Anti-American Bias – “In a letter ostensibly written to support the bishops of the US, Pope Francis has actually made life considerably more difficult for them.” The Pope’s disastrous letter on immigration (Catholic Culture)
Grace for Marriages – “When a marriage is in shambles, hearing about couples who have been to hell and back can offer great hope that it is possible for love to bloom again.” Marriage Inspiration from Hell-and-Back Stories (Catholic Exchange)
Death Row Sisterhood – “Sisters from a convent outside Waco have repeatedly visited the prisoners—and even made them affiliates of their order: The story of a powerful spiritual alliance.” The Nuns Trying to Save the Women on Texas’s Death Row (The New Yorker)
Pope Francis and Illegal Immigration – “On several key points, it’s unclear how Pope Francis’ view of immigration squares with the teachings of the Catholic Church.” Pope Francis’ Letter To U.S. Bishops Sows Confusion Over Immigration (The Federalist)
Rejecting the Supernatural – “The modern era is often seen as the triumph of science over supernaturalism. But what really happened is far more interesting.” The Birth of Naturalism (aeon)
The Zanchetta Mystery – “At the start of the month, the Bishop Emeritus of Orán was back in the news, after his sentence was confirmed by the Court of Appeal of Salta: four years and six months imprisonment for the persistent sexual abuse of two seminarians, aggravated by the fact that it was perpetrated by a clergyman.” Final sentence and ‘flight to Rome’, the Zanchetta scandal persists (Daily Compass)
Civilizational Suicide – “The official Catholic teaching balances charity with common sense. JD Vance understands that; Pope Francis does not.” The NGO Pope Commits ‘Ecclesiastical Suicide’ (The European Conservative)
California Blackrobe – “Retired Thomas Aquinas College chaplain Rev. Cornelius M. Buckley, S.J. continues to grow his bibliography — even at the age of 99 years — with his latest book: Father Joseph Fessio, S.J.: California Blackrobe, a biography of Ignatius Press’s bold and beloved founder.” TAC’s Fr. Buckley Publishes Biography of Ignatius Press’s Fr. Fessio (Thomas Aquinas College)
A Transformative Moment – “Speaking to European leaders at the Munich Security Conference, [Vance] shocked his audience by confronting them over their attacks on free speech in the West.” Vance delivers a historic defense of free speech in Europe (The Hill)
Laws Governing Entry – “Any deportation, mass or otherwise, is now presumed to be a violation of the human dignity of people who simply seek a better life.” The Pope, the Border, and the Law (The Catholic Thing)
Repatriation and Deportation – “The letter misconstrues what is happening in the U.S. and contradicts previous statements from Pope Francis himself.” Pope Francis misses the target in the U.S. immigration debate (Our Sunday Visitor)
Freely Chosen Schools – “Education should foster wisdom and virtue, not be a tool for ideological control.” For Liberty’s Sake, Dismantle the Department of Education (National Catholic Register)
(*The posting of any particular news item or essay is not an endorsement of the content and perspective of said news item or essay.)
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With égard to all of the articles on the Pope’s letter to the American bishops on Trump’s immigration executive orders I would like to mention that the USCCB filed suit yesterday against the Trump administration to restore the many millions of dollars that they were receiving under Biden for dealing with immigrants.
As I read in another article, any organization that receives the majority of its money from the government is not a Non Government Organization (NGO) but rather a Government Organization.
This is not going to go well for the Chuch in the United States.
Amen, Crusader. There is now a CNA article at CWR on the USCCB lawsuit. Those clowns are stupidly ridiculous, a sorry sort, laughably pathetic.
CWR referenced us to the many articles on Francis’ letter to US bishops. Particularly hard-hitting, because of his perspective on the law, is Fr. Gerald Murray’s writing at The Catholic Thing.
Agree Merino with what you say about Father Gerald Murray’s writing.
I look forward to seeing him tonight on EWTN.
Can you give a specific reference of how the USCCB bishops were dealing with illegal aliens? I personally am deeply suspicious of the organization as a whole. Let’s hope that the lawsuit will expose the group to the light of public information.
I think they might have been running migrants shelters. The good news is that border control is now working, resulting in fewer illegals. Many shelters are starting to close.
@ Anti-American Bias
Lawler understands Archbishop Broglio must tone his response if he’s to survive the autocratic temperament of His Holiness. Whereas Pope Francis’ Mini-Me Cdl McElroy targets the enemy Pres Trump.
Weaponization of the otherwise politically [should be] neutral, like the anti Trump weaponized US Justice Dept under Biden is now a Vatican agenda Biden Francis two peas in a pod. McElroy is consistently in error. His commanding presence [with Vat help] within the USCCB makes this current Vatican under Pope Francis clearly reveal what colors it is flying. Red for Marxist socialism rainbow for sexual derangement.
@rejecting the supernatural
Writer Peter Harrison treats us to the long Enlightenment saga that purports to fully isolate the supernatural from the natural, under the tutelage of natural scientists and then sociologists who would replace the former with the latter.
In contrasting the two “worldviews” (for lack of a better term), Harrison actually adds to the confusion by first noting the exterior “laws of nature” while not also noting the crucial, very distinct and interior “natural law”—as a moral order grounded in, guess what, the supernatural. The living God is more than just another idea in our cerebral mix, and is instead the “supernatural” Creator—other than ourselves, and prior in every way to scientistic and subliminal suggestions and even pronouncements on religion.
The ascendant “laws of nature” and the transcendent (and inborn) “natural law” are not at all the same thing.
As Harrison concludes, even primitive religions were oriented toward the supernatural, rather than not. About which and as a side note, if there is ever to be any productive inter-religious dialogue with the non-Western followers of Islam, this also will depend upon acknowledging the distinction between more-or-less autonomous “laws of nature” (blasphemous because violating the autonomy of Allah) and the different and real “natural law.”
@ Civilizational Suicide
Rod Dreher makes the increasingly evident case, an observation many of us have previously made that His Holiness’ policies are anti cultural, indeed anti civilization pitting a Church, that as an institution has more than any other cause has formed the true meaning of what a civilized culture is, has now become the instrument of destroying that civilization.
Pitting Church against Nation, its elected leader, impugning him and his policy of self preservation of our Nation from illegal migration, a true invasion across our borders – while he never once criticized Biden, his zero prohibition abortion access, unlimited, dangerous, civilization destructive sex policies including mutilation of children can only be described as disgusting hypocrisy, what a man’s real predilections are.
Our bishops know their obligations to Christ. Unfortunately, they permit themselves to fall into the trap, the pit dug for their demise as defenders of the faith.