Category: Faith

Catholic Civil Rights Leader: Los Angeles Dodgers Violating Their Own Code of Conduct by Honoring Anti-Catholic Trans ‘Nuns’

Susan Berry, PhD

As the Los Angeles Dodgers prepare to honor Friday night a group of “queer and trans nuns” who promote anti-Catholic bigotry, Catholic League President Bill Donohue observed the club is actually violating its own code of conduct imposed on fans.

“The Los Angeles Dodgers has a code of conduct for fans that is being violated not only by some attendees, but by the team itself,” Donohue wrote Friday. “To be specific, giving an award tonight to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence is an expressed violation of this policy.”

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Maine Gov. Janet Mills’ Administration Sued for Discrimination Against Catholic Schools

Susan Berry, PhD

St. Dominic Academy in Auburn, Maine filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the administration of Gov. Janet Mills (D) and the Maine Human Rights Commission that alleges the state has continued to “outmaneuver” the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Carson v. Makin by excluding religious schools from its longstanding program whereby students residing in districts without a public school are given the opportunity to attend the public or private school of their family’s choosing.

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Largest Catholic Health Network Hospitals Providing Puberty Blockers to Minors and Gender Transition Surgeries: Report

Susan Berry, PhD

A watchdog organization dedicated to the defense of the Catholic Church released a report Sunday that claims the largest Catholic health system in the United States is “acting directly against Catholic moral teaching in direct defiance of its Catholic identity.”

The shocking report, issued by the Lepanto Institute, alleges in its executive summary that CommonSpirit Health, with over 1,000 healthcare sites and 140 hospitals in 21 states, is “performing transgender surgeries, providing hormone-based transgender therapies, [and] providing puberty blockers to children under the auspices of so-called ‘gender-affirming care.’”

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House Censures Democratic Lawmaker After Ethics Committee Found She Committed ‘Disorderly Conduct’ by Hiding Bibles

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona House of Representatives voted to censure State Representative Stephanie Stahl (D-Flagstaff) by a vote of 30-28 on June 13 for hiding Bibles placed on a table at the House lounge at least three times. Earlier this month, the bipartisan House Ethics Committee unanimously determined that Stahl committed “disorderly behavior” and referred the matter to the full House to consider what discipline to implement. 

Some legislators made arguments on the House floor recommending expulsion, pointing to the ouster of former State Representative Liz Harris (R-Chandler) in April for what many believed was not any worse behavior. “How we operate while we are here depends greatly on our leadership and our consistency while we’re in session,” State Representative Joseph Chaplik (R-Scottsdale), the Ethics Committee chair, said. “I vote yes.”

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Report: Biden Administration Pushing LGBTQ Ideology Abroad to Alter Foreign Cultures and Eliminate Religious Freedom

Susan Berry, PhD

A report released Tuesday by faith and family values organization Family Research Council (FRC) details how the Biden administration is not only forcing its LGBTQ agenda within the United States, but also pushing specific policies throughout the world in “a coercive attempt to change foreign cultures and laws” and eliminate “human rights like religious freedom.”

The authors of FRC’s report titled “Exporting LGBT Ideology: The Biden Administration’s Foreign Policy Priority” highlight how Biden has “systematically elevated the importance of LGBT ideology in American foreign policy, utilizing the resources and platform of the U.S. government to promote LGBT policies abroad.”

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Pittsburgh ‘Pride Mass’ Canceled Following Backlash

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An LGBTQ group’s “Pride Mass” has been canceled following a report from The Daily Signal highlighting the bishop of Pittsburgh’s condemnation of the event.

The Mass had been scheduled to take place on June 11, at 1 p.m. at Duquesne Holy Spirit Chapel, and was to be presided over by Father Doug Boyd, according to fliers obtained by The Daily Signal, which said the event would be co-hosted by various groups, including Catholics for Change in Our Church and the LGBTQ Ministry at St. Joseph the Worker.

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Music Spotlight: Anne Wilson

Bethany Bowman

As I continued writing my Music Spotlight column, a new name kept popping up: Anne Wilson. In 2022, Wilson won a Dove Award for Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year, “My Jesus.” She won Songwriter of the Year and New Artist of the Year. She also sang a duet with Hillary Scott which won Bluegrass/Country Roots Song of the Year, “Mamas.”

The reason I had never heard of her before is because Anne Wilson, who is 22, has only been singing for a few years.

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Over 5,000 Congregations Approved to End Affiliation with United Methodist Church over Homosexuality Debate

Susan Berry, PhD

More than 5,000 congregations have now been approved to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church throughout the last two years over the longstanding dispute regarding the denomination’s position on homosexuality, the Christian Post reported Saturday.

“The number of churches that have had their disaffiliation votes approved by their annual conferences under Paragraph 2553 of the UMC Book of Discipline went from around 4,600 on Tuesday to 5,321 as of Friday morning,” the report observed.

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Virginia Hair Salon Fires Christian Stylist for ‘Homophobic’ Post Criticizing Disney Plus on Facebook

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A Virginia hair salon fired a Christian stylist over a Facebook post criticizing the streaming movie service Disney+.

“My Facebook is my page,” Sidney York, the fired stylist, told The Daily Signal in an interview Wednesday. “I understand it’s a touchy subject and people may be offended over it, but it had nothing to do with my job.”

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Catholic League Urges Hundreds of Hispanic Leaders to Promote Boycott of Los Angeles Dodgers ‘Pride’ Game Honoring Anti-Catholic ‘Nuns’

Susan Berry, PhD

The Catholic League plans to reach out to 236 of “the most prominent Hispanic leaders in the Los Angeles area” to urge them to promote the campaign to boycott the Dodgers’ ‘pride night’ game during which the club will honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of drag queen “nuns” that promotes anti-Catholic bigotry.

“Our appeal is being made to the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders, the LA Latino Chamber of Commerce, the National Hispanic Media Coalition and the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals Los Angeles,” said Catholic League President Bill Donohue in his column Thursday. “All 236 leaders will receive a letter that details our request, and a copy of the report that I wrote about the history of anti-Catholic acts committed by the “Sisters.”

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More Religious Groups Attending Pride Events This Year

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Despite growing backlash against the “pride” movement in 2023, there has been a noticeable increase in allegedly religious groups showing public support for homosexuality, transgenderism, and other aspects of the LGBTQ agenda.

According to NPR, the rise in ostensibly religious groups’ support for pride is due to a nationwide initiative called Faith for Pride, run by the far-left group Interfaith Alliance. The group consists of multiple religions and denominations, including Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and others.

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Connecticut LGBTQ Activists Lure Children and Teens with ‘Pride’ Month Events

Susan Berry, PhD

The LGBTQ activist group known as Stamford Pride is offering events over the next several weeks to further draw children, teens, and their families into acceptance of gender ideology.

In partnership with professional association for design AIGA, Stamford Pride will host events such as the “Rainbow Rave” on Friday night, a “Drag Brunch” on June 17, and “Gayme Night” on June 27.

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Catholic Civil Rights Group Begins Radio Campaign Urging Boycott of Los Angeles Dodgers ‘Pride Night’ for Honoring Anti-Catholic Hate Group

Susan Berry, PhD

The Catholic League began its anticipated radio campaign Tuesday that urges listeners in the Los Angeles area not to attend the Dodgers’ June 16 “Pride Night” game, during which the club is scheduled to honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a self-described group of “queer and trans nuns” that puts on exhibitions that ridicule the Catholic faith and religious women, and desecrate Jesus Christ with sexual imagery.

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Former Abortionist: Media’s ‘Blatant Lie’ That Doctors Feel ‘Trapped’ by Abortion State Trigger Laws

Susan Berry, PhD

A former abortionist-turned pro-life advocate wrote at Conservative Review Monday that, even in South Dakota, media are pushing the leftist narrative that state laws restricting abortion are harming women in difficult pregnancies.

Patti Giebink, M.D., author of Unexpected Choice and a former Planned Parenthood abortionist, took to task a South Dakota Searchlight reporter who claimed “physicians feel ‘trapped’” by the state’s abortion trigger law by noting the media’s “dishonesty” about several key facts.

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Catholic Org Launches Initiative Encouraging Parents to Revolt Against Sexually Explicit, Transgender Books

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A Catholic organization is launching a campaign through the month of June that encourages parents to revolt against books containing sexually explicit and transgenderism content offered to children in public libraries as a part of Pride Month.

CatholicVote, a nonprofit conservative advocacy group, is promoting its second annual “Hide the Pride” campaign, which encourages parents to visit their local libraries and check out as many books as they can that “push eroticism, glorify LGBTQ identities, undermine parental rights and are 100% contrary to the Church’s teaching on love and sexuality” in an effort to prevent others from accessing them, the organization told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Parents joining the campaign are encouraged to participate in groups and request that librarians take their Pride Month display down, the campaign information stated.

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Los Angeles Dodgers Pitcher Blake Treinen Condemns Team’s Decision to Honor Anti-Catholic Hate Group

Susan Berry, PhD

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen released a statement Tuesday in which he expressed his “disappointment” that the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group that engages in obscene performances that are “blasphemous,” are being “honored as heroes at Dodger Stadium.”

The “sisters,” an organization that openly ridicules Christian beliefs and desecrates Jesus Christ, Treinen said, “display hate and mockery of Catholics and the Christian faith.”

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Catholic Major League Pitcher Trevor Williams Rebukes Dodgers for Honoring Anti-Catholic Hate Group

Susan Berry, PhD

Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams said Tuesday in a statement posted to Twitter the move by the Los Angeles Dodgers to honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an anti-Catholic hate group, “makes a blatant and deeply offensive mockery of my religion.”

“As a devout Catholic, I am deeply troubled by the Dodgers’ decision to re-invite and honor the group ‘The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’ at their Pride Night this year,” Williams began his message, explaining to his followers that a “Major League Baseball game is a place where people from all walks of life should feel welcomed, something I greatly respect and support.”

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Catholic Advocacy Group Launches $1 Million Ad Campaign to Boycott Los Angeles Dodgers for Honoring Anti-Catholic Hate Group

Susan Berry, PhD

A leading national Catholic advocacy group has responded further to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ announcement that the organization will move ahead with honoring an anti-Catholic hate group of self-described “queer and trans nuns” during its “pride night” game event in June.

Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote told Fox & Friends Weekend Sunday the Dodgers “have decided to honor and celebrate a detestable, vile, and perverse anti-Catholic organization.”

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House Ethics Committee Holds First Meeting on Ethics Complaint Against Representative Stahl Hamilton

Neil Jones

The Arizona House Ethics Committee met Thursday morning to discuss an ethics complaint filed against Democrat Representative Stephanie Stahl Hamilton (Flagstaff), an ordained minister, after being caught on camera hiding Bibles kept in the House’s members-only lounge.

“The House Ethics Committee is responsible for considering complaints that are submitted by a House member accusing another member of behavior that violates House Rules,” said Committee Chair Joseph Chaplik (R-Scottsdale). “Today’s hearing was not a trial, but the Committee made every effort to provide Representative Stahl Hamilton the due process to which she is entitled as a member of the House.”

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South Carolina Becomes 23rd State to Protect Babies with Heartbeat

Susan Berry, PhD

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) signed the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act Thursday morning, legislation that protects babies in the state from abortion from the time a heartbeat is detected.

McMaster’s signature on the bill now makes South Carolina the 23rd state to protect babies with a heartbeat, and marks that half of the United States is now protecting babies from abortion at or before 12 weeks.

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Los Angeles Archdiocese Condemns Dodgers for Reinviting ‘Queer and Trans Nuns,’ Calls for Catholics to ‘Stand Against Bigotry’

Susan Berry, PhD

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has released a statement condemning the Los Angeles Dodgers for reinviting the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,” a self-described group of “queer and trans nuns” that puts on exhibitions that desecrate the Catholic faith.

The statement comes as Catholic leaders are organizing an effort to educate Los Angeles Catholics about the “sisters’” anti-Catholic bigotry and to urge a boycott of the Dodgers’ “pride night” game event at which the team plans to honor the group.

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Los Angeles Dodgers Apologize and Reinvite Drag ‘Nuns’ Group as ‘Pride Night’ Honoree

Susan Berry, PhD

The Los Angeles Dodgers apologized to and reinvited the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a radical anti-Catholic group that defiles the Catholic faith, to be honored at the team’s game night “pride” event.

The move by the Dodgers’ organization to reinvite the blasphemous group of self-described “queer and trans nuns” comes following backlash from radical LGBTQ activists and their political allies.

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Christian Leader Calls for Immediate Release of Covenant School Shooter’s Manifesto Following Durham Report: ‘FBI Has Been Compromised’

Susan Berry, PhD

The director of the Christian Defense Coalition told The Star News Network in an interview Friday it is crucial that the FBI release The Covenant School shooter Audrey Hale’s manifesto to the public, especially in the wake of the “scathing report” by Special Counsel John Durham that has led to a firestorm over the federal law enforcement agency’s integrity and analysis.

“There have been many stories that the local Nashville Police Department is turning much of the manifesto in detail writings of Audrey Hale over to the FBI, for analysis, to try to get a sense of a profile, any issues that might help ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again,” Rev. Patrick Mahoney said.

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Los Angeles Dodgers Pull Invitation to ‘Anti-Catholic Hate Group’ for Pride Event After Catholic Uproar

Susan Berry, PhD

The Los Angeles Dodgers pulled their invitation Wednesday to an “extremist anti-Catholic hate group” known as the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence from a pride month event scheduled for June 16. The Dodgers announced the removal of the “sisters” as honorees in a press statement. “In the spirit of unity, the Los Angeles Dodgers are proud to host our 10th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night on June 16th,” the announcement read. “This event has become a meaningful tradition, highlighting not only the diversity and resilience within our fanbase, but also the impactful work of extraordinary community groups.” “We are now aware that our inclusion of one group in particular – The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence – in this year’s pride night has been the source of some controversy,” the Dodgers continued, adding: Given the strong feelings of people who have been offended by the sisters’ inclusion in our evening, and in an effort not to distract from the great benefits that we have seen over the years of Pride Night, we are deciding to remove them from this year’s group of honorees. The Dodgers’ decision to remove the group from its list of honorees comes after Catholic leaders expressed outrage to the…

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Study Finds 71 Percent of American Men Experienced Negative Impact to Mental Health After Loss of a Child to Abortion

Susan Berry, PhD

A newly released study about the impact of abortion on American men finds 71 percent of men experienced “adverse changes” to their mental health following the loss of a child to abortion.

Results of the study, commissioned by Support After Abortion, a nonprofit focused on post-abortion healing education, found that of the 71 percent of men who suffered “adverse changes,” 83 percent said they “either sought after abortion help or said they could have benefited from talking to someone.”

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Commentary: Wisconsin Rules This Catholic Charity Is Not ‘Primarily’ Religious

RealClearWire

For over a century, the Catholic Charities Bureau of Superior, Wis., has aided people of all faiths: the developmentally disabled, seniors, and children, many of them low income. As Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki recently noted, since the time of Jesus Christ, the Church has had “a mandate from Scripture to serve the poor.”  

The state of Wisconsin disagrees. Its labor division has ruled that the charity is not eligible for a religious exemption from contributing to the state’s unemployment insurance system, because it offers its services free of proselytizing, regardless of clients’ religious background. As a result, Wisconsin’s Labor and Industry Review Commission determined it was essentially a secular organization, not operated for “primarily religious purposes.”

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Commentary: Transgenderism and the Contemporary Church

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Transgender boy

“The church’s response to those who identify as transgender,” Andrew T. Walker writes, “must be, immediately and with integrity, ‘You are welcome here. You are loved here.’”

This position reflects the broad inclinations of contemporary evangelicals, who generally seek to intentionally love and welcome those in the transgender movement. Though scripturally grounded churches may disagree with much of transgender ideology, they still strive to love those within the movement.

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Commentary: Confronting China’s War on Religion Part Four

RealClearWire

On Thanksgiving Day, 90-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen, a Hong Kong priest, was convicted, along with five others, of failing to register a defunct charitable organization that tried to help pro-democracy demonstrators targeted by the regime.

Ostensibly, the charges stemmed from the group’s failure to submit paperwork to authorities. But Chinese people of faith and governments around the world understood the real message Beijing was sending when it arrested Fr. Zen, known as “the conscience of Hong Kong,” last May. The purpose of the prosecution, said U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price, was to show that China’s government “will pursue all means necessary to stifle dissent and undercut protective rights and freedoms.”

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Parents of Student Urging Pro-Catholic Teachings Suspended from Their Teaching Positions, Under Investigation

Susan Berry, PhD

The parents of internationally known Ontario high school student Josh Alexander have been suspended from their teaching posts in another board and placed under investigation over what appears to be their son’s outspoken views against his Catholic school board’s cave to the LGBTQ agenda.

“From the beginning, I understood the consequences my actions may have and I was willing to take that stand and face the consequences,” Alexander told The Epoch Times, according to a report Thursday.

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‘Faith and Wellness’ Report Finds 99 Percent of Evangelicals Believe Prayer and Active Faith Contribute to Positive Mental Health

Susan Berry, PhD

Nearly 100 percent of evangelical Protestants believe that prayer, reading the Bible, and living out a strong Christian faith impact mental health in a positive way, says a report released Thursday by Infinity Concepts and Grey Matter Research.

Noting that rarely is any group of people, including evangelical Protestants, in nearly entire agreement, Infinity Concepts, a self-described “integrated marketing-communications agency inspiring people of faith to action,” and Grey Matter Research, a consulting firm that specializes in serving Christian organization, say results of the current study is unique.

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Commentary: The Long Road to Confronting China’s War on Religion Part Three

RealClearWire

It’s morning in Istanbul, but Joseph is reliving his morning routine in the camp, before the 16-hour shift starts. After the prisoners had sung Communist songs for their breakfast, the Chinese guards played a video for them shot in cinema verité style. It began with Chinese plainclothes agents tackling Uyghurs, cramming them into unmarked cars, and pulling bags over their heads.

Then, the camera would pan away, revealing, not China, but a foreign street with signs in German, Arabic, or English. Joseph says the film was a tease: Run away. Please try it. We’re everywhere. Even Washington, D.C. 

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Catholic Civil Rights Leader: Washington Post Fails to Mention Its Recent Poll Revealed 78 Percent of Transgender Adults Had Serious Mental Health Problems Growing Up

Susan Berry, PhD

Catholic League President Bill Donohue observed Monday that The Washington Post neglected to mention in its news story about its own poll on transgenderism that trans individuals reported a more significant percentage of mental health concerns than all adults surveyed.

Bill Donohue noted that The Post’s “2517-word story, published May 5, covers just about every aspect of the 26-page survey except for the issue of mental health.”

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Commentary: Christian Popular Culture’s Revival Cast Out the Money Changers

RealClearWire

“Jesus Revolution” and “The Chosen” are not just Christian dramas but the avant garde in a revolution in faith entertainment. The former – a feel-good movie about hippies who returned to Christ during the 1970s, starring former “Cheers” and “Frasier” star Kelsey Grammer – has grossed more than $52 million since its debut just a few weeks ago, making it the most successful film released by studio heavyweight Lionsgate since 2019.

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Commentary: The Long Road to Confronting China’s War on Religion Part One

RealClearWire

In 2016, when President Xi Jinping delivered a speech calling for the “Sinicization of religion” in a nation of one billion, he was espousing a century-old impulse among his people while also inadvertently underscoring a persistent paradox that Chinese Communists brought with them when they took over the country in 1949 – and have never shaken.

The impulse is that the major faiths observed in China are not indigenous to the world’s oldest civilization. Buddhism was imported from India and Tibet. Islam arrived in overland trading routes and human migration from the Middle East, while Christianity, another Abrahamic faith, came across the ocean from Europe and America. To Communist leaders, and many Han Chinese civilians, these traditions represent potentially destabilizing foreign influence. 

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Catholic Leader Rebukes Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman for Navy’s Use of Drag Queen for Recruitment Campaign

Susan Berry, PhD

In a strong rebuke Thursday to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the president of the nation’s prominent Catholic civil rights organization charged that the U.S. Navy is continuing to use “the policies of the far-left, the woke brand of politics,” in its recent drag queen digital campaign supposedly intended as a recruitment strategy.

Bill Donohue of the Catholic League wrote to General Mark Milley, condemning the scandal of the Navy’s acknowledgment the service branch has recruited Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, a sailor who “misidentifies,” as Donohue states, as “non-binary,” and who performs as a drag queen, to serve as a “digital ambassador” in a pilot program geared toward attracting young recruits.

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Former Student Urges Catholic School District to Promote Church Teachings Rather Than Cave to LGBTQ Agenda During ‘Pride Month’

Susan Berry, PhD

A former student at Cardinal Carter Catholic High School in Aurora, Ontario, was cheered this week when he gave a passionate speech at a board meeting during which he urged the district to adhere to the teachings of the Catholic Church to help all students rather than cave to the LGBTQ agenda during the upcoming “pride month.”

Myles Vosylius, 20, drew applause from parents and other citizens at a York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB) meeting Tuesday as he shared his own conversion story related to his parents’ divorce while he was in high school.

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Recall Effort Started to Oust WESD School Board President Who Oversaw Termination of Christian University’s Contract

Rachel Alexander

A recall has been started to remove the president of the Washington Elementary School District (WESD) Governing Board, Nikkie Gomez-Whaley. Gomez-Whaley presided over the board’s unanimous decision to terminate the district’s contract with Arizona Christian University (ACU) for student teachers due to the university’s religious viewpoints. A second recall effort is being planned to oust board member Tamilia Valenzuela, who led the move to terminate the contract, but state law provides that it cannot begin until she has been in office for six months. 

Susan Bidell, who has a son and grandchildren in the district and who volunteers in the schools, told The Arizona Sun Times, “We don’t need social justice warriors on the board. We need people who want to serve the teachers, the parents, the students, and the staff of the district. Instead they point their finger and lecture us about things at the board meetings.” 

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Catholic Advocacy Group Sues FBI and DOJ for FOIA Documents Related to Government Targeting of Catholics

Susan Berry, PhD

National Catholic advocacy organization CatholicVote filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit with Judicial Watch Thursday against the FBI and DOJ for failing to provide records requested under FOIA regarding the government’s targeting of Catholics.

CatholicVote President Brian Burch spoke to Fox & Friends Thursday about the lawsuit.

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Pope Francis Will Allow Women to Vote in Bishop Meeting for the First Time

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The Vatican announced Wednesday during a press conference that women would be allowed to vote during the upcoming Synod of Bishops in October, according to The Associated Press.

Cardinal Mario Grech, the secretary general of the synod, and Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, the relator general of the synod, announced that Pope Francis had approved the proposed changes by the council overseeing the synod, according to American Magazine. Under the new rules, both women and laymen will be allowed to vote for the first time in the history of the practice, and five religious sisters will be appointed as representatives for different orders, according to the AP.

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Surveillance Footage Reveals Democrat State Representative Hiding Bibles from View at Arizona Capitol

Neil Jones

New surveillance footage at the Arizona State Capitol, first covered by AZ Family, shows State Representative Stephanie Stahl Hamilton (D-Flagstaff), an ordained minister, taking two Bibles placed around the House’s member-only lounge and hiding them out of view.

“It’s bizarre and juvenile for an elected public official, an ordained minister nonetheless, to act in this manner. Such actions are disrespectful to the Bible and people of faith, and to the institution of the House and its members,” said House Majority Caucus spokesman Andrew Wilder in a statement emailed to The Arizona Sun Times.

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Red State Passes Bill Allowing Religious Institutions Access to State Funding

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The Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday protecting religious institutions from being denied access to state funding.

The Oklahoma Religious Freedom Act was introduced by Republican state Sen. Shane Jett and Republican state Sen. Julie Daniels to further reinforce the First Amendment by preventing the state from denying faith-based groups access to taxpayer dollars, according to the bill. The legislature passed the act Tuesday by a 64 to 27 vote, officially sending the act to Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt’s desk to be signed into law.

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Catholic Civil Rights Leader Requests Nashville Police Department Release Covenant Killer’s Manifesto

Susan Berry, PhD

Catholic League President Bill Donohue is asking Nashville police to produce the manifesto they said they found among transgender shooter Audrey Hale’s belongings.

“The local police said she was planning the attack ‘over a period of months,’ and that she had studied other mass murderers,” wrote Donohue Monday. “They emphasized that the attack was ‘calculated and planned.’ Importantly, they found a manifesto that laid bare her thinking.”

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Survey: Faith Surged Among Young People amid COVID Pandemic

Susan Berry, PhD

A survey first reported Monday by the Wall Street Journal found that 30 percent of young people say their faith grew stronger during the COVID pandemic, and that the percentage of those who say they know a “higher power” exists surged to 28 percent in December 2022 from the 22 percent reported in the 2021 survey.

Conducted by nonprofit Springtide Research Institute, the survey cites the context of the COVID pandemic lockdowns, when young people were largely isolated from others, and the subsequent mental health crisis among them had already begun to reach “epidemic proportions.”

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Assisted Suicide Defeated Again in Connecticut

Susan Berry, PhD

A Connecticut bill that would have permitted physicians to assist patients to commit suicide and, its critics say, eliminated penalties for any person who may have pressured another individual to commit suicide using the legislation’s provisions, has died in committee.

The highly controversial legislation failed to pass the Judiciary Committee Wednesday, ending hopes for a floor vote, reported the Hartford Courant.

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Hillsdale College Professor: Man’s Divine Nature Not Just a Christian Principle, But a ‘Rational’ One as Well

Susan Berry, PhD

Hillsdale College’s associate dean for its graduate school of government in Washington, DC, told attendees at an event Friday evening in Connecticut that while the enemies of religious liberty reject that which is divine in man, that concept is not “a Christian principle, per se,” but, in fact, “a rational principle.”

“In a certain sense, that can be summed up very simply, that we are actually children of God,” Dr. Matthew Mehan said at the College’s Blake Center for Faith and Freedom in Somers. “That is not a Christian principle, per se, although clearly it is one of the Christian principles. It’s actually a rational principle. And it’s actually a teaching of the philosophers and the poets both in ancient Greece and Rome.”

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Republican Presidential Candidates Preach Faith, Freedom and ‘Revival’ to Iowa Evangelicals and Veterans

M.D. Kittle

In a campaign conversation Sunday with veterans in Des Moines, biotech entrepreneur and GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy called for a rejection of the idea of a “national divorce” in favor of the beginning of a national revival. 

Ramaswamy, who describes himself as an unapologetic America First candidate, told a packed VFW Post 9127 hall in the city’s Beaverdale neighborhood Sunday morning that his is more than a presidential campaign —  it’s a mission to reclaim the soul of America. 

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