With the passing of Pope Francis on Monday, people are once again asking about the centuries-old process that determines who will become the next pope. 
The method for selecting the Bishop of Rome is cloaked in ritual, secrecy, and symbolism, and this process was explored in detail by Daily Wire host Michael Knowles in a recent video, “How To Become The Pope.”
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The death of Pope Francis has triggered what is known as the sede vacante, Latin for “the seat being vacant.” 
As tradition dictates, the Catholic Church will now observe a period of nine days of mourning, which includes flying Vatican flags at half-staff and closing the bronze doors of St. Peter&#8217;s Basilica. The cardinals will decide on the date for Pope Francis&#8217;s funeral, usually within four to six days after a pope&#8217;s death.
Pope Francis recently <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/pope-francis-funeral-details-jorge-mario-bergoglio-vatican-2034684">changed protocol</a> for his funeral and burial. Instead of being interred in the crypt beneath St. Peter&#8217;s Basilica, Francis requested to be laid to rest with minimal pageantry at Rome&#8217;s Basilica of St. Mary Major in a simple wooden casket.
After the funeral, the College of Cardinals, made up of senior church leaders under the age of 80, is summoned to Rome to elect Francis’ successor. As Knowles states in his video, there are currently 138 cardinals eligible to elect the next pope.  
This process is done in a conclave, or a highly secretive gathering held within the Sistine Chapel, as Knowles explained. All participating cardinals are locked inside without access to the outside world until they can come to a decision. Voting takes place up to four times a day, and a two-thirds majority is required to elect a new pontiff.
Ballots are burned after each round of voting. Special chemicals are added to produce black smoke for an undecided vote or white smoke for an agreement, meaning a new Pope has been chosen. The watch for white smoke to emerge from a special stove in the Sistine Chapel is followed by millions of faithful Catholics and interested bystanders around the world. 
Historically, political and regional factors have influenced who was chosen as pope. Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is from Argentina. That made him the first pope from Latin America and the first pope from the Western Hemisphere after more than 1,200 years of popes of European descent. He was also the first Jesuit pope and has been criticized in recent years for his stance on social issues such as immigration.  
Any baptized male Catholic is technically eligible to become pope, but in the past, only cardinals have been seriously considered for the position.
The election of a new pope is more than just a religious event. It is a process that sets the direction of the growing Catholic Church, which currently has 1.4 billion members, and the beginning of a new chapter for Catholicism on the global stage.

cardinal

How Will The Next Pope Be Chosen? Inside The Ancient Ritual Of The Catholic Church

Catholic

Catholic Church

Pope Francis

Religion

World

Pope Francis has died at 88, and speculation is already swirling around who will become the next pontiff to lead the Catholic Church.
Francis <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pope-francis-dies-at-the-age-of-88?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Hank+Berrien&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Pope+Francis+Dies+At+The+Age+Of+88">died in the early hours</a> of April 21, the day after Easter. He had been hospitalized in Rome recently and was diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs, but in recent days he had appeared in public. Francis was elected pope in March 2013 after Pope Benedict XVI made the unexpected decision to step down from the chair of Saint Peter, becoming the first pope to resign in nearly 600 years.
Francis&#8217; papacy often adopted a progressive tone, with the pope recently <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/cna/pope-francis-vance-clash-over-ordo-amoris" target="_blank" rel="noopener">making</a> headlines for criticizing Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic, and the Trump administration&#8217;s “program of mass deportations.”
However, Francis also upheld Catholic doctrine on <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/pope-doubles-down-on-abortion-in-new-years-day-message-calls-for-commitment-to-protect-life#:~:text=ROME%20(AP)%20—%20Pope%20Francis,from%20conception%20to%20natural%20death." target="_blank" rel="noopener">abortion</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pope-says-blessings-for-individuals-in-same-sex-relationships-cannot-resemble-marriage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gay marriage</a>, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/vatican-clarifies-opposition-to-radical-gender-theory-says-it-threatens-a-persons-unique-dignity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gender ideology</a>, although critics have complained that his wording in statements on these issues is sometimes confusing. Last year, Francis <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dntdUwbIaIA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was</a> firm with an interviewer that women would not be ordained priests.
Several cardinals are considered potential successors to Francis — here are just a few.
Cardinal Raymond Burke, 76, is one of the few potential successors from the United States.
From Wisconsin, Burke has been outspoken in his criticism of the Church&#8217;s more liberal language under Francis, and he has strongly supported the Latin Mass, the older form of the Mass that is popular with many conservative Catholics. Burke has also said that Catholic politicians who support legal abortion, like former President Joe Biden, should not receive the Eucharist.
WATCH: MICHAEL KNOWLES EXPLAINS HOW THE NEXT POPE WILL BE CHOSEN
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Cardinal Pietro Parolin, 70, has served as the Vatican&#8217;s Secretary of State for nearly all of Francis&#8217; papacy. The Italian cardinal has been in the Holy See&#8217;s diplomatic service since 1986, when he was in his early 30s.
Considered a political moderate, Parolin has played a role in many political issues, including moderating 2014 talks between Cuban and American officials, asking the United States to find an &#8220;adequate humanitarian solution&#8221; for Guantanamo Bay prisoners, and urging countries to implement the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, 65, of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has made headlines for his conservative stances. His papacy would be considered a referendum on Francis&#8217; more progressive one.
However, Besungu also <a href="https://thecatholicherald.com/papabili-the-cardinals-who-have-seen-their-prospects-in-the-next-conclave-harmed-and-improved-by-recent-news-events/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">brought</a> critics and supporters of Francis together when he led African bishops in rejecting Francis&#8217; document explaining that people in same-sex relationships can be blessed, but did so with Francis&#8217; explicit blessing, which he got during an emergency trip to Rome.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, 67, has been <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20151124125431/http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2015/01/15/manila-cardinal-luis-tagle-the-asian-pope-francis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> the &#8220;Asian Pope Francis&#8221; and would likely continue Francis&#8217; more left-leaning stances.
He has defended the Church&#8217;s teachings on abortion and contraception, but he has also criticized the Church for using &#8220;harsh words&#8221; for LGBT people and divorced and remarried Catholics.
Cardinal Wim Eijk, 71, is also considered a conservative potential successor.
The former medical doctor from the Netherlands has been a sharp critic of Francis. He is one of the authors of a 2015 document opposing the pope&#8217;s approval of civil remarriages among people who have not received an annulment, <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/02/18/world-news/who-are-the-frontrunners-to-be-elected-next-pontiff-after-pope-francis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">calling</a> them “a form of structured and institutionalized adultery.”
Eijk also <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/blog/cardinal-eijk-pope-francis-needed-to-give-clarity-on-intercommunion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criticized</a> Francis for giving what he called a “completely incomprehensible” response to a German Bishops&#8217; Conference proposal on allowing Protestants to receive the Eucharist.
Cardinal Peter Erdö, 72, is a Hungarian cardinal who is a devout Marian as well as a former president of the Council of Bishops Conferences of Europe.
He has expressed conservative views, including staunchly opposing allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive communion. In 2015 during the European migrant crisis, he said the Church would not <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/05/us-europe-migrants-hungary-divide-idUSKCN0R50F120150905/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">take</a> in refugees because it would be akin to human trafficking.

Pope Francis attends his weekly general audience

Who Could Become Pontiff After Pope Francis?

Catholicism

Rome

The Vatican

Vatican

The leader of the Satanic Grotto was led away in handcuffs at the Kansas Statehouse Friday morning after he scuffled with a protester who objected to his &#8220;black mass&#8221; ceremony there.
Michael Stewart, president of the Satanic Grotto, was tackled to the ground by police officers in the rotunda of the Kansas State Capitol in Topeka as he attempted to hold the &#8220;black mass&#8221; ceremony.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨BREAKING: The leader of the Satanic Grotto gets arrested at Kansas State Capitol for assaulting a Catholic during a &quot;Black Mass&quot; attempt. <a href="https://t.co/oo55sxO0SN">pic.twitter.com/oo55sxO0SN</a>
&mdash; CatholicVote (@CatholicVote) <a href="https://twitter.com/CatholicVote/status/1905673783416934437?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Just before his arrest, Stewart appeared to repeatedly punch a protester who came up to him and tried to grab something out of his hand that he was holding above his head as he called out to Satan.
He told officers he was not resisting arrest as he was handcuffed.
“Hail Satan! I dedicate this building to Satan!” Stewart could be heard shouting as he was led away.
Onlookers could be heard praying a &#8220;Hail Mary&#8221; as Stewart was led away.
The Satanic Grotto previously said Friday&#8217;s “black mass” event would “dedicate the grounds and our legislature to the glory of Satan.”
“God will fall and Kansas will be embraced by the black flame of Lucifer,” the group <a href="https://www.kwch.com/2025/03/12/gov-kelly-responds-plans-black-mass-event-kansas-statehouse/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
“I will be performing that black mass in our State Capitol,” Satanic Grotto President Michael Stewart previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kansas-gov-not-doing-enough-to-stop-satanists-from-performing-black-mass-at-capitol-critics-say">told</a> The Daily Wire. “If they have to arrest me, then they have to arrest me.”
A “black mass” is an explicit parody of the Catholic Mass that may use consecrated hosts, which Catholics believe to be the physical body, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ.
“We have wafers,” Stewart said previously. “I don’t want to comment on whether they’re consecrated or not because that would ruin the mystery.”
Alarmed critics warned the controversial event is wildly offensive to Catholics and could be disruptive.
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly had warned the Satanic Grotto president to move his event outside, saying “no protests will be allowed inside the Statehouse” on that day.
As Stewart entered the statehouse building, an officer <a href="https://www.ksnt.com/capitol-bureau/satanic-grotto-leader-take-away-in-handcuffs-at-the-kansas-statehouse/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> him he was welcome to be inside, but that he would be arrested if he tried to hold an event or cause a disruption.
Earlier in the morning, police also apprehended a man who <a href="https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/politics/government/2025/03/28/christians-and-satanists-hold-competing-rallies-at-kansas-statehouse/82704649007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tackled</a> Stewart and grabbed a communion wafer from him as he held the &#8220;black mass&#8221; on the steps of the Capitol building. Later, Stewart ventured inside.
The hundreds of Catholic and Christian protesters who showed up Friday morning to rally outside the Kansas Statehouse far <a href="https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/politics/government/2025/03/28/christians-and-satanists-hold-competing-rallies-at-kansas-statehouse/82704649007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">outnumbered</a> the few dozen Satanists who held their own rally. Many officers with the Kansas Highway Patrol and Capitol Police were present as well.
Catholics also held masses at two nearby churches, one across the street and another a few blocks away.
It is not yet clear what, if any, charges Stewart will face.
The Satanic Grotto president has previously shown up outside Planned Parenthood and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thesatanicgrotto/reel/ChNz3tYJNSL/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">performed</a> lewd gestures to pro-life protesters outside.

US-NEWS-SATANIST-LEADER-ARRESTED-AFTER-PHYSICAL-1-KC

Satanist Arrested After Punching Protester At Black Mass In Kansas Statehouse

Kansas

satanic

U.S.

A prominent Catholic group is urging Kansas Governor Laura Kelly to stop a Satanist group from performing a &#8220;black mass&#8221; at the Statehouse.
The Satanic Grotto is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kansas-gov-not-doing-enough-to-stop-satanists-from-performing-black-mass-at-capitol-critics-say" target="_blank" rel="noopener">planning</a> to hold a &#8220;black mass&#8221; on March 28 at the Kansas State Capitol in Topeka, causing alarm among critics who warned the controversial event is wildly offensive to Catholics and could be disruptive.
CatholicVote, one of the country’s largest Catholic advocacy groups, sent a letter to Kelly, a Democrat, on Wednesday urging her to prevent any religious desecration at the capitol building.
&#8220;While we recognize the constitutional protections for speech and expression, we also trust that your office understands the importance of maintaining law, order, and the integrity of government property against any attempts to disrupt its normal function,&#8221; wrote Logan Church, CatholicVote&#8217;s director of political operations in her letter to Kelly, which was provided to The Daily Wire.
The Satanic Grotto said the &#8220;black mass&#8221; event will &#8220;dedicate the grounds and our legislature to the glory of Satan.&#8221;
&#8220;God will fall and Kansas will be embraced by the black flame of Lucifer,&#8221; the group <a href="https://www.kwch.com/2025/03/12/gov-kelly-responds-plans-black-mass-event-kansas-statehouse/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
“I will be performing that black mass in our State Capitol,” Satanic Grotto President Michael Stewart previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kansas-gov-not-doing-enough-to-stop-satanists-from-performing-black-mass-at-capitol-critics-say">told</a> The Daily Wire. “If they have to arrest me, then they have to arrest me.”
A &#8220;black mass&#8221; is an explicit parody of the Catholic Mass that may use consecrated hosts, which Catholics believe to be the physical body, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ.
“We have wafers,” Stewart said. “I don’t want to comment on whether they’re consecrated or not because that would ruin the mystery.”
CatholicVote said the &#8220;black mass&#8221; event &#8220;clearly violates building policies and established protocols&#8221; and is an &#8220;unauthorized use of the Statehouse.&#8221;
The group said it is &#8220;deeply concerned&#8221; about potential &#8220;illegal entry and disorder&#8221; at the capitol building and urged the governor to strictly enforce the policies governing the use of the capitol building
&#8220;The Statehouse belongs to the people, of all religious beliefs, and cannot be used for religious desecration,&#8221; the group wrote. &#8220;If Stewart or his group attempts to trespass or disrupt the Capitol’s function, law enforcement should be fully prepared to respond appropriately, including arrests if necessary,&#8221; CatholicVote wrote.
The group called on the governor to make sure security limits entry to those with official business and is prepared to prevent safety threats to members of the public, &#8220;including those peacefully praying outside.&#8221;
&#8220;The Kansas Capitol symbolizes law, order, and the values of the people it represents. Allowing a group that openly declares its intent to violate regulations and perform a blasphemous act inside a state building would set a dangerous precedent,&#8221; CatholicVote said.
Kelly has said that all events for March 28 will be moved outdoors, and &#8220;no protests will be allowed inside the Statehouse&#8221; on that day.
&#8220;Respect for constitutional rights must always be balanced with a commitment to preserving order, safety, and the integrity of public institutions,&#8221; Church said in a statement to The Daily Wire.
&#8220;When an individual or group openly challenges the laws that govern public spaces, it is not only a matter of policy enforcement, but of protecting the values that hold our community together,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Christians everywhere should unite, standing firm against such blasphemous actions from all angles — through peaceful protest, public dialogue, and unwavering support for the sanctity of our shared values.&#8221;
Stewart, the Satanic Grotto president has previously shown up outside Planned Parenthood and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thesatanicgrotto/reel/ChNz3tYJNSL/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">performed</a> lewd gestures to pro-life protesters outside.

US-CONVENTION-SATAN

EXCLUSIVE: Catholic Group Urges Kansas Governor To Block Satanic Black Mass At Capitol

Catholic Group Urges Kansas Governor To Block Satanic Black Mass At Capitol

This is the first part of an edited <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/michael-knowles-live-at-yaf-ordo-amoris-the-hierarchy-of-political-love">speech</a>, titled “‘Ordo Amoris’: The Hierarchy of Political Love,” delivered by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-michael-knowles-show">Michael Knowles</a> at the YAF Freedom Conference in San Diego, California.
* * *
It’s always nice to be in San Diego. I feel even better about it now that we have a functioning southern border again. We’re less than 20 miles from Tijuana. But since January 20, our odds of running into face-tattooed foreign gangsters in the Gaslamp Quarter has dropped precipitously. 
The ones who are still here are most likely in hiding right now. They know that at any moment, Tom Homan might leap out from behind a corner with a big butterfly net and drag them all back to Mexico. This is a happy turn of events. But some on the Left seem not to realize it. Some of the Left argue — and even some on the squishy Right argue — that rounding up and deporting even the very worst illegal aliens in our country is somehow anti-American.
Now, whatever you think about mass deportations, it’s silly to argue that it’s anti-American. Deporting people is a tried-and-true American tradition, whether we’re talking about Indian Removal in 1830; the Palmer Raids in 1919 and 1920, which deported foreign communists; deportation of Japanese nationals after Pearl Harbor; Operation Wetback in 1954, which deported well over a million people in a single year; the deportation of Haitians and Cubans who had arrived during the Mariel boatlift in 1980; or any other number of deportations. 
One can argue over the necessity or prudence of those various deportations, most of which, ironically, were carried out by prominent Democrat presidents. But no one can argue that deportations aren’t American. As a simple matter of history, mass deportations are as American as apple pie.
The “anti-American” charge vanquished, opponents of immigration enforcement will next argue that deportations are somehow “un-Christian.” This claim is contradicted by the plain text of scripture. Deportations or worse — usually worse — are frequently carried out with approval in the Bible. Just ask the Canaanites. (Or the Amorites. Or the Hittites. Or the Perizzites, the Hivites, or the Jebusites.)
Now, in fairness, scripture also instructs us not to oppress or mistreat foreigners who live in our lands. “Thou shalt not molest a stranger, nor afflict him: for yourselves also were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exodus <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2022%3A21&amp;version=DRA">22:21</a>). Quite right. But what exactly does it mean not to “molest” or “afflict” the stranger? We are not left idly to wonder. Scripture tells us.
Just 10 chapters prior in the Book of Exodus, we read, “There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you” (Exodus <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2012%3A%2049&amp;version=ESV" target="_blank" rel="noopener">12:49</a>). Further, in Deuteronomy, we read, “Cursed be he who perverts the justice due to the sojourner” (Deuteronomy <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2027%3A19&amp;version=RSV" target="_blank" rel="noopener">27:19</a>). To hear the open borders crowd tell it, it’s the enforcement of the law which oppresses the foreigner. But scripture says the opposite. 
Scripture tells us that it’s lawlessness which oppresses the foreigner. The injunction not to oppress the foreigner does not run contrary to justice; rather, it is bound up in the execution of justice. God demands that the civil authority give the foreigner his due; He doesn’t demand that it give him more than his due. He tells us that there must be one law common to native and foreigner alike; he does not insist that foreigners be given a more lenient law, that foreigners be given special privileges over and above those afforded to citizens. Civil authorities must give appropriate care to foreigners, but they have to care for their own citizens too.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-michael-knowles-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show</a></h3>
So how do we determine the right balance between hospitality to foreigners and the enforcement of justice owed to citizens and foreigners alike?
Our Vice President JD Vance took a stab at that question on TV, and his answer sparked a national debate. Vice President Vance <a href="https://www.standingforfreedom.com/2025/02/full-time-vice-president-part-time-public-theologian/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, “There’s this old school — and I think a very Christian concept, by the way — that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and your own country, and then after that you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world.” 
It’s a simple enough concept. Let’s say you’re walking by a public pool, and you see a random little kid drowning. Any decent person would immediately jump in to save the kid. (That actually happened to my father a few years ago at his apartment complex. He saw the kid, he jumped in, and he pulled him out of the water.) Everyone applauds. You’re a hero.
Now imagine you’re walking past the same pool — it’s a very large pool — and you see two kids drowning, each at a different end. One of the toddlers is that same random kid and the other is your own son. You, being a decent person, want to save both. But you help your own son first. In fact, if you did not — if you were to ignore the cries of your son and go to help the other boy first — everyone would not applaud when you climbed out of the pool. You would not be a hero. You would have made a moral error. Because you, as a father, have a greater responsibility to your own son than you do to someone else’s son.
This is common sense. But is it Christian? Immediately after Vance made those remarks, a former U.K. government minister and current Yale professor, Rory Stewart, said no. He <a href="https://x.com/RoryStewartUK/status/1884952501197078922" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>, “A bizarre take on John <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2015%3A12-13&amp;version=ESV" target="_blank" rel="noopener">15:12-13</a>”— which is “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” “Less Christian,” Stewart wrote, “and more pagan tribal. We should start worrying when politicians become theologians, assume to speak for Jesus, and tell us in which order to love.” 
This comment was ironic, of course, because Rory Stewart is also a politician presuming to speak for Our Lord, albeit with far less knowledge and seriousness than JD Vance. Vance shot back. He <a href="https://x.com/JDVance/status/1885073046400012538?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>, “Just google ‘ordo amoris,’” which means “order of love,” a concept developed most notably by Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Just a quick pause for a moment. Can we just take a moment to appreciate how beautiful it is that we have a vice president lecturing leftists on moral philosophy in Latin? I knew the second Trump administration was going to be good. I had high hopes. But even I did not have “vice president explicating scholastic philosophy in Latin” hopes. I remember in 2016 when many on the Right yelled at me for supporting Trump on the grounds that he wasn’t a “true conservative.” Now his vice president is invoking Saint Thomas Aquinas in Latin on X. How much more conservative do you want him to get?
But I digress. At this point in the conversation, after Vance had dunked on the U.K. politician-turned-Yale professor, another Yale figure — James Surowiecki, editor of The Yale Review — decided to chime in <a href="https://x.com/JamesSurowiecki/status/1885302779058557080" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to claim</a> that “ordo amoris is not in the Gospels.” He claimed, “It’s an essentially Aristotelian concept that Aquinas, cleverly if unconvincingly, imported into Catholic theology.” 
Now, up until this point, I was aware that very few people presently associated with Yale had even a passing familiarity with the Bible. But with that comment it became clear that these Yale luminaries don’t even know their Aristotle! What is going on in New Haven? This is embarrassing.
The ordo amoris — or the ordo caritatis, as Saint Thomas would call it — is not “essentially Aristotelian,” and Saint Thomas — among the clearest thinkers who ever lived — did not import that or any other concept “unconvincingly” into Catholic theology. Aristotle touches on the concept broadly in Book IV of “Nicomachean Ethics,” where he writes that “the liberal man” — liberal in this case meaning “generous” — “like other virtuous men, will give for the sake of the noble, and rightly; for he will give to the right people, the right amounts, and at the right time, with all the other qualifications that accompany right giving.”
Early Christian writers, notably Saints Augustine, Gregory the Great, and Bernard of Clairvaux, also discuss this order of charity, all before Saint Thomas, who brings the concept to its fullest expression in the “Summa Theologiae,” Secunda Secundae, Question 26, where he <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/summa/3026.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writes</a>, “There must needs be some order in things loved out of charity, which order is in reference to the first principle of that love, which is God.”
So, we are obligated as a matter of reason to love God before ourselves, then to love ourselves before our neighbors, then to love our neighbors more than our own bodies, then to love those neighbors nearer to us more than those further away from us, then to love those connected to us by ties of blood more than others, and so on.

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The Hierarchy Of Love: Balancing Hospitality And Justice

Bible

Christianity

Illegal Immigration

JD Vance

Michael Knowles

San Diego

Vice President JD Vance will address the 20th annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast on Friday in Washington, D.C., The Daily Wire has learned.
Vance, a Catholic convert who speaks openly about his faith, will deliver remarks at the D.C. Convention Center. The vice president has attended the event as a guest in the past as a United States senator, but this will mark the first time he attends as vice president.
“I am honored to be able to address the 20th annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast and represent the Trump administration’s support for people of faith across the United States,&#8221; Vance told The Daily Wire. &#8220;Last year, I was moved to witness the joyful devotion of over a thousand Catholics praying for the future and success of our country. Thanks to their faithful prayers, President Trump’s leadership has restored the hopes and dreams of the American people and our great nation is on the path to peace and prosperity once more.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence spoke at the prayer breakfast in 2017, shortly after President Donald Trump took office. Some of the event&#8217;s past speakers include former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Cardinal Robert Sarah, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Cardinal Sean O&#8217;Malley, the late Justice Antonin Scalia, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and former President George Bush.
<div id="attachment_881813" style="width: 849px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-vice-president-vance-to-address-national-catholic-prayer-breakfast-in-d-c/bush-speaks-at-national-catholic-prayer-breakfast" rel="attachment wp-att-881813"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-881813" class="wp-image-881813 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-57273413-839x576.jpg" alt="" width="839" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-57273413-839x576.jpg 839w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-57273413-300x206.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-57273413-768x527.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-57273413-1536x1055.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-57273413-2048x1406.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 839px) 100vw, 839px" /></a>Mother Assumpta Long, President George W. Bush, and National Catholic Breakfast President Joseph Cella in 2006.</div>
Congressman Chris Smith will be awarded the “Christifideles Laici Award,&#8221; The Daily Wire has learned, an award created by the NCPB in 2019 to highlight the good works of Catholics in public life. The award builds off former Pope John Paul II&#8217;s instruction to “spread the Gospel in ways that are new in ardor, methods and expression,&#8221; as well as his charge that Catholics “to stir and promote a deeper awareness among all the faithful of the gift and responsibility they share, both as a group and as individuals, in the communion and mission of the Church.”
The NCPB is advertising a theme of &#8220;hope&#8221; for this year&#8217;s breakfast, describing the sentiment of millions of Catholics across the United States heading into this new administration.
The breakfast also comes as Pope Francis remains in critical condition in a hospital in Rome, giving rise to serious questions about the Holy Father&#8217;s health and the future of the Catholic Church.

Key Speakers At Day One Of The Conservative Political Action Conference

EXCLUSIVE: Vice President Vance To Address National Catholic Prayer Breakfast In D.C.

Washington D.C.

The National Catholic Prayer Breakfast (NCPB) will partner with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/god-is-doing-something-pretty-incredible-catholic-app-passes-up-google-tiktok-on-ash-wednesday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hallow</a>, a popular Catholic meditation and prayer app, to lead a nationwide, 9-day novena ahead of its event, NCPB exclusively shared with The Daily Wire.
The 20th annual NCPB will be held in Washington, D.C., on February 28, about a month into the new presidential administration&#8217;s term. The breakfast is expected to draw around 1,200 of the nation&#8217;s most prominent Catholics to pray for the leadership and direction of the country.
The novena, which is a Catholic nine-day period of prayer for special petitions, is called &#8220;A Prayer for Our Nation.&#8221; It will be featured on Hallow starting on February 20, running through the day of the prayer breakfast, which will be held at the Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
“We are proud to partner with Hallow, and to join millions of Catholics across America in praying for our great nation,&#8221; NCPB Event Chairman Mark Randall said in a statement to The Daily Wire. &#8220;I hope our humble commitment to this novena will strengthen, unify and guide us as we prepare for the 20th National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.”
Hallow CEO Alex Jones called it &#8220;an honor&#8221; to partner with the NCPB &#8220;to pray for our country, our leaders, the armed forces and their families, and all our fellow citizens.&#8221;
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&#8220;In a world filled with so much division, it’s a blessing to stand together as brothers and sisters in Christ,&#8221; Jones added. &#8220;Join us in praying the Litany of American Saints on Hallow in the days leading up to the event. Immaculate Mary, pray for us.”
Monsignor James P. Shea, President of the University of Mary, will keynote the prayer breakfast. His remarks will touch on the impact of the NCPB over the last two decades and the event&#8217;s theme, which is hope.
Hallow, as highlighted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-couple-more-people-in-heaven-would-be-nice-hallow-ceo-talks-success-of-catholic-app-rise-of-faith-based-content" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a>, was first launched in 2018 by Jones and fellow University of Notre Dame graduates Alessandro DiSanto and Erich Kerekes. The app has rocketed in popularity, garnering more than 23 million downloads across 150 countries.
During a previous interview with The Daily Wire, Jones was asked how he and his team would measure the app&#8217;s success, and he responded, “A couple more people in Heaven would be nice.”
“Maybe a couple more people who are in that really dark spot, who might be lost, who might feel like they’re all alone — maybe a couple of those people might experience the warmth of God’s love,” Jones added. “So it’s that for us, that’s really what we’re focused on.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-couple-more-people-in-heaven-would-be-nice-hallow-ceo-talks-success-of-catholic-app-rise-of-faith-based-content" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘A Couple More People In Heaven Would Be Nice’: Hallow CEO Talks Success Of Catholic App, Rise Of Faith-Based Content</a>

USA, New Jersey, Woman praying with rosary beads in hands

EXCLUSIVE: Hallow Partners With National Catholic Prayer Breakfast To Pray ‘For Our Great Nation’

Exclusive: Hallow Partners With National Catholic Prayer Breakfast To Pray ‘For Our Great Nation’

Catholics

Prayer

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at protecting the religious freedoms of Americans and ending the &#8220;anti-Christian weaponization of government.&#8221;
Trump signed executive action, titled &#8220;Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias,&#8221; on Thursday afternoon after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-executive-order-will-establish-task-force-to-end-anti-christian-government-activities">speaking</a> at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. The order condemns the Biden administration for its &#8220;egregious pattern of targeting peaceful Christians, while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses.&#8221;
&#8220;The Biden Department of Justice sought to squelch faith in the public square by bringing Federal criminal charges and obtaining in numerous cases multi-year prison sentences against nearly two dozen peaceful pro-life Christians for praying and demonstrating outside abortion facilities,&#8221; Trump&#8217;s order <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/eradicating-anti-christian-bias/">states</a>.
It continues: &#8220;Those convicted included a Catholic priest and 75-year-old grandmother, as well as an 87-year-old woman and a father of 11 children who were arrested 18 months after praying and singing hymns outside an abortion facility in Tennessee as a part of a politically motivated prosecution campaign by the Biden Administration.  I rectified this injustice on January 23, 2025, by issuing pardons in these cases.&#8221;
Trump also highlights that at the same time, the Biden Justice Department ignored a slew of crimes against religious Americans. Since the leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion indicating that Roe v. Wade would be overturned, there <a href="https://catholicvote.org/tracker-church-attacks/">have been 319 attacks</a> on Catholic Churches throughout the United States and 96 <a href="https://catholicvote.org/pregnancy-center-attack-tracker/">attacks on pregnancy centers</a>.
<div id="attachment_872811" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-pushes-deadline-for-trumps-government-buyout-proposal/us-politics-trump-142" rel="attachment wp-att-872811"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-872811" class="wp-image-872811 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2196911571-1-864x576.jpg" alt="US President Donald Trump speaks to the press upon arrival at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on February 2, 2025, as he returns to the White House from Florida. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (P" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2196911571-1-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2196911571-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2196911571-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2196911571-1.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Credit: Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images.</div>
&#8220;At the same time, Catholic churches, charities, and pro-life centers sought justice for violence, theft, and arson perpetrated against them, which the Biden Department of Justice largely ignored,&#8221; the order states. &#8220;After more than 100 attacks, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning this violence and calling on the Biden Administration to enforce the law.&#8221;
It also mentions the FBI&#8217;s 2023 memo targeting traditional Catholics, the Biden Education Department&#8217;s attempts at repealing religious-liberty protections for faith-based organizations on college campuses, the Biden HHS&#8217;s attempts to drive Christians away from the foster-care system if they wouldn&#8217;t affirm gender ideology in children, and the Biden administration&#8217;s declaration that Easter Sunday was &#8220;Transgender Day of Visibility.&#8221;
&#8220;In this atmosphere of anti-Christian government, hostility and vandalism against Christian churches and places of worship surged, with the number of such identified acts in 2023 exceeding by more than eight times the number from 2018,&#8221; the order states. &#8220;Catholic churches and institutions have been aggressively targeted with hundreds of acts of hostility, violence, and vandalism.&#8221;
&#8220;My Administration will not tolerate anti-Christian weaponization of government or unlawful conduct targeting Christians,&#8221; Trump&#8217;s order adds. &#8220;The law protects the freedom of Americans and groups of Americans to practice their faith in peace, and my Administration will enforce the law and protect these freedoms.  My Administration will ensure that any unlawful and improper conduct, policies, or practices that target Christians are identified, terminated, and rectified.&#8221;
The order creates a &#8220;Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias,&#8221; to be helmed by Attorney General Pam Bondi, which will guard against future injustices and protect religious Americans in the practice of the free expression of their faith.

President Trump Signs Executive Orders On Aviation Safety

‘Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias’: Trump Signs Executive Action Ending Targeting Of Christians

Christian

Donald Trump

Joe Biden

President Donald Trump will sign an executive order today establishing a task force focused on ending the weaponization of the government against Christians, the president announced Thursday morning.
Attorney General Pam Bondi will chair the &#8220;Task Force to End the War on Christians,&#8221; according to a fact sheet on the executive order shared with The Daily Wire. It will also be made up of members of Trump&#8217;s cabinet and government agencies. It will review the activities of all agencies and departments, find any anti-Christian policies and practices, and eliminate them.
&#8220;To confront such weaponization and religious persecution, today I&#8217;m signing an executive order to make our attorney general &#8230; the head of a task force, brand new, to eradicate anti-Christian bias,&#8221; Trump announced at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday morning. &#8220;About time right? Anti-Christian bias.&#8221;
The task force will also address any gaps in laws and their enforcement that might have contributed to anti-Christian measures — including failure by authorities to enforce laws that prohibit anti-Christian violence or vandalism. And it will offer recommendations for more presidential or legislative actions to protect American religious liberty or fix past wrongs to Christians.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
🚨 President Trump announces that he will be signing an Executive Order to make Attorney General Pam Bondi the head of a task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias. <a href="https://t.co/IaxhAGuDBZ">pic.twitter.com/IaxhAGuDBZ</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1887515069329637487?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
The White House fact sheet stresses that the Biden administration aggressively targeted peaceful Christians while ignoring anti-Christian violence and offenses.
This includes the Biden Justice Department bringing felony charges and multi-year prison sentences against almost two dozen pro-life Christians who prayed and peacefully demonstrated outside abortion clinics, while ignoring the hundreds of pro-abortion attacks on Catholic churches, charities, and pro-life centers.
Since the leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion indicating that Roe v. Wade would soon be overturned, there <a href="https://catholicvote.org/tracker-church-attacks/">have been 318 attacks</a> on Catholic Churches throughout the United States and 96 <a href="https://catholicvote.org/pregnancy-center-attack-tracker/">attacks on pregnancy centers</a>, many of them by pro-abortion vandals who spray paint messages such as &#8220;If abortions aren&#8217;t safe than neither are you.&#8221;
The Biden Justice Department&#8217;s focus on Christians also includes the 2023 FBI memo suggesting infiltration of Catholic churches as &#8220;threat mitigation&#8221; to surveil traditional Catholics, the White House fact sheet notes.
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/they-should-not-have-been-prosecuted-trump-pardons-23-pro-lifers-targeted-by-biden-doj">pardoned 23 of the pro-life activists</a> targeted by the Biden Justice Department on his fourth day in office.
“They should not have been prosecuted,” Trump said as he signed the order. “Many of them are elderly people. They should not have been prosecuted. This is a great honor to sign this.”
One of those activists was present Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast, which Trump noted in his remarks. &#8220;You enjoy your life,&#8221; he joked to the elderly pro-life activist.

President Trump Attends National Prayer Breakfast On Capitol Hill

Trump Executive Order Will Establish Task Force To End Anti-Christian Government Activities

Pam Bondi

As left-leaning Catholic clergy criticize President Donald Trump&#8217;s border policies, a church leader from just outside the nation&#8217;s capital is stressing that the religion certainly would support a &#8220;common sense&#8221; approach to immigration.
Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington, located right across the river from Washington, D.C., issued a statement reminding the public that the Catholic Church does not support open borders but rather &#8220;a common sense approach where the duty to care for the stranger is practiced in harmony with the duty to care for the nation.&#8221;
Burbidge&#8217;s statement came as Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/deportation-schism-why-leftist-catholics-are-at-odds-with-churchs-long-standing-view-on-immigration">suggested</a> that some of the Trump administration&#8217;s policies on immigration &#8220;are deeply troubling and will have negative consequences,&#8221; prompting Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, to describe himself as “heartbroken” by the USCCB’s response to the efforts to stem the border crisis.
Burbidge&#8217;s statement draws on Catholic teaching on the importance of sheltering migrants, emphasizing in his statement that &#8220;the Church teaches, as does our Constitution, that a political community exists to protect the family and human dignity. We always defend and protect the most vulnerable, even as we defend the rights and duties of nations to govern themselves and to safeguard the common good.&#8221;
But he also pointed out the two-fold premise that this rests on: &#8220;to uphold human dignity and the common good.&#8221;
&#8220;As principles of Catholic social teaching, human dignity and the common good must not be brought into conflict,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;As Catholics, we understand the common good as inclusive of the individual good of each and every member of society. We also understand that the rule of law is to defend and promote the common good. For this reason, I have confidence that comprehensive immigration reform need not harm the dignity of any person. Even when immigration reform includes repatriation of those persons who have committed violent crimes, or who otherwise violate the terms of a right to remain, human dignity can be respected. We must not presume a conflict between human dignity and the rule of law.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/deportation-schism-why-leftist-catholics-are-at-odds-with-churchs-long-standing-view-on-immigration">READ MORE: Why Leftist Catholics Are At Odds With Church’s Long-Standing View On Immigration</a>
Burbidge acknowledged that there are many immigrants in the Diocese of Arlington who &#8220;contribute so much to our Church and to our country,&#8221; immigrants from countries including Afghanistan, Cameroon, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Mexico, Gambia, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, Vietnam, and Venezuela who have &#8220;enriched our diocese with their great faith, their devotion to our Lord, their families, and their service to Christ’s Church.&#8221;
He specifically asked those responsible for law enforcement not to enter &#8220;our sacred spaces,&#8221; meaning churches, unless &#8220;absolutely and unequivocally necessary to ensure the safety of all persons.&#8221;
Significantly, Burbidge also emphasized that &#8220;as a consequence of our respect for the common good, the Church has always shown the greatest concern for all that is right and just.&#8221;
&#8220;We implore all leaders to strive to keep our nation safe for the sake of thriving and healthy families, including migrant families,&#8221; Burbidge wrote. &#8220;Sadly, some of those who have entered our country, legally or illegally, have committed serious crimes. There must be consequences for such behavior, as there is no place for violence, trafficking, or gang activity in our society. Our laws exist to safeguard the good of all, and they must be respected.&#8221;
&#8220;We therefore also recognize all those law enforcement officers, including many immigrants and children of immigrants, who work diligently to uphold our laws and protect our communities, often at great risk to themselves,&#8221; Burbidge continued. &#8220;They deserve and receive our prayers. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church emphasizes, Catholic teaching does not support an open border policy, but rather emphasizes a common sense approach where the duty to care for the stranger is practiced in harmony with the duty to care for the nation.&#8221;
Burbidge encouraged Trump and congressional leaders to &#8220;develop a national immigration policy that reflects the Catholic commitment to human dignity and the common good.&#8221;
&#8220;Americans earnestly look to our elected officials for a humane and peaceful immigration policy that is just, compassionate, and restores confidence in the rule of law,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;American law must always include pathways for legal entry and as citizens we should always celebrate the contributions of immigrants, ensure the protection of the vulnerable, and uphold the common good which is the condition for ordered liberty and public safety.&#8221;
Burbidge&#8217;s nuanced approach to the topic may draw fire from more left-leaning clergy. The Catholic view on illegal immigration is a topic that politicians on both sides of the aisle have long struggled with. But over the past century, leaders of the Church have frequently pointed out that migration cannot be unrestricted, and must be handled with prudence.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church specifically notes that “more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find his country of origin.” But it also states that “immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.”
And while figures like the new Archbishop of D.C., Cardinal McElroy, have said that &#8220;indiscriminate&#8221; mass deportations are incompatible with Catholic teaching, Trump&#8217;s Border czar Tom Homan told The Daily Wire this week that the administration’s actions are anything but indiscriminate.
Homan’s job is to enact Trump’s executive orders: to <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/protecting-the-american-people-against-invasion/">protect the American people from the invasion at the southern border</a> and to “execute the immigration laws against all inadmissible and removable aliens, particularly those aliens who threaten the safety or security of the American people.”
“We have a targeted enforcement sheet,” Homan told The Daily Wire, “we go out into the field and we know exactly who we are going to arrest, and pretty much where we are going to find them. This is far from indiscriminate arrests, these are targeted enforcement operations, concentrating on the worst of the worst.”

Republican Vice Presidential Candidate JD Vance Visits US-Mexico Border

DC-Area Bishop: Catholic Church Teaching Does Not Support ‘An Open Border Policy’

A Chicago museum exhibit dedicated to Planned Parenthood featured rosaries, because Christianity is in the business of &#8220;controlling the bodies&#8221; of women, the exhibit&#8217;s plaque said.
The International Museum of Surgical Science&#8217;s &#8220;Unplanned Parenthood&#8221; exhibit featured letters women wrote to Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger in the 1920s asking for information about birth control.
Some of the letters were hung from crosses using rosary beads.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
NEW: Rosary beads represent Christianity &quot;controlling the bodies of birthing people&quot; in this Planned Parenthood museum exhibit
At Chicago&#39;s International Museum of Surgical Science <a href="https://t.co/n4CGmgSGcN">pic.twitter.com/n4CGmgSGcN</a>
&mdash; Mairead Elordi (@JohnsonHildy) <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnsonHildy/status/1877079118769991760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;The rosary beads serve as a reminder of the enduring influence of christianity [sic] in the United States, symbolizing the ways religious institutions have played in shaping societal norms and controlling the bodies of birthing people,&#8221; <a href="https://imss.org/contemporaryart/michelle-hartney-unplanned-parenthood/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">read</a> the plaque for the exhibit.
&#8220;Birthing people&#8221; is a gender neutral term often used in place of &#8220;women&#8221; by those who espouse gender ideology.
The letters were embroidered onto vintage wedding dress fabric by volunteers in sewing circles around the country, the plaque said. The wedding dress material symbolizes the &#8220;societal expectations placed on women in the early 1900s.&#8221;
The fabric letters were then hung from porcelain backings, &#8220;evoking the fragility of the rights of people with uteruses,&#8221; while the backings have imagery from wedding cakes, lingerie, and jewelry, &#8220;serving as a commentary on the societal pressure placed on women to embrace marriage, often masking the limitations it imposed, particularly during the times when birth control and autonomy were denied.&#8221;
Meat hooks symbolized &#8220;the patriarchy.&#8221;
&#8220;Vintage meat hooks were used as symbols of the brutality of the patriarchy and the way men have treated the bodies of people with uteruses like animals,&#8221; the plaque said.
Chicago is one of the most Catholic cities in the country, with about a <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/most-catholic-cities-in-us/2966577.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">third</a> of its residents identifying as Catholic.
One Catholic Chicago resident told The Daily Wire it was &#8220;heart-wrenchingly offensive&#8221; to think of his tax dollars going towards the display.
The museum has <a href="https://imss.org/2023/09/the-international-museum-of-surgical-science-to-offer-artist-stipends-in-2024-season-for-chicago-illinois-based-artists/?srsltid=AfmBOoqEraaOLaphC478hd7hBDoEB3NiBEP_DB-FsX8Uukmbc3T3KYW7&amp;utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">received</a> government grants, including pandemic relief money.
&#8220;Worse, the use of the Catholic rosary and Crucifixes in the exhibit is a mockery of the Lord&#8217;s Mother and all of the prayers from all those who hold life sacred from conception,&#8221; he said, &#8220;something [about] 1.3 billion Catholics universally hold to, and an issue the Church is unwavering on.&#8221;
&#8220;It’s despicable what the City is supporting. Wasting our tax dollars to mock Catholics, and the desecrate to rosary,&#8221; the Catholic Chicagoan said, adding that he encourages the city&#8217;s two million Catholics to &#8220;vote accordingly.&#8221;
The museum said in a statement to The Daily Wire that the &#8220;views, statements, and ideas expressed in this exhibition are solely those of the artist&#8221; and the museum &#8220;does not endorse or promote any political or social beliefs presented in this exhibit.&#8221;
<div>
&#8220;The International Museum of Surgical Science supports a commitment to contemporary art and artists through exhibitions and programs that use the frame of contemporary artistic practice to examine new perspectives in medical and surgical science and our relationship to the body,&#8221; Director of Museum Operations Michelle Rinard said.
&#8220;We believe in the power of the arts to build community, inspire social change and bring fresh perspective to difficult and complex issues — including issues of race, ethnicity, class, gender identity and sexual orientation. IMSS seeks applications that address these issues,&#8221; Rinard said.
</div>

Rosary Beads in Hands of Catholic Woman

Chicago Museum Hangs Pro-Birth Control Notes On Rosaries In Planned Parenthood Exhibit

Abortion

Birth Control

Chicago

Contraception

Health Care

Margaret Sanger

Planned Parenthood

In another win for Christian content in mainstream culture, Ascension Press&#8217; &#8220;Rosary in a Year&#8221; podcast debuted at No. 1 on Apple Podcasts this week, beating out the world&#8217;s most popular podcaster, Joe Rogan.
&#8220;Rosary in a Year,&#8221; hosted by Father Mark-Mary Ames, is a sequel to Ascension&#8217;s 2021 breakout hit &#8220;The Bible in a Year,&#8221; which is hosted by Father Mike Schmitz.
The prayer-focused podcast recently released to stellar reviews and landed at the top spot in All Categories for Apple Podcasts on Monday, and remains the No. 1 podcast in Religion &amp; Spirituality.
<div id="attachment_852591" style="width: 355px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-852591" class="wp-image-852591 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/Num.-1-Podcast-in-All-Categories-345x576.jpeg" alt="" width="345" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/Num.-1-Podcast-in-All-Categories-345x576.jpeg 345w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/Num.-1-Podcast-in-All-Categories-179x300.jpeg 179w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/Num.-1-Podcast-in-All-Categories-768x1284.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/Num.-1-Podcast-in-All-Categories-919x1536.jpeg 919w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/Num.-1-Podcast-in-All-Categories.jpeg 1170w" sizes="(max-width: 345px) 100vw, 345px" />Courtesy of Ascension</div>
In a press release sent to The Daily Wire, Fr. Mark-Mary said people today are thirsting for God.
&#8220;The world offers so much, but we want God,” he said. “In 1979, when the newly-elected Pope John Paul II was returning to communist-controlled Poland for the first time as the Holy Father, in response to his words, the crowd of over 1 million people cried out, ‘We want God! We want God! We want God.’ I can’t help but see this cry being echoed by the millions of people who have participated in &#8216;Bible in a Year,&#8217; &#8216;Catechism in a Year,&#8217; and now &#8216;Rosary in a Year.'&#8221;
The interest in and popularity of all types of Christian-focused content has skyrocketed in the past five or so years. For example, &#8220;The Bible in a Year,&#8221; which is the Rosary podcast&#8217;s predecessor,  launched in January 2021, and within 48 hours it had similarly skyrocketed to the number one slot on Apple Podcasts.
&#8220;There’s this sense and this hunger in people that says, not only do I want to understand life, I want to understand reality, but also I want to understand what God has to say about this,&#8221; Fr. Mike previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gods-not-done-with-our-country-the-faith-based-boom-in-new-media" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Daily Wire about the podcast&#8217;s success.
There’s also the Catholic meditation and prayer app “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-couple-more-people-in-heaven-would-be-nice-hallow-ceo-talks-success-of-catholic-app-rise-of-faith-based-content" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hallow</a>,&#8221; which <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/god-is-doing-something-pretty-incredible-catholic-app-passes-up-google-tiktok-on-ash-wednesday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made history</a> by landing at the number #3 spot on the App Store. The Hallow app has connected literally <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/087aff26-45ad-4da9-9e15-6648fcd3e69b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">millions</a> of people in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/prayer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prayer</a>, Scripture, and meditation, and continues to be a top-rated app.
The popular show &#8220;The Chosen&#8221; is also evidence of the Christian content boom. The show, which follows the life of Jesus and his followers, is one of the highest-grossing crowd-funded entertainment projects of all time, bringing in $10 million dollars from donors.
And there&#8217;s still more to come. &#8220;Passion of the Christ: Resurrection,&#8221; which is the sequel to Mel Gibson&#8217;s &#8220;The Passion of the Christ,&#8221; is scheduled to begin filming in 2025.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gods-not-done-with-our-country-the-faith-based-boom-in-new-media" target="_blank" rel="noopener">God’s ‘Not Done With Our Country’: The Faith-Based Boom In New Media</a>

Rosary in a Year

‘Rosary In A Year’ Podcast Debuts At Number One, Topping Joe Rogan, Dateline

‘Rosary In A Year’ Podcast Debuts At Number One, Tops Joe Rogan 

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