Saturday, May 23, 2026
The American Papacy
The American Papacy.
SINCE the year 1856, a book entitled “Our Country” has been largely circulated, and it has excited a great deal of attention throughout the United States. The book was written for the American Home Missionary Society, its object being to present “facts and arguments showing the imperative need of home missionary work for the evangelization of the land.” In a startling as well as splendid array of facts, it presents the growth, the size, the resources, and the perils of our country.
Among the perils to our country, the author rightly places Romanism, and by many excellent quotations proves that it is indeed a peril. We quote a passage or two:—
“There are many who are disposed to attribute any fear of Roman Catholicism in the United States to bigotry or childishness. Such see nothing in the character and attitude of Romanism that is hostile to our free institutions, or find nothing portentous in its growth. Let us, then, first compare some of the fundamental principles of our Government with those of the Catholic Church.
“The Constitution of the United States guarantees liberty of conscience. Nothing is clearer or more fundamental. Pope Pius IX., in his Encyclical Letter of August 15, 1854, said: ‘The absurd and erroneous doctrines or ravings in defense of liberty of conscience, are a pestilential error—a pest, of all others, most to be dreaded in a State.’ The same pope, in his Encyclical Letter of December 8, 1864, anathematizes ‘those who assert the liberty of conscience and of religious worship,’ also ‘all such as maintain that the church may not employ force.’”
Doubting the “Testimonies”
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“It is Satan’s plan to weaken the faith of God’s people in the Testimonies.” “Satan knows how to make his attacks. He works upon minds to excite jealousy and dissatisfaction toward those at the head of the work. The gifts are next questioned; then, of course, they have but little weight, and instruction given through vision is disregarded.” “Next follows skepticism in regard to the vital points of our faith, the pillars of our position, then doubt as to the Holy Scriptures, and then the downward march to perdition. When the Testimonies, which were once believed, are doubted and given up, Satan knows the deceived ones will not stop at this; and he redoubles his efforts till he launches them into open rebellion, which becomes incurable and ends in destruction.” [Testimonies for the Church 4:211; Testimonies for the Church 1:236] “By giving place to doubts and unbelief in regard to the work of God, and by cherishing feelings of distrust and cruel jealousies, they are preparing themselves for complete deception. They rise up with bitter feelings against the ones who dare to speak of their errors and reprove their sins.” [Testimonies for the Church 3:328.]
A testimony for certain young men, first published in 1880, speaks of this point as follows: “A prevailing skepticism is continually increasing in reference to the Testimonies of the Spirit of God; and these youth encourage questionings and doubts instead of removing them, because they are ignorant of the spirit and power and force of the Testimonies.” [Testimonies for the Church 4:437.]
I was shown that many had so little spirituality that they did not understand the value of the Testimonies or their real object. They talked flippantly of the Testimonies given by God for the benefit of His people, and passed judgment upon them, giving their opinion and criticizing this and that, when they would better have placed their hands upon their lips, and prostrated themselves in the dust; for they could not appreciate the spirit of the Testimonies, because they knew so little of the Spirit of God. [Testimonies for the Church 4:443.]
“There are some in ----- who have never fully submitted to reproof. They have taken a course of their own choosing. They have ever, to a greater or less degree, exerted an influence against those who have stood up to defend the right and reprove the wrong. The influence of these persons upon individuals who come here and who are brought in contact with them ... is very bad. They fill the minds of these newcomers with questionings and doubts in regard to the Testimonies of the Spirit of God. They put false constructions upon the Testimonies; and instead of leading persons to become consecrated to God and to listen to the voice of the church, they teach them to be independent and not to mind the opinions and judgment of others. The influence of this class has been secretly at work. Some are unconscious of the harm they are doing; but, unconsecrated, proud, and rebellious themselves, they lead others in the wrong track. A poisonous atmosphere is inhaled from these unconsecrated ones. The blood of souls is in the garments of such, and Christ will say to them in the day of final settlement: ‘Depart from Me, all ye workers of iniquity.’ Astonished they will be, but their professedly Christian lives were a deception, a fraud.” [Testimonies for the Church 4:513, 514 (1880).]
Friday, May 22, 2026
‘Colossal profits’: Christian leaders lambast fossil fuel giants as they demand EU windfall tax
Copyright European Union, 2025, licensed under CC BY 4.0
By Ruth Wright
Published on 21/05/2026 - 6:30 GMT+2
“Europe holds a historic duty and opportunity to lead the transition to a new era away from fossil fuels”, say faith groups from across the EU.
A coalition of Christian organisations has issued an urgent appeal to EU institutions: phase out fossil fuels and tax those who profit from them.
120 organisations from 20 EU countries have signed the first ever appeal of its kind.
“Europe has a unique opportunity and the moral responsibility to accelerate the phase out of fossil fuels and shift to clean energy, including through a permanent tax on the colossal profits of fossil fuel companies”, the document says. It was recently revealed by the Guardian newspaper that the world’s top 100 oil and gas companies made more than $30 million (€25.8m) every hour in profit in the first month of the US-Israeli war in Iran.
The appeal calls on the EU to “remain steadfast in its founding values of human dignity and the common good by accelerating a just energy transition.”
Signatory organisations include European and national faith-based institutions, including episcopal bodies, religious orders, social and environmental NGOs, international development charities, and Christian movements and communities. Organisations include Laudato Si’ Movement, Caritas Europa and the Central Committee of German Catholics.
JD Vance speaks on faith, conversion at Catholic event on Capitol Hill
By Mary Rose
JD Vance speaks to supporters (Photo by Joey Sussman/SHutterstock)
Vice President JD Vance spoke May 21 at a monthly gathering of Catholic lawmakers and congressional staffers on Capitol Hill, sharing details of his conversion to Catholicism and his thoughts on the role of faith in public life.
The event, called “Catholic Connections,” is hosted by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., who holds the informal, off-the-record discussions to allow Catholic elected officials, aides, and others to connect over their shared faith.
Vance, a 2019 convert to Catholicism who previously identified as an atheist, shared his Christian testimony and discussed living a life of service to others, according to lawmakers who attended.
“It was an honor to have @VP JD Vance, the highest-ranking Catholic in U.S. government, at Catholic Connections this morning,” Emmer wrote in a post on X. “Thank you, Mr. Vice President, for joining us and sharing your story of faith, family, and public service.”
Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, praised Vance for joining the group and noted that the vice president “shared his testimony, his faith, and the importance of living out our values through service to others.”
Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Wash., who had spoken at a previous session, said Vance’s remarks were “thoughtful and inspiring.”
Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., said it was “Wonderful to have the Vice President visit the U.S. Capitol and share his faith journey from atheism to conversion to the Roman Catholic faith.”
According to Emmer’s office, Catholic Connections is dedicated to “fostering a faith-based community among Catholics working on Capitol Hill.”
JD Vance speaks to supporters (Photo by Joey Sussman/SHutterstock)
Vice President JD Vance spoke May 21 at a monthly gathering of Catholic lawmakers and congressional staffers on Capitol Hill, sharing details of his conversion to Catholicism and his thoughts on the role of faith in public life.
The event, called “Catholic Connections,” is hosted by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., who holds the informal, off-the-record discussions to allow Catholic elected officials, aides, and others to connect over their shared faith.
Vance, a 2019 convert to Catholicism who previously identified as an atheist, shared his Christian testimony and discussed living a life of service to others, according to lawmakers who attended.
“It was an honor to have @VP JD Vance, the highest-ranking Catholic in U.S. government, at Catholic Connections this morning,” Emmer wrote in a post on X. “Thank you, Mr. Vice President, for joining us and sharing your story of faith, family, and public service.”
Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, praised Vance for joining the group and noted that the vice president “shared his testimony, his faith, and the importance of living out our values through service to others.”
Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Wash., who had spoken at a previous session, said Vance’s remarks were “thoughtful and inspiring.”
Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., said it was “Wonderful to have the Vice President visit the U.S. Capitol and share his faith journey from atheism to conversion to the Roman Catholic faith.”
According to Emmer’s office, Catholic Connections is dedicated to “fostering a faith-based community among Catholics working on Capitol Hill.”
What the Vatican Just Released on Gay Catholics — and Where Pope Leo Stands
Letters from Leo
An explainer on Study Group 9’s final report, the two testimonies that surprised everyone, and the synodal process Pope Leo XIV is letting run.
Christopher Hale
May 20, 2026
On May 5, three days before the first anniversary of Pope Leo XIV’s election, the Vatican released a document with a title built to put readers to sleep: “Theological Criteria and Synodal Methodologies for Shared Discernment of Emerging Doctrinal, Pastoral, and Ethical Issues.”
Within forty-eight hours, James Martin had called it historic, Cardinal Gerhard Müller had branded it heretical, and Father Gerald Murray, speaking on EWTN, used the word horrific.
The reason is buried in two appendices.
Here is what Study Group 9 is, and what its report actually does.
The body and the assignment
Study Group 9 is one of ten committees Pope Francis spun out of the Synod on Synodality in early 2024.
Each was handed a question the synod assembly could not finish in the room. Group 9 drew the hardest topic — what the Vatican initially labeled “controversial doctrinal, pastoral, and ethical issues.” Same-sex relations sat at the top of the list. The role of women, divorce and remarriage, and questions of conscience were also on the docket.
The group’s chair is Cardinal Carlos Gustavo Castillo Mattasoglio, the Peruvian archbishop of Lima. Robert Prevost — the missionary who spent nearly four decades in Peru before becoming Pope Leo XIV — knows him well.
The committee’s first symbolic act came before publication. It renamed its own assignment. “Controversial issues” became “emerging issues.” Group 9 wrote that the change was meant to register a “paradigm shift” away from a Church that hands down rulings and toward a Church that learns by listening.
Hantavirus sparks fear, questions for some students in post-COVID world
By Kate Perez and Allison Kiehl Chicago Tribune (TNS)
May 21, 2026
A passenger of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius is pictured while leaving by military bus after disembarking in the port of Granadilla de Abona on the island of Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands on May 11. Adverse weather conditions forced the cruise ship MV Hondius hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak and anchored off Spain’s Canary Islands to dock before evacuations can be completed, the health ministry said.Jorge Guerrero / AFP
CHICAGO — Brooke Loughman knows that when she opens a social media app, she’ll be flooded with posts, whether she wants to see them or not. Lately, the first-year DePaul University student has found herself scrolling quickly through her feed, trying to avoid information about hantavirus and the wave of anxiety she experiences thinking about the possibility of another pandemic like COVID-19.
“If it is going to be a really big deal, I would rather not prematurely freak out, because if it is going to be like a COVID-19 scale thing again, I’d rather have some sense of normalcy for as long as I can,” said Loughman, who is 19.
Loughman’s thoughts are echoed by students scarred by living through the coronavirus pandemic.
The fresh mix of news and misinformation about hantavirus on social media is stirring up negative emotions for some young people, carried over from living on lockdown. COVID-era anxiety can linger and resurface, even more than half a decade after the pandemic, mental health experts say. The unknowns of a new virus outbreak, coupled with an influx of sometimes unreliable information, can generate fear, dread and anxiety.
In other words, the aftereffects of COVID-19 are still present, according to Tara Leytham Powell, an associate professor of social work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “All the impacts of that, the loss of income, the social isolation, the fear of the illness, all those things still exist in people’s minds,” Powell, who is currently researching COVID’s lasting impacts on mental health.
Thursday, May 21, 2026
HITLER & THE WAR ON NATIONAL HEALTH - 05.20.2026
LISTEN ▶️ HERE
NOTR - HITLER & THE WAR ON NATIONAL HEALTH
Wednesday, May 20, 2026 at 6:35PM
Today's Show: HITLER & THE WAR ON NATIONAL HEALTH - 05.20.2026
Chris discusses the history of the Nazi healthcare system back in the 1930's and 40's from the perspective of the book, "Racial Hygiene," by Robert N. Proctor. As the book shows, the Nazis used the healthcare system and the fear of disease and pandemics as the pretense to round up Jews and get them into ghettos and eventually, concentration camps. For example, when Auschwitz opened in August of 1943, it was originally a "quarantine" camp and later became a death camp where more than one million people were killed. Furthermore, we examine the book, "Hitler Speaks," by Hermann Rauschning, first published in 1939. In it, the former Nazi leader records Hitler's vision of future warfare, where the use of bacteria would be employed to destroy the health of a nation before they were invaded.
NOTR - HITLER & THE WAR ON NATIONAL HEALTH
Wednesday, May 20, 2026 at 6:35PM
Today's Show: HITLER & THE WAR ON NATIONAL HEALTH - 05.20.2026
Chris discusses the history of the Nazi healthcare system back in the 1930's and 40's from the perspective of the book, "Racial Hygiene," by Robert N. Proctor. As the book shows, the Nazis used the healthcare system and the fear of disease and pandemics as the pretense to round up Jews and get them into ghettos and eventually, concentration camps. For example, when Auschwitz opened in August of 1943, it was originally a "quarantine" camp and later became a death camp where more than one million people were killed. Furthermore, we examine the book, "Hitler Speaks," by Hermann Rauschning, first published in 1939. In it, the former Nazi leader records Hitler's vision of future warfare, where the use of bacteria would be employed to destroy the health of a nation before they were invaded.
Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical Magnifica humanitas to be published May 25
Pope Leo XIV
Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas, on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence, will be released on May 25. A presentation event with the Pope and various speakers is scheduled for the same day at the Vatican.
Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV’s first Encyclical Letter Magnifica humanitas, on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence, will be released on May 25, 2026.
It bears the Pope’s signature dated May 15th, 135th anniversary of the publication of Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum novarum.
Magnifica humanitas will be presented on the day of its release at 11:30 a.m. at the Vatican’s Synod Hall.
The Pope will be present, along with several speakers: Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; Professor Anna Rowlands, a theologian and professor at Durham University (United Kingdom); Christopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic (USA) and head of research on the interpretability of artificial intelligence; and Professor Leocadie Lushombo, I.T., professor of political theology and Catholic social thought at the Jesuit School of Theology / Santa Clara University in California (USA).
Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin will offer closing remarks, followed by an address and blessing by Pope Leo XIV.
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