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Vice President JD Vance met with Pope Francis at the pontiff’s residence in Rome on Sunday, the Vatican said, in a previously unannounced visit during Easter celebrations.The Vatican said the meeting was a “brief” exchange of Easter wishes that lasted “a few minutes.” In a photograph released by the Vatican, the pope is seated in a wheelchair opposite Mr. Vance as the pair talk.The meeting came after the pope criticized the Trump administration’s deportation policies and urged Catholics to reject anti-immigrant narratives, in an unusually direct attack on the American government.The rebuke came in the form of an open letter...

I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis. My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him. I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill. But I’ll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of COVID. It was really quite beautiful. May God rest his soul. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2020/documents/papa-francesco_20200327_omelia-epidemia.html

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has died...

I think we don’t really realize what’s happening. When British PM Keir Starmer visited the White House, he rejected J.D. Vance’s claim that free speech is restricted in Britain. “We’ve had free speech for a very long time in the UK,” Starmer retorted, “and it will last for a very long time”. Unfortunately, Starmer’s Home Office seems not to have taken notice. Because it has just blocked a famous French writer from entering the UK to give a speech on the dangers of mass immigration, while in the courts British lawyers are trying to legalise Hamas. The writer is Renaud...

Last Sunday the Vatican released the first photograph of Pope Francis since his ordeal began. He was wearing a stole around his neck, indicating that he had concelebrated mass in the chapel of the Gemelli hospital. Admittedly, all he had to do was raise his hand and whisper a few words of consecration, but it would have been impossible to take such a photo a week earlier, when Vatican-watchers were checking their phones hourly to discover whether the See of Peter had become vacant.Francis is still very ill, of course, and everyone noticed that the…Last Sunday the Vatican released the...

Jimmy Lai, Catholic imprisoned for crticizing the CCP, heads to trial; Trump promises to "get him out"Almost five years since Communist China charged Jimmy Lai for allegedly breaching its draconian National Security Law (NSL), the show trial of the Hong Kong media mogul, pro-democracy activist, and Catholic convert, is still ongoing. Most recently, President Trump promised to "get him out" of jail. "It'll be easy to get him out," said Trump, "but people don't talk about it."On March 11, Sebastien Lai, Jimmy’s son, urged for his dad’s liberation from the long arms of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to...

Rob Schneider has some big plans. The comedian and former Saturday Night Live star has pitched a new show to Fox that would compete with The View. Schneider wants to create an all-ladies talk show with a more conservative slant than the more liberally focused View. Here is what Schneider has in mind and why he wants to help launch this show. Rob Schneider Wants More Conservative Version Of The View Rob Schneider has undergone a transformation in recent years. The former Democrat has become a Republican and fully supports incoming President Donald Trump. As such, he wants to use...

In 2023, actor and comedian Rob Schneider celebrated his first Christmas as a Catholic. “I think the reason the Catholic Church works for me is it’s closest to the actual words of Jesus Christ,” the 60-year-old told the Our Sunday Visitor newspaper from Arizona. (Both the Our Sunday Visitor newspaper and the OSV News wire service are owned by the OSV publishing company.) Schneider spoke about his newfound faith after revealing that he converted to Catholicism in a social media post on Oct. 31. The actor rose to fame as a cast member and writer for NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,”...

The Vatican City State has toughened sanctions for those who try to illegally enter its territory in areas where free access is not allowed. In a decree issued last month by the Holy See, the monetary sanctions and prison sentences for those who violate the strict security regulations of Vatican City have been considerably increased. The document, signed by Cardinal Fernando Vérguez Alzaga, president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, provides for monetary fines ranging from 10,000 to 25,000 euros (about $10,200 to $25,700) and prison sentences ranging from one to four years. These fines will apply especially...

Polish Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Grzegorz Braun slammed US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and the Biden Regime’s WWIII agenda on Thursday as Blinken met with leaders about increasing involvement in the Ukraine war. The conservative Polish leader told Blinken to “Go Home!” and declared, “We don’t want Polish people paying and dying for your wars” amid discussions with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski about easing restrictions on Poland’s aid to Ukraine, including permission to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles. This request goes against Putin’s warning. As The Gateway Pundit reported, Putin once again warned that the U.S....

Thousands of pallets of humanitarian aid stacked at the Gaza border — from sacks of flour to blankets and canned food — are awaiting delivery by relief organizations that are unwilling to send supply trucks likely to be looted by Hamas terrorists and other street criminals. The aid, coming in on trucks from Jordan, Egypt and the West Bank, has already been inspected by the Israel Defense Forces before entering Gaza, where the international community and humanitarian organizations are in charge of delivering the assistance to Palestinians. But the path from the Israel-Gaza border to where the aid is needed...

President Biden has less than a month to go until his one-term presidency ends, and he is feeling reflective. He is voicing regrets about his decision not to sign his name to Covid relief checks and about his longtime reputation — once considered a virtue — of being the poorest lawmaker in Congress. And now, with a planned visit to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican next month, the president is signaling that he may have additional issues on his mind. The visit, White House officials said as they issued a readout on Mr. Biden’s call with the pope...

ROME — Pope Francis called for a global ceasefire this weekend while again decrying Israel’s “cruelty” in dealing with Palestinians in Gaza. “Let us pray for a ceasefire on all war fronts, in Ukraine, the Holy Land, in all the Middle East and the entire world, at Christmas,” the pontiff said in his weekly Angelus address Sunday. “And with sorrow I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty; of the children machine-gunned, the bombing of schools and hospitals… So much cruelty!”

Why Did Rod Dreher Become Eastern Orthodox?Editor’s note: we appeal with love and respect to our separated brother, Mr. Rod Dreher, and all Catholics who have questioned or lost their faith in the ancient doctrine of the Apostolic See and taken refuge in one of the Greek schisms. This piece is authored by a Russian Orthodox Christian who reconciled with Rome after a thorough study of the Fathers and writes from Russia.The United States and Russia are not now on best terms. Yet, no compatriot of mine would deny you Yankees, your taste for a good bargain. So, as a...

A top Italian history professor has caused outrage after he claimed that the Roman Empire fell due to the rise of homosexuality.Roberto De Mattei, 63, a devout Roman Catholic, had already raised eyebrows by saying the Japan tsunami was "divine punishment", and now with his latest claim he faces calls to resign."The collapse of the Roman Empire and the arrival of the Barbarians was due to the spread of homosexuality," the Daily Mail quoted the vice-president of Italy's prestigious Centre for National Research as saying in a radio interview."The Roman colony of Carthage was a paradise for homosexuals and they...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican on the Brink of Bankruptcy Due to Dramatic Decline in Global Donations Under Pope Francis’ Leadership: ReportThe Vatican, the spiritual and administrative heart of the Catholic Church, faces an unprecedented financial crisis, with reports suggesting it is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.A combination of plummeting revenues, disillusioned donors, and mismanagement under Pope Francis has left the institution struggling to meet its pension obligations, Daily Express reported.In 2023, the Vatican reported an operating deficit of $87 million, an increase of $5.3 million from the previous year. The shortfall stems largely from a dramatic decline in global donations...

Pope Francis laments ‘ecological debt,’ repeats call for ‘elimination’ of death penaltyPope Francis highlighted the three themes of the eradication of debt, the death penalty, and world hunger during his message for the 2025 World Day of Peace.Issuing a message for the 2025 World Day of Peace, Pope Francis renewed calls for global peace, the tackling of climate change issues, and the “elimination” of the death penalty.Entitled “Forgive us our trespasses: grant us your peace,” Francis’ message for the annual World Day of Peace – January 1, 2025 – focused on certain of his favored talking points, as well as...

A GiveSendGo campaign has raised more than $50,000 for the legal defense of 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, who was arrested and charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, as others have been yanked offline after raising thousands of dollars to support the Ivy League graduate. As of Thursday afternoon, the GiveSendGo campaign had raised more than $54,000 of a $200,000 goal. "This is a preemptive legal fundraiser for the suspect allegedly involved in the shooting of the United Healthcare CEO. We are not here to celebrate violence, but we do believe in the constitutional right of fair legal representation,"...

Pope Francis unveiled the annual nativity scene at the Vatican over the weekend - raising some eyebrows in the process. A noticeable addition this year saw the seminal scene's baby Jesus draped in a keffiyeh - a traditional scarf used by Palestinians as a national symbol. Jesus was born into a Jewish family in Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago - and his death triggered the birth of Christianity. A statement from the wheelchair-bound pontiff, moreover, saw him humbly ask onlookers for peace in the Middle East, weeks after he called for an investigation into what he said may be a...

Most Catholics in all seven countries want the church to allow Catholics to use birth control. In most of the countries surveyed, majorities of Catholics also say the church should allow women to become priests.Opinion is more divided on whether the church should allow priests to get married. Views on whether the church should recognize the marriages of gay and lesbian couples vary among Catholics in the countries surveyed. Ten years ago, nearly all Catholics surveyed there (98%) expressed a favorable opinion of Francis, compared with 74% today.