Monday, May 25, 2026

Full Text of ‘Magnifica Humanitas’: Read Pope Leo XIV’s First Encyclical

Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical sets out the Church’s social teaching for the age of artificial intelligence. Read the complete document below.


Pope Leo XIV alongside a picture of his new encyclical released May, 25, 2026. (photo: EWTN News)


EWTN News Staff Vatican May 25, 2026


Pope Leo XIV signed Magnifica Humanitas, the first encyclical of his pontificate, on May 15, 2026.

The document was formally released by the Holy See on May 25, 2026.

The encyclical develops the Churchʼs social teaching in light of artificial intelligence, situating new questions of human dignity, labor, and the common good within the tradition that runs from Rerum Novarum through Centesimus Annus and Laudato Si'.

Read the full encyclical as a PDF below.

Magnifica Humanitas Full Text English Version



Vance ‘looking forward to reading’ Pope Leo’s AI encyclical


by Kate Scanlon - OSV News May 20, 2026



U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 19, 2026. (OSV News photo/Kevin Lamarque, Reuters)



WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Vice President JD Vance said May 19 during a press briefing at the White House that he is “looking forward to reading” Pope Leo XIV’s upcoming first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” addressing artificial intelligence.

“I think when the pope issues an encyclical on artificial intelligence, it’s going to have some influence,” Vance said in response to a question on the topic, adding, “I, of course, don’t know how much influence. I don’t know exactly what it’s going to say, but I think when the leader of the world’s largest Christian denomination speaks on an issue like that, it’s certainly going to have some influence.”

The title of the encyclical is Latin for “Magnificent Humanity,” and it will address artificial intelligence and human dignity, the Vatican has announced. It will be published May 25.

Vance said he is sure the encyclical will “contain a lot of insights, some of which I’ll probably agree with, some of which I may not, but I think that it’s going to be a very, very important document.”

In response to a related question on whether the government should create a new mandatory review process for new AI models, Vance argued that President Donald Trump “wants us to be pro-innovation” on AI.

“He wants us to win the AI race against all other countries in the world,” Vance said. “He recognizes that AI is going to be an important tool, not just for our economy, but for our military, and so he wants to ensure that we are winning that particular race. We also want to make sure that we’re protecting people, we’re protecting people’s data, we’re protecting people’s privacy.”

But Vance also acknowledged the technology “does have some downsides.”

“We’re trying to balance that safety against innovation, and we think that we’ve got the right balance here in the Trump administration, but something we’re going to have to keep on working on, because that’s just the nature of these technologies, is they certainly change,” he said.

Pope Leo has consistently expressed interest in the issue of artificial intelligence and the dignity of work since the first days of his pontificate, telling the College of Cardinals shortly after his election in May 2025 that he took his papal name partly in honor of Pope Leo XIII, whose landmark encyclical “Rerum Novarum” has shaped the Church’s social teaching for more than a century.



Before Air Conditioning, Half of America Was Unlivable | Bizarre History Documentary


Weirdward Bound

May 2, 2026  
Air conditioning didn't just cool buildings.

It depopulated the American Northeast, built the Sun Belt, made the modern Middle East economically viable, and quietly rewired global politics. This video follows Willis Carrier's 1902 invention (originally designed to control humidity in a printing plant, not to make people comfortable) and shows how an industrial fix for smudgy ink reshaped continents.

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Sunday, May 24, 2026

Europe's drug mafia (1/2) - How drugs made the Netherlands rich | DW Documentary

 


Europe's drug mafia (1/2) - How drugs made the Netherlands rich | DW Documentary

DW Documentary

DW is a German public broadcast service. Wikipedia 

May 21, 2026  

For centuries, Dutch prosperity has been based on global trade. But this has always had a dark side. Drugs, like opium and cocaine, are traded too. | 


The first part of this documentary shows how the Netherlands became the European hub for narcotics.

As early as the 17th century, Dutch colonialism laid the foundation for a lucrative drug trade. Opium from Indonesia financed the rise of the trading empire. This was followed by the cultivation of coca plants on Java - which formed the basis for Amsterdam's early cocaine production. Even when international bans officially ended the trade during World War I, the system survived, underground. In the interwar period, an illegal market emerged and continues to have an impact today.

After the Second World War, drug trafficking initially seemed to be a thing of the past. But the 1960s brought radical change: with the rise of counterculture, demand grew for hashish from Morocco and heroin from the Indian subcontinent. The Netherlands responded with a unique strategy - the separation of so-called hard and soft drugs. Coffee shops were aimed at regulating consumption. But criminal structures became entrenched. Figures such as Klaas Bruinsma, the "Dutch Al Capone,” became powerful drug lords.

In the 1990s, the country became the epicenter of synthetic drugs: ecstasy pills flooded Europe, and the profits flowed into real estate and the real economy. When the old underworld generation disappeared, young criminals from working-class neighborhoods took over. Their focus was on cocaine, the ‘new’ profitable drug. The documentary shows how colonial trade routes gave rise to a modern network that continues to shape Europe's drug market to this day.


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Infiltration




Thursday November 1st, 2001


By Elder Lawrence Nelson

Many Seventh-day Adventist living today seem to be totally unaware that, as members of God’s true church, we are actually at war with the devil and his angels. The majority seems to be living in an atmosphere of tranquility and peace oblivious to the battle we are engaged, in which God is depending on each faithful member to defend the divine authority of His law.

Our Commander is Michael, the Lord Jesus Christ. The commander of the opposing side is Satan, the devil. This gigantic struggle has to do with the character of God as revealed in His law. Freedom, justice and love are at stake. Should Satan succeed in abolishing God’s law, the government of God would cease to exist. Every individual would then be governed by force and freedom would be gone forever.

To ensure the protection of each soldier for Christ we must investigate the plans of the enemy. But this could be a disaster without God’s help. So let us first seek for divine aid. Let us pray. Our loving Father, as we embark on this dangerous mission to discover Satan’s sinister plans for our destruction, please commission the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, the Representative of the Captain of the Lord’s hosts, to guide us in this perilous mission. We acknowledge that our infirmities are many; our sins and mistakes grievous, but with humble contrition we beg this great Power of Omnipotence be granted in our behalf to guide us with success. We thank Thee for such divine assurance. In Jesus’ name, we ask, Amen.

Now in this war, in which every believer must participate, we must be aware that this great struggle began in heaven and has spread to this earth. Let us read of its history from God’s word. I’m reading beginning with Revelation 12:7. “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him….Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time….And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

From the beginning history reveals that in any war, each opposing side tries to secretly discover what the enemy’s plans are for attack so they can successfully meet and overcome them. We should not be surprised to discover, from God’s word, of Satan’s attempt to break into heaven’s council to ascertain God’s plans in this great war.

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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”


Image (Courtesy) ebay https://tinyurl.com/5c7t8sdm

Doubting the “Testimonies”


“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

Minnesota fraud: Authorities arrest suspect who jumped from balcony

 

 

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‘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.”



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.

Seattle To Declare A Gay STATE OF EMERGENCY?!

 

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.