Zelensky Meets with Pope Francis During His Tour Promoting a ‘Victory Plan’ amid War with Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Pope Francis on Friday during his European tour where he is touting a “victory plan” for Ukraine’s ongoing war with Russia.  Francis and Zelensky met privately and talked for 45 minutes, according to The Associated Press. 

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Catholic Healthcare System Plays Outsized Role in Transgender Surgery, Drugs for Kids: Database

America’s fourth-largest Catholic healthcare system performed so-called gender affirming surgeries on 81 children and prescribed puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to 113 over the past five years, according to a national database launched Tuesday by Do No Harm, which fights identity politics in “medical education, research and clinical practice.”

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Commentary: Gen Z Is More Religious than You Think

Rosary

Many Americans believe our world’s becoming more secular. While that’s true, many of today’s fastest-growing religious denominations aren’t progressive—they’re traditional. Here’s what the data show.

In the 1990s, 90 percent of Americans identified as Christians on Pew surveys. Today, that number has fallen to about 67 percent. Among young adults, over 40 percent are religiously unaffiliated.

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Missouri AG Claims Kansas City Doxxed Chiefs Kicker over Religious Views

Harrison Butker

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey accused Kansas City on Thursday of doxxing one of its NFL players over religious comments he made at a college over the weekend, where he criticized President Joe Biden for being a pro-abortion Catholic.

The city of Kansas City, which is primarily in Missouri, posted a since-deleted “reminder” that Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker lives in Lee Summit on Wednesday, but replaced it with an apology for the “error.” The city account did not include a physical address in the original post.

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Commentary: Cabrini Film Calls Audiences to Dedicated Service and Unwavering Faith

Cabrini Film

On International Women’s Day, March 8, Angel Studios’ latest film, Cabrini, was released in theaters across America. The movie tells the incredible true story of the first American saint, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, and her mission to help vulnerable, impoverished, and destitute immigrants in the United States. 

In the late 19th and early 20th century, millions of Italian immigrants came to America, most through Ellis Island, in search of their American dream. But many who journeyed in search of opportunity were met with poverty, desperation, and difficulty. Italian immigrants were ostracized from society, perceived to be of inferior intelligence, and struggled to speak English.

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‘Did Not Align with Our Mission’: Catholic University Fires Professor Who Brought in ‘Abortion Doula’

Rachel Carbonneau

Catholic University confirmed to The Daily Signal that it has terminated the contract of the professor who invited a self-declared “abortion doula” to speak to students about coaching women through abortions and “pregnant men” through a “seahorse birth.”

Catholic University President Peter Kilpatrick announced to students on Jan. 30 that the university “terminated our contract with the professor who invited the speaker” after obtaining “clear evidence that the content of the class did not align with our mission and identity.”

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‘Seahorse Births’: Abortion Doula Normalizes ‘Pregnant Men’ Giving Birth in Lecture to Catholic University Students

Catholic University of America

A self-declared “abortion doula” spoke this week to Catholic University of America students about her experiences coaching women through delivering or aborting babies, as well as coaching “pregnant men” to deliver in what she called a “seahorse birth,” according to audio of the class lecture obtained by The Daily Signal. 

A Catholic University nursing student described Tuesday’s lecture to The Daily Signal, saying the guest speaker said she also practices Reiki, a controversial Japanese method of spiritual healing and self-improvement.

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Commentary: 100 Canadian Churches Torched or Damaged Following Indian Residential School Graves Hoax

St Jean Baptiste

To its credit, the London-based tabloid newspaper The Daily Mail recently carried a story most corporate news outlets have been avoiding: The Indian Residential School Graves hoax.

The paper, whose article titles are characteristically long and descriptive, leaves little mystery in the scandalous story’s headline: “Nearly ONE HUNDRED churches across Canada have been torched or damaged after activists lied that 200 indigenous children were buried under Catholic schools.”

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Commentary: Americans Embrace Religion, Reject Religious Bigotry

People Praying

More than half a century ago, Time magazine famously asked, “Is God Dead?” The black and red cover, the magazine’s first to include only text, sparked countless angry sermons and thousands of letters from readers accusing Time of engaging in tasteless nihilism, Marxist pandering, and outright blasphemy.

The question, which typified the counter-culture movement and the intellectual radicalism of the 1960s, was far off the mark both then and now. The United States has always been and remains a very religious nation despite steep declines in attendance at churches, synagogues, and mosques – trends that have captured far more headlines in recent years than the nation’s enduring faith. America is also a majority Christian nation, though other religious groups and affiliations and those identifying as non-believers are growing.

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Catholic All-Girls College Reverses Trans Policy After Backlash

Saint Mary's College

Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana, is backtracking on its decision to allow men who identify as transgender women to enroll in the formerly all-female, Catholic institution.

The Daily Signal reported in November that Saint Mary’s College would allow men who identify as women to enroll at the college in the fall of 2024. That news was first reported by the Notre Dame student newspaper, The Observer.

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Trad Catholic Family Dragged Out of Home at Gunpoint, Locked in Van After FBI ‘Goaded’ Teen to Post Offensive Memes, Dad Says

A traditional Catholic family was allegedly “dragged out of their home at gunpoint, handcuffed and locked in a van” earlier this year after the FBI “goaded” their 15-year-old son to post  “offensive memes” online. The teen, a volunteer firefighter and altar boy, was then hospitalized on mental health pretenses, according to his father, Jeremiah Rufini.

The FBI’s aggressive “investigation” only resulted in a misdemeanor conviction against the boy for breach of peace, but financially devastated the family with substantial legal expenses.

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Catholic All-Girls College Will Admit Men Who Identify as Trans Women

Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana, will begin allowing men who identify as women to enroll at the college in the fall of 2024, an email obtained by The Daily Signal shows.

President Katie Conboy told faculty in an email sent Tuesday afternoon that “Saint Mary’s will consider undergraduate applicants whose sex assigned at birth is female or who consistently live and identify as women.” That news was first reported by the Notre Dame student newspaper, The Observer.

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Anti-Catholic, Queer Nuns Apologize After Former ‘Probationary’ Member Arrested for Masturbating in Public

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (SPI), a group of queer “nuns” that regularly mock the Catholic faith, offered their “profound apologies” after a former “probationary” member was arrested in August for masturbating in public.

Clinton Monroe Ellis-Gilmore allegedly exposed himself on Aug. 12 in his truck with the door open, where the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department in California found him and arrested him, according to a police report obtained by The Daily Wire. Ellis-Gilmore was formerly a member of SPI’s Eureka chapter, who told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the behavior was “not representative of our Order, our values, or the hundreds of individuals who serve as Sisters,” according to a prepared statement.

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School District Misled Court on Why It Banned Opt-Out for LGBTQ Lessons, Religious Groups Say

Newly revealed teacher-training materials and sworn affidavits show Maryland’s Montgomery County Public Schools misled the federal court hearing a lawsuit by religious families against the district’s no-exemptions policy for gender and sexuality instruction in the English Language Arts curriculum, a national Muslim group claims.

School officials in the affluent suburb bordering Washington, D.C. told a judge last month it rescinded opt-outs and parental notification this spring because of the logistical challenges created by too many families choosing to remove their children from the “Pride storybooks,” which teach children as young as 3 about sex workers, kink, drag, gender transitions and prepubescent same-sex romance.

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Pope Francis Warns About the ‘Disruptive Possibilities’ of Artificial Intelligence

Pope Francis is warning about the possible adverse effects of artificial intelligence and the need to monitor the technology in his message for World Day of Peace.

The cautionary message came Tuesday when the Vatican released the theme of the pope’s message for World Day of Peace, which is Sept. 21.

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Iraq Summons U.S. Ambassador over State Department Comments on Treatment of Catholic Priest

The Iraqi government called U.S. Ambassador Alina Romanowski to Baghdad after the State Department made critical remarks about the government’s dismissal of a Vatican-appointed bishop, according to Reuters.

Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid recently rescinded a decree recognizing Cardinal Louis Sako the head of the Chaldean Catholic church in Iraq and all of its assets, claiming that no other state entity should appoint religious leaders in Iraq, according to Reuters. Rashid called Romanowski to Baghdad Wednesday after  State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the U.S. was disturbed by the Iraqi government’s decision.

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Commentary: Religious Conviction in Woke Sports

When the University of Oklahoma softball team showed up for the College World Series last week, reporters expected to hear pride and camaraderie from a squad on the way to winning its third consecutive national championship.  

But several star Sooners players startled the press and went viral online by declaring that their joy in Christianity trumped their considerable athletic accomplishments.  

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Catholic College Fundraises to Cut Ties with ‘Intrusive,’ ‘Hostile’ Federal Government

A Catholic college is raising money to end its affiliation with the federal government and become financially independent, arguing the government has become “hostile to faith,” according to its website.

Belmont Abbey College (BAC), located in North Carolina, is operating a campaign called “Made True” that aims to raise $55 million to cut ties with the federal government and restore its purpose as a faith-based institution, its website reads. The money will “create innovative new financial structures and stewardship programs” with the intent of graduating students without debt as well as create public policy and health science programs that align with the college’s mission.

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Catholic University Drops Theology Degree, Nine Others

The Board of Marymount University unanimously voted on Friday to eliminate ten degree programs in the humanities and social sciences, including English, History, and Theology and Religious Studies.

Founded as the first Catholic college in Virginia in 1950, Marymount is affiliated with the Sacred Heart of Mary and serves approximately 3,500 students in its undergraduate and graduate programs.

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Authorities Punish Catholic Priest for Silently Praying Outside Abortion Clinic

Authorities in the United Kingdom charged a Catholic priest with violating a censorship zone when he silently prayed outside an abortion clinic while holding a sign that said “praying for free speech.”

Father Sean Gough, a pro-life priest stationed in Wolverhampton, England, had also parked his car in the area near the abortion clinic, which is covered by a Public Spaces Protection Order, according to Alliance Defending Freedom International. Authorities also took issue with Gough’s car, which has an “unborn lives matter” bumper sticker on it, ADF said.

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Commentary: Frank Pavone and the Fading Power of Pope Francis

There’s been a flurry of commentary in Catholic circles since Pope Francis decided to defrock pro-life advocate and priest Frank Pavone. One suggestion I’ve seen from many Catholic writers is that Francis is punishing Pavone because he believes clergymen should not be involved in politics. It’s a laughable argument. Francis is very frequently involved in politics and regularly encourages (leftist) priests in their activism.

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Commentary: Nicaragua’s Brutal Catholic Crackdown

For millions of Christians around the world, the official religious Christmas season kicked off this week with a renewed sense of normalcy – an abundance of colorful lights, parades and processions, family and church gatherings, and even fireworks in some areas.

Many believers in countries where Christians are religious minorities such as China and India are embracing the festivities with new enthusiasm. Early December marks the first time annual public and private advent gatherings have been allowed since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Man Attacks Catholic Cathedral with Fire and a Sword

A man used fire and a sword to attack an Oklahoma Catholic cathedral while school was in session on Wednesday, the school told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Daniel Edwards, carrying a large ice chest, attempted to break into the cathedral of Holy Family Cathedral School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, while students were outside taking school pictures, the school told the DCNF. Edwards then threw a flaming object into the side of the building and used a sword to attack the school’s front desk attendant when he confronted Edwards.

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Pennsylvania GOP Gubernatorial Candidate: Biden DOJ ‘Trying to Intimidate’ Conservatives Through Arrest of Catholic, Pro-Life Father

Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Doug Mastriano warned Monday that President Joe Biden’s administration sought to “intimidate” anyone “on the political opposition” through the arrest of a Catholic, pro-life father last week.

Mastriano referred to the early Friday morning arrest of Mark Houck, whose wife told Life Site News that 25-30 FBI agents entered their home around 7 a.m. with “big, huge rifles” to arrest her husband as their children watched, crying and screaming, from the top of the stairs.

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60 Catholic Democrats Accuse Bishops of Weaponizing Eucharist Against Biden

Catholic church worship

Catholic congressional Democrats are accusing U.S. Catholic bishops of weaponizing the Eucharist against President Joe Biden.

Sixty Catholic Democrats issued a “Statement of Principles” Friday warning U.S. bishops against “the weaponization of the Eucharist.” Signers included Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro and New York Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez.

Most of the Democrats who signed the statement appear to publicly support abortion in direct conflict with Catholic Church teaching.

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China Will Control Appointment of Chinese Catholic Clergy Without Input from Vatican

New rules from the Chinese government indicate that China will exercise control over the appointment of Catholic clergy without any input from the Vatican.

The “Administrative Measures for Religious Clergy,” which will go into effect May 1, clarified that the state-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) will select candidates for clergy who will then be “approved and  consecrated by the Chinese Catholic Bishops’ Conference.”

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