DefendTruth

Following USAID cuts, a network of Catholic university-based advocacy groups, staffed by USCCB and Biden-admin alumni, enables the bishops to continue advancing porous border initiatives.

crisismagazine.com

The Outsourcing of Catholic Immigration Policy to Progressive Catholic Institutions

For decades, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops played an unmistakably political role in national immigration debates, issuing forceful policy statements, lobbying Congress, running public relations trips to the U.S.-Mexican border for bishops, and positioning its Migration and Refugee Services office as a progressive, often strident voice on immigration in Washington. Those days are over. Last February the bishops’ conference cut 50 positions—about one‑third of the staff in its migration and refugee services office—after federal reimbursements for contracted refugee and migrant resettlement work were suspended.
Today, the USCCB appears to be attempting to rebrand itself as a less‑political actor, emphasizing humanitarian service and pastoral care rather than policy confrontation. Whether the USCCB will be successful in its effort to recast itself remains to be seen.
The career trajectory of onetime key USCCB Migration policy figures such as Ashley Feasley underscores this shift …

197
DefendTruth

Early signs from Leo’s first consistory suggest continuity with Pope Francis’ original pastoral vision

ncregister.com

Pope Leo Walks the ‘Early Francis’ Path — With a New Approach

COMMENTARY: Early signs from Leo’s first consistory suggest continuity with Pope Francis’ original pastoral vision — more in what he said than in how he later governed.
The direction of the Leonine pontificate is still not yet clear, but the consistory of cardinals last week gave some further indications.
Pope Leo XIV intends to continue in the direction of his immediate predecessor, but he prefers to do as Pope Francis said, rather than what Pope Francis did.
In announcing the topics for the consistory last month, Leo chose four that were central to the Francis pontificate —
Evangelii Gaudium, the reform of the Roman Curia, liturgy and synodality.
At the actual consistory, the cardinals chose to discuss the first and the last, about both of which Pope Leo has repeatedly expressed his commitment. Leo wants the missionary Church called for by Evangelii Gaudium, the charter document of Pope Francis, and agrees with Pope Francis that “synodality is what the Lord desires” for the Church …

425
DefendTruth

Arizona is considering a law which will see priests JAILED if they do not report certain offences heard in the Confessional

catholicnewsagency.com

Arizona bill would hit priests with felony if they fail to break confessional seal to report abuse

Jan 7, 2026 / 14:34 pm
A proposed law in Arizona could see priests facing felony charges if they fail to break the seal of confession after learning of child abuse during the sacrament.
The measure,
HB 2039, was introduced in December 2025 by state Rep. Anastasia Travers. It is awaiting action in the state House after Travers prefiled it on Dec. 4.
The bill would amend the state code to require priests to report abuse learned during confession if they have “reasonable suspicion to believe that the abuse is ongoing, will continue, or may be a threat to other minors.”
Failure to report a “reportable offense” could lead to class 6 felony charges under the bill. Those charges in Arizona can lead to up to $150,000 in fines and up to two years of imprisonment.
Travers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the bill and why she proposed it. She previously filed a similar bill in 2023.
Lawmakers in multiple U.S. states in recent years have moved to require priests to violate …

246
DefendTruth

Pope Leo urged U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Tuesday not to try to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro using military force.
Leo, the first U.S. pope, said it would be better to attempt dialogue or impose economic pressure on Venezuela if Washington wants to pursue change there.

reuters.com

Pope Leo urges US not to attempt military ouster of Venezuela's Maduro

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Pope Leo urged U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Tuesday not to try to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro using military force.
Leo, the first U.S. pope, said it would be better to attempt dialogue or impose economic pressure on Venezuela if Washington wants to pursue change there.
The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here.
The Trump administration has been weighing options to combat what it has portrayed as Maduro's role in supplying illegal drugs that have killed Americans. The socialist Venezuelan president has denied having any links to the illegal drug trade.
Advertisement · Scroll to continue
Asked during a news conference about Trump's threats to remove Maduro by force, Leo said: "It is better to search for ways of dialogue, or perhaps pressure, including economic pressure".
The pope, speaking as he flew home from a visit to Turkey and Lebanon, …

1606
Father Karl A Claver

Even the primate of Venezuela tried to escape, but the police stopped him from leaving. Sorry, but Leo is a total fool, who IS an embarrassment to Christ.

DefendTruth

A peaceful pro-life advocate was arrested on Thursday for filming her activities outside of a California Planned Parenthood location, allegedly violating the state’s Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.

lifesitenews.com

Pro-life activist arrested outside San Francisco Planned Parenthood over Instagram video - LifeSite

Mon Dec 22, 2025 - 3:28 pm EST
SAN FRANCISCO (
LifeSiteNews) — A peaceful pro-life advocate was arrested on Thursday for filming her activities outside of a California Planned Parenthood location, allegedly violating the state’s Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust reports that one of its organizers, Anastasia Rogers, was arrested on December 18 outside of the abortion giant’s Bush Street San Francisco facility, on a warrant that a 14-second Instagram reel she had posted two months earlier allegedly violated the California FACE Act’s prohibition on anyone “caus[ing] [a] person to be intimidated” when he or she “videotapes, films, photographs, or records by electronic means” a client, employee, or assistant without consent.
Rather than evidencing intimidation, the footage in question shows an abortion escort silently ignoring Rogers. Survivors maintains that she “did not tell Rogers not to film her.”
Pro-Life San Francisco adds that …

301
DefendTruth

An Iowa priest, Father Thomas Thakadipuram, pleaded guilty to stealing parish funds and investing them in a scam without church approval. The case stands out not for the crime itself, but because a local bishop appeared in court to emphasize the seriousness of the offense rather than seek leniency for the priest.

pillarcatholic.com

Iowa priest theft prompted bishop’s sharp rebuke

An Iowa priest has pleaded guilty to stealing money from a Catholic parish and placing it in a scam investment without consulting or informing the parish finance council.
A retired IRS investigator told The Pillar this week that amid a string of priest embezzlement cases across the country in recent years, the case of Father Thomas Thakadipuram is unusual in several ways – including the reaction of a local bishop, who reinforced the gravity of the priest’s crime, rather than petitioning for a lighter sentence.
Fr. Tom Thakadipuram. Credit: Fr. Tom Thakadipuram/Facebook.
Thakadipuram, 62, was pastor of St. Mary Parish, Shenandoah, and St. Mary Parish, Hamburg – both in the Diocese of Des Moines – until February, when he was arrested and charged with six counts of first degree theft and one count of second degree theft.
Thakadipuram accepted a plea deal in October. He pleaded guilty to one count of theft in the first degree and one count of theft in the fourth degree.
The priest received …

1521
Orthocat

Another foreign-born priest who came to the U.S. to enrich himself NOT serve God as a missionary of the Gospel.

DefendTruth

First Things publishes "Hanukkah Light in a Dark World"

firstthings.com

Hanukkah Light in a Dark World - First Things

Before the Hamas war against Israel, the election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City, and yesterday’s shooting attack in Australia, I associated Hanukkah with triumph rather than despair. The eight-day festival, which began at sundown on December 14, was an opportunity to recognize Jewish perseverance and share Jewish light.
This year is different. While menorahs are ordinarily displayed outdoors in celebration, during times of danger the Talmud suggests kindling Hanukkah lights discreetly. Even without overt peril, mounting hostility toward Jews draws me inward and homeward. I prefer to stay indoors with my family, where the somber hymn of my childhood will echo more poignantly than the cheerful holiday prayer.
Like other winter holidays, Hanukkah occurs when daylight is lacking and darkness evokes faith. More than a solstice observance, however, Hanukkah is a celebration of Jewish distinctiveness and daring. In the second century B.C., enlightened Greeks sought to extinguish …

329
DefendTruth

An American tech company allegedly helped a foreign country plan a terrorist attack on a U.S.-allied nation, injuring nearly 4,000 people and killing children. The UN condemned the attack as a war crime. That company, Palantir, receives over half its funding from U.S. government contracts and holds $10 billion in U.S. Army contracts. In a just society, executives involved in such actions would face prison—not continued taxpayer funding. Who will hold them accountable?

middleeasteye.net

Israel used Palantir technology in its 2024 Lebanon pager attack, book claims

New book says US tech company was involved in Lebanon attack that killed dozens and wounded thousands
Pagers like the one seen here exploded in September 2024, killing dozens and wounding thousands (Reuters)
Published date: 10 December 2025 17:13 GMT | Last update: 3 days 23 hours ago
Palantir software was used by
Israel in its 2024 pager attacks in Lebanon, according to a new book by Alex Karp, co-founder of the Palantir tech company.
On 17 September, thousands of pagers belonging to Hezbollah members, including civilians not involved in any armed activity, were detonated across Lebanon.
Many showed “error” messages and vibrated loudly prior to exploding, luring Hezbollah members or, in some cases, their family members to stand close by at the point of detonation.
The next day more communication devices exploded, including at the public funerals of Hezbollah members and civilians who had been killed the previous day.
While many Israeli figures celebrated, praised and even joked about …

1402
Don Cesare Toscano

Every time there’s a terrorist attack, politicians use it to cut back civil liberties. We saw it with the Patriot Act, which is still in place decades later. Tragedies are repeatedly used to justify permanent expansions of state power.

DefendTruth

UK government vows to ‘ramp up’ use of facial recognition, biometrics in policing -
"Live facial recognition could be the end of privacy as we know it" and lead to an "authoritarian surveillance state," director Silkie Carlo warned.

www.gov.uk

Government pledges to ramp up facial recognition and biometrics

Police will be better equipped to track down dangerous criminals as the government launches a consultation on how forces should use facial recognition and biometrics, in what could be ‘the biggest breakthrough since DNA matching’.
Facial recognition is used to locate wanted suspects in public places, find vulnerable missing people and identify offenders more quickly through footage obtained from CCTV and doorbell cameras.
In the last two years, the Metropolitan Police made 1,300 arrests using facial recognition including rapists, domestic abusers and violent criminals and found more than 100 registered sex offenders breaching their license conditions.
The consultation will pave the way for new laws so all police forces can use this new technology with greater confidence and more often.
Crime and Policing Minister, Sarah Jones, said:
Facial recognition is the biggest breakthrough for catching criminals since DNA matching.
It has already helped take thousands of dangerous criminals off …

213
DefendTruth

A new analysis found that 41 percent of Netflix TV shows for children portray homosexual relationships, ‘transgender’ and ‘non-binary’ characters, and other ‘queer’ themes.

7 pages
2421
charisma

The original article link is here: Over 41% of Children’s Shows on Netflix Contain …

Father Karl A Claver

Obama went to a kindergarten yesterday and was reading woke books to youngsters. How scandalous, and the Church keeps her silence because Obama is one of her apostles.

DefendTruth

Kremlin says US national security strategy document ‘largely consistent' with Russia's vision.

aa.com.tr

Kremlin says US national security strategy document ‘largely consistent' with Russia's vision

World,
Europe
Kremlin says US national security strategy document ‘largely consistent' with Russia's vision
Spokesman Peskov says Moscow hopes this could be 'modest guarantee' that they'll be able to continue joint constructive work on finding settlement in Ukraine
The Kremlin said that the US administration’s new national security strategy document is “largely consistent” with Russia’s vision.
“The adjustments we're seeing, I'd say, are largely consistent with our vision,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin in an interview, a fragment of which was shared on his Telegram on Sunday.
Peskov expressed Moscow’s hope that this could be a “modest guarantee” that they will be able to continue joint constructive work on finding a settlement in Ukraine.
He further argued that US President Donald Trump's domestic political position is strong, which allows him to adjust the country's national security strategy to suit his vision.
Peskov also said that Russia …

324
DefendTruth

Late Mons Arthur Calkins on the Co-Redemptrix - an expert!

14 pages
350
DefendTruth

The Prices, who are born-again Christians, regularly seek to evangelize with those who promote serious sin, including abortion, and especially homosexuality and transgenderism.

lifesitenews.com

Christian couple arrested, jailed after sharing Gospel truths at LGBTQ 'Pride' parade - LifeSite

(LifeSiteNews) — A Christian street preacher and his wife were jailed on Saturday after demonstrating against an LGBTQ Pride parade in Orlando, Florida.
Maurice Price was pinned to the ground and handcuffed by several policemen, video footage posted to his Facebook page and YouTube channel shows, after he walked the street of an LGBTQ parade holding up a sign that read “Hell is real. Only Jesus Saves.” His wife, Brittany, who joined him in the street while holding up a sign that said “Repent or perish,” was also arrested.
The back of Brittany’s sign read “Jesus is God,” “There are only 2 genders,” and “Jesus is the only way.
A montage of video clips shows the couple walking along the sidewalk near the parade with their signs as well as out in the street close to the parade and then hugging the sidewalk. Maurice confronted the driver of a truck representing the First Unitarian Church of Orlando, decked out with rainbow flags and a sign that says “love is love.”
At one point, it …

255
DefendTruth

"Cooperation to reach UN goal"

lifesitenews.com

Pope Leo calls for international cooperation to reach UN goal of 'zero hunger' - LifeSite

(LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV called for international cooperation from institutions at all levels to work to alleviate hunger around the world during a Thursday speech at the Rome headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
“Let us not fall into the trap of seeing hunger as a problem to be solved. It is much more than that, it is a cry rising to Heaven demanding an urgent response from every nation, every international organization, every local or private institution,” Leo declared in an address given primarily in Spanish.
Leo decried the fact that hundreds of millions of people around the world “go to bed without eating” and the numbers of malnourished children, attributing this suffering to systemic problems such as a “soulless economy” and an “unfair and unsustainable system of resource distribution.”
The pontiff supported the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goal of “Zero Hunger,” declaring that the world can only achieve this if “there …

263
DefendTruth

Very realistic approach....

lifesitenews.com

LifeSite launches new campaign to end surrogacy worldwide - LifeSite

(LifeSiteNews) — Hello, my friends.
Today we bring you news of a new campaign: to criminalize the trade in human life known as surrogacy.
If people knew the truth about this obscene industry, they would demand an end to it.
That’s why LifeSiteNews is using all of our resources to not only break the news about the criminal sale of babies and the reduction of mothers to battery farm animals.
This time we want to make the news. You can help us stop this global trade, which is set to be worth over $200 billion worldwide by 2034.
We are joining calls from campaigners, rights groups, from the Vatican and from pro-life groups worldwide to demand a global ban on surrogacy.
This is a business which is booming – in America and across the West. In fact, the U.S. is the world leader in international surrogacy. It has been shut down in India and Vietnam, and recent scandals showing the factory farming of women in Ukraine and the former Soviet nation of Georgia have seen international baby buyers …

268