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[Catholic Caucus] May it be a Minimal Papacy: For a Pontificate of the Essential, with no more Personalism, Narcissism, and DespotismCamillo Langone Il FoglioApril 24, 2025Limited to its essential tasks. The head of the Church is not the Pope, but Christ. Let the new Pontiff's motto be John the Baptist's words about Jesus, “He must increase, I decrease.” May it be a minimal Papacy. A Papacy like the Minimal State theorized by liberal philosopher Robert Nozick, that is, limited to its essential tasks. Few things, but done well. Not only because the vain loudness of an overwhelming Papacy, and an...

[Catholic Caucus] After 12 years of Francis, faithful Catholics must not recognize the election of a hereticIf the cardinals elect a known heretic, who is clearly ineligible to become pope, then they will surely invite God’s wrath as never before in the Church’s history. In his introduction to LifeSite’s recent article about eight cardinals who may succeed Francis, Bishop Joseph Strickland alluded to the role of the Catholic Church in recognizing whether or not the man elected by the conclave is truly the pope: As St. Robert Bellarmine and others have taught, a heretic cannot be the head of the...

Renewal and Restoration in the Church: An Open Letter to the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church(The document below may be downloaded as a PDF here.)An Open Letter to the Cardinals of the Holy Roman ChurchYour Eminences:The following document emerged from discussions over the past year among theologians, pastors, and canonists, who had been encouraged to produce this document by a senior cardinal. Originally our thought had been to seek for signatories—knowing, as we do, how many notable figures in the Catholic Church are in agreement with or sympathetic to the points made herein—but in view of the suddenness of...

Another small Christian college is shuttering. St. Andrews University announced it would close its Laurinburg, N.C., campus on May 5, 2025 after the spring semester ends. “This outcome follows years of effort to preserve our presence in this community while delivering an affordable, high-quality education and meaningful student experience. Despite those efforts, we have reached a point where financial sustainability is no longer attainable,” Dr. Tarun Malik, St. Andrews campus president and provost, said in a statement about the closing. The president sought to assure students it would support them in finding teach-out opportunities at other universities, such as Brevard...

Earlier today, Christianity Today published an article suggesting that Jesus was not crucified on a cross but was instead bound with ropes in a manner that diverges from the traditional understanding of His death. Their piece begins: This hypothesis, presented on the eve of Resurrection Sunday, is not only historically implausible but also scripturally baseless and culturally subversive. The claim undermines one of Christianity’s most central symbols—the cross—and aligns with a broader pattern of ideological deconstruction aimed at eroding historic Christian faith. HISTORICAL EVIDENCE FOR THE CROSS The historical record of Roman crucifixion is robust, and the evidence overwhelmingly supports...

The Pope's loss of confidence, the financial issue, or a lack of pastoral experience are obstacles Is Parolin's candidacy fading? "Although Francis appointed him as Secretary of State, over time he realized he no longer trusted him," La Nación reports, quoting a bishop of the Curia, who maintains that, if elected, Parolin will hinder the "flourishing of the Church" brought about by Bergoglio. He has traveled all over the world, and he is the only one whom the most heterogeneous conclave in history knows and values. Furthermore, at the second of the novendiales, held this Sunday, he launched his candidacy...

While the Italians are agitated and the Spanish are conspicuous by their absence, two voices resonate strongly in the Synod Hall: those of the Dutchman Willem Eijk and that of the African Robert Sarah. The general tone among the cardinals is surprisingly serene.

[Catholic Caucus] Appeal for a Worldwide Crusade of Prayers for the Upcoming ConclaveMay the Lord in His infinite mercy look upon the prayers, tears and sacrifices of all true Catholics who love our Mother Church, who in these days humbly and confidently implore the infinite Mercy of God to grant us a new Pope, who burning with the zeal for the glory of Christ and the salvation of souls, will “strengthen the brethren in faith” (Luke 22:32), being uncompromisingly faithful to his name and duty as Successor of Peter and Vicar of Christ on earth.May through a new Pope, burning...

It’s not usual that we see a soccer player score two goals at once. And that’s just what happened in the British Premier League, in the match where champions Liverpool massacred Tottenham Hotspur by 5-1. Dutch forward Cody Gakpo scored Liverpool’s third goal in the final match, and proceeded to reveal his undershirt with the words ‘I belong to Jesus’ were visible to millions watching the match around the world – and even greater ‘goal’. Of course, the United Kingdom being as is, Liverpool is set to be reprimanded by the Football Association (FA) for Gakpo’s actions. The Telegraph reported:...

Two Christian organizations have asked a federal court to rule against former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission member Jocelyn Samuels, a Democrat who is suing after being fired by President Donald Trump, arguing that her support for employment gender identity and abortion mandates violated their religious freedom. On Thursday, the Christian Employers Alliance and Choices Pregnancy Centers of Greater Phoenix, Inc. filed a motion to intervene in Samuel's reinstatement suit. They are being represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom. "The Court should not assess Samuels' removal's validity without hearing from the very employers that the removal seeks to protect," the brief...

During the Sede Vacante, the cardinals are responsible for the day-to-day business of the Church. The reins of power are held by the Cardinal Treasurer and three assistants – two are chosen by lot, one is appointed: Cardinal Marx. His work in Rome begins now. Munich Cardinal Reinhard Marx has been participating in the interim leadership of the world Catholic Church since today. The Cardinals present in Rome confirmed him as one of three assistants to Cardinal Treasurer Kevin Farrell in governing the Church during the Sede Vacante, due to his role as co-ordinator of the Council for the Economy....

Megachurch founder Bishop T.D. Jakes announced on Sunday that he will step down as pastor of his 30,000-member Dallas-based church, The Potter’s House, and his daughter and son-in-law will assume the helm. For almost 50 years, Jakes, who will turn 68 in June, has served the local and global community as a pastor, global faith leader, and author. According to a statement on the church’s website, senior pastoral duties for pastors Touré Roberts, 51, and Sarah Jakes Roberts, 36, . Jakes’ announcement and presentation of couple to the congregation met with applause and a long, standing ovation. While choking back...

Angel Studio’s animated faith-based flick ‘The Kings of Kings’ spent another week in the Top 10 box office this weekend, earning $4.18M despite a 77% drop from the previous week, bringing its total to $58M. Written and directed by Seong-ho Jang and featuring the voices of Kenneth Branagh, Uma Thurman, Mark Hamill, Pierce Brosnan, Forest Whitaker, Ben Kingsley, and Oscar Isaac, the film “follows Charles Dickens, a young author who narrates the biography of Jesus Christ. Together, he and (sin son) Walter Dickens embark on an adventure as the master storyteller engages his youngest son’s vivid imagination.” Buyoed last week...

THE outpouring of grief following the death of Pope Francis was like a wall of noise, a practically uninterrupted blanket of praise, a seamless garment of tribute. Even his enemies fought to temper their public comments, undoubtedly conscious of the enduring Latin injunction de mortuis nil nisi bonum, that one must not speak ill of the dead. It was only in private conversations that one could truly gauge the true sentiments of rank-and-file Catholics. One devout woman, orthodox but very much in the mainstream of the Church, confided to me that when she heard of the death of Francis on...

Afton Brown had recently moved back to her hometown after living out of state for several months when she met a young man with whom she had an instant attraction. When Brown discovered she was pregnant after just a few months of dating, she was uncertain where to turn. Brown told Live Action News, “I talked to my boyfriend about it, but neither of us knew what to do or how to handle it. We were both in shock. I was just 23 years old at the time.” She turned to a family member who had been supportive of her...

A RORATE Guide to the Cardinals and the Conclaveby Serre VerweijApril 26, 2025[Read our previous piece on the Conclave here.]The spectre of the coming conclave hangs ever over the heads of more than 130 cardinal electors and 1.2 billion Catholics. Speculation is rife. Will the next Pope be like Pope Francis or more ‘conservative’, like Pope Benedict?This question is crucial. The Vatican is dealing with grave financial problems. Pope Francis has not been able (or willing) to solve this problem, in spite of the fact that it was part of the reform mandate he received in 2013. The Vatican...

(OPINION) A self-proclaimed prophet, Brandon Dale Biggs, a pastor hailing from Oklahoma, has made headlines with his latest revelation following his prediction of an assassination attempt on Donald Trump. In a series of prophetic visions that he claims began in 2014, Biggs alleges that God unveiled to him a striking image of the next pope standing alongside the Antichrist, a figure often depicted in biblical texts as both charismatic and treacherous, signaling what he interprets as the onset of the apocalyptic end times. With the recent passing of Pope Francis on Easter Monday at the age of 88, Biggs feels...

The experience of Catholicism today does not resemble the descriptions of previous generations. Catholics used to describe the faith as immutable. Some celebrated the comfort of changelessness, the sense that here was something truly eternal; haters lamented the blockheaded institutional obstinacy. Now the experience is transience, not intransigence. Half the parishes are gone, the greatest transience of all. The rest swing like pendula between liberal and conservative. The parish my mom attended had a pastor who liked all the liberal trappings: ad-lib consecration, applause during Mass, goofball sermons with lots of laughs, the usual. Then came a conservative pastor who...

The word, "Cardinal" doesn't go before the first name, it goes before the last name. See, when you call Donald Trump, "President Donald Trump," you're still calling him by his name. You're just adding a title to say what's significant about him. ("Yes, THAT Donald Trump!") You're simply substituting the word, "Mr." It's really grammatically no different than Sheriff John Smith or Coach Harry Brown or Pvt. David Jones. And some day, we'll talk about former president Donald Trump or Sgt. David Jones or retired Gen. Pete Williams. A Cardinal or a Lord will always be a Cardinal or a...

Cardinal Müller in Interview: "Pope a successor of Peter, not of his predecessor"; "Pope not a symbol of secularized religion"; "We cannot accept that atheistic Communists, enemies of humanity, write our catechism books."Cardinal Müller granted the following interview to Iacopo Scaramuzzi, for Italian daily Repubblica, and published yesterday:Iacopo ScaramuzziRepubblicaRome, April 24, 2025“The future pope is not a successor of his predecessor but a successor of Peter": thus German Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, a member of the conservative wing of the College of Cardinals.Your Eminence what are your feelings at this moment?“A chapter in the history of the Church has closed....