Vatican’s Chief Foreign Minister: Violence against women “whenever it occurs, at home, during trafficking, or in conflict and humanitarian settings, it constitutes an affront to their dignity and is a grave injustice.” www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-c...

Pope Leo in homily at St. Anne Church in Vatican City: “Whoever seeks justice, turns wealth into a common good, but whoever seeks domination turns the common good into the prey of their own greed." www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news...

A worker making $50,000 a year contributes to Social Security on 100% of their income. A CEO making $20 million a year contributes to Social Security on less than 1% of their income. Instead of raising the retirement age, we should scrap the Social Security tax cap.

What’s more astonishing: 1) that the president clearly believes, and repeatedly suggests, that asylum seekers are people from mental asylums, or 2) that no journalist has ever challenged him on this and no mainstream media outlets have done any deep dives on this story?

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Justice Kavanaugh is wrong here that people legally in the US have been “promptly” set free after they show their status. A lot of examples of this not happening. Like the Episcopal priest’s daughter getting arrested in NY, sent to Louisiana detention before press coverage brought her release

Good lord. So according to Kavanaugh, simply being a Hispanic and working in agriculture, landscaping, or construction meets the reasonable suspicion standard, and you have to be able to prove your legal status at a moment’s notice while on the job or risk being detained (or sent to Uganda).

Why cholera is striking in Africa. It's a disease that's easy to control with proper treatment. But without medical care, patients can perish quickly.

I admit, my immediate thought was the attack was going to lay the groundwork for attacks on vessels with migrants, but I didn’t imagine this.

St John Chrysostom in the Roman office today (Hom. 50) For he who said: This is my body, and made it so by his words, also said: You saw me hungry and did not feed me, and inasmuch as you did not do it for one of these, the least of my brothers, you did not do it for me.

El Paso auxiliary Bishop Tony Celino, a Filipino immigrant himself: 'In the name of God, stop deporting people just trying to make a living. Do not be afraid of us because we are poor, brown or immigrant. But do not underestimate our passion for a more just, joyful & compassionate world.'

On September 5 at 4:00pm, Pope Leo will officially inaugurate Borgo Laudato Si, a dream of Pope Francis’. The 135 acre space will contain organic farming and regenerative cultivation. Andrea Bocelli will sing at the prayer service.

The justice of God is manifested in his mercy towards us in Christ, which is why a Christian’s talk about justice is empty if mercy is not evidently suffusive within it.

Important www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/o...

Ursula Le Guin: “The shift from denial of injustice to recognition of injustice can’t be unmade.... Once you see the injustice, you can never again in good faith deny the oppression and defend the oppressor. What was loyalty is now betrayal. From now on, if you don’t resist, you collude.”

Thank you, @financialtimes.com, for this article that mentions our Jubilee Report on sovereign debt, and covers such an important issue. www.ft.com/content/4bc5...

In the past 50 years, childhood vaccines have saved an estimated 154 million lives. However, progress has stalled. A recent #GBD study provides a systematic analysis of routine childhood vaccination coverage from 1980 to 2023 with forecasts to 2030. Read this & more 👉 tinyurl.com/5ye8smn3

The Senate voted to claw back billions of dollars from humanitarian aid that would devastate groups helping refugees and people in need. The House is expected to approve the cuts.

As always, lots to learn from @drclarkm1.bsky.social on the parable of the Good Samaritan: youtu.be/-9tbxxAykrU?...

One last point: I hate the “it’s all a distraction” genre of post, but I do want to point out that the Trump administration is continuing to engage in extremely aggro enforcement in CA and it is good to continue paying attention to it. This CNN article is a good roundup. www.cnn.com/2025/07/11/u...

Important historical and legal context (bc our immigration law is beyond in need of appropriate n humane update) but reality is while “could” have happened under prev admin - did not happen like this under previous admins. (Same w revoking student visas for minor traffic violations)

Congestion pricing by the # ‘s 6 months in: * 67k fewer drivers entering zone daily * Delays in Holland Tunnel down 65% * Traffic deaths down 32% so far in 2025 * $500m projected this year for MTA capital improvements * B’way attendance +12% * Subway ridership +7% So yes this program is a SUCCESS.

👇👇

Pope Leo to Teachers: “So often, we lose the ability to listen, to really listen. We listen to music, we have our ears flooded constantly with all kinds of digital input, but sometimes we forget to listen to our own hearts and it’s in our hearts that God speaks.” press.vatican.va/content/sala...

That was quick.

I am grieving the barbarism that is going to unfurl from all this. People are going to die. Livelihoods gone. All to feed a corrupt kleptocracy. I see every day up close how different it is from the first time around. There are no guardrails. A disaster. I’m sorry we have to live through this.

The most sobering part about becoming 1930’s Germany is realizing that no one is going to come here and liberate those being brutalized. If this historically inhumane regime is going to be overthrown, We The American People are going to have to do it.

Literal cages. Not even metaphorical ones. Literal ones.

I really don’t understand how anyone in this administration, or anyone who supports them, sleep at night.

Torres: "In 2024, 90% of new electricity generation in the US was clean energy. 60% of it is solar. And Republicans are proposing to defund solar and battery storage and wind, which are the leading sources of new electricity generations in the US. It is an act of strategic self-sabotage."

Reminder that the median Medicaid eligibility level for pregnancy is over 2x the poverty level. Many of these people Mullin is referring to are pregnant or are children. www.kff.org/medicaid/iss...

Anyone still quibbling that this isn't fascism?

Concern about being deported grew from March to June 2025 among US adults. About 1 in 4 U.S. adults worry they or someone close to them could be deported | @pewresearch.org www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

Proud to be a columnist at @uscatholic.bsky.social @rbratten.bsky.social @esanna.bsky.social

The level of damage done by stupidity and carelessness…

Pope Leo to FAO: “When we read the account of what is commonly called the ‘multiplication of the loaves,’ we realize that the real miracle performed by Christ was to show that the key to overcoming hunger lies in sharing rather than in greedily hoarding.”

"It takes from the poor to give to the wealthy. It provides tax breaks for some while undermining the social safety net for others through major cuts to nutrition assistance and Medicaid." Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of @usccbofficial.bsky.social 1/2 share.google/VCjHooanMJXy...

Just awful: A 75-year-old man just died in ICE custody, ICE has revealed in a notice to Congress. But here's the rub: This man, a Cuban national, was first paroled into the US in 1966—nearly 60 years ago! They were set to deport him anyway. Details in my new piece: newrepublic.com/article/1974...

“Omran shouldn’t have died, doctors said. The physician at his clinic outside the Sudanese capital said basic antibiotics probably would have cured his chest infection.….the new U.S. administration froze foreign aid programs, and a stop-work order came down from Washington.”

Helpful read on today’s decision & why the majority gets it wrong (& danger of the decision) slate.com/news-and-pol...

"For the child born this summer in Texas, whose parents receive no documents, whose name never appears in any system, and who grows up asking why she can’t go on field trips, apply for scholarships, or open a bank account, the consequences are not legal theory. They are her life."

Justice Sotomayor dissenting on birthright citizenship case: "The gamesmanship in this request is apparent and the Government makes no attempt to hide it. Yet, shamefully, this Court plays along. Because I will not be complicit in so grave an attack on our system of law, I dissent."

Bishop Seitz: “People are afraid to go out for groceries. They’re afraid to go to church. I really don’t believe fear adequately describes it. It’s terror…. I don’t think I’m speaking about politics. I’m speaking about faith. Politicians are messing with my faith.” www.ktep.org/2025-06-26/f...

As US government authorities can no longer be relied upon to provide reliable medical information, the American Medical Association and 78 other medical societies have written an open letter to the American public underscoring the importance of vaccines. www.ama-assn.org/delivering-c...

Will the United States uphold the dignity of its most vulnerable citizens, or will it sacrifice them for the benefit of the wealthy and powerful? Where are the U.S. bishops in this moral crisis?

Thank you to emeritus bishop of Brooklyn - Most Rev DiMarzio for signing this letter.

Hope Border Institute: “With major concerns over immigration, border militarization and the poor, 20+ Catholic bishops and archbishops, including Cardinals Tobin and McElroy, and other interfaith leaders ask Senate to ditch the Big Beautiful Reconciliation Bill altogether.”

On hearing Trump invoke God after bombing Iran on the feast of Corpus Christi www.americamagazine.org/politics-soc...