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Pope Leo XIV made a plea on March 18 for countries to offer their citizens universal healthcare, calling it a “moral imperative” that people have access to the health services they need. Previous popes have called for countries to offer universal healthcare, but calling an issue a “moral imperative” is an unusually strong term for a pope to use, indicating that something is required by Catholic teaching. “Universal health coverage is... a moral imperative for societies that wish to call themselves just,” the Pope said in a meeting with participants in a healthcare conference organised by the World Health Organization...

On Wednesday, March 18, Pope Leo XIV stood before a private Vatican audience of European bishops and World Health Organization officials and delivered a message that should discomfit every lawmaker in Washington: “Universal health coverage is not merely a technical goal; it is primarily a moral imperative.”

(LifeSiteNews) — In an extraordinary White House proclamation issued on the Feast Day of St. Joseph, President Trump identified the earthly father of Jesus as the “Terror of Demons” and called for young men to emulate him, urging them to “embrace faith, get married, start a family, and raise the next generation of proud, freedom-loving, God-fearing American citizens.” “Saint Joseph—the earthly father of Jesus Christ and one of the most revered figures in the Bible … was a model father, husband, and worker, as well as a living embodiment of Christian virtue,” began the president. “He spent his life working...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo praises Amoris Laetitia as ‘luminous message of hope’Pope Leo XIV praised Amoris Laetitia as a guiding text for the Church in a message celebrating the tenth anniversary of the document. Pope Leo XIV has praised Amoris Laetitia as a guiding text for the Church.On March 19, Pope Leo XIV issued a message marking the tenth anniversary of Amoris Laetitia, in which he described Francis’s post-synodal apostolic exhortation as a “luminous message of hope” and confirmed its central role in contemporary teaching on marriage and the family.He also announced that he has convened the presidents of episcopal...

[Catholic Caucus] Lay Leader Who Criticized Cardinal Cupich Phased Out of Catholic Conference BoardLoyola University Chicago law professor John Breen will leave after nearly 13 years; sources say the move follows his public criticism of plans to honor Sen. Dick Durbin.Nearly six months after publicly criticizing Cardinal Blase Cupich’s plan to give a “lifetime achievement” award to a pro-abortion-rights senator, a long-serving lay member of the Catholic Conference of Illinois (CCI) board of directors is being involuntarily phased out of his role. John Breen, a Loyola University Chicago law professor who has served on CCI’s board since 2012, will be...

At the tail end of my college years, a band from Orange County, Calif., burst onto the national scene. MTV News called this group a “ska-punk band” — it seemed like a lot of new bands in that era received that moniker — but No Doubt’s music was a true fusion of ska (along with rocksteady and reggae) and rock with more of a punk edge than a punch sound and a sparkling pop melodic sensibility.But what set No Doubt apart was its charismatic frontwoman, Gwen Stefani. She had a unique combination of that aforementioned punk edge and SoCal glamor....

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Attorney General Peter Neronha released a sweeping report Wednesday detailing decades of child sexual abuse and systemic coverup within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, identifying 72 clergy members as “credibly accused” of misconduct. The report is the culmination of a yearslong investigation stemming from a 2019 agreement between the state’s top prosecutor and former Bishop Thomas Tobin. The agreement granted state investigators unprecedented access to the church’s “secret archives,” personnel files and internal records dating back to 1950. “Generations of Rhode Island victims, their families and others who have suffered the impacts of this trauma...

Pope on Iran: Peace not built with mutual threats or death-dealing arms Speaking at the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Leo XIV expressed “deep concern” over recent events in the Middle East and Iran.“Stability and peace are not built with mutual threats, nor with weapons, which sow destruction, pain, and death, but only through a reasonable, authentic, and responsible dialogue,” he said.The Pope warned of an immense tragedy if violence escalates out of control.“Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions,” he said, “I address to the parties involved a heartfelt appeal to assume the moral responsibility to stop...

The Vatican will not join President Donald Trump’s newly formed Board of Peace, its top diplomatic official said Tuesday, signaling reluctance from the Holy See to take part in the post-war initiative. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the Holy See "will not participate in the Board of Peace because of its particular nature, which is evidently not that of other States," the Vatican’s official news outlet reported. The Board of Peace, which was chartered in January and includes nearly 20 countries, is tasked with managing recovery efforts in the Gaza Strip after the Israel-Hamas war. While responding...

[Catholic Caucus] Lepanto Institute calls for Pope Leo to laicize New Mexico priest over homosexual ‘domestic partnership’Lepanto pointed out that parents of grade school age children are concerned for the welfare and safety of their children, with an openly pro-homosexual priest serving as pastor of a Catholic schoolThe Lepanto Institute has formally requested that Pope Leo laicize and suspend from ministry a New Mexico priest who entered into a homosexual “domestic partnership” for 10 years during a 28-year leave of absence from the priesthood.Lepanto sent a copy of its August 2025 report on Fr. Steve Rosera, of the Archdiocese of...

Mayor Zohran Mamdani committed a cardinal sin last week by dissing millions of area Catholics as the first city mayor in nearly 100 years — and possibly ever — to skip the local archbishop’s installation. Ronald Hicks, 58, on Friday became the 11th archbishop of the New York Archdiocese since 1850, accepting the reins of power from Cardinal Timothy Dolan at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in a packed historic ceremony steeped in ritual. One of the event’s traditions — dating back to at least 1939, when then-New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia attended the installation of famous top clergyman Francis Spellman...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinals’ letter against Trump’s foreign policy is a blatant political attackCardinals Cupich, McElroy, and Tobin speak of their concern for ‘religious liberty’ and ‘the right to life’ after years of silence under the Biden administration, even when it spied on Catholics and locked up pro-lifers.By now it shouldn’t be surprising when Catholic clergy counter-signal President Trump. It happened first when Pope Francis attacked him for wanting to build a border wall in 2016. It happened in December of last year when Leo indirectly rebuked him for his peace plan in Ukraine, which he said would “break apart” the...

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “beating a dead horse.” It refers to something that has been said or done so many times that it has outlived its usefulness. This is especially true of arguments that are not only old but also untrue.Like the proverbial horse, the Roman emperor Constantine has been beaten to death by anti-Catholics.I make it a point to check all of the comments posted on our YouTube and Facebook pages at least twice a day. As sure as fish live in water, I have come to expect at least one message a day from a...

Pope Leo visited Istanbul's Blue Mosque on Saturday, removing his shoes in a sign of respect but not appearing to pray in his first visit as leader of the Catholic Church to a Muslim place of worship during his four-day visit to Turkey. The first U.S. pope bowed slightly before entering the mosque and was led on a tour of the expansive complex, able to hold 10,000 worshippers, by its imam and the mufti of Istanbul. Leo, walking in white socks, smiled during the 20-minute visit and joked with one of his guides, the mosque's lead muezzin - the official...

Over the Christmas weekend, as the Catholic world was otherwise occupied, the Francismachine made a move against the Sovereign Military Order of the Knights of Malta that seems to have perplexed many observers. The Holy See announced it would launch a “commission” to investigate the firing of one of the Knights’ leaders, sacked recently after it was revealed he had been allowing the distribution of condoms in Myanmar. In various venues, we saw Catholics responding with much confusion to the announcement and it quickly became clear that most Catholics don’t have a good handle on what, exactly, the Knights of...

Apparently, when Pope Leo isn’t busy blessing a block of ice, he is approving prayer rooms for Muslim scholars visiting the Vatican Apostolic Library.Fr. Giacomo Cardinali, Vice Prefect, told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, “Some Muslim scholars have asked us for a room with a carpet for praying and we have given it to them.”How very inclusive of them.Actually, that’s apostasy.But, incredibly, today’s Vatican appears more willing to offend Christians than Muslims and more terrified of engaging in apostasy against the world view of the left/progressives than of the dictates of their own religion.This is disturbing to say the least.Care...

The Vatican Apostolic Library, located in Vatican City, has designated a prayer space for visiting Muslim scholars, marking a notable gesture of inclusivity at one of the world’s most important centers of religious and cultural scholarship. The move, confirmed by Vice Prefect Giacomo Cardinali, comes after several Muslim academics requested a quiet area for daily prayers during their research visits. In response, the library provided a room equipped with a prayer rug to meet their needs. Cardinali told La Repubblica, an Italian daily, that the request was modest and easily fulfilled. He emphasized that the library serves a global academic...

[Catholic Caucus] Heterodox German bishop criticizes public act of reparation for Vatican LGBT ‘pilgrimage’Auxiliary Bishop Ludger Schepers of Essen, Germany, the queer representative to the German Bishops' Conference, has a history of promoting the LGBT movement.Pro-LGBT Auxiliary Bishop Ludger Schepers of Essen, Germany, who serves as the queer representative of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK), slammed in a recent interview the four bishops who recently made a public act of reparation for the Vatican LGBT pilgrimage during this year’s Catholic Identity Conference (CIC).In an interview with the German Catholic News Agency (KNA) published October 10, Schepers called the act of...

Vatican Creates Muslim Prayer RoomHow many Christian prayer rooms are there in Mecca?Pope Leo has been vocally championing the Muslim mass invasion of Europe, so at least he’s being consistent.Muslim scholars visiting the Vatican Apostolic Library are being accommodated with prayer spaces, its Vice Prefect has confirmed.Fr Giacomo Cardinali, Vice Prefect, said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that Muslim academics had requested a small area in which to pray, and the library had agreed. “Some Muslim scholars have asked us for a room with a carpet for praying and we have given it to them,” he...

Pope Leo tells US bishops to address Trump's immigration crackdownPope Leo told U.S. bishops visiting him at the Vatican on Wednesday that they should firmly address how immigrants are being treated by President Donald Trump's hardline policies, attendees said, in the latest push by the pontiff on the issue. Leo, the first U.S. pope, was handed dozens of letters from immigrants describing their fears of deportation under the Trump administration's policies during the meeting, which included bishops and social workers from the U.S.-Mexico border. "Our Holy Father … is very personally concerned about these matters," El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz,...