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[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo XIV cannot afford to compromise with the CCP any furtherPope Leo XIV faces a crucial litmus test for international diplomacy and moral leadership as he inherits the Vatican’s controversial bilateral ties with Communist China under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The contentious and clandestine 2018 Sino-Vatican deal wasrenewed most recently for another four years in November 2024, permiting the Vatican and Chinese authorities to jointly oversee episcopal appointments in China’s state-sanctioned church.As the present head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV has a lot on his plate. In the context of Asia, the new...

[Catholic Caucus] The Mercy of Withholding the EucharistThe Church has never and will never change her teaching on the unworthy reception of Holy Communion—she can't. But our Bishops must change their 60's-rooted praxis of allowing it to happen.It is a strange feature of our times that when a priest fulfills his sacred duty it becomes news. Such is the case with Fr. Ian Vane, who rightly refused Holy Communion to British MP Chris Coghlan after Coghlan’s public support for assisted suicide. Such an action by a priest should be common—as common as “Catholics” who promote evils while maintaining a public...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo XIV warns ‘world is burning’ from ‘global warming’ at first ‘Care of Creation’ MassPope Leo highlighted a supposed need of 'conversion' for those who do not yet prioritize 'the urgency of caring for our common home.'CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV celebrated the newly composed “Mass for the Care of Creation” today, marking the first use of the liturgical texts he approved a few weeks ago.With just a small congregation gathered in the gardens of Castel Gandolfo this morning, Pope Leo offered the votive Mass “for the care of creation.”Leo was joined by a...

[Catholic Caucus] California priest says God is ‘proud’ of ‘LGBT Catholics’ during homily at ‘Family Pride Mass’Father David Andel defended the 'Pride' Mass, saying, 'We wanted LGBTQ Catholics and their families to have a spiritual alternative.'HIGHLAND, California (LifeSiteNews) — Father David Andel told “LGBT Catholics” during a sermon for the Diocese of San Bernardino’s first-ever “Family Pride Mass” last month that God is “proud” of LGBT Catholics and their families.Andel, a priest in the diocese, emphasized during his homily that God loves and is proud of Catholics who identify as LGBT as well as their families for persevering in their...

Daily Readings from the USCCBJesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, “Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Matthew 10:5–7The very last words of Jesus, just prior to His Ascension into Heaven, expands the mandate we read above that Jesus gave to His Apostles. He later says, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the...

9 July 2025 Wednesday of week 14 in Ordinary Time The Shrine of St. Paulina, Nova Trento, Santa Catarina, BrazilReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: C(I).First readingGenesis 41:55-57,42:5-7,17-24Joseph's brothers in his powerWhen the whole country of Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread. But Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, ‘Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.’ There was famine all over the world. Then Joseph opened all the granaries and sold grain to the Egyptians. The famine grew worse in the land of Egypt. People came to Egypt from all...

Here Are the Vatican II Passages That the Church’s Enemies Demand We AcceptAs Diane Montagna highlighted in her report on Francis’s fraudulent promulgation of Traditionis Custodes, Rome’s battle over the Traditional Latin Mass continues to hinge on the question of whether Traditional Catholics “reject the Second Vatican Council”. The Vatican II passages below did not “cause” the crisis in the Church, but they and others like them have been used by the Church’s enemies to offend God, lead souls to hell, and cause inestimable harm in the world.As Diane Montagna highlighted in her report on Francis’s apparently fraudulent promulgation of...

King Henry VIII and his iconoclast-in-chief, Thomas Cromwell, would be stunned: Nearly 500 years after the English Reformation, Canterbury Cathedral, the mother church of the Protestant Church of England, will be given over to a Roman Catholic Mass, celebrated by the pope’s own representative in the country in honor of the martyr Thomas Becket, who died in the cathedral in 1170. Not least among the historical oddities of the day will be that the Mass will award those in attendance a plenary indulgence. When Henry broke with Rome in 1535 to create the Church of England, it led to the...

Daily Readings from the USCCBJesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:35–36Jesus was quite zealous for souls. Zeal is an energy, a passion and a drive to accomplish some task. The task that Jesus was zealous for was the conversion of every heart that He encountered. As He walked from town to town, encountering person after...

8 July 2025 Tuesday of week 14 in Ordinary Time St. Kilian's Church, Heilbronn, GermanyReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: C(I).First readingGenesis 32:23-33Jacob wrestles with GodJacob rose, and taking his two wives and his two slave-girls and his eleven children he crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream and sent all his possessions over too. And Jacob was left alone. And there was one that wrestled with him until daybreak who, seeing that he could not master him, struck him in the socket of his hip, and Jacob’s hip was dislocated...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo will have much to ponder during his vacation in Castel GandolfoAs Pope Leo XIV arrives in Castel Gandolfo for his summer break, it is unlikely to be a real vacation for the new pontiff.When Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected on May 8, it was the post-Easter period in Rome. This, now, is the slow-down time in Rome, since the Vatican almost shuts down after the June 29 celebration of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul.Unlike his predecessor, Pope Francis, Leo is continuing the tradition of spending the summer in the lakeside town about 15...

[Catholic Caucus] Catholic ‘LGBT ministry’ supported by British cardinal marches in London ‘pride’ paradeLGBT+ Catholics Westminster is the official LGBT ministry of the Archdiocese of Westminster, which is led by Cardinal Vincent Nichols.A ministry of “LGBT Catholics” backed by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster, participated in London’s annual “gay pride” parade over the weekend.The LGBT+ Catholics Westminster, the official LGBT ministry of the Archdiocese of Westminster, the country’s largest diocese, marched in the 2025 Pride in London Parade on July 5. The group promotes LGBT ideology regularly hosts “LGBT Masses,” and has participated in previous London “pride” parades.Per...

[Catholic/Orthodox Caucus] An Interview with Monsignor Bux: "The Bishops weren't responsible for launching the War Against Tradition."Right after the explosive news on the actual positive nature of the global bishops' report on Summorum Pontificum was published last week, Monsignor Nicola Bux, one of the great liturgical names of our times and a major advisor under Benedict XVI, released a book with more details on the event. We now know that Vatican insiders close to Francis lied about it, and Francis himself did not tell the truth about it (on paper, in Traditionis custodes, the restrictions document).Monsignor Bux spoke at length...

Vatican pushes ‘new way of being Church’ in 3-year Synod rollout planThe document is intended to be read alongside, and indeed formed by, the final document from the Synod on Synodality's October 2024 session in Rome.The Vatican’s synod office has issued guidelines for how to implement the three-year implementation phase of the multi-year Synod on Synodality, emphasizing that it is a manner of “growing in a new way of being Church.”As announced last week, on July 7 the General Secretariat of the Synod published a 14-page document on how the Catholic Church at the local level ought to continue with...

Daily Readings from the USCCBA woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.” Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.” And from that hour the woman was cured. Matthew 9:20–21What a tremendous amount of faith this woman had! She had suffered for many years and continued to suffer with her hemorrhages. How did she know that touching Jesus’ cloak would cure her? The only answer to that is...

The best common-sense and detailed explanation of the Catholic faith, $8 on the Kindle platform, audio narration enabled while reading along, from 1899, The Catechism Explained: An Exhaustive Exposition of the Christian Religion. The breeziest way to learn the Catholic faith in a deep, efficient and comprehensive way. Listen to it narrated and read along. Something is extremely wrong in Rome, a disaster that has been predicted for 100's years, the Church has been taken captive by perverts. (Forget about nice-looking Pope Leo XIV, LGBT+ booster Fr. James Martin is on the rise.) In the Old Testament this calculated subversion...

7 July 2025 Monday of week 14 in Ordinary Time Tallaght Monastery, Ireland Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: C(I).First readingGenesis 28:10-22Jacob's dream of the ladder at BethelJacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he had reached a certain place he passed the night there, since the sun had set. Taking one of the stones to be found at that place, he made it his pillow and lay down where he was. He had a dream: a ladder was there, standing on the ground with its top reaching to heaven; and there were angels of God going...

Daily Readings from the USCCBAt that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. Luke 10:1Jesus had many followers who were deeply devoted to Him, abandoning everything to serve Him and to cooperate in the fulfillment of His mission. Oftentimes we give most of our attention to the Twelve Apostles when we speak of Jesus’ first followers. But in today’s Gospel, Jesus sent seventy-two disciples to go forth to all the towns that He would soon visit. Think about that for a moment. Seventy-two is...

6 July 2025 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time Saint Maria Goretti Shrine - LebanonReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: C(I).First readingIsaiah 66:10-14Towards Jerusalem I send flowing peace, like a riverRejoice, Jerusalem,be glad for her, all you who love her!Rejoice, rejoice for her,all you who mourned her!That you may be suckled, filled,from her consoling breast,that you may savour with delighther glorious breasts.For thus says the Lord:Now towards her I send flowingpeace, like a river,and like a stream in spatethe glory of the nations.At her breast will her nurslings be carriedand fondled in her lap.Like a son comforted by his motherwill...

By Dr. John BergsmaIn the Readings for this Sunday, Jesus continues his final journey, his fateful "death march" toward Jerusalem (Luke 9–19, the "Travel Narrative") that began formally in Luke 9:51. The past several Sundays have foreshadowed Jesus' coming suffering and death, but this Sunday we get a reprieve as themes of suffering recede into the background. We are temporarily caught up in the joy of Jesus' ministry, as he assembles around himself a congregation of disciples who constitute a spiritual "Jerusalem." In the healing ministry of Jesus and his disciples, we see a fulfillment of certain prophecies of peace...