CNA—Police are searching for a man who broke into a Catholic church in Florida on Friday and tried to burn it down. The church’s pastor in a Sept. 20 video urged prayers for the man and thanked God that the church survived the attack. Surveillance video shows a young man, shirtless and wearing a surgical…
Op.Ed, Washington Post—Sept 16, 2020—I never expected that the most basic religious freedom, the right to worship — protected so robustly in our Constitution’s First Amendment — would be unjustly repressed by an American government. But that is exactly what is happening in San Francisco. For months now, the city has limited worship services to…
WSJ—(see link below) – Taped on the wall by my desk is a photo of Jimmy Lai in handcuffs. It was taken a week ago, the day 200 Hong Kong police raided his Apple Daily newspaper and arrested him. It is my most treasured photo of Jimmy, who also happens to be my godson, having…
A Catholic congressman is asking the U.S. Attorney General to respond to a spate of acts of vandalism against churches around the country. In a letter to Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) urged the Justice Department “to protect religious freedom and combat religious discrimination in the United States.” Fleischmann cited…
CNA—The Chinese Communist Party is offering monetary rewards to those who report the presence of home churches in their communities, the magazine Bitter Winter reported on Thursday. The rewards appear to be an expansion of a program already in place in the province of Heilongjiang, reported earlier this year. In the city of Nenjiang, residents…
CNA—A Hawaiian Catholic catechist said that St. Damien of Molokai is a “hero” to the Hawaiian people, after an outspoken congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), claimed the statue honoring him in the U.S. Capitol is part of colonialism and “patriarchy and white supremacist culture.” St. Damien “gave his life” serving the isolated leper colony at Kalaupapa…
CNA—The Diocese of Rouen, France will mark the fourth anniversary of the murder of Fr. Jacques Hamel with a Mass and procession at the local church on Sunday. Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen and Archbishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort of Reims, president of the French bishops’ conference, will be present, according to local media. French Minister…
Catholic News Agency—As Hagia Sophia opened for Muslim prayers Friday, July 24, 2020, for the first time in 86 years, a leading Asian cardinal said that the decision to turn the building back into a mosque will reopen wounds and intensify divisions. In a statement sent via email July 24, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo said…
Catholic League—Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on two Supreme Court decisions handed down today: In the last week of its 2019-2020 term, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered two back-to-back victories for religious liberty; they were both 7-2 decisions. Catholic schools and agencies were the big winners. The Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that religious…
After violent mobs toppled the Saint Junipero Serra statue in San Francisco, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone performed a public exorcism on the same spot. “An act of sacrilege occurred here. That is an act of the Evil One,” the Archbishop said. He is right. Absolutely right. When a deadly COVID virus—one that now has several…
July 13, 2020—In the early morning hours Saturday, firefighters responded to a fire at the San Gabriel Mission where they found a massive blaze engulfing the roof and front entrance of the church, San Gabriel Fire Department fire captain Antonio Negrete told CNN. The church sits about 11 miles northeast of Los Angeles. When firefighters…
The CDC is over counting the number of China coronavirus cases in an apparent effort to keep the country shut down throughout the summer. This fraudulent activity was uncovered by the far-left Atlantic proving even a dead clock is right twice a day. On May 21, 2020, the Atlantic reported that the CDC was over…
After a mob tore down statues, including a figure of St. Junípero Serra statue, in a San Francisco park, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone was joined by several dozen Catholics Saturday in prayer and acts of spiritual reparation. “Evil has made itself present here. So we have gathered together to pray for God, to ask the saints…for…
Fr. Stephen Schumacher, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, was among the defenders of a prominent statue of the city’s namesake as protesters called for its removal Saturday. Umar Lee, an organizer of the protests, said June 27 that the statue “is gonna come down,” reported Joel Currier of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.…
CNA—According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, some 200 people were at the protest on Saturday. Catholics defending the statue at the protest prayed the rosary and sang, and several police officers separated them from the protesters. The Archdiocese of St. Louis on Sunday released a statement defending the city’s namesake, amid calls from activists to…
Personally, I am not a fan of “Executive Orders,” regardless of which U.S. President issues them. However, when our national historic heritage is at stake and when local police and city officials do NOTHING to stop mad mob destruction of our historic monuments, maybe I’ll make an exception, especially if a bill is also introduced…
St. Vladimir died of old age in 1015, but his modern-day statue in Canada met a much more gruesome end. The rector of Sts Volodymyr and Olga Cathedral in Winnipeg said he is “devastated” after a statue of St. Vladimir was found decapitated Tuesday. The head, along with pieces of the statue’s staff, are still…
CNA—A man has been arrested and charged with vandalism and assault after swastikas were painted on the graves of several Dominican friars and a security guard was assaulted at Catholic college on Monday evening. A statement from Fr. Brian J. Shanley, O.P., and Fr. Kenneth Sicard, O.P., the president and president-elect of Providence College, Rhode Island,…
New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo, his Attorney General Letitia James and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio are being sued by two Catholic priests from upstate New York and a trio of Orthodox Jewish congregants from Brooklyn for violation of civil rights by prejudicial orders and selective enforcement. The federal lawsuit, filed June 10,…
CNA—The governor of Delaware has amended controversial restrictions on houses of worship after a local church threatened a lawsuit. In an updated guidance released by Gov. John Carney (D) on the evening of June 2, the number of people who are allowed to gather in a house of worship was adjusted to match that of…
