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Restaurants and other businesses have lost their challenge to Denver ordinances that forbid them from using natural-gas appliances, as a judge has found they are not preempted by federal law. The Restaurant Law Center and the National Association of Home Builders were among the trade associations that sued Denver in July 2024, arguing rules passed in Denver this decade were preempted by the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act. Judge Philip Brimmer disagreed in an Aug. 7 ruling granting the city’s motion to dismiss. Preemption only applies to energy use requirements on manufacturers before the appliances reach consumers, Brimmer wrote....

[Catholic Caucus] More Extraordinary Gaslighting: Cardinal Roche on the Traditional Latin Mass Yet AgainAn analysis of the Cardinal’s spurious claims made in the new London Tablet interviewVATICAN CITY, 31 July 2026 — Repeating a lie may convince a man of what he wishes to believe, but it doesn’t make it any more true.In a new widely circulated interview with The Tablet, Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, has once again claimed that the traditional Roman liturgy is readily available for Catholics who wish to attend it, and that if anyone...

Florida AG warns bishops: Catholic schools could lose vouchers over COVID mandatesFlorida Attorney General James Uthmeier says Catholic schools must honor parents’ religious objections to mandated shots or risk losing access to state scholarship dollars.Florida Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier warned the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops July 31 that Catholic schools could jeopardize their eligibility for state-funded scholarships and vouchers by denying religious exemptions from vaccination requirements.“Ironically, they won’t offer religious exemptions as prescribed by state law,” Uthmeier wrote in an announcement of his letter to the bishops. “This is troubling and may disqualify them from state scholarships and...

Catholic Star Wars: The SSPX Excommunication as You’ve Never Seen ItOne of the year's biggest Catholic controversies in a witty, self-deprecating parody (think exiles, empires, liturgical battles, etc.). Whether you agree or disagree, this take explores why so many faithful Catholics feel like they're the rebels in their own Church. A fortnight ago, I attended the illicit episcopal consecrations in Écône to bid farewell to the SSPX as newly separated brethren (again). I did so because I was in the neighbourhood and I could; more so as an observer than participant, because I was loth to incur the wrath and...

A Silent “Excommunication” of All Traditionalists?Tradition itself has been excommunicated according to the rule used against the SSPX.Many believe that the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) was excommunicated from the Catholic Church following the much-anticipated consecrations of four new bishops on July 1, 2026 without getting the Papal mandate.In fact, there is a large contention of pseudo-traditionalists and conservatives who are relishing in the false belief that the SSPX was excommunicated and yet still feel free to criticize aspects of Vatican II and the New Mass while virtuously claiming to be obedient sons of the Holy Father. Ironically, the...

As any Catholic master of ceremonies will tell you, it takes only the tiniest sartorial mishap to lend a Python-esque flavour to moments of the utmost solemnity. On 1 July the rebel traditionalist Society of St Pius X (SSPX) created four new bishops in defiance of Pope Leo XIV during a five-hour open-air Latin Mass in a Swiss alpine meadow. The consecrating prelates wore dark-red velvet chasubles over scarlet-and-gold dalmatics with matching gloves. They descended from their thrones bearing sacred chrism. Afterwards the new bishops stood in a row, mitres perched on their heads for the first time. For traditionalist...

FSSP Pilgrimage in Italy Denied the Traditional Latin Mass at Multiple Shrines: While Nuns hear "Confessions" and Eastern Orthodox celebrate liturgiesA report from Italy:We wanted to bring to your attention the story of a group of pilgrims traveling through Italy with a priest of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter. This group was denied the celebration of Mass at the Shrine of San Giovanni Rotondo (Padre Pio), and subsequently at the Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi. At Loreto, they were initially denied as well, but the priest fortunately managed to convince the local authorities of his permission to celebrate....

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Roche’s Unity Means SubmissionArthur Roche has spent years doing the sort of damage that only a curial functionary can do well: dressing coercion in the language of pastoral concern, dressing rupture in the language of continuity, and then acting scandalized when Catholics notice the costume slipping. In his new OSV interview, he says liturgical debates should be viewed through the lens of unity, not personal preference; he repeats that the older rite was being used against the reform of Vatican II; he calls the traditional Mass a concession still available only “by papal authority”; and then, with...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Roche says liturgy meant to promote unity, not personal preferenceDebates over the liturgy should ultimately be understood through the lens of unity, not individual preference, said Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. “When we go to church, we don’t go to church to worship simply as an individual but as a family. We go together as the congregation which is called by God,” Cardinal Roche told OSV News March 17 in his office at the Vatican. “This sense of congregation goes back as far as Old Testament...

[Catholic Caucus] Why has the Pope dismissed a senior Vatican official and keen defender of the TLM?Monsignor Marco Agostini has been dismissed from his post at the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff following the emergence of a recording in which he allegedly used an inappropriate term while referring to members of the Roman Curia.The decision was taken after an audio clip circulated online in which a voice identified as that of the senior Vatican cleric can be heard using the Italian slur “culattoni”, a term equivalent to the English word “faggot”, during a private exchange ahead...

[Catholic Caucus] Diocesan Traditional Latin Mass stops being celebrated in SwedenStatement from the congregation responsible for the Mass, celebrated since 2007 in Franciskusgården, in the town of Jonsered:STATEMENTFor several years, the friars of the Delegation of St. John the Baptist of the Third Order Regular have celebrated Holy Mass at the Franciscan Monastery according to the 1962 Roman Missal, which is the Extraordinary Form of the Church's Liturgy. These Holy Masses, which are usually celebrated at 12:00 on Sundays, have been celebrated in addition to the Ordinary Form of Holy Mass at 10:00."Liturgical diversity can be a source of enrichment...

[Catholic Caucus] The only Mass that was ever imposed by force upon the Church is not wantedN.B. The novus Ordo is a botched product. And a failed experiment. Sure, many people attend but there are always many people who just do what everyone else is doing for a variety of reasons. Some get paid to go, parish staffs and employees for example, some go because they are getting something like Catholic grade school or high school or sacraments like Confirmation. Some think that’s all there is. (Won’t they be surprised. And many constantly are when they finally discover what it...

[Catholic Caucus] The Bishops of France and Cardinal Roche Still at War Against the Traditional Pilgrimages of France -- What Will Leo XIV do?Sometimes, decisions can wait. At other times, they have to be made fast.In April and early May, making use of the interregnum for their nefarious ends, the anti-traditional bishops of France negotiated with Cardinal Roche, Prefect of Divine Worship, in order to make as hard as possible the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass and sacraments in the Paris-Chartres Pilgrimage -- and all other pilgrimages in France.Leo XIV was not involved in these decisions. What will he...

[Catholic Caucus] The New York Times: "Catholics Who Prefer Latin Mass Pin Hopes on a New Pope"Main excerpts below:Catholics Who Prefer Latin Mass Pin Hopes on a New Pope Ruth GrahamThe New York TimesMay 7, 2025 (page A12)About 140 people came to the Sweetest Heart of Mary church in Detroit for the Traditional Latin Mass at noon the Sunday after Easter. Incense and organ music wafted through the ornate sanctuary, built by Polish Catholics in the late 19th century. It was a beautiful sunny spring afternoon, and the lilacs by the rectory were in bloom.In the pews, however, the mood...

Mar 5 2006 3:15PM Georgian communists mark Stalin's death anniversary TBILISI. March 5 (Interfax) - A gathering to mark the anniversary of Stalin's death was held on Sunday by Georgian Communists in the Georgian town of Gori, the birthplace of Stalin. About 100 communists and members of the Dzhugashvili family, among them Stalin's grandson Yevgeny Dzhugashvili, gathered in front of the local Stalin museum, an Interfax correspondent reported. After the meeting, wreaths were laid to a monument to Stalin in the center of Gori. sd md

[Catholic Caucus] Catholics ‘heartbroken’ after Scottish bishop asks thriving traditional order to leave dioceseIt is not known publicly why Bishop McKenzie wants the double order (known also as the Sisters of the Immaculate and St. Maximilian Kolbe and the Friars of the Immaculate and St. Francis) to vacate the large property and leave the Diocese of Dunkeld.DUNDEE, Scotland (LifeSiteNews) — A thriving religious community has been asked to leave Dundee by the new Bishop of DunkeldA group of Marian Franciscans, both friars and nuns, were invited to live in the old Lawside Convent and Diocesan Centre in Dundee by Bishop...

When a historical figure passes away, it’s almost inevitable that there will be a concerted effort to paint him in a favorable light — after all, the old adage of “don’t speak ill of the dead” prevails. However, the attempt to rewrite Jimmy Carter’s legacy following his death has reached such absurd, almost Orwellian heights, as if others are trying to erase history and pretend that Carter wasn’t one of America’s most ineffective presidents. Like clockwork, media outlets have rushed to elevate his presidency, attempting to reframe his time in office as the golden age of moral leadership. The most...

Jimmy Carter's No Real Humanitarian by Gordon Smith When former President Jimmy Carter speaks to the graduates of University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill on May 3, the listeners might bear in mind that Carter's reputation for principled concern for the downtrodden is open to question. Carter has done some benevolent things after 1981, as ex-President. He's built homes for the poor, spoken eloquently on behalf of human rights, helped the Haitian dictator Cedras resign, and presided over the negotiations ending the Yugoslav War. While all of this is good, Carter presided over some serious war crimes in the Third World....

CNN contributor Scott Jennings said Monday on CNN’s “Newsnight” that the late President Jimmy Carter was a “terrible president” who saddled up with dictators. Jennings said, “Let me preface my take by offering condolences to the Carter family on his death. He was obviously one of the most unique post-presidents we’ve ever had because he lived so long and he did so much. That having been said, he was a terrible president. He continued, “That’s why he lost in a landslide after his one term, and if it’s possible, I think he was even a worse ex-president because of his...

[Catholic Caucus] Kentucky bishop cites Francis in letter defending Mass for pro-LGBT groupBishop John Iffert's saying of the Mass for the dissident pro-LGBT group comes just a year after he made headlines for canceling two priests in his diocese who offer the Traditional Latin Mass.A Francis-appointed Kentucky bishop who canceled two Latin Mass priests last year is defending his decision to offer an “LGBT Mass” for a dissident organization backed by neighboring heterodox Bishop John Stowe of Lexington, who serves as its ecclesial adviser. On August 28 at St. Joseph’s Church in Cold Spring, Kentucky, Bishop John Iffert of Covington...