting married men to the priesthood, in an attempt to make the Church more appealing to Catholics in the region… This “Amazonian rite” would “expresses the liturgical, theological, disciplinary and spiritual heritage of the Amazon,” which would assist the “work of evangelization.”… Meanwhile, the Dicastery for Divine Worship has been accused of implementing a “persecution” of the Church’s traditional liturgy across the global Church.

By Robert Morrison, LifeSite News – A recent article from the Society of St. Pius X noted that although the Synod on Synodality’s October session in Rome avoided the approval of female “ordination” to the diaconate, there were nonetheless serious problems with the session: We are almost relieved that the final text of the synod avoided the worst. It is a small consolation that should not obscure the fact that this session did, after all, outline a shift, under the control of the bishops, toward a greater supervision of the laity. …

By LifeSiteNews staff, LifeSiteNews – LifeSiteNews readers are warmly invited to register and take part in a nine-day novena dedicated to the well-being of President Donald Trump and his conversion to the Catholic faith… The novena will begin on the Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, November 21, and end on the Vigil of Saint Andrew, November 29. Saint Andrew is, of course, the patron saint of Scotland, the country in which the president-elect’s Gaelic-speaking mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, was born and raised.

By Elle Purnell, The Federalist – In the 2024 election, Donald Trump and his voters faced media interference, suspicious ballot dumps, politicized censorship of information, low-security election laws, polling place issues, and legally dubious Democrat get-out-the-vote operations. On top of those, he faced two assassination attempts and a political lawfare campaign designed to bankrupt and jail him. The fact that Trump succeeded in making this election “too big to rig” doesn’t make those problems any less threatening to self-governance.

By Louise Perry, First Things – All politics is local, as they say. And so, before we proceed to the big question of this essay—Can modernity survive for much longer?—I want to start with a small one: Will the recent change of government make a difference to the people of Britain?… The recently departed Conservative government was sunk partly by a set of challenges that will be familiar to anyone in a high-income country—or, increasingly, a middle-income one. To start with, taxes are the highest they’ve been in generations, and yet the Conservatives felt compelled to keep funneling money towards health (20 percent of public spending) and pensions (10 percent of public spending) because both kinds of spending benefit their most reliable voting bloc. …

By Jared Harris, The Western Journal – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s call may not have been as “cordial” as she claimed… A Nov. 11 report from the AP detailed the conversation’s critical turning point… During the call, Sheinbaum said Trump first brought up the border and highlighted the ongoing issues there… Trump’s position on border security, and his plan to address the uncounted millions of people illegally in the United States of America, was made abundantly clear in the appointment of Tom Homan as his future “border czar.” …

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – The Synod on Synodality— a project on which Pope Francis embarked in 2021, a project that spawned hundreds of meetings and thousands of pages of verbiage, a project that threatened to go on forever— has finally ended… Or has it?… Officially the Synod closed on October 26, having approved a final statement the previous day. “What we have approved in the document is enough,” Pope Francis declared, explaining that he would not follow up with the customary apostolic exhortation commenting on the Synod’s deliberations.

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.”

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 18:1-8 – 1 And he told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; 3 and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, `Vindicate me against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, `Though I neither fear God nor regard man, …

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 Louis Knuffke, CatholicVote – Vatican analyst Luisella Scrosati has raised concerns over Pope Francis’ appointment of Capuchin Friar Roberto Pasolini as the new Preacher of the Papal Household…. Fr. Pasolini’s recent theological positions on homosexuality form the crux of Scrosati’s critique. The new preacher has suggested, for instance, that certain Biblical relationships — such as those between Jonathan and David or the Roman centurion and his servant — could be interpreted as alluding to homosexual love. Pasolini’s arguments, Scrosati contends, rely on “pure fantasy” rather than sound exegesis.

By Kevin Wells, Crisis Magazine – Bishop Strickland knows that what appears “losing’ in this world is actually the Lord’s way of “winning.” Those who engage in the necessary and relentless work of shouldering Christ’s Cross are those closest to the agonized face of Ecce Homo. Bishop Strickland’s home now, in a real way, are the forlorn places in the landscapes of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. It is at those brokenhearted stations where his might and power grow. Why? Because he’s huddled closely to the broken-bodied Christ, who, like him, had nowhere to lay His head.

By Franciscan Media – Margaret of Scotland was a truly liberated woman in the sense that she was free to be herself. For her, that meant freedom to love God and serve others… Not Scottish by birth, Margaret was the daughter of Princess Agatha of Hungary and the Anglo-Saxon Prince Edward Atheling. She spent much of her youth in the court of her great-uncle, the English king, Edward the Confessor.

By Rachel Quackenbush – A federal judge has issued an injunction, blocking the implementation of a Louisiana law that would have required public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments… The November 12 injunction is the latest development with the state’s House Bill 71. As CatholicVote previously reported, Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed the bill in June, requiring every public classroom in the state to display the Ten Commandments… HB71 references the Supreme Court case Van Orden v. Perry, in which the court ruled that displaying the Ten Commandments on government property is permissible.

By John D. Hagen Jr., First Things – As the smoke clears from the election, it’s worth analyzing the barrage of abortion rhetoric that the Democrats employed. In speeches, ads, and reportage, Democrats projected a set of slogans that have been carefully and intentionally crafted over the past five years. In 2019, the abortion lobby issued a manifesto entitled “Blueprint for Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice.” Seventy-six groups endorsed the document, including NARAL Pro-Choice America, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Planned Parenthood. Its purpose was to change abortion messaging from “choice” to “reproductive health care.”

By Nicholas McEntyre, New York Post – A devout Catholic was awarded nearly $13 million in a discrimination lawsuit claiming she was fired in 2022 for refusing to follow her company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate as it was against her religion… Lisa Domski, an IT specialist for the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM), had worked for the company for a combined total of nearly 40 years before the non-profit canned her for not getting the jab… BCBSM implemented a mandatory vaccination policy for its employees in Oct. 2021, requiring all staff to be fully vaccinated from COVID-19 unless they apply for religious or medical accommodations. ….

By Stephen P. White, The Catholic Thing – … we often admire those who have suffered much. We admire those who have overcome great adversity, seeing in their perseverance proof of some virtue or other. The suffering of others can move us to compassion, which is natural and good. There are even some forms of suffering that inspire not just compassion but a certain awe or reverence for the sufferer… Such people have endured or faced evils the rest of us tremble to contemplate and they grow in our estimation for it: a young widow, a patient facing a terminal diagnosis, a combat veteran.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 17:26-3726 As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of man. 27 They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise as it was in the days of Lot — they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom fire and sulphur rained from heaven and destroyed them all — 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of man is revealed. ….

By Peter Laffin, National Catholic Register – The selection of Rubio, who is seen as a tested and effective leader with deep foreign-policy experience, has been widely hailed… A Time magazine cover in February 2013 featured a black-and-white picture of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., staring into the distance with the caption, “The Republican Savior: How Marco Rubio became the new voice of the GOP.”… It was the kind of cover most politicians would kill for. But it made Rubio bristle. …

By Jules Gomes, The Stream – Welby, a close friend and ecumenical partner of Pope Francis, announced his resignation Tuesday morning following a tidal wave of outrage led by senior Anglican clergy, parliamentarians, leading public figures, and Christians of all denominations… Welby was named and shamed in a devastating independent review of John Smyth, an attorney who physically abused more than 130 boys between the ages of 13 and 17, while leading the Iwerne summer camps for evangelical youth over four decades.

By John Daniel Davidson, The Federalist – But how exactly is Gaetz unqualified to lead the Justice Department? Put another way, what does Trump’s incoming attorney general need to be qualified to do?… Mostly, clean house at the DOJ. Going back at least to 2016, the Justice Department has been a viper’s nest of politically motivated prosecutions, sham investigations, coup-plotting, domestic spying and censorship, entrapment schemes, and the terrorization of law-abiding Americans. From illegally spying on Trump to the political persecution of Jan. 6 defendants, the DOJ has become a cancer on our body politic, and we need someone to go in and cut it out.

Senator John Thune, LifeNews – On Jan 25, 2023, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) delivered an eloquent pro-life speech, which appears below. Yesterday, Senator Thune was elected Senate Majority Leader… Mr. President, on Friday, as they have done for decades, Americans from around the country— many of them young people—took to the streets of Washington, DC, to march for life. This year, of course, was a little different because for the first time since the march began nearly 50 years ago, pro-lifers marched in a post-Roe America.

By The Catholic Herald – The American Church will fight the mass deportation of migrants promised by newly-elected President Donald Trump, a bishop has said… Bsp. Mark Seitz of El Paso, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration said the bishops will “raise voice loudly” if threats are followed through… (Seitz says) “The Biden administration’s actions primarily affected those who were in the sending countries or en route, but the new administration will also focus on people who are already here. …

By Calvin Freiburger, LifeSiteNews – Trump says he has given RFK Jr. a mission to ‘restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency.’… Returning President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he will be nominating former independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) in his new administration, confounding pre-election indications that the iconoclastic medical activist would only serve in an advisory capacity.

Austin Ruse, Crisis Magazine – The numbers from the 2020 election, especially compared to other recent elections, just don’t add up; or rather, they add up to too much… We were supposed to believe that old Joe Biden received millions more votes in 2020 than the historic election of the first black president, Barack Obama, in 2008 and his reelection in 2012… Obama got 69 million votes in 2008 and 65 million in 2012. Sleepy Joe got 81 million four years ago …

By Franciscan Media – Saint Albert the Great’s Story – Albert the Great was a 13th-century German Dominican who decisively influenced the Church’s stance toward Aristotelian philosophy brought to Europe by the spread of Islam.

By Josef Pieper, CERC – If we really think of God as a Who and not a What—in other words, if we think of him as a Someone capable of speech, then there is no “security” against revelation. And man’s only meaningful response to revelation is faith!… The difficulty of discussing proofs and counterproofs in matters of faith lies in the fact that, strictly speaking, faith is not based on proofs, or at least not on factual arguments which can be reduced to precise formulations, and thus cannot be deeply affected by such arguments. Naturally this is a somewhat misleading statement; but we are in deep waters here.

By Bishop Joseph E. Strickland, LifeSiteNews – Bishop Joseph Strickland strongly rebuked ‘silent’ US bishops in a powerful letter outside the USCCB meeting in Baltimore, warning them that God will punish those who do not speak out against ‘false messages constantly flowing from the Vatican’ under Pope Francis… Dear Bishops, You gather here today, present-day apostles, as the Church and, therefore, the world stand perched on the edge of a cliff. And yet you who are entrusted with the keeping of souls choose to speak not a word of the spiritual danger which abounds. …

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 17:20-25 – 20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; 21 nor will they say, `Behold, here it is!’ or `There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” 22 And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and you will not see it. …

Mary Eberstadt, First Things – As Democrats and others assess the fallout from last week’s red bombshell, they’re looking at surprises in the exit polls. Here’s one that shouldn’t be missed: The nation’s Catholic voters split 56 to 41 in favor of Donald Trump… In one way, that endorsement might seem to require explanation. After all, no one’s personal failings have been more exposed to global sunlight than Trump’s; and Catholics as a whole, unlike many evangelical Protestants, weren’t ground-floor MAGA fans. Even so, the fact that a Catholic majority in 2024 signed on to Trump-Vance makes inescapable sense, for at least three reasons.

By Jason Hopkins, Daily Signal – Democratic governors and other liberal elected officials have lined up to declare that they will fight back against President-elect Donald Trump’s hard-line agenda against illegal immigration… Trump, who won the Nov. 5 election, has promised to conduct mass deportations across the country and withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities, along with a slate of other hawkish enforcement proposals.,, Dem. governors in Massachusetts, California, and Illinois—all seen as potential 2028 presidential contenders—and other elected leaders have said they will use their authority to push back against the upcoming second Trump administration’s agenda. …

By LifeSiteNews staff – Bishop Joseph Strickland explains why he has publicly called out Pope Francis for his denial of the Catholic faith and his fellow bishops for their silence on Francis’ dangerous errors… Bishop Joseph Strickland: “As I’ve said ever since last Tuesday, we have an opportunity, when the country has made a choice politically that at least opens the door for us to have the possibilities of moving our culture, our nation, the beloved people of God in this nation, closer to the Truth that is Jesus Christ. So I believe that’s a big part of what prompted me, at this moment, to be here.”

By Charles C. Camosy, The Federalist – In theorizing about what it takes to actually break up with someone after a long-term relationship, Jerry Seinfeld came up with an analogy. “Breaking up is like knocking over a coke machine; you can’t do it in one push. You have to rock it back and forth a few times and then it goes over.”… Since at least the early 1980s, the Republican Party was in a long-term relationship with economic libertarianism, but with Trump’s hostile takeover of the party in 2015-2016 we saw the first attempt at a breakup.

By Michael Bedar, American Thinker – In politics, there’s more to health than insurance. You can “get care” but be wrongly sick in the first place… What precisely do Children’s Health Defense’s Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and others see in the incoming GOP administration that finally can refocus on addressing the overreaches that the federal government commits to make Americans so ill?… These United States are suffering unwellness physically, mentally, and socially. …

By Jonathan Liedl, National Catholic Register – Both Archbishop Lori and Bishop Flores emphasized the importance of promoting a synodal culture at the local level… Archbishop Lori spoke of inviting his pastoral council and other diocesan bodies to prayerfully read the Synod on Synodality’s final document and discern “what it means for us and how we’re going to try to live that our as we go forward.” He also spoke of the importance of pastors recognizing the gifts of others, inviting them to participate.

By Al Perrotta, The Stream – The key theme? Donald Trump is not playing around this time…. If you were hoping someone would take a sledgehammer to the corrupted DOJ and FBI, you’re in luck. President-Elect Donald Trump, in another “Wow, my gosh” selection, has picked Florida’s firebrand Congressman Matt Gaetz to be U.S. Attorney General… Said Trump: “Matt will end weaponized government, protect our borders, dismantle criminal organizations, and restore Americans’ badly shattered faith and confidence in the Justice Department.”

By Bradley Devlin, Daily Signal – Republicans have earned an electoral mandate unlike anything the party has seen since the 1980s… Rachel Bovard, vice president of programs at the Conservative Partnership Institute and veteran of over a decade of working on Capitol Hill, told me on the latest episode of “The Signal Sitdown” that conservatives “cannot waste it.”… For the first time in 20 years, the Republican presidential nominee carried the popular vote. President-elect Donald Trump captured more than 300 Electoral College votes on the way to an election victory that reshaped the Republican Party’s coalition.

By Sarah Holliday, LifeNews – Many assumed Vice President Kamala Harris, as a woman, would have secured the vote among young women in the 2024 presidential election. However, according to an exit poll from The Associated Press, that was not the case… It turns out at least 40% of Gen Z women who are under the age of 30 chose to vote for Donald Trump in what experts have described as a “historic comeback” for the former president.

CatholicVote – “Today I met with President-elect Trump in the Oval Office,” Biden’s government X (formerly Twitter) account posted Wednesday afternoon. “I look forward to leading a smooth transition and peaceful transfer of power.”… “As I told the President-elect, my team is committed to doing everything we can to ensure the incoming administration has what they need,” the post added… According to The New York Post, Trump and Biden attended the meeting along with “their respective chiefs of staff, Susie Wiles and Jeff Zients, as they discussed topics including the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.”

By Louis Knuffke, CatholicVote – At the U.S. bishops’ plenary assembly this week, Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego proposed that the bishops’ conference set up a task force to study and implement “synodality” throughout the Church in America… The Cardinal made the proposal on Tuesday during the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) meeting in Baltimore. Cardinals Blase Cupich of Chicago and Joseph Tobin of Newark supported it. Cardinal McElroy said that Bishop Daniel Flores, who attended the Synod on Synodality in Rome, should be in charge of the task force. …

By Cassandra MacDonald, Gateway Pundit – Mrs. Trump revealed that Jill Biden called her after the assassination attempt on Donald J. Trump in October but wonders if her “concern was genuine,” given the inflammatory way she had been speaking of him on the campaign trail… “I do question, however, whether Jill’s concern was genuine, as a few days prior she referred to my husband as ‘evil’ and a ‘liar,’” she told French outlet Paris Match.

Franciscan Media – Gertrude, a Benedictine nun in Helfta, Saxony, was one of the great mystics of the 13th century. Together with her friend and teacher Saint Mechtild, she practiced a spirituality called “nuptial mysticism,” that is, she came to see herself as the bride of Christ. Her spiritual life was a deeply personal union with Jesus and his Sacred Heart, leading her into the very life of the Trinity.

By Sheryl Collmer, Crisis Magazine – The open lesion that can’t heal is the realization that our shepherds despise or entirely disregard us. Will any of them break out of lockstep in Baltimore this week?… The attack on the Traditional Latin Mass in Tyler, Texas this weekend has gobsmacked us all, both traditional and Novus Ordo Catholics. Why now? Why on the first anniversary of the loss of our dear bishop? The fact that the apostolic administrator, Bishop Joe Vásquez of Austin, requested a ruling hints that it might be part of a negotiation.

By Catholic Vote – In a series of remarks, President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to shepherd sweeping changes to the country’s education policy during his second term – at the primary, secondary, collegiate, and university levels alike… In a recent video address, Trump unveiled an education policy plan that included supporting school choice for all parents, allowing school prayer, and abolishing the controversial U.S. Department of Education… “Here are 10 key ideas that will power our movement for great schools,” he said at the beginning of the brief video. ….

By Anthony Stine, Return to Tradition, November 13, 2024 – U.S. Bishops Will Speak Out “loudly” If Trump’s Mass Deportation Rhetoric Becomes Reality

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – Last Tuesday, President Donald J. Trump won his bid to become the 47th President of the United States, and the GOP is set to control the two Houses of Congress… This election cycle brought both some victories and tragic losses for life and family. Thankfully, people in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota rejected ballot initiatives that would have legalized the on-demand murder of innocent children through all nine months of pregnancy. Devastatingly, initiatives to protect innocent life failed in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York, which further enshrined the “right to kill.” ….

By Mary Beth Bracy, Catholic Exchange – A few years ago, the New York City public arts program decided to build more statues of women. When they held a poll to decide which statues to erect, Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini received the most votes. Nevertheless, they decided not to include her. Citizens spoke up, however, and on Columbus Day 2020 a permanent statue of St. Cabrini was unveiled in lower Manhattan’s Battery Park overlooking New York Harbor, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 17:11-19 – 11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; ….

By T. S. Flanders, OnePeterFive – I returned from the Martinmas festivities today to face the news that has hit American traditionalists since last Saturday. As many American Trads were still celebrating the victory of Trump, the Vatican Regime of New Iconoclasm struck the little diocese of Tyler, Texas… As you may recall, the Vatican regime previously cut off the head of the diocese, Bishop Strickland, for the unpardonable crime of preaching Catholicism, all while giving “Rapenik” a parish.

By Francis X. Maier, First Things – The story, dated November 8, appeared in Britain’s Catholic Herald. It details a post made on X by Emma Bonino. Bonino, noted the Herald, is “the Italian politician who successfully campaigned to legalise abortion in the 1970s.” To put it more graphically, she’s co-responsible for her nation’s license to kill millions of developing human children in the womb over the past forty years. Now seventy-six, she was recently hospitalized for health reasons. Francis paid an apparently surprise visit to her home, with gifts, after her release. The pope had earlier described Bonino as one of Italy’s “forgotten greats” …

By Jonathan Liedl, Catholic News Agency – The U.S. bishops are taking a wait-and-see approach to what President-elect Donald Trump does with his campaign promise to carry out mass deportation of immigrants who are in the country illegally… the bishops say they are prepared to speak out forcefully if Trump does advance the controversial proposal in a way that undermines human dignity… “We are waiting to see just what exactly takes shape,” said Bishop Mark Seitz, head of the USCCB migration committee… If the Trump administration moves forward in a way that violates basic human rights, Seitz said the bishops are prepared to “raise our voice loudly.”

By Stephen Kokx, Catholic Family News – What is going on with Pope Francis and Emma Bonino?… For those who don’t know who that is, Bonino has been the face of abortion in Italy for decades, having first established a facility in the country in the 1970s which she successfully used as a launching pad to push for its legalization years later… She has also spent decades as an elected official in the Italian and European Parliaments advocating for left-wing causes like recreational drug use and lax divorce laws…

By Gene Thomas Gomulka, Complicit Clergy – The recent U.S. presidential election demonstrated how pollsters often get it wrong. Will this also happen in the case of the next papal conclave? Just as many political analysts like to compare the outcomes of different elections, so too might we compare similarities in the current college of cardinals to papabile of another time. This will require that we set the dials on our time machine and travel back to Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the famed “Castle Church Door.”

By Hannah Hiester, LifeNews – CNN exit polls revealed that Kamala Harris was extremely popular with abortion extremists in the election but failed to win over those who said abortion should be legal in “most cases.”… She also surprisingly failed to raise more support among women than either Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton had in 2020 and 2016, which CNN called “a troubling sign for the vice president given that she tried to mobilize female voters on the issue of abortion.”

By Rachel Bovard, The Federalist – Senate Republicans cannot be led by someone who is openly hostile to the agenda of their party’s president and the base who elected him… Last Tuesday, America sent a resounding message to Washington when they elected Donald Trump and gave Republicans majorities in the Senate and likely the House. D.C. Republicans now have one job: Don’t screw it up… For Senate Republicans, this means closing the book on the Mitch McConnell era of governance ….

By Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, LifeSiteNews – A few days ago, on the eve of the U.S. Presidential Election, the arrogance of political commentators in the United States and all vassal nations had reached unexplored heights. Singers, actors, philanthropists, public figures, and journalists who supported Kamala Harris went so far as to threaten to leave the United States if Donald J. Trump was elected, and in truth many today expect them to fulfill their promises. Even Jorge Mario Bergoglio made a gesture, with his trademark politeness, traveling in a wheelchair to the penthouse of radical Sorosian activist and abortionist Emma Bonino with white roses and chocolates ….

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 Father David Nix, Blog – Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex-offender who was the nexus point for many elite celebrities before his death and Former-Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick, a convicted sex-offender who was also the nexus point for many elite bishops before he was laicized. There are many commonalities between the two criminals besides child-abuse… The crossover we are going to discuss today is something I label “Diversionary Scapegoating.” Diversionary Scapegoating is when a delinquent group conveniently blames all of its crimes on one person (a criminal already busted) so as to divert the public’s eyes from the criminal activity of that very same group.

By McKenna Snow, Catholic Vote – Sheryl Collmer, a parishioner in the Diocese (explains) “[T]he [Traditional Latin Mass] community is now challenged because they either have to crowbar themselves into the already overcrowded FSSP parish in Tyler, or drive two hours to another overcrowded FSSP parish in Dallas”… She said that both the Novus Ordo and Latin Mass communities are “heartbroken.”… “In Tyler, the Latin Mass community is integrated into the Catholic community as a whole; there’s no artificial division,” Collmer said. “So those who worship at the Novus Ordo Mass are brothers of the TLM. We work together in prayer and music and parish outreach; we belong to common organizations; we socialize.”

By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky, Catholic Culture – Individuals and organizations need money to survive. Even Jesus entrusted Judas with the cash box. But many Catholics resent priests making fundraising appeals and add “All he ever talks about is money” to the list of all the things he ever talks about. So many priests avoid the subject. But the generosity of the poor widow in the Gospel validates the conversation and the proper use of money… Jesus sees rich men tossing their gifts into the treasury. He also sees a poor widow casting in two brass mites [coins]. He marvels ….

By Al Perrotta, The Stream – The Battle for Senate Majority Leader.. You’d think with the massive mandate won by Donald Trump, and the stepping down of Trump-hating Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the most logical thing in the world would be for GOP Senators to pick as their incoming Majority Leader someone who is actually on board with the president-elect. That would ensure the smooth enacting of Trump’s agenda… But logic is scarce in The Swamp. The job was set to be a battle between two McConnell-lites: Sen. John Thune and Sen. John Cornyn, both with a history of trashing Trump …

By Francesca Pollio Fenton, CNA – Servant of God Michelle Duppong was 31 years old when she died from cancer on Dec. 25, 2015.
A young woman filled with joy and a fire for the Lord, she was born in Colorado and grew up on her family farm in North Dakota, after which she served as a Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) missionary before becoming the director of adult faith formation for the Diocese of Bismarck… Duppong’s inspiring life has now been documented in a film ….

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 David Clossen, LifeNews – On November 5, 2024, Donald J. Trump completed the greatest comeback in American political history by winning the 2024 presidential election and defeating Kamala Harris. Trump becomes only the second president to be elected for non-consecutive terms, the first being Grover Cleveland in 1892. For beleaguered pro-lifers, Trump’s victory offers hope and opportunity… Although “unprecedented” is an overused word in modern politics, the 2024 election featured a series of events truly without equal in American history. …

By R. R. Reno, Editor, First Things – Religious believers may or may not agree with Trump about immigration or trade. And they may have diverse views about how to respond to our society’s confusions about what it means to be a man or a woman. But they should welcome the general erosion of the open society consensus and its ready accusations of fascism and authoritarianism. In that regard, whatever one thinks of the man or his platform, Trump’s electoral success is good news for those of us who think that the highest, noblest, and most liberating act is to surrender ourselves, heart, mind, and soul, to God.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 17:7-10 – 7 “Will any one of you, who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep, say to him when he has come in from the field, `Come at once and sit down at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, `Prepare supper for me, and gird yourself and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterward you shall eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, `We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'”

By Rob Marco, Crisis Magazine – I heard a quote years ago from the late Fr. John Hardon, S.J., that “Ordinary Catholic families cannot survive. They must be extra-ordinary families. They must be what I do not hesitate to call heroic Catholic families.” I thought it was a bold, prophetic proclamation; and the more of his writings I read, the more I admired the good Jesuit’s zeal—until I realized that the Traditionalists I had aligned myself with regarded Fr. Hardon as a “modernist.” I would hear this pejorative used time and time again …

By Margot Cleveland, The Federalist – Since Donald Trump’s landslide victory over Kamala Harris last Tuesday, the legacy press has been hosting a public inquest into her demise. Three competing theories soon dominated the discussions — only one of which accepted the reality that Americans rejected the far-left policies and candidate on the merits… a second and more vocal segment of the press and Harris voting bloc instead declared that Trump’s election proves a majority of Americans are racist, sexist autocrats.

By Randall Smith, The Catholic Thing – I read an article recently by a professor who described how, years ago, she was expressing enthusiasm at an English Department meeting at her Jesuit university about a course on Catholic poetry that she had developed… a senior member of the department “who seemed to be speaking for both himself and his skeptical colleagues” announced: “Someone is going to have to prove to me that this is a legitimate way to approach the study of literature.” ….

Franciscan Media – In 1964, newspaper photos of Pope Paul VI embracing Athenagoras I, the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople, marked a significant step toward the healing of a division in Christendom that has spanned more than nine centuries… In 1595, the Orthodox bishop of Brest-Litovsk in present-day Belarus and five other bishops representing millions of Ruthenians, sought reunion with Rome.

Patriot Post – We set aside Veterans Day to honor the high price of sacrifice paid by generations of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen making up the ranks of more than 41 million Veterans who have served our nation since the American Revolution. They have valiantly carried forward the banner of Liberty since the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord. Millions of American Patriots have, for generations, honored their sacred oaths “to support and defend” the American Liberty “endowed by their Creator” as the unalienable Rights of Man — the rights of all people, as affirmed in our Declaration of Independence and enshrined in our Republic’s Constitution… But Veterans Day, as distinguished from Memorial Day, is primarily to honor and celebrate the millions of American Veterans in our midst — those we can thank in person for their service and sacrifice ….

By Peter Wolfgang, Catholic Culture – That is how far we have fallen. The defeat of the radicalism represented by Kamala Harris is a huge win. We should all rightly breathe a sigh of relief. But it was, at best, a stay-of-execution for Christian morality in the United States. Even as the 2024 election is a rebuke to the left for its excesses, we must acknowledge that the whole country has shifted left. And we must steel ourselves to battle against it. Even, at times, against those whose victories we are rightly celebrating this week.

By Frontlines Staff, Human Events – Arizona voters have approved a measure that empowers local law enforcement to arrest migrants suspected of entering the country illegally. This comes when the southern border has seen a historically unprecedented increase in border crossings over the past few years… The measure, Proposition 314, establishes that crossing the border outside an official port of entry into Arizona from Mexico is a state crime, permitting state and local authorities to make arrests and allowing state judges to order deportations. Additionally, those enforcing the law are shielded from civil lawsuits.

By LifeSiteNews Staff – According to a letter written by the current head of Tyler, Texas, Joseph Vásquez, celebration of the TLM at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception will cease on November 30 following direction from the Vatican… Celebration of the traditional Latin Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Tyler, Texas, the diocese formerly headed by Bishop Joseph Strickland, is ending effective November 30. …

By LifeSiteNews staff – Bishop Joseph Strickland will be leading a Rosary Rally outside the USCCBs’ annual meeting next week (Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, live coverage will begin at 11:45 am Eastern Time), and LifeSiteNews will be there to provide live coverage… Bishop Strickland has regularly led the Rosary outside the bishops’ conference meetings in Baltimore in the past, bringing attention to such issues as giving Holy Communion to pro-abortion politicians, a subject over which the bishops have wavered for decades. Readers may remember that in 2021 he was the only bishop to join Catholics praying outside the bishops’ assembly.

By Cardinal Joseph Zen, Nov. 9, 2024 – On October 27, the XVI Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops announced its closing. The Pope immediately approved of the document adopted by the Synod and said he would not write a Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation. All parties found this to be a completely “innovative” approach, but it seems that few have pointed out that this approach was rather problematic. I felt that way, but didn’t dare to raise it publicly. I feared that my pessimistic mindset may have led me to wrong judgments. But, then, after reading three articles, I now boldly express here my worries for the future of our Church.

By Janet E. Smith, Crisis Magazine – I am happy, deliriously so, and grateful. I am floating in a sea of gratitude and amazement over the Trump victory… Everyone expected massive demonstrations after the election, no matter who won. It didn’t happen. I suspect no one is disappointed. But I am disappointed that there was no dancing in the streets. Is that considered uncivil for elections? All elections, or just this one?… Oh, I am happy, deliriously so, and grateful. I am floating in a sea of gratitude and amazement. Six months ago, no one would have predicted ….

Fr. Jeffrey Kirby, The Catholic Thing – Perhaps it was unintended, but Luce is a belittling of the virtue of hope and the sufferings of many who cling to Christ Jesus, our Hope. The mascot is a tragic satire of the state of ecclesial leadership today, which misses providential opportunities, and chooses to draw from the oddly new and obscures the venerable and ancient in the Church’s supernatural treasury… Our problem is not merely with an anime character, but with the missed opportunity to give and strengthen hope to believers and the world today.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 17:1-61 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 Take heed to yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him; 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, and says, `I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

By Franciscan Media – A conscientious objector who wanted to be a monk; a monk who was maneuvered into being a bishop; a bishop who fought paganism as well as pleaded for mercy to heretics—such was Martin of Tours, one of the most popular of saints and one of the first not to be a martyr.

By Thaddeus G. McCotter, American Greatness – Trump’s re-election signals a call for a return to sanity and prosperity. A demonstration of magnanimity could bolster his position and advance his policy goals while avoiding partisan retaliation… Donald Trump’s re-election as President of the United States, including an immense electoral college and popular vote victories, was the American people’s call for sanity and prosperity. For the incoming Trump administration, there is no time to waste in honoring the public’s mandate for change from the Obama and Biden administrations’ radical, dangerous, extreme, and disastrous policies. The first step is to lower the country’s political temperature. It won’t be easy.

By Grace Porto, Catholic Vote – An analyst at the Free Press recently explained that Republicans picked the winning women’s rights issue in the 2024 election… keeping biological males out of female sports while the Democrats’ strategy of promoting unrestricted abortion failed… the Free Press (on) Nov. 7 (said) that the Democrats’ “big bet” on abortion rights did not pay off… “Not only was abortion a flop with the electorate, it was Republicans — not Democrats — who pushed the winning women’s-rights issue: fighting the encroachment of biological men into women’s spaces and sports,” she said.

By Lawton Brinkman, Catholic Exchange – Several years ago, one of my parish priests, a great mentor, gave me Peter Kreeft’s Prayer for Beginners after lunch. At first, it was a rather shocking gift. In many regards, it seemed insulting prima facie. However, there was great wisdom in his gift. In all my years as a Catholic, I had never been properly taught how to pray, rather viewing it in simple binary. I was always told that prayer is “a conversation with God.” This definition is not wrong, but it can be taken the wrong way… Prayer is an act of love, and although love is a word, it need not be shown in words.

By Paul Kengor, Catholic Exchange – For the year 2024, however… evangelicals seemed down on Donald Trump, or at least less enthusiastic. Their decreased support concerned conservative Catholics worried about what they perceived as a deep, real and unprecedented threat to pro-life gains and religious freedom… judging from exit polls, those Catholics would respond by voting eagerly and overwhelming for the Republican presidential ticket. They came out so decisively for the ticket of Donald Trump and JD Vance (a Catholic) that they offset any waning numbers from evangelicals… Put bluntly, those Catholics got Donald Trump elected.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 16:9-15 – And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal habitations. “He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? ….

By Robert G. Marshall, Catholic Culture – Voters in the 2024 elections told NBC News’ Exit Poll that among five issues, 34% “said democracy mattered most” over other concerns, while 31% picked the economy, 14% abortion, 11% immigration, and just 4% foreign policy. But if voters nationwide picked Democrat candidates to remedy the supposed ills of democracy as identified by VP Kamala Harris and members of the Congressional Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 Capitol civil disturbance, they chose exactly the wrong group of candidates to remedy the situation.

By Logan Washburn, The Federalist – “I hope we can lay to rest the question about the integrity of the American electorate system. It is honest, it is fair and it is transparent. And it can be trusted, win or lose,” Biden said on Nov. 7 according to The Hill… But that is false. Integrity advocates took immediate action to address issues when they rose on election night, keeping them from developing into a bigger problem. Trump’s massive turnout truly did make this election “too big to rig,” but that does not mean it was free from bad actors trying to rig it.

By Regis Martin, Crisis Magazine – Above all, Augustine wished to remain faithful to the grace of an encounter that had upended his life. An encounter not with an idea but a person—the human being Jesus in whom the whole meaning of personhood stands revealed. “You are in me deeper than I am in me,” he will admit with astonishment. And here is God now speaking his name! “I heard your voice calling from on high,” Augustine exclaims, who thereupon tells him: I’m the food of full-grown men. Grow and you shall feed on me. But you shall not change me into your own substance, as you do with the food of your body. Instead you shall be changed into me. For I am the God who is!

By Peter Martin, LifeSiteNews – Bishop Joseph Strickland cautioned against complacency after Republican victories in the 2024 elections, calling on people to “stand strong in the truth” and oppose “false messages” wherever they come from… “It is not a time to sit back and say, ‘Oh, we won,’” Bishop Strickland said during LifeSiteNews’ live election coverage on Tuesday. “We pray that we have an opportunity to fight back the darkness, and the evil, and the false messages that are even infecting the Church.”.. “We’ve got to seize this moment,”

The Catholic Herald – The Vatican’s top diplomat has said that a controversial deal with China on the appointment of bishops will continue “regardless of reactions that may come from America” during the new Trump administration… Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, spoke to reporters on the sidelines of an event at Rome’s Jesuit-run Gregorian University on artificial intelligence and international humanitarian law.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 16:1-8 – He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a steward, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. And he called him and said to him, `What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’ And the steward said to himself, `What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? …

By Suzanne Bowdey, LifeNews – While it isn’t what every American wanted, the election did deliver something every American needed: clarity. The results that handed Donald Trump his second term supplied exactly what this weary and fractured country had to have to move forward — an unambiguous winner. A straightforward path. A fresh chance to be the nation its people, and the world, deserve. But none of that will matter, some are pointing out, if we don’t seize the reprieve God has granted.

By John Daniel Davidson, The Federalist – We can’t just say ‘Oh well we’re all Americans in the end’ and pretend that everything is okay. Everything is not okay… Back in July after the first Trump assassination attempt, I wrote that there can be no national unity, no burying the hatchet or cooling the rhetoric with people who have been encouraging political violence and pushing assassination prep for years. You can’t smack someone in the face with a hammer and then insist everyone calm down. …

By Craig Bannister, MRC TV – The importance of retaining their First Amendment right to free speech weighed heavily on the minds of voters in this year’s elections – just as Americans had warned candidates it would… (one) survey revealed that nearly two-thirds (63%) of Americans rated free speech a “very important” issue influencing their vote for president, while nine in ten of both Republicans and Democrats said it would be at least a “somewhat important” factor. …

By Catholic World News – CWN Editor’s Note: Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, offered his thoughts on the presidential election of Donald Trump in an exchange with reporters on November 7… “Of course we wish him well,” Cardinal Parolin said. “We wish him much wisdom, because that is the principal virtue of leaders according to the Bible.”… Parolin said that he hoped Trump could fulfill his promise to end the warfare in Ukraine and Gaza, but added “I don’t think he has a magic wand.” …

By Jonathan Liedl, National Catholic Register –
The USCCB has already addressed Trump’s victory, with conference president Archbishop Timothy Broglio congratulating the Republican in a Nov. 6 statement that also emphasizes the Church’s nonpartisan commitment to advancing the common good and the need for unity and prayer… Additionally, some of the anticipated agenda items for the 2024 assembly will likely take on a different shape with the conservative populist Trump, and not the progressive globalist Harris, in the Oval Office.

By Jason Scott Jones, The Stream – In the last stretch of the 2024 presidential election season, Donald Trump made it clearer than ever that he was pitting the fate of his entire movement against the military-industrial complex and the violence of war. There has rightly been plenty of talk about the political “realignments” Trumpism has brought about. These historic shifts have resulted in a new populist right that champions the worker …. But the most significant realignment has been a realignment toward peace ….

By Joannie Watson, Integrated Catholic Life – Someone approached me recently and asked a very honest, vulnerable question. She said that she reads on blogs and hears on Catholic radio the beauty of the practice of frequent confession, but she hasn’t been to the sacrament in a very long time. She’s intimidated, not even by the fact that she feels she has to a lot to confess, but she’s worried she’s going to do it incorrectly… So let’s look a little closer at the sacrament… Four essential parts ….

By Pope Leo XIII, Posted on The Catholic Thing – Accept, mighty Maid, we beseech thee, This prayer with its fragrance of flowers; With one soul we seek thus to reach thee. And hail thee, God’s Mother and ours.

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 Joshua Mercer, LifeNews – Multiple exit polls show that President-elect Donald Trump won the Catholic vote by a wide margin in Tuesday’s election – posting the strongest performance among Catholics for a Republican nominee since Ronald Reagan… In the past several election cycles, Catholics as a whole have emerged as an important swing voting bloc – and the candidate who wins their vote has almost always gone on to win the presidency.

By Emily Mangiaracina, LifeSiteNews – Catholics supported Donald Trump in the 2024 U.S. presidential election by a “massive margin” of 15 points — the largest in decades — according to exit polls… A Washington Post exit poll found that Trump outperformed Kamala Harris among American Catholics by 56 percent to 41 percent. An NBC exit poll similarly showed that Catholics voted for the president by a 15-point margin in 10 key swing states, with Trump receiving 56 percent of their vote compared with Harris’ 41 percent. …

By Steven Ertelt, LifeNews – Donald Trump is now projected to win the states of Arizona and Nevada, which were still counting votes from Tuesday’s presidential race… Trump has already surpassed the necessary 270 electoral college votes to win the presidency and now he’s achieved the 312 vote total… With the Arizona win, Trump’s electoral votes tally will hit 312 compared to Kamala Harris’s 226 – a clear and convincing victory over the radical abortion activist.

By Emmy Griffin, Patriot Post – How did voters respond in 10 states? Bad for the most part, but peppered with some good… Over the last few weeks, Kamala Harris’s campaign has leaned heavily into pandering to all the vices. Her favorite vice to promote is abortion, and there were 10 states with this issue on the ballot: New York, Maryland, Florida, Missouri, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Arizona, Montana, and Nevada.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 15:1-101 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? ….

By The Catholic Herald – The US election has turned out to be not quite as close-run as the pundits and the pollsters predicted. The results are in, and they are decisive. In January Donald Trump will return to the White House as the next president; JD Vance, a Catholic convert, will be his vice president… This is a momentous result, not least for Catholics and indeed for all who hold dear the protection of life in the womb. Kamala Harris’s only clear policy… was that she was pro-abortion in all circumstances ….

By Megan Basham, First Things – In the final days of the 2024 election, the Democrats have at last hit on a pitch they believe will make inroads with young men: Vote for us, the party of porn.
When ads tying Dems to smut first rolled out on October 7, they still seemed like a niche play by the party’s fringe. A coalition of porn actors… pooled a measly $100,000 for a campaign billed as “Hands Off My Porn,” to run on porn sites in swing states.

By CatholicVote – Multiple exit polls show that President-elect Donald Trump won the Catholic vote by a wide margin in Tuesday’s election – posting the strongest performance among Catholics for a Republican nominee since Ronald Reagan…. In the past several election cycles, Catholics as a whole have emerged as an important swing voting bloc – and the candidate who wins their vote has almost always gone on to win the presidency. In 2020, Joe Biden bested Trump among Catholics by five points, per Gallup. …

By F. Andrew Wolf Jr., Catholic Exchange – “…a new vision that overturns established practices.” – Synod on Synodality… The words above may well come back to haunt the Church. Last month, the Vatican concluded years of gatherings by bishops, clergy, and laity initiated by Pope Francis. The hierarchy within the Catholic Church calls it a “process”—more specifically—the Synod on Synodality. This multi-year series of meetings aimed to reconfigure how the Church operates by utilizing the model of a synod—one in which open dialogue and transparency are primary.

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – When our children were young, we had a regular light-hearted morning routine. After breakfast I would head to my office, asking, “Do you know what I’m going to do today?” And the children—having been coached—would chorus: “Save the world from democracy.”… Our government is not a democracy—at least, not just a democracy. When he was asked what sort of government the Constitutional Convention had designed for us, Benjamin Franklin famously answered: “A republic—if you can keep it.”

By The Stream – Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò: Donald J. Trump’s victory in the electoral competition for the Presidency of the United States of America constitutes a historic moment in the dramatic events of the present and marks a formidable setback for the criminal plan of the New World Order. I express my warmest congratulations to President Trump, while I thank Our Lord for having prevented the United States and the Western world from definitively falling into the tentacles of the deep state and globalist tyranny. …

By Eric Sammonsm, Crisis Magazine – But here’s a sobering thought: all those attacks (on Trump) will look like child’s play compared to what’s coming. Don’t for a minute think that Trump’s overwhelming victory—which proved that the American people decisively rejected the lies about him—will slow down his enemies. In fact, it will likely embolden them… I predict that defeat will lead Trump’s opponents completely over the edge (if they haven’t already fallen over it). Every single day of a second Trump term will be filled with demented politicians and talking heads accusing Trump of the most vile evils. Every single governmental act by Trump will be compared to a Nazi pogrom. This is going to be ugly.

By Louis Knuffke, CatholicVote – Pope Francis recently made a private, unannounced visit to Emma Bonino, one of Italy’s most prominent and controversial figures. Bonino is known for performing thousands of illegal abortions and paving the way for the procedure’s legalization in Italy… In a post on X, Bonino said of the Pope’s visit, “when he told me that I am ‘an example of freedom and resistance,’ it filled me with joy.”… Prior to the papal visit, the notorious abortionist expressed her continued commitment to advocating for such things as euthanasia. …

Franciscan Media – Didacus is living proof that God “chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.”.. As a young man in Spain, Didacus joined the Secular Franciscan Order and lived for some time as a hermit. After Didacus became a Franciscan brother, he developed a reputation for great insight into God’s ways. His penances were heroic. He was so generous with the poor that the friars sometimes grew uneasy about his charity.

By Deacon Keith Fournier, LifeSiteNews – We have a tower to build and a lot of work to do as we try to stem the decline of the nation we love and rebuild her moral foundations in order to re-secure a future of freedom for our children and grandchildren. We must calculate the cost. We are engaged in a spiritual war for the souls of men and women; indeed, the very survival of the nation we love may hang in the balance. However, we must always remember that the struggle is at root, a spiritual one.

By Edward Pentin, National Catholic Register – One of the persistent criticisms of the final assembly of the Synod on Synodality has been that, despite its frequent emphasis on listening and dialogue, several relevant and important voices went unheard… George Weigel identified some of these voices as happily married couples, Catholic educators resisting today’s “woke” culture, and healthcare professionals living a culture of life… But another group conspicuous by its absence were those faithful who value the traditional liturgy and apostolic tradition

By Jonah McKeown, Catholic News Agency – Voters in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota on Tuesday night voted down major pro-abortion proposals in their states, while seven other states saw voters approve measures to expand abortion, in several cases codifying abortion access into the state constitution… After back-to-back pro-life losses in half a dozen states since 2022, the rejection of the pro-abortion measures in three states on Tuesday represent the first victories at the ballot box for pro-life advocates since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

By Dan Hart, LifeNews – In the ongoing aftermath of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, the 2024 election saw an unprecedented 11 ballot initiatives in 10 states that mostly attempted to codify a “right” to obtain an abortion into state constitutions. Perhaps the most highly contested initiative took place in Florida, where the pro-abortion Amendment 4 failed to pass.

Msgr. Charles Pope – In the story of the great flood, we saw how evil and sin had grown so fast and become so serious that God saw it necessary to cleanse the whole world and dramatically prune the human family. While the flood was a severe measure, that tells us how bad the problem had become! The flood was like a giant “bath” that cleansed the world, making an end of sin and new beginning for goodness to grow.

By S.A. McCarthy, Daily Signal – With unaddressed allegations of fraud dominating the months following the 2020 presidential election, Republicans made election integrity a major focus on Tuesday night… The Republican National Committee and its team of lawyers were quick to respond to potential hijinks Tuesday night, while voters followed up with a resounding push for ballot integrity in nine states.

By Tristan Macdonald, Crisis Magazine – The future of American Catholic schools lies in operating as independently of the state as possible while still remaining financially feasible. Is this possible… Last year, a school at which I had taught, Saint Joseph Prep in Brighton, Massachusetts, was one of a number of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Boston to close permanently. The problem of failing Catholic schools in the region has become egregious enough to concern even secular publications.

By Isabel Vincent, New York Post – A charity run shelter in El Paso, Texas stands accused of “planning and facilitating” illegal migrants to cross over the border from Mexico into the US, according to court documents… The accusation of brazen illegality is part of a suit filed by the state Attorney General Ken Paxton against Annunciation House, a Catholic group who run a handful of shelters providing temporary housing to migrants who have illegally crossed into the US.

By Calvin Freiburger, Peter Martin, LifeSiteNews – Republican former President Donald Trump has won this year’s election to become the 47th president of the United States, defeating Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris… Fox News called the 2024 presidential race for Trump around 1:50 a.m. EST on Wednesday after declaring him the winner of swing states Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Associated Press has since called the election for Trump… Republicans are also projected to win control of the Senate with at least 51 seats, though control of the House is not known yet.

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 Daniel Payne, CNA – By 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, with roughly 90% of the vote counted, returns showed Amendment 4 with about 57% of voters in favor, failing to clear the 60% threshold… A proposed pro-abortion amendment in Florida failed to pass on Tuesday, bringing an end to an effort to enshrine broad abortion access in the state constitution and serving abortion advocates with a major defeat in the 2024 election.

By David La Mar, Catholic Exchange – We’ve been given an extra hour this weekend. Most of us associate it with an extra hour of sleep. Nothing wrong with that. That’s a good thing. But could we possibly reconsider using it somehow for the love of God and neighbor?… Do we truly love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength? This requires a complete emptying of self, so we can refill ourselves with God. Do we love our neighbor as ourselves? We’d have to undergo a completely transformational change of heart in order to love neighbor as self.

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture – We should all be seeking each and every day to grow closer to God, especially by adopting and persevering in good habits of prayer and virtue. The first steps, of course, are to attend Mass at least as often as Church law requires and to develop the habit of regular confession. But beyond these sacramental activities, it is important to practice the presence of God—that is, to live with an ever-increasing mindfulness of God’s presence in our lives, so that we habitually think and act in conscious awareness of the love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

By Breccan F. Thies, The Federalist – “Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason,” Trump said, referring to the summer attempt on his life that left him bloodied and left one supporter dead and two others injured… “This will truly be the golden age of America. That’s what we have, this is a magnificent victory for the American people that will allow us to make America great again,” Trump said in his speech. “We’re gonna make you very proud of your vote.”

By Janet E. Smith, Crisis Magazine – Trump’s decision to retreat from advocacy of the pro-life cause and try to persuade those who remain reluctant to vote for him is defensible from a pro-life standpoint… What Should Be Trump’s Position on Abortion?… Easy answer: Trump, like everyone, should oppose abortion and fight for the legal protection of all innocent human life from conception to natural death… But he is running for president of the United States. So, in that context, the question should be rephrased: What position should Trump take on abortion—in this election?

The Babylon Bee, Patriot Post – U.S. — On the eve of a hotly contested presidential election, top Democrats warned the American people that if Trump is elected, it would likely be the end of bureaucracy as we know it… The sobering news came as voters prepared to head to the polls today, with many prominent members of the Democratic Party issuing public pleas for people to turn out and defend the federal government’s bureaucratic establishment from certain death.

By Anthony Esolen, The Catholic Thing – I am relieved to find that Pope Francis has refrained from saying that someday we may be conferring, or pretending to confer, Holy Orders upon women. It keeps alive the possibility that the churches East and West may reunite. It averts an inevitable and devastating schism. It allows the faithful to retain their trust that, as Sigrid Undset’s convert Paul Selmer says in The Burning Bush, it is the Church’s boast not to have changed her doctrine, so that what we believe is but an organic development of truths revealed already to the apostles.

Source: Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph: 2246 – It is a part of the Church’s mission “to pass moral judgments even in matters related to politics, whenever the fundamental rights of man or the salvation of souls requires it. The means, the only means, she may use are those which are in accord with the Gospel and the welfare of all men according to the diversity of times and circumstances.” 53

By Al Perrotta, The Stream – We’ve traveled a long road in Campaign 2024. You can say it began when counting stopped in swing states and hundreds of thousands of ballots magically appeared for Joe Biden after America went to bed on election night in 2020, and the American people were deplatformed, told to shut up, and even jailed for saying that something funny was going on… (Today), the American people have the chance to vote in numbers too loud to ignore, to say firmly and as one, “We are not garbage. We are not fodder for your foreign invaders. ….

By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky, Catholic Culture – Jesus teaches: “The first [commandment] is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Love God. Love neighbor. It’s personal.

By Anne Reed, LifeNews – Newman added, “Christians must show up in massive numbers tomorrow and vote for Trump to keep this Marxist out of the Oval Office. We must understand that Christians are not welcome under a Harris regime. We will suffer grave consequences if we don’t take our responsibility seriously right now and leave Kamala in the pages behind us.”

By John Leake, LifeSiteNews – We now live in a country in which tens of millions of people are so blinded by violent hatred for Donald Trump that they are no longer able to perform a rational evaluation of anything pertaining to politics. I believe that this hate is infinitely more destructive and dangerous that the so-called “hate” that Elliot Kirschner attributed to Tony Hinchcliffe’s bad jokes at the Trump rally.

By Dr. Leisa Marie Carzon, Catholic Exchange – While many Catholics have already cast early votes, others are indicating they will sit it out this election. Abstaining, examination of social justice issues, and voting for a third party are considerations for Catholic voters. Our bishops remind us that, because we are people of both faith and reason, we are called to witness to the dignity of human life, defend marriage, and promote the well-being of all. We currently have before us an incredible opportunity to advance the common good, limit evil, and permeate culture with beauty, truth, and goodness.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 14:15-24 – When one of those who sat at table with him heard this, he said to him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet, and invited many; and at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, `Come; for all is now ready.’ ….

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – As we cast ballots for the 47th president of the United States and elect people to fill various federal, state, and local positions, it is time once more to remind ourselves just how high the stakes of this election are and what our duties are as Catholic citizens… The results of Tuesday’s elections will impact every level of our society – from legislation, to judges, to the educational system, foreign policy, health care, and so much more. And though our vote is only one among millions, it nevertheless remains true that the accumulated weight of those millions of votes determines, in crucial ways, the future our country will take.

By Anthony Iafrate, CatholicVote – For pro-life Americans, the stakes in the 2024 election cycle could not be higher… While the lion’s share of media coverage surrounding Election Day has been focused on the all-important presidential race, in many parts of the country, extreme pro-abortion measures lurk down-ballot… On Tuesday, voters in 10 states will decide whether or not ballot initiatives creating a so-called “right to abortion” in their state constitutions will pass…

By Franciscan Media – A man who vigorously pursues a goal may produce results far beyond his expectations and his intentions. Thus it was with Peter ” of the Golden Words,” as he was called, who as a young man became bishop of Ravenna, the capital of the empire in the West… At the time there were abuses and vestiges of paganism evident in his diocese, and these Peter was determined to battle and overcome. His principal weapon was the short sermon, and many of them have come down to us.

By Ryan Bilodeau, Catholic Exchange – As Catholics, we are entrusted with the responsibility of bringing our faith into the public square. Yet, as this election season unfolds, political discourse seems to have lost its moral compass, focusing more on defeating enemies than building a just society. Drawing on the wisdom of St. John Paul II, we must ask: how can we restore the Catholic principles of solidarity, subsidiarity, and the common good in a political climate that thrives on division?

By Mario Enzler, Kevin Mooney, The Daily Signal – Kamala Harris and company are all in with radical, anti-life policies that could unsettle swing voters who might describe themselves as “moderately pro-choice” but hardly pro-abortion… The amorphous terminology built around the concept of personal autonomy has different meanings to different ears. In conversations with family members, friends, co-workers, and neighbors who are saturated with media reports designed to obscure the brutality of the abortion industry, practicing Catholics are at a perpetual disadvantage.

By Allen West, Patriot Post – Many times, people ask me about a reading list, and one of the books I recommend is Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals.” Alinsky’s rantings are truthfully the playbook of leftists… You can see this playing out currently as another so-called son of Chicago, Barack Hussein Obama, hits the road in the election cycle. It is all about the politics of personal destruction, targeting, coercion, intimidation, threats, and ultimately violence. It follows right with the schemes of Karl Marx and all of his acolytes that the world has had to endure. And now, it has firmly taken root here in our Constitutional Republic.

By Steven Ertelt, LifeNews – Donald Trump emphasized the importance of faith and prayer in his life during a recent event in South Carolina. He stated that his spiritual beliefs guide him and play a crucial role in his leadership… Trump discussed how he plans to bring these values back to the White House if re-elected in 2024, promising to promote religious freedoms and support faith-based initiatives. He also criticized the current administration for its stance on faith-related issues, positioning himself as a candidate who prioritizes religious values in governance. …

By Robert Royal, The Catholic Thing – A crucial presidential election takes place tomorrow. This site operates under tax-exempt, non-profit status, which does not permit us to engage in partisan politics – let alone endorse candidates.  But we’re The Catholic Thing and have the constitutional right to comment on Catholic things. There are several such things in play this year, especially the proper understanding of religious liberty under the American constitutional order.

By Msgr. Charles Pope – Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today (Deut 6:4-6)… Jesus then adds, also in common Rabbinic tradition, The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments… Do not miss the point that the discussion of the greatest “law” centers on the word “love.” Most of us miss this connection between the law and love.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 14:12-14 – He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

By Merriam-Webster, Inc. 2022 – When gaslighting was first used in the mid 20th century it referred to a kind of deception like that in the movie. We define this use as: psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one’s emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator ….

By Mary Eberstadt, First Things – Red and blue Americans are locked in a hostile custody battle right now. But if they agree on anything, it’s that “the gender gap has never been wider,” as one piece in the New York Times just summarized. For both the Harris and Trump campaigns, that gap shapes the playbook. Electoral binaries like hawks vs. doves, flyover land vs. coasts, are out. The battle between the sexes, and which side leverages it best, will decide what happens next week.

By Russell Shaw, Catholic World Report – Lately, I’ve had occasion to read two books by Saint John Henry Newman… One is Newman’s first novel, Loss and Gain, while the other is that classic “history of my religious opinions” (Newman’s words), the Apologia Pro Vita Sua. Although the two volumes could hardly be more unalike in most respects, both are of considerable interest for what they tell us about the process of religious conversion.

By Elizabeth Kidney, CatholicVote – Conservative scholar and author Christopher Rufo on Thursday reported that Boeing was taking steps to eliminate its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) department… “WINNING,” Rufo wrote. “Boeing has abolished its DEI department.”… “Earlier this year, we published a story showing how DEI was undermining competence at the company,” continued Rufo. “Insiders tell us it helped put pressure on the new CEO, who made the decision to shutter the department.”

By Joy Pullmann, The Federalist – One of the best ways to know what Democrats are up to is to simply check how they’re smearing their opponents. Who is really “destroying democracy” if not those who support mass censorship, surveillance, and the jailing of reporters and others over speech crimes? Who really colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election? Who ended the United States’ lifelong tradition of peaceful transition of power by spying on and sabotaging the governance of the opposition-party president elected after Barack Obama?

By Victor Davis Hanson, American Greatness – Who actually are the “garbage” people?… Are they one and the same with Joe Biden’s “semi-fascists,” “chumps,” and “dregs of society?”… Or Barack Obama’s “clingers?”… Do they include Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables” and “irredeemables?”… Over the last decade-and-a-half, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Harris-Walz, and a host of other self-described elites have variously invented a wide range of smears and slurs—but about whom exactly?

By Calvin Freiburger, LifeSiteNews – Mail ballots submitted without a date will not be counted in Pennsylvania after all, the state’s highest court ruled Friday after a lower court declared they should be accepted… the Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted the GOP and Pennsylvania GOP Party’s emergency request for a stay of a appellate court ruling two days earlier that the “free and equal elections clause” of the Pennsylvania Constitution required the Philadelphia Board of Elections to count a set of undated envelopes in a September special election for a state House seat.

Franciscan Media – The name of Charles Borromeo is associated with reform. He lived during the time of the Protestant Reformation, and had a hand in the reform of the whole Church during the final years of the Council of Trent… Although he belonged to the Milanese nobility and was related to the powerful Medici family, Charles desired to devote himself to the Church…

By John M. Grondelski, Ph.D., Catholic World Report – November as a month that teaches us about the communion of saints through prayer for the souls of the faithful departed makes that lesson real… Catholics observe November as the month of prayer for the faithful departed… But November begins with All Saints Day. What, if anything, connects these two?… Well, they are connected. We perhaps need to widen our aperture to see the connection. November is the month of the holy souls, but, more broadly, it is the month of the “communion of saints.”

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 Stephen Kokx, LifeSiteNews – Cardinal Burke told EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo that if there is ‘some good reason to think we can advance the cause of life, and the family, and religious freedom, that’s the kind of candidate we need to support.’… Both major political party candidates have “gravely morally objectionable content” in their platforms, Cardinal Burke acknowledged, but “to not vote at all in a democracy like our own” is a “failure of our own duty to try to support a candidate, even if he or she is highly flawed but at least gives us some hope to advance the cause of life, and the family, and religious freedom.”

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 14:1, 7-11 – 1 One sabbath when he went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him. 7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he marked how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by any one to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him; ….

By Michael Haynes, LifeSite News – Cardinal Walter Kasper issued his own call for female deacons, days after the final document of the Synod on Synodality stated the question “remains open.”… In an interview with online theology magazine Communio, Kasper opined freely on the question of the female diaconate – in an intervention that takes on special significance in light of the recently concluded Synod on Synodality… Kasper, notable for his successful promotion of Holy Communion for the divorced and “remarried,” made reference to the two commissions on the female diaconate that Pope Francis established.

By Jules Gomes, Souls and Liberty – Italian artist Simone Legno, co-founder of the tokidoki lifestyle brand, is the creator of “Luce,” an androgynous-looking doll for the Jubilee Year… Legno has also openly displayed his association with National Nude Day, occult-like artwork, and even softcore pornography… On Monday, Abp. Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization and organizer of the Jubilee Year, told a Vatican press conference that the mascot was intended to attract more young people to the Church through “pop culture.”

By Stephen P. White,  The Catholic Thing – God, whose love is infinite, loves a finite number of people. He may love everyone, but the number is still finite… I read somewhere that the total number of human beings who have ever lived is estimated to be somewhere north of 100 billion. That’s a lot of humans. How one estimates such a number is somewhat obscure to me, but if we take that number as reasonably accurate, it means that something like seven or eight percent of the people who have ever lived are alive today. ….

By Emily Mangiaracina, LifeSite News – Deacon Greg Kandra shared on Tuesday a memo from the Missouri diocese announcing that Bishop W. Shawn McKnight had “published a list of prohibited hymns and composers” based on the USCCB’s guidelines, published in 2020, on evaluating whether Church hymns are suitable for the liturgy… The bishops’ conference had named specific examples of doctrinally unsound hymns, which are cited in McKnight’s list, including the popular “All Are Welcome,” “Bread of Life” by Bernadette Farrell, and “Table of Plenty” by Dan Schutte.

By Betsy McCaughey, The Stream – The biggest lie roiling the election is Vice President Kamala Harris’s claim that former President Donald Trump will ban abortion nationwide… Abortion rights do not hinge on who is elected president, nor on which party controls Congress. The issue is out of their hands. Wherever you live, the people you elect as state legislators will determine your abortion rights. That is what the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2022 when it overturned Roe v. Wade.

By Steven Ertelt, LifeNews – The biggest contest next Tuesday, November 5, is without doubt the race for the White House. With various suggestions that this will be the last quadrennial election in our democracy, put me on the side of those who think it likelier that the race for the White House in 2028 will be in the news before the doomsday talk takes hold. On one subject matter at least, however, next Tuesday’s election will be fateful: the installation of abortion on request in state constitutions.

By Regis Martin, Crisis Magazine – It remains one of the enduring consolations of my life that, joined as I am to Christ’s Body, the Church, I may at any time interact with the dead, with those cherished and faithful souls who have gone home before me to God. Whether they share fully in the life of Paradise as members of the Communion of Saints, or if they must languish for a time amid the refining fires of Purgatory, they are each bound together for that heavenly glory we all await. “For it was through this hope,” St. Paul assures us, “that we were saved” (Romans 8:24).

By Louise Merrie, Catholic Exchange – Since childhood, All Saints Day, celebrated November 1st, has been one of my favorite days in the Liturgical Year. It brings me happiness to honor all the saints in Heaven—canonized and uncanonized—along with the other members of the Church on this special day… All Saints Day is a day to celebrate with Mass, with prayer (I like to pray the Litany of Saints alone or with a friend), and perhaps with a party. This is a day that gives us hope that we, too, will become saints. It does not matter if we are canonized as such; what matters is that we get to Heaven.

By Michael Haynes, LifeSiteNews – German Cardinal Walter Kasper made a personal appeal for the female diaconate, following the Synod on Synodality’s openness to it, also adding that prohibiting women from Holy Orders is ‘problematic.’… In an interview with online theology magazine Communio, Kasper opined freely on the question of the female diaconate – in an intervention that takes on special significance in light of the recently concluded Synod on Synodality.

By Maura Roan McKeegan, Catholic Exchange – Some friars who lived in San Giovanni Rotondo with Padre Pio once heard a mysterious sound coming from the friary. It sounded, one of the friars said, like “voices singing in beautiful harmony.” No one could find the source… Padre Pio was deep in prayer at the time, and someone approached him to ask if he knew where the singing was coming from. Roused as if from a deep sleep, he answered, “Why are you all so surprised? They are the voices of the angels, who are taking souls from purgatory into paradise.”

Author Don Schwager. Servants of the Word – Luke 14:1-6 – One Sabbath when he went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they were silent. Then he took him and healed him, and let him go. …

By David Warren, The Catholic Thing – Christians, and particularly the Saints, have a record of flourishing under the least likely circumstances… They, and we, when we persist to victory, are undefeated even through defeat. For if God is for us, who can be against us?… The faithful Christian will even know why this is so. He will be inwardly confident, that the universe is designed in such a way that he can win. And it will be a good fight, against insuperable odds, except that Christ has made them superable.

By Al Perrotta, The Stream – We are five days away from the election. And whatever the outcome, Donald J. Trump will go down as one of the greatest trollers of all time… When Joe Biden calls Trump’s supporters “garbage,” how does Trump respond? By rolling around Green Bay, Wisconsin in a specially painted garbage truck… He would later wear the waste disposal gear at his rally in Green Bay. His message: “Two hundred and fifty million Americans are not garbage.”

Fr. Raymond J. de Souza, First Things – As the presidential campaign winds down, the Trump-Vance ticket is ramping up warnings of Christian persecution if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the election. “The radical left is not going to leave Christians alone. It’s going to get worse and worse, and you’re going to suffer greatly,” President Donald Trump told the 11th Hour Faith Leaders Meeting in Concord, N.C., on October 21. “Ms. Harris has been an integral part of the most anti-Catholic administration in living memory—ironic given President Joe Biden’s Catholic faith,” Sen. JD Vance wrote …

By Robert Lazu Kmita, PhD, OnePeterFive – For example, Saint John Chrysostom directly addresses the question of the nature of this katechōn, answering it decisively: What then is it that holds back, that is, that hinders the revealing of the Antichrist? Some indeed say the grace of the Spirit, but others the Roman Empire. I agree with the latter position. Why? Because if Paul meant to say the Spirit, he would not have spoken obscurely but plainly, that even now the grace of the Spirit, that is the gifts, hold back the Antichrist.

By Austin Ruse, Crisis Magazine – I am angry at what I have come to know through the work of Casey Means and Calley Means. Brother and sister, she is a Stanford-educated surgeon, though practicing that no longer. He was a Harvard MBA working at the top of major food companies. After what he saw, he walked away, too… Did you know that we ingest a credit-card-sized amount of plastic every single week? Did you know that fifty percent of American children have some chronic health issue and that 50 years ago this was a mere one percent? …

By Grace Porto, CatholicVote – Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, is holding a Eucharistic procession around the Nebraska State Capitol two days before the presidential election… According to a post on Bishop Conley’s X account, the Eucharistic adorers will “plead for the life of the preborn” through their prayers and witness. This year, Nebraska has two competing ballot measures regarding abortion restrictions, as CatholicVote previously reported.

By Father Raymond J. de Souza, National Catholic Register – Oct. 31 is All Hallows Eve in the Catholic Church. It is also Reformation Day for Protestants. On that day in 1517, according to tradition, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. The Reformation followed, and a great rupture ripped apart Western Christianity… So did the Reformation end 25 years ago?

By Jennifer Gregory Miller, Catholic Culture – One of my favorite traditions during the Liturgical Year is remembering and praying for the faithful departed during November, particularly through November 1-8. While we can pray every day for those who have died, the Church gives us a special gift that can really unite us with our departed brothers and sisters and feel like we are tangibly helping them. This October 31 marks the one year anniversary of my father’s funeral, with in-laws also bearing the loss of other parents. …

By Hannah Hiester, CatholicVote – CatholicVote President Brian Burch called for supporters to urge bishops, priests and deacons to speak in their homilies this weekend about Catholics’ moral obligation to vote on November 5… “This Sunday presents an historic opportunity to talk about the need to properly form one’s conscience consistent with Catholic social teaching … and to passionately encourage every Catholic in your churches to vote”… “Catholics alone can single-handedly decide the outcome of the election next Tuesday.”

By Shea Bradley-Farrell, Human Events – Border security and immigration are critical issues for the November 5th election, and Americans must make an informed decision when voting. Presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ administration has claimed for four years that its “immigration policies” are “safe, orderly, and humane” for the millions flooding to U.S. borders. In reality, Harris presides over the largest human and sex trafficking scheme in history—and women and girls bear the brunt of it.

By Anne Reed, LifeNews – Evidence of the present-day evil of child sacrifice can frequently be found in Operation Rescue’s regular undercover exposés. One such example is found in a report published Tuesday casting light on America’s second “satanic abortion clinic.” The so-called clinic is targeting abortion-free states and enticing mothers into satanic, narcissistic, ritualistic practices. The report notes, “Agreeing to do the ritual is how one avoids paying extra costs beyond the $90 prescription for the abortion pills.”

By Franciscan Media – The Story of the Solemnity of All Saints – The earliest certain observance of a feast in honor of all the saints is an early fourth-century commemoration of “all the martyrs.” In the early seventh century, after successive waves of invaders plundered the catacombs, Pope Boniface IV gathered up some 28 wagon-loads of bones and reinterred them beneath the Pantheon, a Roman temple dedicated to all the gods. The pope rededicated the shrine as a Christian church. According to Venerable Bede, the pope intended “that the memory of all the saints might in the future be honored in the place which had formerly been dedicated to the worship not of gods but of demons”

By Kevin Wells, Catholic Exchange – The Great Warning (movie)… is for mankind because each of us will be judged by God. For many, the movie will be terrifying… Fr. James Blount, an internationally known Catholic priest, exorcist, and preacher stationed out of Covington, Georgia, appears periodically in the film to explain the dire state of the world. “The current situation for humanity and the spiritual and moral arena today is nothing less than a disaster,” he said. “We’re in quite a war today. We don’t know up from down, right from left. We need a true rescue from Heaven. … You might say this is a final chance, a final warning to wake up and go on the upper path.”

Catholic Vote – Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Wednesday drove up to a campaign rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, wearing a workman’s orange safety vest and driving a garbage truck… The gesture comes after President Joe Biden said earlier in the week that Trump supporters are “garbage” for backing a candidate who engages in “unconscionable” rhetoric… “How do you like my garbage truck?“ Trump said to reporters after he pulled up to the rally in Green Bay. “This truck is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden.”

By Joshua Mercer, CatholicVote – Joe Biden on Tuesday said that supporters of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump are “garbage” for backing such an “unconscionable” candidate… The president’s remarks came after insult comic Tony Hinchcliffe made a joke about Puerto Rico being an island of “floating garbage“ during a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden. While numerous conservative Puerto Ricans came forward to say they were not offended by the joke, Democratic operatives claimed it was malicious and tied it to Trump.

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – Pro-life activists have long warned that the most predictable consequence of legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide will be the stripping away of the guardrails protecting the weakest, most vulnerable, and marginalized members of society… We warned this would lead to a litany of horrors… This is precisely what happened in nations like Belgium and the Netherlands, which were among the first to legalize these inhumane practices. However, no nation seems to be as determined to plumb the depths of the depravity introduced by legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide as Canada.

By Jason Scott Jones, The Stream – What is anarcho-tyranny? Put simply, it means “Anarchy for me, tyranny for thee.” It describes a two-tiered justice system which operates to intimidate, punish, and finally suppress political opposition. You could find examples of it all through our fallen history.. the most infamous example of anarcho-tyranny as a means of consolidating power can be found in Weimar Germany. The Nazis employed anarcho-tyranny to extend their control of the German street, such that the conservative government felt there was no choice but to invite Hitler to join them… The left in today’s America is following not the Communist playbook (which often fails) but the Nazi one.

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 Luis E. Lugo, he Catholic Thing – On this day, the 31st of October, All Hallows’ Eve, many of our Protestant brothers and sisters celebrate Reformation Day – the momentous day in 1517 when the Augustinian friar Martin Luther nailed his famous 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany… The date always brings to mind my return to the Catholic Church some thirty years ago. Major factors in that homecoming were nagging questions about the proper relationship between Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture.

By Doug Mainwaring, LifeSiteNews – The Randall Terry presidential campaign produced a Halloween-themed commercial displaying dozens of incendiary images of aborted children aimed at dissuading voters from casting their ballots for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, a strident supporter of abortion up until birth… “She’s a baby killer,” Terry said in a recent interview. “This is an evil woman, a disgusting human being.”

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 13:31-35 – At that very hour some Pharisees came, and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, `Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ ….

By Thomas Jipping, Sarah Parshall Perry, Daily Signal – In an essay published by The New York Times and titled “Abortion Pills Are Safe. Post-Roe America Isn’t,” Dr. Chavi Eve Karkowsky, a physician who practices maternal-fetal medicine, demonstrates that the campaign for unlimited abortion is as fraudulent and deceptive as ever… From the beginning, the “right” to abortion was built on fraud. Abortion advocates pushed states to repeal their pro-life laws with baseless claims about illegal abortions.

By Jennifer Gregory Miller, Catholic Culture – One of my favorite traditions during the Liturgical Year is remembering and praying for the faithful departed during November, particularly through November 1-8. While we can pray every day for those who have died, the Church gives us a special gift that can really unite us with our departed brothers and sisters and feel like we are tangibly helping them… Beginning with Halloween, there is a kind of unofficial triduum which highlights the close connection and co-operation of the Communion of Saints.

By En.news – Simone Legno of the tokidoki company, designer of the Vatican mascot “Luce”, has produced vulgar art, including graphic designs for vibrators… In 2017, in collaboration with the brand Lovehoney, he lent his images to a line of vibrators. One of the series features a little devil… In June 2023, tokidoki also wished: “Happy Pride Month to all. To celebrate, tokidoki would like to spread love and positivity by giving back. Please join us in donating to these wonderful organisations that support the LGBQT+ community.

By Msgr. Charles Pope – In the Story of Cain and Abel, we saw how easily sin causes more sin. Adam and Eve’s sin wounded our nature and made us strongly inclined to sin. While God teaches that we can master sin, the Scriptures tell the sad legacy that we are now inclined to indulge our sins, more than master them. Cain yielded to his envious anger and killed his brother. The poison of sin is multiplying! We have much to learn in what God does in response… The Wages of Sin is Death ….

By Nick Kangadis, MRC TV – According to the Daily Caller: The Supreme Court allowed Virginia on Wednesday to remove individuals identified as noncitizens from the voter rolls… The justices paused a lower court order preventing officials from removing around 1,600 individuals who the state said “self-identified” as noncitizens… Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan would not have granted Virginia’s request, according to the order.

By Regis Martin, Crisis Magazine – In a word, what happens if he wins? How utterly unhinged half the country will be! Sheer howling frustration for weeks and weeks. Psychiatric clinics on every street corner. Mass transfusions of antidepressants to dull the pain. And let’s not forget riots in every blue city in the land. This will be no peaceful transfer of power, you can be sure. Not if the lunatic Left has anything to say about it, which is beginning to look more and more like your average Democrat voter.

By Gavin Ashenden, Katherine Bennett, Mark Lambert, Catholics Unscripted – In this episode of Catholic Unscripted, Katherine Bennett, Mark Lambert, and Gavin Ashenden discuss the recent conclusion of the synod presided over by Pope Francis. They explore the implications of the synod’s outcomes, the nature of ongoing dialogue within the Church, and the potential for a new direction in the Magisterium. The conversation delves into the challenges faced by the Catholic Church, including the risk of schism and the importance of maintaining Catholic teaching amidst confusion. …

By Franciscan Media – Wolfgang was born in Swabia, Germany, and was educated at a school located at the abbey of Reichenau. There he encountered Henry, a young noble who went on to become Archbishop of Trier. Meanwhile, Wolfgang remained in close contact with the archbishop, teaching in his cathedral school and supporting his efforts to reform the clergy… At the death of the archbishop, Wolfgang chose to become a Benedictine monk and moved to an abbey in Einsiedeln, now part of Switzerland.

By Randall Smith, The Catholic Thing – I suppose I would have been comforted by Pope Francis’s comment that “the Church is not a democracy” and that the Synod is not a “parliament” if it weren’t for the fact that so many people intent on reversing the Church’s teaching on women’s ordination and homosexuality have been so hard at work lobbying members of the synod for their causes.  Thus, although I welcome “dialogue” from all quarters, I am slightly puzzled by the headline: “Outreach hosts LGBTQ Catholic dialogue for Synod delegates in Rome.”

By Michael Swartz, Patriot Post – Three small Rust Belt towns embody the willful open-border catastrophe of the Biden-Harris regime… Back in the summer, we heard about the woes of Springfield, Ohio, a town of 60,000 that has been inundated by 20,000 Haitian refugees, courtesy of the Biden-Harris administration. A similar story can be told about Charleroi, Pennsylvania, another small town where Haitians have become the majority of employees at a local food-processing plant.

By Brett Samuels, The Hill – “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been,” Biden said, according to the transcript provided by the White House.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 13:22-3022 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And some one said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, 24 “Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the householder has risen up and shut the door, you will begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, `Lord, open to us.’

By John Cuddeback, CERC – In his Parochial and Plain Sermons John Henry Newman made a dramatic assertion, which could change our whole approach to work: The time for reaping what we have sown is hereafter, not here; here there is no great visible fruit in any one man’s lifetime… My first response to this was skepticism; surely this is exaggeration! Then I kept thinking about it. I thought of Joseph of Nazareth. And other great men. What is the point of our work anyway? There is more here than meets the eye.

By Kate Quiñones, Catholic News Agency – Archbishop Dennis Schnurr announced that pastors in the archdiocese must discontinue any partnerships with GSUSA by December 2025… “The Archdiocese of Cincinnati cannot partner with an organization that, from its highest level, advocates ideas which the Church considers false and harmful,” Schnurr wrote in the Oct. 28 letter to the faithful.

By Peter Laffin, National Catholic Register – Both former president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have made a concerted outreach to Catholic voters during the campaign, especially in the Catholic-heavy swing states in the Mountain West and Midwest… But in recent weeks, the Trump campaign has sharpened its focus and deployed its best Catholic surrogates to make a direct appeal, while the Harris campaign has eschewed Catholic outreach in favor of messaging on Trump’s character and the threat they believe he poses to democracy.

By Fr. John A. Perricone, Crisis Magazine – As Catholics vote, they must bear in mind that no candidate (as with any country) is ever perfect. Never forget Psalm 146: “Put not your trust in princes.” Sometimes the only choice a Catholic enjoys is to vote for the candidate who will do the least harm to God’s moral law and the rights of His Holy Catholic Church. Seems like a meager morsel of bread, but a morsel nonetheless… Keep in mind, as well, that old philosophical axiom: good is not the enemy of best.

By Virginia Allen, Daily Signal – It’s a race to 270. With just six days until the 2024 presidential election, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are seeking to motivate voters in key swing states across the nation in hopes of picking up enough support to earn 270 electoral votes and claim victory… Trump will speak to voters Wednesday afternoon in North Carolina’s 1st District, a region that is anticipated to determine which candidates win the state’s 16 electoral votes. …

By Sheryl Collmer, Crisis Magazine – We’re living on borrowed time. Election Day is immovably looming ahead, like the last feature on a roll through Freddy Fear’s House of Scares. We’re clicking toward it, buckled in with the master switch thrown to lock us in our seats… We are mere dust motes in comparison. How big is the enemy? Five billion people were sleepwalked, coerced, or bribed into taking a gene-altering shot with zero long-term testing. Two-thirds of the world suspended their common sense, and most of the Catholic bishops helped. That’s a scary-big opponent.

By Catholic World News – The report’s candid criticism of the DDF reflects the continuing tension between the papal sex-abuse commission and other Vatican dicasteries, which have sometimes resisted the commission’s recommendations. The DDF in particular, citing concerns for privacy, has withheld some information about cases it is currently investigating— thus making it difficult for the abuse commission to obtain full information about the number of abuse complaints and their disposition.

Franciscan Media – Tragedy and challenge beset today’s saint early in life, but Alphonsus Rodriguez found happiness and contentment through simple service and prayer… Born in Spain in 1533, Alphonsus inherited the family textile business at 23. Within the space of three years, his wife, daughter, and mother died; meanwhile, business was poor. …

By Josué Luis Hernández, OnePeterFive – As the days once more begin to shorten and the greater light withdraws into its autumnal languor, we find ourselves living through a moment of profound civilizational darkness that, evidently, very few are able to properly appreciate. Many, it is quite true, increasingly have a sense that something has gone terribly wrong, but it is beyond the grasp of most to understand the depth to which society has been plunged, for we are no longer aware of the heights from which it has fallen.

By Courtney Mares, Catholic News Agency – Ahead of the 2025 Jubilee, the Vatican has launched a cartoon mascot unveiled Monday as the cheerful face of the Catholic Church’s upcoming holy year… The mascot, named Luce — which means “light” in Italian — is intended to engage a younger audience and guide visitors through the holy year… Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the Vatican’s chief organizer for the jubilee, described the mascot as part of the Vatican’s goal to engage with “the pop culture so beloved by our young people.”

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 13:18-21 – He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.” And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? …

By Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, LifeSiteNews – Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has warned that the Synod on Synodality is a vehicle for the ‘globalist agenda,’ supplanting the Catholic Church with ‘the Whore of Babylon that is subservient to the New World Order.’.. The “Synod on Synodality” that has just concluded is a perfect icon of the duplicitous and fraudulent nature of the conciliar and synodal church. … it is now the duty of each and every successor of the apostles to denounce this synodal farce, the final phase of the conciliar revolution, with which the Bride of the Lamb has been replaced by the Whore of Babylon that is subservient to the New World Order… The usual promotion of the globalist agenda is all too evident. The hierarchical subversion of gender equality is at the origin of the surreal discussion about the “ordination” of women ….

By Jonathan Liedl, National Catholic Register – When the final document of the Synod on Synodality’s was confirmed on Oct. 26, it emphasized that the possibility of women deacons remains unsettled… “The question of women’s access to diaconal ministry remains open,” reads the document, which was expressly approved by Pope Francis after each of its 155 paragraphs were affirmed by 355 voting members. “This discernment needs to continue.”

By Edward Pentin, X – Cardinal Gerhard Müller warned against bishops betraying their divine mission by relativising doctrine and failing to uphold the orthodox faith. “We must not give in to the following suggestion: If you want to reach people today and be loved by all, then, just like Pilate, leave the truth aside, then you will be spared persecution, suffering, the cross and death! Secularly speaking, the power of politics, media and banks is the safe side, while the truth defies contradiction, and promises suffering with Christ, the crucified Savior of the world.”

By Tom McClusky, LifeNews – At a global warming event earlier this year, Vice President Kamala Harris stated, “When we invest in clean energy and electric vehicles and reduce population, more of our children can breathe clean air and drink clean water.” The White House quickly moved to let the press know she misspoke and meant to say, “reduce pollution.” Her record on children, however, shows that her verbal miscue was less a misstatement and more a Freudian slip.

By Caroline Perkins, ChurchPop – According to Father Chris, Catholics should celebrate Halloween as part of Allhallowtide (Oct. 31-Nov.1). However, he notes that this does not mean Catholics should celebrate in a completely secular way… “It’s beautiful and it’s a time in the liturgical year, therefore, dedicated to remembering all the dead, which is Biblical, and has been done by Christians since the first century,” Father Chris Alar notes… “Although, yes, sadly it [has] been, in a way, hijacked by pagans and Satanists. It is NOT a pagan religious event, but a Christian celebration almost 1,300 years old!”

By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky, Catholic Culture – The Divine Artist created us in His image. When we discover ourselves with God’s grace, we uncover God’s imprint. When we discover Jesus, we find our purpose and destiny. In humility, we begin to see ourselves as God sees us… The Psalmist prays, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Ps. 139:14) St. Thomas, with his usual clarity, affirms that God created us as social beings in the unity of body and soul. Our body expresses our soul.

Franciscan Media – Life in second- and third-century Jerusalem couldn’t have been easy, but Saint Narcissus managed to live well beyond 100. Some even speculate he lived to 160… Details of his life are sketchy, but there are many reports of his miracles. The miracle for which Narcissus is most remembered was turning water into oil for use in the church lamps on Holy Saturday when the deacons had forgotten to provide any.

By J. Fraser, CERC – Aristotle, Anselm, Aquinas, Liebniz, and William Lane Craig provide famous reasons to believe that God exists. Less well known is a way proposed by the African intellectual Augustine… In his fantastic book Five Proofs of the Existence of God, Edward Feser explains this argument at length. Inspired by Augustine, let’s begin with the reality that 2+2=4.

By Tom McClusky, Washington Stand – At a global warming event earlier this year, Vice President Kamala Harris stated, “When we invest in clean energy and electric vehicles and reduce population, more of our children can breathe clean air and drink clean water.”… Even as she worked her way up the ladder in California politics, she built a reputation of abusing her power to attack individuals who try to protect unborn children and also targeting those who run maternity homes and offer alternatives to abortion in the Golden State.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 13:10-17 – Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And there was a woman who had had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” And he laid his hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight, and she praised God. …

By Stephen Kokx , LifeSiteNews – The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published an op-ed written by GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance that lays out the many instances when Kamala Harris’ “anti-Catholic bias” has been on display… JD Vance slammed Kamala Harris for her ‘consistent pattern’ of attacking Catholics, including by suggesting that a judicial nominee should be disqualified because of his Catholic faith and by backing legislation that would force Catholic hospitals to commit abortions and transgender surgeries.

By Debra Heine, American Greatness – In an open letter to American Catholics, former Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò endorsed former President Donald Trump and strongly denounced his opponent Kamala Harris as “an infernal monster who obeys Satan.”… In his letter, Vigano wrote that the choice in the November election is “between two radically opposed ways of conceiving the government of your Nation: you are called to choose between democracy and dictatorship, between freedom and slavery.”… “For a Catholic, there can be no question: voting for Kamala Harris is morally inadmissible and constitutes a very grave sin. Nor is it morally possible to abstain, because in this war declaring oneself neutral means allying oneself with the enemy”

By Msgr. Richard C. Antall, Crisis Magazine – “Mendacity,” cried Big Daddy in Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Our culture seems to be built on it, and our politics especially. The Japanese writer Yukio Mishima had a character say, “The essence of politics is this. Listen. There is no truth in politics. Politics knows that there is no truth in it. So politics is required to make a counterfeit of truth.” The counterfeiting of “facts” is perhaps the most striking of the campaign we have been exposed to, and this has been aided and abetted by an elite that is in control of so much of the access we have to news and opinion.

By Jonah McKeown, CNA Staff – Anyone who uses a smartphone has likely experienced the same unsettling phenomenon — a pointedly placed advertisement that seems to show up right after you’ve discussed a topic or product… Could it be true that your phone is “listening” to your private conversations?… It’s a surprisingly difficult question to answer — and one that has bred enough uncertainty that bishops are starting to issue bans on smartphones in that most private of Catholic spaces: the confessional… Here’s what you need to know about the privacy concerns surrounding smartphones and how one Catholic diocese is responding.

By Peter Wolfgang, Catholic Culture – In 2020, Ross Douthat wrote “The Decadent Society.” It is a book in which, as Vox described it, “Douthat’s definition of a ‘decadent society’ is that we’re trapped in a stale system that keeps spinning in place, reproducing the same arguments and frustrations over and over again.”… Could there be any better description of how we think about Catholics and voting in the United States? It has been the same thing forever. Or at least since the 1980s… That was the decade in which New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, in 1984, made his infamous “personally opposed, but…” speech about abortion at Notre Dame University.

By Russell Shaw, Catholic World Report – The speaker is the Roman poet Virgil, Dante’s companion and guide in scaling the lofty mountain of Purgatory in the second book of Dante’s tour-de-force account of the afterlife, The Divine Comedy. They’ve already paid a harrowing visit to the Inferno. Now it’s the turn of Purgatorio, where souls who need purifying are cleansed from of the stain of sin. After that–heaven… Note the neat bit of catechesis (one of many) that Dante, via Virgil, slips in casually: The great mountain of Purgatory–which the souls must climb–gets easier the higher they go.

By Roger Helle, Patriot Post – The story of Daniel is an incredible one. At the tender age of 15, he was snatched away from his comfortable life as a member of the royal family in Judah. He’s dragged hundreds of miles away from home, castrated in the court of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, and sent to a brainwashing school to make him forget everything about his past life, especially his religion

By Auguste Meyrat, The Federalist – The problem of appealing to men has less to do with messaging and more to do with the actual women who constitute the Democrat Party… Due to the unfortunate fact that Democrats and leftists have largely ditched Christianity.. it falls to Republicans and conservatives to learn this crucial lesson: If you want men to join your movement, welcome and cultivate good women in your ranks. And as a corollary, if you want to welcome and cultivate good women, offer a worldview that is humanizing and signifying… thus (transcending) the current sexual polarization that’s warping Western political culture.

By CatholicVote – A new ad from CatholicVote released Monday shows Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris posing with a longtime member of the anti-Catholic “drag” troupe the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (SPI) at the San Francisco Pride parade in 2019… “Why is Kamala Harris posing with the founder of an anti-Catholic hate group?” asks the ad’s voiceover. “They mock our faith.”

By Edward Pentin, National Catholic Register – Speaking to traditional Catholic pilgrims at the annual Summorum Pontificum procession, the former CDF prefect warned of faith becoming ‘thoughtless routine’ and stressed the call to true, living faith… Cardinal Gerhard Müller has stressed that the Christian faith is a “personal relationship” with the Triune God in communion with his Church, and has warned against letting that relationship “atrophy into a mechanical tradition, an external custom or a thoughtless routine.”

By Robert Royal, The Catholic Thing – The English poet John Keats spent the last years of his short life in Rome, wrote most of the handful of great poems that have made him famous in the Eternal City, died – and is buried – there. His tombstone in the Protestant Cemetery (in Italian, wonderfully called the Cimitero Acattolico, i.e. “A-Catholic” = Non-Catholic Cemetery) bears the inscription “Here lies one whose name was writ in water.”

Msgr. Charles Pope – In today’s gospel there is a very familiar story of the healing of the blind man Bartimaeus. As with any familiar story, the danger is that we, upon hearing its opening lines say, “Oh that story,” and we just sort of tune out. But there are many things in the details of the story that we can easily miss. Ultimately the story of Bartimaeus is also our story, for we too must let the Lord heal our blindness and give us sight. One paradox of this gospel that we shall note, is that the man receives his sight as the result of hearing. ….

By Franciscan Media – Saints Simon and Jude’s Story – Jude is so named by Luke and Acts. Matthew and Mark call him Thaddeus. He is not mentioned elsewhere in the Gospels, except of course where all the apostles are mentioned. Scholars hold that he is not the author of the Letter of Jude. Actually, Jude had the same name as Judas Iscariot. Evidently because of the disgrace of that name, it was shortened to “Jude” in English.

By Rodney Howsare, Catholic World Report – Perhaps the saddest characteristic of the battles going on within the Church these days is the fact that both sides so easily allow themselves to frame the issues in modern, political terms. If the world shall have its New York Times and its New York Post, then the Church shall have its National Catholic Reporter and its National Catholic Register, and one side shall be called “liberal” and the other shall be called “conservative.” ….

By Laura Hollis, Patriot Post – Harris’ disregard for the religious freedoms of medical care professionals will not be limited to abortion… Democratic Party presidential candidate Kamala Harris has been struggling to articulate issues that resonate with voters in the final days of the campaign. Other than bland assurances about “an opportunity economy” and growing up “a middle-class kid,” the only issue Harris seems both emphatic and explicit about is abortion.

By Calvin Freiburger, LifeSiteNews – 82% of Chicago Public Schools students are not proficient in math, 74% are not proficient in reading, and around 40% are chronically absent, in a district with a budget deficit of half a billion dollars. But the district received almost a million dollars from the federal government for its ‘LGBTQ+’ and climate agendas.

By Rev. J. Francis Sofie, Catholic Exchange – Imagine living in world in which simply being a Catholic priest was a capital offense; imagine, too, that in this world, any person who hosted a priest in one’s home or hid a priest from the authorities was guilty of a capital offense. That was the world in which St. Anne Line lived. But what is so amazing in the case of Anne Line is that it was a world into which she knowingly entered. Anne chose to become Catholic at a time when practicing the Catholic faith in England was illegal and punishable even by death.

By Fr. Raymond J. de Souza, The Catholic Thing – The flagship of the fleet, the Holy See Ship Synodality, is in dire straits (leaks about the final document that will be issued today suggest it will be, for those with radical hopes, a disappointment). HSS Synodality took a serious hit last December with the fiasco of Fiducia supplicans regarding the blessing of same-sex couples, and began listing seriously to starboard. …

By Barbara Toth, PhD, Souls and Liberty – The cardinal makes clear that, “Only if no candidate provides any ray of hope of serving, at least in some part, the common good … are we justified in not voting at all.”… Cardinal Burke’s counsel is especially relevant, given that millions of Christians intend not to vote in November – a fact reflected in numerous polls. Such inaction could determine the results of the election, and decide the fate of the nation… “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.” – attributed to Thomas Jefferson.. Burke’s advice provides essential instruction for anyone desiring to vote with moral integrity. It is especially useful for those confused by media spin or struggling with their own moral compunctions. It is divided into five parts, each a guide to a moral vote.

By Fr. Olek Stirrat, Catholic World Report – What we need now is to be aware of the theological faultlines which have a Marxist scent and underpin certain strands of liberation theology. One must appropriately align the pastoral dimension of the faith with doctrine; be attentive to the voice of the Holy not Hegelian spirit—the Holy Spirit who is always the Spirit of the Father and the Son; and finally appreciate the sacramentality of the Church and the world, as well as the indispensability of the incarnate Jesus Christ for our salvation.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 13:1-9 – There were some present at that very time who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. …

By Franciscan Media – Peter was a contemporary of well-known 16th-century Spanish saints, including Ignatius of Loyola and John of the Cross. He served as confessor to Saint Teresa of Avila. Church reform was a major issue in Peter’s day, and he directed most of his energies toward that end. His death came one year before the Council of Trent ended.

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.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 12:54-59 – He also said to the multitudes, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, `A shower is coming’; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, `There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky; but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? ….

By Kennedy Hall, Crisis Magazine – Sadly, I believe that Catholic apologetics and debate have been greatly degraded, at least in the popular culture, with the meteoric rise of social media influence. A decade ago, when I first discovered the world of Catholic apologetics, even in the digital realm it seemed to me that there was decorum and class to how things were done, which I think has largely slipped away.

Catholic News Service, by Staff, October 22, 2024 – WATCH: Bishop Rhoades Says Allowing Different Episcopal Conferences to Teach Varying Doctrines ‘Would be Disastrous’

By Richard Truesdell, Keith Lehmann, American Greatness – It’s plain to see that the real existential threat to American democracy is not Trump. It’s lunatics on the left motivated by more than nine years of Trump Derangement Syndrome. It’s real and Democrats like Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), and so many more are what they accuse Trump of being—a threat to American democracy. These two especially, but many other Democrats in public life wouldn’t know democracy if it bit them squarely in the —.

By CatholicVote – CatholicVote on Thursday released a new ad in support of Republican nominee Donald Trump, featuring former 2024 independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Catholic… Kennedy addresses Catholic voters. “My Catholicism provided the foundation for a lifetime of striving to perfect my personal relationship with God… Two features of Catholicism are the notions of original sin and the concept of a forgiving God,” he continues. “Our job is to strive to perfect ourselves through conscious contact with our Creator, knowing that in human form, we are never going to achieve perfection.”

By Evan Myers, First Things – Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer recently angered Catholics with a video sketch promoting the CHIPS Act. In the video, she feeds a Dorito chip to an influencer, who receives it on the tongue; bishops accused her of “mocking” the Eucharist, though her defenders argued that the sketch was inspired by a TikTok trend… “People of this state and across the country have grown tired of and continue to express their alarm at the bar of civility and respect toward people of faith lowering by the day,” said the CEO of the Michigan Catholic Conference.

Patriot Post – “During the course of administration, and in order to disturb it, the artillery of the press has been levelled against us, charged with whatsoever its licentiousness could devise or dare. These abuses of an institution so important to freedom and science are deeply to be regretted, inasmuch as they tend to lessen its usefulness and to sap its safety.” —Thomas Jefferson (1805)

By Steven Ertelt, LifeNews – (Vance) blasted Harris for bias against pro-life Christians… In 2019, Ms. Harris also introduced the equally misnamed “Do No Harm Act,” which would force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions and even transgender surgeries. If this bill were to become law, Catholic doctors and medical professionals who refuse to perform late-term abortions or subject minors to dangerous, life-altering surgeries could lose their license and face federal discrimination lawsuits.

By Virginia Allen, The Daily Signal – Under the Biden-Harris administration, the United States has become a “garbage can for the world,” former President Donald Trump said at a campaign rally Thursday in Tempe, Arizona… “When [Vice President Kamala Harris] came in, she deliberately dismantled our border and threw open the gates … to an invasion of criminal migrants from prisons and jails, from insane asylums and mental institutions, from all over the world,” Trump said.

By Jonathan Liedl, National Catholic Register – For those concerned about making sure the Synod on Synodality doesn’t open the way to contested changes in Church teaching and practice, the draft version of its final document appears to be good enough… But it might not stay that way… That’s because 1,000 amendments to the text, which was released to delegates at the start of this week, are currently being incorporated into the final document by a small writing team overseen by a commission of synod members. …

By Stephen Kokx, LifeSiteNews – Tucker Carlson issued a searing indictment of the “freaks and misfits” who run the “Democratic machine” and America’s establishment class while touting his belief that Donald Trump is going to win this year’s election… “This is the end of a redemption arc,” Carlson declared to a raucous audience at a rally in Georgia on Wednesday. “I’ve really never seen anybody treated like Donald Trump is treated ever … and he’s going to win.”

By Franciscan Media – Saint Antônio de Sant’Anna Galvão’s Story – God’s plan in a person’s life often takes unexpected turns which become life-giving through cooperation with God’s grace… Born in Guarantingueta near São Paulo, Antônio attended the Jesuit seminary in Belem, but later decided to become a Franciscan friar. Invested in 1760, he made final profession the following year and was ordained in 1762.

By T.J. Burdick, Catholic Exchange – Carlo’s presence is among us. As fellow distributors of God’s manifold grace, we must learn from him how to avoid the pitfalls of worldly prestige. On the contrary, we must be like the boy and live our ordinary lives with extraordinary purpose. Many souls are lost to the allurements of the day-to-day world, especially with so much of our attention going to digital media, where everyone aspires to become an “influencer” of some generic “brand.”… Carlo shows us how to live as Christ designed us—to be more than normal. To be the ones who love.

The Editors, National Catholic Register – If the Synod on Synodality definitively reshapes the missionary ability of the Catholic Church, either for better or for worse, that will be the more important outcome. That’s because the Church’s divine mission, granted to it nearly 2,000 years ago by Jesus himself, is the salvation of souls. And nothing, including who wins control of the White House for the next four years, can ever be as crucial as our eternal destiny.

By Jonathan Liedl, National Catholic Register – For progressive Catholics hoping for dramatic changes in the Church, the Synod on Synodality was supposed to usher in a new springtime… Instead, with the final document set to be approved this Saturday, those who have advocated for things like women deacons and the acceptance of same-sex relations are bracing for a “final cold shower.”… That’s the image used by Vatican journalist Franca Giansoldati to describe the widespread disappointment among progressives

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – For decades now, pro-life activists like Human Life International’s founder Fr. Paul Marx have warned that the real threat facing the world isn’t overpopulation, but rather underpopulation… In making this claim, such prophetic voices were going against the grain, to put it mildly. Their views were drowned out by a cacophony of voices proclaiming imminent and apocalyptic catastrophe if nations did not concentrate their resources on reducing the birth rate.

By Michael New Ph.D., LifeNews – On Tuesday, the Society of Family Planning’s #WeCount project released updated abortion estimates up to June 2024. They found that abortion numbers continue to increase. Their estimates indicate that thus far in 2024 the number of abortions has increased by approximately 12 percent. They also found that, owing to women obtaining abortions via telehealth and to women obtaining abortions in other states, abortion numbers in states with strong pro-life laws have remained largely unchanged since the Dobbs decision. …

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 12:49-53 – “I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how I am constrained until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; for henceforth in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three; …

By Virginia Allen, Kellen McGovern Jones, David Agren, The Daily Signal – Lying among the 16 or 17 dead bodies, Tom Homan spotted the corpse of a little boy, only 5 years old. The child died inside a sweltering truck trailer in Victoria, Texas, while being smuggled into the U.S. in May 2003… These are the memories that today’s images from the border evoke in Homan, a father himself. Children are victims here, not only of America’s broken immigration system and wide-open border, but also of the ruthless cartels that see children—particularly unaccompanied children—as a resource to exploit.

By Stephen Kokx, LifeSiteNews – Catholic actor and human rights activist Eduardo Verastegui gifted Donald Trump a massive image of Our Lady of Guadalupe at a Latinos for Trump event on Tuesday in Miami… Verastegui is the producer of the hit movie Sound of Freedom, which is based on real-life events involving child trafficking. He unfurled the banner of Mary while speaking to Trump… “Today, I gave President Trump the most powerful thing that united and keeps Mexico united despite everything,” the Mexican American activist said in an X post. “Our Mother and Lady, the Virgin of Guadalupe.”

By Rachel Quackenbush, CatholicVote – Young American men, ages 18-34, are the only demographic in a study of 20 developed countries that has shifted more conservatively in recent years, according to multiple surveys provided in a report from The American Prospect… The Harvard Youth Poll released in late September showed .. VP Kamala Harris holding strong support among young women, with a 47-point lead over Donald Trump on issues like climate change and abortion. Among young men, however, her lead was a more modest 17 points. ….

By Michael Pakaluk, The Catholic Thing – When I was asking myself, why has the Synod on Synodality been a failure… the following words came to mind: We can walk as much as we want, we can build many things, but if we do not confess Jesus Christ, nothing will avail. We will become a pitiful NGO, but not the Church, the Bride of Christ. . . .When one does not profess Jesus Christ – I recall the phrase of Léon Bloy – ‘Whoever does not pray to God, prays to the devil.’ When one does not profess Jesus Christ, one professes the worldliness of the devil.

By Jonathan Alexandre, The Stream – Recently, an Afghan national living in Oklahoma City, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, was arrested for conspiring to commit a terrorist attack on American soil on Election Day… Thankfully, his plans were thwarted by federal law enforcement — but if this ISIS-inspired terrorist plot doesn’t raise red flags about all the immigrants welcomed into our country under the Biden-Harris administration who pose threats to our national security, I don’t know what will.

By Doug Mainwaring, LifeSiteNews – “Nearly 20 innocent Americans are in federal prison for peacefully protesting abortion,” Terry says at the start of the ad, while showing the names and images of the jailed pro-life heroes whose stories have been reported extensively by LifeSiteNews… “Abortion to the day of birth is on the ballot in these 10 states”… Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota.

By Tyler Arnold, Catholic News Agency – ice President Kamala Harris confirmed that she would oppose religious exemptions in abortion laws if elected president and emphasized that she would not make concessions to Republicans on the issue… “I don’t think we should be making concessions when we’re talking about a fundamental freedom to make decisions about your own body,” Harris responded.

By Emily Finley, Crisis Magazine – Is it any coincidence that the leaders of the Catholic Church discovered in 1962 that the Catholic Church must be more “participatory” and less “clerical”—in other words, more democratic? After 2,000 years the Holy Spirit, we are to believe, came upon Holy Mother Church and decided that it was time for this ancient institution to reflect modern political trends?

Franciscan Media, Oct 24, 2020 – The “spiritual father of Cuba” was a missionary, religious founder, social reformer, queen’s chaplain, writer and publisher, archbishop, and refugee. He was a Spaniard whose work took him to the Canary Islands, Cuba, Madrid, Paris, and to the First Vatican Council…

By Tyler Arnold, Catholic World Report/CNA – Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, at an Oct. 20 faith rally in Waukesha, Wisconsin, accused the Biden-Harris administration of persecuting Christians and Catholics in particular… Vance also spoke about religious liberty and the impact of inflation, illegal immigration, and drug addiction… “There are a lot of Catholics … [who] I think rightfully feel abandoned by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ leadership, and they’re just looking for somebody to protect their rights and make this country an affordable and decent place to raise a family.”

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 Robert Royal, The Catholic Thing – Logicians have identified – and demolished – what they term a “circular argument.” Basically, to propose an example, a circular argument goes something like this: The synodal Church is the Church foreseen by the Second Vatican Council… Why?… Because the Second Vatican Council foresaw the synodal Church… In a circular argument, the conclusion is in the premise – and that’s that.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 12:39-48 – But know this, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an unexpected hour.” Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? ….

By Judy Landrieu Klein, National Catholic Register – Has feminism offered society a positive contribution? Or has it, as Carrie Gress says in her new book, The End of Woman: How Smashing the Patriarchy Has Destroyed Us, been so corrupt from its inception that it must be “slayed” as an “ideological dragon?”… Is there such a thing as “authentic feminism,” or is the tree of “feminism,” which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as “the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes,” so rotten at its core that it must be cut down completely?

By Charles A. Kohlhaas, MRC TV – The left is using the inherent instability and weakness of democracies to cause them to destroy themselves, although it proclaims intent to “save democracy.” This is one of the most perverted uses of the language since the 1930s; Goebbels would be proud… Western Civilization needs to be saved. Defeating the attempt by Fascists/Marxists to use the vulnerability of democracy to destroy it is the first and most critical step.

By Jason Negri, LifeSiteNews – Incessant gaslighting by the Left has led many former Trump opponents to now support the former President for re-election… Left-leaning Americans, do you want to know why erstwhile good people are flocking to support Donald Trump? Do you really want to understand it and actually grapple with the reasons why people who you once saw as decent fellow Americans are supporting the man you believe to be a lecherous, grifting, egomaniacal political opportunist and convicted felon for president? …

By John-Henry Westen, LifeSiteNews – I noted how crazy these times are in both the world and the Church, with wars and persecution of the faith in the Holy Land and Ukraine, insane politics, rampant use of pornography, and heresy from the highest echelons in the Church. It might be fair to say that these are the worst times in human history. I asked Bartlett if he had any insight into the current state of the world and Church, given his experiences with the Lord.

By M.D. Kittle, The Federalist – While Pres. Joe Biden may not have much juice left in the cognition battery, he’s got enough spark remaining to deliver the real marching orders of the Democrat Party and the deep state: Lock up Donald Trump… A Trump victory, coupled with Republicans controlling Congress, should mean not only investigations into myriad cases of misconduct, corruption, and abuse of power over the past four years, but actual accountability for wrongdoing. That scenario is what should most frighten Biden, Harris, and their corrupt government minions who have routinely violated the Constitution …

By Patty Knap, National Catholic Register – The new documentary The 1916 Project — which is streaming free Oct. 22-Nov. 14 on X, with additional screenings at churches — goes a long way in answering that question. It explores the chronology of the secular moral revolution and the architects and intentions of our current culture of death…While many factors have played a role in the cultural downfall, the documentary explains that, for more than 100 years, one well-funded organization has been part of the equation: Planned Parenthood.

By Deacon Mike Manno, The Wanderer – The only remaining question is: Will they resist values that have stood the test of time, Christian values such as family, freedom, and the promises of the Bill of Rights? Or will they break on behalf of the scourge of abortion? So, as you ponder your vote, remember the promises you made at your baptism: to renounce Satan, and all his works, and all his empty promises. Keep your word and reject him again at the ballot box.

Catholic World News – Cardinal Joseph Zen has charged that the Synod of Bishops is being manipulated in order “to overthrow the Church hierarchy and implement a democratic system.”… The retired Bishop of Hong Kong illustrated his point by noting that the current Synod on Synodality, during its 2023 meeting, had lengthy discussions on the question of blessing same-sex unions. But the Vatican then released Fiducia Supplicans without waiting for the Synod’s judgment, he observed. “This is incredible arrogance!” he complained.

By Virginia Allen, Kellen McGovern Jones, David Agren, The Daily Signal – On the outskirts of this west Texas desert town, the “no go zone” of the U.S. border with Mexico is pitch black and tense at 10 p.m. Darkness suits everyone’s interests here; it appears neither border crossers nor U.S. Border Patrol agents want to be seen before they make their move… Anapra Road and the connecting wall route are where illegal immigrants and their cartel handlers now choose to cross in this region –– and they will use force if they feel it necessary. Nearly a dozen Border Patrol vehicles and at least as many agents sit, with their lights off, behind a partition of scrub brush.

By Catholic Vote – Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris roiled Christian leaders Tuesday when she took a no-exceptions pro-abortion stance during an interview with NBC in which she announced her opposition to religious exemptions and called abortion a “fundamental freedom.”… “Kamala Harris admits she would deny religious exemptions for abortions—forcing Christians to kill unborn children and seemingly doubling down on weaponizing the government to jail pro-lifers who pray outside abortion facilities,” CatholicVote wrote. “Why would any Christian vote for her?”

By Franciscan Media – It has been said the Christian saints are the world’s greatest optimists. Not blind to the existence and consequences of evil, they base their confidence on the power of Christ’s redemption. The power of conversion through Christ extends not only to sinful people but also to calamitous events.

By Msgr. Carlo Maria Viganò, Oct. 22, 2024 – I am addressing all of you, a few days before the Presidential Election that will call millions of American citizens to the polls… Even in conditions of relative normality, the exercise of the vote is your moral duty, through which you cooperate in the first person in choosing the person who will lead the Nation for the next four years. But in this coming electoral round – just as in 2020 and indeed much more so – you are not simply called to choose between two candidates who happen to be on different political sides but who both nevertheless have the common good at heart in compliance with the Constitution and the Law. No; in this election you must choose between two radically opposed ways of conceiving the government of your Nation: you are called to choose between democracy and dictatorship, between freedom and slavery.

Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, X – As Election Day approaches, many have raised serious moral questions regarding how to vote. Sadly, in our great nation, we confront a situation in which both major political parties espouse certain agenda which are flagrantly contrary to the most fundamental tenets of the moral law, agenda against the inviolable dignity of innocent and defenseless human life, agenda against the integrity of marriage and its fruit, the family, and agenda against the free exercise of the virtue of religion. As Catholics, we should be clear that the moral law is certainly binding for us, but it is, likewise, binding for all men and women because it is written upon the human heart by God.

By Casey Chalk, Catholic Education Resource Center – Bronwen McShea’s otherwise excellent brief history Women of the Church: What Every Catholic Should Know, flirts with this feminist tendency, practically right out of the gate. “This book is also for anyone interested in the history of Catholicism—to demonstrate that the history of the Church’s women is the Church’s history, just as much as the history of her men is.” Fair enough, though who, exactly, has said otherwise? And is this a competition?

By LifeNews,  National Right to Life – Many people are asking: Did Minnesota lawmakers and Gov. Tim Walz repeal the right to lifesaving care for born-alive infants? Is it really true that babies can be left to die?… Some journalists, advocates, and politicians have gotten this question wrong—often badly wrong. Let’s walk through the facts, one by one, with documentation and screenshots, and respond to frequently asked questions and confusions. …

By Dominic V. Cassella, The Catholic Thing – (Progressive Catholicism) of course, lies at the opposite extreme. It adopts an excessive focus on “opening out to the world” and accommodating modern secular culture. Progressives give an uncritical embrace to modernity and secularization, and their openness makes it easy to be converted to the world, instead of being a force for converting the world… Indeed, the reason for Progressivism’s susceptibility to trends is the conviction that it has nothing to teach the world, and so must listen to it.

A coalition of doctors and medical organizations are calling for transparency surrounding women’s health to combat misinformation about the abortion pill and pro-life laws… ProPublica published two articles claiming Georgia women died after taking abortion pills because the state’s abortion ban after six weeks of pregnancy prevented them from getting necessary treatment… the women did not die because of abortion bans, but rather because the abortion pill is dangerous…

By Michael Brown, The Stream – The suffering is so great and the losses so staggering that it’s hard to conceive of it without being there – and I have not been there myself. The videos and stories alone are heartbreaking… Samaritan’s Purse, the Christian aid foundation founded by Rev. Franklin Graham… (has) so many volunteers coming from around the country that you have to find dates when they have openings… This is what the Gospel looks like in action, with every single volunteer she spoke with being a professing Christian.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 12:35-38 – “Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the marriage feast, so that they may open to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes; truly, I say to you, he will gird himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them. …

By Tristan Justice, The Federalist – Trump is so effective that the Democrats and the media can’t handle it… The press was hysterical after former President Donald Trump manned the drive-through window at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s Sunday and genuinely looked like he was having a blast… “I think I might come back and do it again,” Trump said after handing off another bag of fast food. When the next car pulled up, Trump went on to chuckle about being shot in the face this summer when a passenger said, “Thank you for taking a bullet for us.”

By CatholicVote – Amendment 4 requires 60% of the public vote to amend the state’s constitution to explicitly legalize abortion up to “fetal viability” – usually defined at 24 weeks’ gestation – thus superseding the “Heartbeat Protection Act,” a pro-life law DeSantis signed last year protecting most unborn children after six weeks’ gestation… Many opponents of the amendment hold that, due to its vague wording, it would effectively legalize abortion in the state up to the moment of birth.

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 Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture – Given the progress toward sound doctrine and clerical discipline in many dioceses across the United States over the last generation, it has been especially saddening to learn that not enough has been done to improve the fidelity of Catholic health care. In fact, “Catholic” health care in America has become in some cases—and therefore in too many cases—indistinguishable from secular health care…..

The Catholic News Agency – You probably know that St. John Paul II was the second-longest-serving pope in modern history with 27 years of pontificate, and he was the first non-Italian pontiff since the Dutch Pope Adrian VI in 1523… But did you know that he also changed the Catholic Church forever during those 27 years? Here are five ways he did that: 1. He helped bring about the 1989 fall of communism in Eastern Europe. ….

By Franciscan Media – “Open wide the doors to Christ,” urged John Paul II during the homily at the Mass where he was installed as pope in 1978… Born in Wadowice, Poland, Karol Jozef Wojtyla had lost his mother, father, and older brother before his 21st birthday. Karol’s promising academic career at Krakow’s Jagiellonian University was cut short by the outbreak of World War II. While working in a quarry and a chemical factory, he enrolled in an “underground” seminary in Kraków. …

By Msgr. Charles Pope – In the Sunday Gospel, the Lord Jesus speaks of crosses and crowns. The apostles have only crowns in mind, but Jesus knows the price of the crown. So, He must teach them and us that crowns—the things we value most—come only through the cross… It may help to review the context of this Gospel. Jesus is making His final journey to Jerusalem. He is on his way to the cross and has already announced this to His disciples on two occasions. Throughout Jesus’ final journey, the apostles prove unwilling and/or incapable of grasping what He is trying to teach them. …

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 12:13-21 – One of the multitude said to him, “Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?” And he said to them, “Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; ….

By Michael Hichborn, Lepanto Institute – Earlier this week, the Real Presence Coalition – of which the Lepanto Institute is a proud member – published the findings of what is now the largest and most comprehensive survey of Catholics ever conducted in US history… With nearly 16,000 responses, the survey asked a series of questions pertaining to the loss of faith and the relation of that loss of faith to Eucharistic practices in this country… what was found is that the vast majority of those responding identified the reception of Holy Communion in the hand and while standing as the top reason for the loss of reverence or belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

By Randy Hain, Integrated Catholic Life – When I give talks around the country or sometimes in correspondence with readers of my books or blog posts on Integrated Catholic Life, I am often asked what I mean when I encourage others to “be joyful” and share the “light of Christ” with others. I am referring to the response I typically give when asked for effective ways to share our Catholic faith at work and in the public square… (some ask)… “Surely, there is more to it than that” ….

By Hannah Hiester, CatholicVote – Cardinal Joseph Zen argued that three things must occur before the Synod can be said to have ended well. First, it must return to the traditional sense of the word; second, it must resolve the confusion surrounding same-sex blessings in clear terms in light of Church doctrine; and third, the importance of Church hierarchy must be reestablished for the continuity of a universal Church.

By Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, The Ruth Institute, The Stream – Was the Catholic Church prophetic in its warnings against the contraceptive revolution? Theologian Janet Smith joins Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse to explain how this countercultural stance has been sadly vindicated by the collapse of family, child-bearing, and society.

By Joseph Pronechen, National Catholic Register – No doubt, these are trying times. Our country is straining at the seams. Sides are split. Rancor is running high. Parties are poles apart. Foreign wars seem intent on dragging the United States closer to them. Marriage is attacked. Gender assaulted. Families besieged. Religious freedom is in danger. Churches and statues vandalized, desecrated. But this is no time for handwringing or being at a loss ahead of a contentious election on Nov. 5.

By Michael Haynes, Snr. Vatican Correspondent, LifeSite News – On October 17, a slightly more detailed account of Bishop Joseph Yang Yongqiang’s (of the Chinese Diocese of Hangzhou) testimony was given by Vatican News. “The Church in China is the same as the Catholic Church in other countries of the world: we belong to the same faith, share the same baptism, and we are all faithful to the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church,” Yang was reported as saying… Yang said that “we effectively adapt to society, serve it, adhere to the direction of the sinicization of Catholicism, and preach the Good News.” Sinicization refers to the process of Chinese state-assimilation and control of the Church in the country for its own ends.

By Casey Harper, Just the News – The Federal Emergency Management Agency is taking fire for its increased focus on migrants, and diversity, equity and inclusion polices while its response to recent hurricanes is under scrutiny… Many Americans assume FEMA is only focused on helping respond to disasters, but a closer look at FEMA’s recent internal documents, spending, and public actions shows that FEMA has broadened its focus to handling the flow of migrants into the U.S. and attempting to double down on DEI initiatives on gender, sexuality and race.

By Augustine Franer, Crisis Magazine – Why ought we, a democratic and politically enlightened people, foster devotion to a hereditary monarch whose virtues, if any, belonged to a world long since past?… With the light glistening off the mirrors in Louis XIV’s fabulous palace of Versailles and the ink still drying on the treaty, Woodrow Wilson, the twenty-eighth president of the United States and victor over the Central Powers in the Great War, thought he had created a freer, more progressive world out of the ashes of the old. …

By Michael Haynes, Snr. Vatican Correspondent, LifeSiteNews – In direct protest of the Catholic Church’s law, the “Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests” performed an “ordination” ceremony of women and “transgender” individuals to the priesthood and diaconate on Thursday… In a ceremony on board a boat on the River Tiber, “bishop” Bridget Mary Meehan presided over an “ordination” ceremony for members of the ARCWP. The ordinands comprised three women for the “priesthood” and three individuals for the diaconate – one woman and two gender-confused men who identify as women.

By Msgr. Hans Feichtinger, The Catholic Thing – It may seem more difficult to answer the above question than it actually is.  The Fathers of the Church who, as opposed to us, had deep synodal experience, have provided quite a clear answer: Synods are good for keeping the Church unified in the one faith in the one Saviour. They are good for defining and clarifying this faith. This goal they achieve by well-formulated, concise definitions, by careful anathemas, and by opening wide the gates of reconciliation to those who have betrayed this faith, even if gravely so. …

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture – I was struck by a column by Liel Leibovitz in the November issue of First Things (Radical Ick) which observes that the ideological posturing of today’s college radicals is far more nihilistic than was the free-love movement of my own collegiate era. There is a difference between demanding free love along with an end to the military-industrial complex and rejecting the reality of the human person (or any reality outside of our own imaginative desires).

By Tyler O’Neil, Managing Editor, The Daily Signal – New research finds that approximately 41 million evangelical Christians won’t vote in the Nov. 5 presidential election, but that pastors can persuade approximately 5 million to vote just by urging them to fulfill their civic duty… George Barna, director of research at Arizona Christian University’s Cultural Research Center, conducted two in-depth surveys in August and September. Online and by phone, Barna surveyed 2,000 adults who self-identified as Christians and said they attended church services at least once a month. He also did an online survey of 1,000 adults in the overall U.S. population.

By Franciscan Media – By Franciscan Media – Despite his best efforts to live in prayer and solitude, today’s saint found it difficult to achieve his deepest desire. People were naturally drawn to Hilarion as a source of spiritual wisdom and peace. He had reached such fame by the time of his death that his body had to be secretly removed so that a shrine would not be built in his honor. Instead, he was buried in his home village.

By Matt D’Antuono, National Catholic Register – Professional sports are not the only place where people can have a hard time finding their primary identity in Christ. In another recent conversation with a friar, I was told that there is a constant temptation to find his primary identity as being a friar and being one of the popular CFRs instead of seeing himself primarily as a child of God. As strange as it may seem, even in a calling to the religious life, it can be a challenge to remain grounded in one’s relationship with Jesus, the one thing necessary, the pearl of great price.

By Raymond Arroyo, EWTN News – Mr. President, I’m delighted, first of all, that you made the Downton Abbey auditions. I think we’re going to fit in nicely. We’re at the Al Smith Dinner, of course. Tell me, why did you decide it was important to be here? And what message is Kamala Harris sending by not being here to Catholic voters?… Well, I think you’re honoring the Catholic Church. And, you know, I’ve been a longtime supporter, and I’m surprised she’s not here. I think she’s the first one in many, many decades, actually, to miss it as a candidate.

By Andrea Gagliarducci, Catholic News Agency – Is there more than meets the eye in the framing of discussions about ecclesiastical governance and the relationship between the local Churches and the universal Church — the main topic of conversation at the Synod on Synodality for the past week?… One gets the impression that many synod participants view the subject as a kind of Trojan horse, a theme that may seem innocuous on the surface but one that can be deployed to sneak sidelined issues such as married priests and women deacons back on the main agenda.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 12:8-12 – “And I tell you, every one who acknowledges me before men, the Son of man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; but he who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And every one who speaks a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious how or what you are to answer or what you are to say; ….

By Rev. Jerry J. Pokorsky, The Catholic Thing – An honest assessment of the Church’s history over the past century reveals a good bit of moral sordidness but also surprisingly hopeful prospects. Future historians may consider this era the Age of Contraception and Homosexuality. And maybe also of Hope… Since ancient times, the Church has condemned the use of contraception. In 1930, Pope Pius XI reaffirmed Church teaching: Any use whatsoever of matrimony exercised in such a way that the act is deliberately frustrated in its natural power to generate life is an offense against the law of God and nature, and those who indulge in such are branded with the guilt of a grave sin. …

By Bob Unruh, LifeNews – Harris was promoting America’s industry of killing unborn children at the time, saying, “We remember Donald Trump hand-selected three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention that they would undo the protections of Roe v. Wade and they did as he intended.’… Actually, the Supreme Court ruled that the Roe decision was faulty from its outset and not based on the Constitution, so it was overturned, and the result returned regulation of the abortion industry to states.

By Peter Wolfgang, Catholic Culture – The Reformation is over. Come home… The Reformation ended 25 years ago, when the Catholic Church and the World Lutheran Federation signed the “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification” in 1999. The World Methodist Council, the Anglican Consultative Council, and even the World Communion of Reformed Churches all affirmed the Joint Declaration by 2017.

By Mark Alexander, Patriot Post – Two years earlier Demos kicked off their “summer of rage” riots ahead of the 2020 election, insisting that our justice system was infested with “systemic racism.” That was a lie. They supported their Black Lives Matter and antifa fascist thug violence while vilifying law enforcement officers. Across the nation, the mayors of Demo-controlled urban centers enacted measures to release criminals while simultaneously defunding the police

By John Zmirak, The Stream – Evil Can Create Nothing… Like the rest of the leftists in power, Kamala Harris is a parasite. Every element in her proposals and in the rhetoric of the left is a hijacking, theft, or perversion of some wholesome natural value or even Christian sentiment. You can’t just lead with “We’re the party of porn, dead babies, castrated children, shoplifting flash mobs, hordes of grabby foreigners, and global surrender to our enemies.” It just doesn’t sound good… That’s what the left (and the squish right) are actually promoting, of course — as the principalities and powers which by now wholly control them know very well.

By Craig Bannister, MRC TV – On Wednesday, The Times acknowledged that the left’s beloved Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) movement is having the exact opposite effect of its claimed goal… In its piece, “The University of Michigan Doubled Down on D.E.I. What Went Wrong?” The Times examines “the largest D.E.I. bureaucracy of any big public university,” exposing the utter failures of the school’s DEI programs.

By Franciscan Media – Isaac Jogues and his companions were the first martyrs of the North American continent officially recognized by the Church. As a young Jesuit, Isaac Jogues, a man of learning and culture, taught literature in France. He gave up that career to work among the Huron Indians in the New World, and in 1636, he and his companions, under the leadership of Jean de Brébeuf, arrived in Quebec.

By M.C. Holbrook, Catholic Exchange – The Apostle to the Gentiles, St. Paul, suffered through beatings, imprisonment, rejection, and persecution throughout his ministry, but what must certainly have hurt him most was being abandoned by the people he once called friends. And it’s not just that these former friends didn’t stand by him for support; they left him in favor of the enticement of the “present world” (2 Tim 4:10).

By Chenyuan Snider, The Stream – Over 30 years ago, when I first arrived in the U.S., I met an elderly lady in our church who had escaped from communist Cuba. Now, a few decades later, my memories of her have faded away, except those concerning her enthusiasm about voting… (she) understood the gravity of voting. It is not just a civic duty, but one of the privileges and responsibilities God has laid on American Christians’ shoulders. This spiritual weight can no longer be ignored… We must vote, lest judgment fall upon us!

By The Stream – Tensions are high, and all eyes are on the November elections. What will the results mean for our nation? It is a critical time in history for both America and our world… While leaders determine a nation’s course, God is sovereign and can be trusted. Let’s humbly seek His Presence and His intervention on behalf of America. In a posture of unity, let’s agree that He is the only one who can turn the tide in our nation… Our battle is not against flesh and blood but principalities, powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places, and the battle belongs to the Lord.

The Bishop Strickland Hour, by VMPR Control Room – The Lord said: “Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.” …

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – Blame the Russians. Blame the Americans. Blame the Muslims… In a lengthy essay featured by the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano Father (soon to be Cardinal) Timothy Radcliffe strives mightily to understand why so many African bishops resist accepting homosexuality. He has a few theories: African bishops are under intense pressure from Evangelicals, with American money; from Russian Orthodox, with Russian money; and from Muslims, with money from the rich Gulf countries.

By Fr. Shenan J. Boquet, Human Life International – “Even when not motivated by a selfish refusal to be burdened with the life of someone who is suffering, euthanasia must be called a false mercy, and indeed a disturbing ‘perversion’ of mercy. True ‘compassion’ leads to sharing another’s pain; it does not kill the person whose suffering we cannot bear.” ~Pope St. John Paul II, Evangelium vitae, no. 66

By Thomas Edwards, Catholic Herald – Archbishop Anthony Fisher has addressed the issue of the ongoing Synod on Synodality and spoken to its inherent limitations when it comes to “the deposit of faith” and the “apostolic tradition” of the Church… The Australian archbishop of Sydney, and a delegate at the Synod, told EWTN News Nightly on 15 October in an interview to be broadcast Friday 18 October that it’s not possible to “reinvent the Catholic faith” or “teach a different Catholicism in different countries”, reports the Catholic News Agency.

By Natalie Dodson, First Things – Republicans, especially those who claim to be pro-life, should not be baited into engaging with the Democrats on these types of bills… IVF, as practiced in the United States, involves the routine destruction of embryos prior to implantation, in addition to selective abortions after implantation. The leading cause of the destruction of human life at the embryonic stage is no longer abortion; it’s IVF.

By David Torkington, Crisis Magazine – A new form of religion has come into being— masquerading as Catholicism—in which selfishness has been institutionalized. This new religion has called itself Synodality… Voltaire once said that God created man in His own image and likeness and man has returned the compliment. Synodalists have not only created God in their own image and likeness, they have substituted their own form of relative, human wisdom for His Divine Wisdom. Without the infused virtues that are the fruits of deep personal prayer, this purely human wisdom is redolent with the stink of selfishness ….

By Elizabeth Kidney, LifeNews – Bevelyn Beatty Williams turned herself in to federal prison on Wednesday after the Biden-Harris Department of Justice charged her with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for preaching the Gospel outside of a New York abortion facility… Before surrendering herself into federal custody, Wiliams and her husband, Ricky Williams, released a video on Facebook and TikTok detailing how the ordeal has affected their family… “Thanks to the Biden/ Harris administration. My husband is becoming a single father today” …

Franciscan Media – Luke wrote one of the major portions of the New Testament, a two-volume work comprising the third Gospel and Acts of the Apostles. In the two books he shows the parallel between the life of Christ and that of the Church. He is the only Gentile Christian among the Gospel writers. Tradition holds him to be a native of Antioch, and Paul calls him “our beloved physician.” His Gospel was probably written between 70 and 85 A.D.

By David Warren, The Catholic Thing – In this political season, as in all the others, I have been impressed by the demonstrable untruths that many people believe, especially when they have been raised in a political household. Some lies are more monstrous than others, but the “little white lies” do more damage, in aggregate… Public opinion encourages lying. That is because the committed citizen wishes to convince the uncommitted. And how better to do this than by circulating lies? He fires these at his uncommitted neighbor, in a hail of statistics, which even when partially true can never be contextual.

By Wanda Alger, The Stream – For those who walk in the fear of the Lord and still believe His laws are sacred and holy, the implications should be in plain view. The choice we make and the vote we cast will not be some subjective political move, but a powerful prophetic act that can either open the windows of Heaven or unleash the hordes of Hell.

By Jack Rigert, Catholic Exchange – I often present on “Stolen Innocence” with Thomas Hampson, a crime investigator who worked undercover to expose both child sex trafficking and child porn operations. One day he said to me, “Jack, this is way too big to ever arrest ourselves out of. The best chance we have to make a dent in the injustices done to our children is to wake up as many people as possible.”

By Susan Ciancio, Catholic World Report – Because the Dobbs decision sent the law-making ability regarding abortion to each individual state, those in the pro-abortion business must now change their strategy, and change it they have… Online predators have a new name and practice, and unlike the nefarious online predators of the past, whose actions result in indeterminate consequences, the actions of these predators will result in death. No, this is not hyperbole. We are talking about the abortion pill and the fact that access to this deadly drug takes only a computer and a few minutes.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 11:47-54 – Woe to you! for you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. 48 So you are witnesses and consent to the deeds of your fathers; for they killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, `I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation …..

By Rob Bluey, President, Ex. Editor, The Daily Signal – Recent polling suggests that some traditionally Democrat-leaning voters, particularly black and Hispanic men, appear to be reconsidering their political allegiances… Their concerns about the high cost of living and rising crime have them trending toward former President Donald Trump, which could make them the deciding factor in the 2024 presidential election.