Sen. JD Vance shared Wednesday that he was incredibly nervous before Tuesday night&#8217;s highly-anticipated debate with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
&#8220;A friend asked me how nervous I was on a scale of 1 to 10,&#8221; Vance said in a <a href="https://x.com/JDVance/status/1841455221244846508">post on X</a>. &#8220;The answer? 11.&#8221;
But while Walz appeared shaky and nervous on stage, Vance was praised for being poised and polite, and was<a class="c-link" href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/02/vance-walz-who-won-vp-debate-roundtable-00181905" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/02/vance-walz-who-won-vp-debate-roundtable-00181905" data-sk="tooltip_parent"> widely perceived</a> to be the winner of the event. Perhaps Vance&#8217;s performance had something to do with a pregame pep talk he got from a friend.
&#8220;A priest friend sent me this prayer before I went on stage,&#8221; added Vance, who is a convert to Catholicism. &#8220;I share it in the hopes someone will find it as meaningful as I did.&#8221;
He then shared a prayer attributed to Thomas Aquinas, an Italian priest and scholar recognized by the Catholic Church as a saint and its most significant Western philosopher and theologian.
&#8220;O Ineffable Creator,&#8221; the prayer begins, &#8220;Refine my speech and pour forth upon my lips the goodness of Your blessing. Grant to me keenness of mind, capacity to remember, skill in learning, subtlety to interpret, and eloquence in speech. May You guide the beginning of my work, direct its progress, and bring it to completion.&#8221;
Vance&#8217;s Catholicism seems to be rubbing off on his running mate. Over the weekend, former President Donald Trump shared the <a class="c-link" href="https://aleteia.org/2017/09/25/the-demonic-vision-that-inspired-the-st-michael-prayer" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://aleteia.org/2017/09/25/the-demonic-vision-that-inspired-the-st-michael-prayer" data-sk="tooltip_parent">prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel</a> on the saint&#8217;s feast day. Pope Leo XIII wrote the prayer in the 1800s as a recourse for Christians seeking strength in times of darkness.
Trump’s promotion of the prayer surprised many and angered some, including former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, who <a href="https://x.com/RBReich/status/1840454101894680598">tweeted</a>: “Trump increasingly suggests that he is God&#8217;s chosen instrument of wrath and that his opponents are ‘evil spirits’ to be ‘cast into hell.’ If you don’t find this terrifying, you’re not paying attention.”
Catholics and Christians celebrated Trump on social media, particularly in light of the two recent assassination attempts on the former president’s life.
On September 8, Trump also <a class="c-link" href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-celebrates-the-birthday-of-jesus-christs-mother-with-image-of-our-lady-of-guadalupe" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-celebrates-the-birthday-of-jesus-christs-mother-with-image-of-our-lady-of-guadalupe" data-sk="tooltip_parent">celebrated</a> the birth of the Mother of Jesus, posting “Happy Birthday Mary!” alongside a photo of “Our Lady of Guadalupe&#8221; on social media.

JD Vance

JD Vance Says A Catholic Prayer Helped Him With Pre-Debate Nerves

Catholic Church

Debate

Donald Trump

J.D. Vance

Tim Walz

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/catholic-church" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Catholic</a> advocacy group launched Monday a six-figure ad campaign in critical battleground states targeting Vice President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kamala-harris" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kamala Harris</a> over her support of transgender procedures on children.
The campaign from CatholicVote will spend $250,000 on digital and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpZInkqY7Z0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">television ads</a> in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Michigan that slam Harris over her support for so-called “gender-affirming care” on children. These transgender procedures include removing the breasts of girls who identify as boys and doing genital surgeries on gender-confused children. 
“Most people have no idea of the size, scope and money involved in the trans agenda being pushed on our kids. Talk about weird. Physically healthy boys and girls are having their genitals and sexual organs destroyed, and Kamala Harris and her Democratic allies in the Senate not only think that’s acceptable but [are] forcing taxpayers to pay for it,” said CatholicVote President Brian Burch. 
“Unlike fracking, de-funding the police, or securing the border, Kamala has not yet flip flopped on forcing Americans to pay for medical experiments on children. The Biden administration has worked furiously to invent new regulations to force insurance companies and taxpayers to destroy the bodies of vulnerable children,” he added. 
The ads playing in each state reveal how many girls had their breasts removed in elective procedures: 86 in Wisconsin, 97 in Pennsylvania, 18 in Nevada, and 35 in Michigan. According to the ad, a number of girls in those states have also had their uteruses removed in transgender procedures: 12 in Wisconsin, 14 in Pennsylvania, three in Nevada, and seven in Michigan.
CatholicVote obtained the data from elective procedures from an all-payer national insurance database. Other procedures they found evidence of include nipple reconstruction, testicle castrations, penis amputations, removals of vaginal wall, skin grafts and nerve creation, vocal cord procedures, insertions of breast implants, and urethra reconstructions.
“Kamala Harris supports these taxpayer funded sex change operations. A vote for Harris: a vote for medical experiments on kids,” a narrator on each of the ads says. 
The Biden-Harris administration has <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/03/31/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-advances-equality-and-visibility-for-transgender-americans/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">condemned</a> Republican-led states that have banned transgender procedures on children and claimed that “transgender children have the right to access gender-affirming health care.”
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/">Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here!</a>
Polling shows that over 90% of Catholic voters across the country oppose transgender surgical procedures on children. 
“Kamala Harris and every Democratic Senator that supports these dangerous medical procedures must be exposed and held accountable by voters,” Burch said. “The number of trans mutilations on kids is already shockingly high. If Kamala Harris wins, how many more children’s bodies will she help destroy?”  
Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Wisconsin are all considered states that could help decide the election between Harris and former President Donald Trump, who opposes transgender procedures on children.

Pride Celebration Hosted By Vice President Of The United States And Mr. Emhoff In Collaboration With GLAAD

Swing State Ad Campaign Targets Kamala Over Support For Trans Surgeries On Kids

2024 Election

Catholicism

Kamala Harris

Michigan

Nevada

Pennsylvania

transgender surgery

Wisconsin

Adapted from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1560-rfk-jr-trump-join-forces-against-the-woke-left" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“The Michael Knowles Show,”</a> August 26, 2024.
Starts: 29:04
The Free Press published an excellent article over the weekend by my friend Maddy Kearns, who has been on my <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-michael-knowles-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">show</a> a number of times. I saw it at the top of the Drudge Report; it’s gone absolutely viral. Kearns’ piece is about women wearing veils at church — quite a niche issue. So why on earth would this make it to the top of the Drudge Report? Why would it go viral? Because it speaks to something really profound that is happening in religion and in politics.
The <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/the-young-catholic-women-bringing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article</a>, “The Young Catholic Women Bringing Back Veils: A new generation of worshippers is longing for a ‘lost type of Catholicism’,” explores why young Catholic women have begun wearing veils in church in recent years. While Catholics are not the only ones who wear veils or cover their heads at church, we are most often the ones thought of first. Veil wearing comes from <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20corinthians%2011&amp;version=NIV" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1 Corinthians, chapter 11, verse 4</a>: “Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved.” More broadly, the first letter to the Corinthians is about the relation of man to woman and man to God, and it explains how we can symbolize this in our lives.
But in the 1960s, a radical shift occurred inside the Catholic Church, outside the Catholic Church, and in secular society that it would be a good idea to sever our connection to the past. This shift was not solely supported by the hippies in drum circles with flowers in their hair. This happened in every institution throughout the West. Even in the most enduring and ancient institution in the world, the Catholic Church, a major liturgical reform took place. They upended the mass of the ages and the way the mass had been celebrated for at least 1,400 years — and really even earlier than that. They just kind of upended the past, which involved some radical changes, including encouraging women to stop wearing veils.
Now people are realizing that there is usually a reason that things that endure for millennia endure. Maybe when a tradition persists for many centuries or millennia, there is a reason. Maybe we do not have a sufficient stock of reason that we can just reinvent the world anew so that it will be much better, as though that would be an advisable thing to do. Maybe those older generations knew something that we do not; maybe we are not that perfectly intelligent. Maybe we are not even as intelligent as our grandparents were. And maybe we need to return to tradition. Maybe that would benefit us.
Maybe that is actually the way forward. It is not the way back. It is not regression because tradition is not some dusty old thing. There are plenty of dusty old things that have popped up in history that eventually fell away because they just did not have staying power. That is not what tradition is. In fact, that is what fads are. That is what radical innovation is. All those dusty old things that have been left in the dustbin of history all the way in the past? Those were fads; those were fashions. They were some supposedly genius ideas from some radical who wanted to upend everything — and then they didn&#8217;t work.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1560-rfk-jr-trump-join-forces-against-the-woke-left" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show</a></h4>
Tradition is not the oldest thing. Tradition is, in some ways, the newest thing, or at least we would say the most enduring. It is what links the past and the present and the future. Maybe there is a reason that Christians have acted as they have acted, believed as they have believed, and lived as they have lived for millennia. Maybe there is a connection.
The Latin phrase lex orandi lex credendi means the way we worship influences the way we believe. Religion is not just a thing you do in your head and you ignore that you have a body in time and space. Religion is a thing that you do. You worship God. There is a difference between praying on your knees, praying sitting down, or praying while you&#8217;re driving. There&#8217;s a difference between saying a prayer you just invented yesterday or saying the Lord&#8217;s Prayer. Our Lord tells us in the Gospels <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%206%3A9-13&amp;version=NIV" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how to pray</a>: “Our father, Who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, On earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” He tells you how to do it.
Then, going all the way back to the Apostolic Age, the Church in her wisdom established ways in which we can pray. And that&#8217;s going to affect the way we believe. If you receive the Eucharist on the tongue kneeling, you&#8217;re going to believe something about what the Eucharist, the Holy Communion, is. If you are just driving in your car and you stick your hand out like you&#8217;re going through the McDonald&#8217;s drive thru, that is also going to affect the way that you believe because we&#8217;re incarnate creatures and that&#8217;s going to affect the way that you live too.
Maybe these young women who want to return to wearing veils realize something has been lost. Maybe they realize that all the innovation that was supposed to free us and make everything better has actually made things worse. Maybe the real update we need right now is to return to the faith as it was practiced for nearly two thousand years.

small catholic church

Returning To The Faith: Tradition As The Way Forward

Bible

Faith

Michael Knowles

Opinion

Scripture

Women

I have been saying for months that the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/democratic-national-convention" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Democratic National Convention</a> would be indistinguishable from a national abortion convention.
The abortion van providing free chemical abortion pills just outside the convention proved me right. But the van was no departure; it was true to style, both for the Democrat Party and for Planned Parenthood.
That’s why Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson was on the agenda on the third night, joining the chorus of those attempting to deceive the American public about how harmful Republican and Trump-led “abortion bans” have been.
Three women spoke from the convention stage on the opening night. I do not dismiss their tragic circumstances or deny that they deserve our compassionate help. In fact, I work to help such women every day all across the country.
But I do object to the way the Democrat Party tries to twist these narratives to draw totally unwarranted conclusions.
<div id="attachment_785765" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-785765" class="size-large wp-image-785765" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/GettyImages-2167048390-864x576.jpg" alt="President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Alexis McGill Johnson speaks on the third day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 21, 2024. Vice President Kamala Harris will formally accept the party's nomination for president at the DNC which runs from August 19-22 in Chicago. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/GettyImages-2167048390-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/GettyImages-2167048390-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/GettyImages-2167048390-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/GettyImages-2167048390.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images</div>
Amanda Zurawski spoke about nearly dying from pre-term labor, and the Texas ban on abortion.
The fact is, however, that after the Texas Supreme Court considered her case, the Court made it clear that the Texas ban on abortion permits abortion to save a mother’s life and health. In the <a href="https://reproductiverights.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Zurawski-v-Texas-SCOTX-Opinion.pdf">words of the Court:</a>
<blockquote>A physician who tells a patient, “Your life is threatened by a complication that has arisen during your pregnancy, and you may die, or there is a serious risk you will suffer substantial physical impairment unless an abortion is performed,” and in the same breath states “but the law won’t allow me to provide an abortion in these circumstances” is simply wrong in that legal assessment.</blockquote>
If there is a dispute here for Zurawski, it is with her doctor, who under Texas law only needs to exercise reasonable medical judgment that the mother needs the abortion. There is no need to go to court, to blame the law, or to make a political case out of a personal tragedy.
Then Kaitlyn Joshua spoke, ostensibly to expose the horrific evil of Louisiana’s abortion ban that allegedly threatened her life as she was miscarrying.
Again, the Louisiana law about abortion specifically allows abortion to treat miscarriage. The duty, again, is on the doctor to provide the diagnosis.
Finally, Hadley Duvall, who became famous in Kentucky for her political ads for Democrat Gov. Andy Beshear, spoke of how her stepfather raped her and although she had a miscarriage, she has become a spokeswoman for legal abortion.
Hadley’s story – and again, I do not deny its tragic circumstances &#8212; assumes that permitting an abortion to a rape victim helps the rape victim, completely ignoring the experiences of countless women that abortion itself is a trauma.
The last thing someone traumatized by rape needs is another trauma.
I serve as the pastoral director of the world’s largest organization for healing after abortion. My team and I help women who have been traumatized by abortion.
Hadley raises her voice, but so does <a href="https://www.silentnomoreawareness.org/testimonies/testimony.aspx?ID=4505" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Serena Dyksen</a>, who was sexually assaulted at 13 years old, and testifies publicly that “the abortion was worse than the rape.” <a href="https://www.silentnomoreawareness.org/testimonies/testimony.aspx?ID=4487" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sarahi</a> testifies to the same thing, as does <a href="https://www.silentnomoreawareness.org/testimonies/testimony.aspx?ID=4382" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aryn Sylvester</a>.
And <a href="http://www.abortiontestimonies.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">we can go on and on</a>. 
For every story the Democrats want to highlight in their convention and in their ads, we can bring forth a hundred others talking about how harmful abortion is.
If you care about women’s health, you should be paying attention to what abortion does to women’s health, not simply preaching a dogma that abortion is, by definition, healthcare and freedom.
There’s another dimension to the Democrat dishonesty on display this week. 
By bringing to the stage women who experienced health complications and sexual assault, do they want us to believe that they are OK with just allowing abortion in those circumstances?
No, the Democrat Party opposes with all its might any law that would prohibit purely elective abortion. If they want to showcase their true policy goals, <a href="https://www.priestsforlife.org/latetermabortion/listen.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bring forward the abortionists</a> who are paid to kill healthy babies of healthy mothers in the final months of pregnancy, or the woman I ministered to who had 26 abortions.
The Democrat Party criticizes the laws in Texas and Louisiana, but doesn’t once mention that those laws also allocate substantial funds to help moms who want to have their babies, including in cases of adverse fetal conditions.
The Democratic Convention is an abortion convention, because the Democrat Party is an abortion party – and a dishonest one. If they are so proud of abortion, why not show on those big convention screens how the procedure is done? Or how about just reading a description from the medical textbooks, in which you’ll <a href="https://www.priestsforlife.org/isthiswhatyoumean/isthiswhatyoumean.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">find the words “dismember” and “decapitate?</a>”
Or how about just being honest enough to admit that the reason abortion is a deeply contentious issue is that two lives are involved? Even the Supreme Court has admitted this over the years, which is why it did not put abortion in the category of a “fundamental right.” 
But for the Democrat Party, it’s just one-sided. It’s a woman’s reproductive freedom that matters. No need to consider the rights of the baby. 
It’s easy to win a debate by just eliminating one whole side of the argument. That’s not a debate at all; it’s self-serving propaganda, and in this case, propaganda that has flesh and blood victims.
* * *
Frank Pavone is also president of the National Pro-life Religious Council and national pastoral Director, Rachel’s Vineyard and Silent No More.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

2024 Democratic National Convention: Day 3

The Democratic National Abortion Convention

Abortion

Democratic National Convention

Democratic Party

Planned Parenthood

Pro-Life Movement

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/the-vatican" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vatican</a> has joined a growing list of those expressing disapproval of the opening ceremony of this year&#8217;s Summer Olympics in Paris because it featured a controversial <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/paris-olympics-opening-ceremony-features-drag-parody-of-last-supper" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drag show parody</a> evoking &#8220;The Last Supper&#8221; with Jesus Christ and his apostles.
&#8220;The Holy See was saddened by certain scenes at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games and cannot but join the voices raised in recent days to deplore the offense done to many Christians and believers of other religions,” the Vatican said in a press release, <a href="https://deadline.com/2024/08/vatican-responds-olympics-last-supper-controversy-1236031141/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per Deadline</a>.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gop-senators-press-olympics-to-amend-charter-over-vulgar-mockery-of-christianity-in-opening-ceremony" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: GOP Senators Press Olympics To Amend Charter Over ‘Vulgar Mockery’ Of Christianity In Opening Ceremony</a>
&#8220;At a prestigious event where the whole world comes together to share common values, there should be no allusions ridiculing the religious convictions of many people,&#8221; it added. &#8220;The freedom of expression, which is clearly not called into question here, is limited by respect for others.&#8221;
Those who lashed out in response to the performance include the <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2024/07/28/paris-olympic-organizers-apologize-the-last-supper/74582213007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">French Bishops’ Conference</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bishop-robert-barron-rips-olympics-condescending-apology-for-blasphemous-last-supper-scene" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bishop Robert Barron</a>, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), NFL kicker <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/chiefs-harrison-butker-slams-paris-olympics-parody-last-supper-this-crazy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Harrison Butker</a>, and C Spire — a U.S. tech company that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tech-company-drops-olympics-support-over-mockery-of-christianity-in-opening-ceremony" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> it would be removing ads from the Olympics.
<a href="https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/40661411/paris-2024-apologizes-last-supper-sketch-criticism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN reported</a> the organizers of the games have apologized to anyone who took offense at the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/paris-olympics-opening-ceremony-features-drag-parody-of-last-supper" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drag show</a> performance, one of several acts during the opening ceremony, because it appeared to mock the biblical scene in &#8220;The Last Supper,&#8221; a painting by Leonardo Da Vinci.
&#8220;Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. [The ceremony] tried to celebrate community tolerance,&#8221; said Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps, adding, &#8220;We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense, we are really sorry.&#8221;
<a href="http://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1722702091491000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3dzILUu8JkHbwoxyGwS0qT">WATCH THE TRAILER FOR &#8216;AM I RACIST?&#8217; — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI</a>
The ceremony&#8217;s artistic director, Thomas Jolly, said the scene was meant to embrace &#8220;diversity&#8221; and inclusion. He also has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/02/arts/thomas-jolly-olympics-director-death-threats.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly claimed</a> the scene had nothing to do with &#8220;The Last Supper,&#8221; but rather Greek mythology, as it included someone dressed as the Greek god Dionysus.
First lady <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jill-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jill Biden</a>, who <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/07/22/president-biden-announces-full-presidential-delegations-to-paris-france-to-attend-the-opening-and-closing-ceremonies-of-the-paris-2024-olympic-games/#:~:text=First%20Lady%20Jill%20Biden%20will,place%20on%20July%2026%2C%202024.&amp;text=Second%20Gentleman%20Douglas%20Emhoff%20will,place%20on%20August%2011%2C%202024." target="_blank" rel="noopener">led the U.S. delegation</a> to the opening ceremony, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jill-biden-calls-olympics-opening-ceremony-which-mocked-christianity-spectacular" target="_blank" rel="noopener">praised</a> the show <a href="https://www.nbclosangeles.com/paris-2024-summer-olympics/paris-opening-ceremony-first-lady-jill-biden-la-2028-olympics/3470647/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">during a brunch</a> for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. &#8220;It was spectacular,&#8221; she said, &#8220;&#8230; Every step of the way, I was thinking to myself, &#8216;Oh my God, oh my God. How are we going to top this?'&#8221;

Olympic Fever Invades Paris

The Vatican Decries ‘Offense Done’ By Opening Ceremony Of Paris Olympics

The Vatican Decries 'Offense Done' By Opening Ceremony Of Paris Olympics

France

Olympics

Religion

Sports

The Vatican

Vatican

A Catholic charity group in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-jersey" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New Jersey</a> sponsored a reading of a book for young children teaching kids to move “beyond the gender binary.”
The Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Trenton <a href="https://hamiltonnjpl.org/event/community-storytime/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sponsored a reading</a> on Monday at the Hamilton Township Public Library in Hamilton, New Jersey, of a book used to promote gender ideology. The book, “My Shadow is Purple,” follows the story of a young child who identifies as neither male nor female.
The reading prompted concerns from locals, who wondered how a Catholic charity could be promoting a book encouraging gender confusion. The book&#8217;s <a href="https://www.amazon.com/My-Shadow-Purple-Scott-Stuart/dp/1922503819" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon page</a> says that it is an “inspiring book about being true to yourself and moving beyond the gender binary.”
“My dad has a shadow that&#8217;s blue as a berry and my mom&#8217;s is as pink as a blossoming cherry. There&#8217;s only those choices, a two or a one. But mine is quite different. It&#8217;s both and it&#8217;s none. If theirs are straight then mine is a circle,” the child says in the book.
The picture book features photos of the child wearing both masculine and feminine clothing, including a skirt/suit hybrid made for the school dance.
<div id="attachment_753059" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-753059" class="wp-image-753059 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-19-at-12.31.45-PM-1024x505.png" alt="" width="1024" height="505" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-19-at-12.31.45-PM-1024x505.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-19-at-12.31.45-PM-300x148.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-19-at-12.31.45-PM-768x379.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-19-at-12.31.45-PM-1536x758.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screen-Shot-2024-06-19-at-12.31.45-PM-2048x1011.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screen shot of book from Reading Rocket YouTube reading.</div>
At the dance, one student says, “There’s more than two colors our shadows can be,” after the child does not want to go to the male or female part of the dance floor.
Tom, a local parent and Catholic, said that he was shocked by the sponsorship of the reading.
&#8220;As devout Catholics and parents to children 4 and 1 1/2, this book event really hit home for my wife and me,&#8221; he told The Daily Wire. &#8220;We are in a state of complete disbelief that our Diocese would align itself with something so clearly in opposition to the teachings of our faith.&#8221;
&#8220;We seriously question how this sponsorship is anything other than a sad example of secularized virtue signaling,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I would also like the Diocese of Trenton to explain how moving children &#8216;beyond the gender binary&#8217; will move them closer to God?&#8221;
In a statement to The Daily Wire, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Trenton said that the reading was part of the charity&#8217;s educational mission and indicated it was done as part of its contract with the New Jersey Department of Children and Families under the NJ Statewide Student Support Services Network (NJ4S).
“To that end, our NJ4S Mercer Hub team offers a wide variety of educational and prevention programs for students, families and educators to ensure the children in the county have access to behavioral health care as well as information about numerous issues that can impact a student’s mental health,” Hollis Painting, head of communications for the charity, told The Daily Wire.
Painting added that the reading was one of the free events put on by the team.
“The event you reference included a reading of Scott Stuart’s &#8216;My Shadow is Purple&#8217; and a discussion and activity about ways children can express their individuality,” Painting told The Daily Wire. “Through this variety of programs, it is our aim to address the diverse scope of issues facing students in Mercer County.”
Hamilton Township Public Library Director Scott Chianese told The Daily Wire that the charity reached out to the library to host the event and that it was the first event the charity had done at the library.
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Bishop of Trenton David O&#8217;Connell, who is the president of the charity board, did not respond to request for comment on whether the book was in line with Catholic beliefs.
The charity says that it “offers mental health, poverty-reduction, and social and crisis services to individuals and families, particularly those impacted by trauma and adversity.”
The charity also offers immigration-related services and advises them to “not open the door to U.S. immigration agents or police unless they have a legal document with your name on it.”

MixCollage-19-Jun-2024-01-27-PM-6782

Catholic Charity Sponsors Book Reading Encouraging Children To Move ‘Beyond The Gender Binary’

gender ideology

New Jersey

Social Issues

U.S.

Pope Francis reportedly expressed his opposition to gay men becoming priests during a meeting with Roman priests this week, which comes only a couple weeks after he made similar remarks during a closed-door meeting.
Francis, 87, <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/06/12/world-news/pope-francis-repeats-gay-slur-just-weeks-after-apologizing-for-using-it-reports/">reportedly</a> said that &#8220;there is an air of frociaggine in the Vatican&#8221; and that those who are gay should not be admitted into seminaries. According to the Washington Post, the word &#8220;frociaggine&#8221; roughly translates to &#8220;fa***tness&#8221; in the Roman Italian dialect.
The Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/06/11/pope-repeats-gay-slur/">reported</a> that Francis made the remarks while meeting with approximately 200 priests at Rome’s Salesian Pontifical University.
While speaking about the “danger of ideologies in the Church”,  he reportedly “reiterated the need to welcome and accompany gay men in the Church” but indicated they should not be allowed into priesthood.
Francis made nearly identical <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pope-francis-rails-against-gay-priests-in-training-theres-already-too-much-fatry-in-seminaries">remarks</a> during a private address to Catholic bishops in May while railing against the number of gay priests who were in training.
He reportedly made the remarks in the context of proposals from Italian bishops about changes they want to see in guidelines determining the candidates that seminaries accept.
He reportedly said that he was opposed to letting in candidates who were leading a “double life” by claiming to be celibate while secretly being gay, The Telegraph <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/05/27/pope-francis-reported-derogatory-phrase-homosexuals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
He said that there was “already too much fa***try” in seminaries, according to numerous translations of his speech, which was in Italian.
CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/27/europe/pope-francis-accused-homophobic-slur-intl-latam/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> that Francis in 2016 upheld the Vatican’s ruling in 2005 that the Catholic church cannot allow the ordination of gay men. In 2018, he told Italian bishops “not to accept gay candidates for the priesthood,” the report added.
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However, the Vatican backtracked on his comments late last month after they were leaked to the press and some backlash ensued online.
“The Pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he extends his apologies to those who felt offended by the use of a term, as reported by others,” the Vatican said in a May statement. “As he (Pope Francis) has said on several occasions, ‘in the Church there is room for everyone, everyone! No one is useless, no one is superfluous, there is room for everyone. Just as we are, everyone.’”

Vatican Pool Images 2024

Pope Francis Reportedly Opposes Gay Men In Priesthood: There’s ‘Fa***tness In The Vatican’

Pope Francis

World

On Monday, something peculiar happened. 
The president of Iran, an evil human being nicknamed the Butcher of Tehran, died in a helicopter accident on Sunday. One of the worst people on earth, he presided as a member of the Iranian pseudo-judiciary over the deaths of thousands of innocent people.
He presided over the crushing of all dissent from women and people who do not believe in Sharia law in Iran. He presided over the deaths of thousands of American troops and attacks on American allies. His proxy groups around the region have been involved in the deaths of thousands of human beings, including, of course, the 1,200 Israelis murdered on October 7 with the tacit permission and support of Iran via Hamas.
Then, on Monday, after he died in this helicopter accident, the immediate reception of the West was to lament his death. This was unprecedented in modern history.
For example, when Pol Pot, the genocidal dictator of Cambodia, died, Bill Clinton issued <a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/statement-the-death-pol-pot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a statement</a> ripping into Pol Pot. He stated:
<blockquote>The death of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot has again brought to international attention one of the most tragic chapters of inhumanity in the twentieth century. Between 1975 and 1979, Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge followers transformed Cambodia into the killing fields, causing the death of an estimated 2 million of their countrymen in a brutal attempt to transform Cambodian society.</blockquote>
Bill Clinton was a Democrat, a moderate member of the Left, and he used the opportunity of Pol Pot&#8217;s death to point out his evils and the human rights atrocities that he had committed. Historically, this has been the way we treat evil dictators and people associated with evil dictatorships; when they die, the world becomes a better place.
In 2023, when speaking at the United Nations, Raisi fully explained his intentions for the world, which was the domination of a radical form of Islam. He explained to the whole world that the era of the West was over, and the era of the Islamist was here:
<blockquote>The equation attributed to the hegemony of the West no longer resonates with the diverse realities of today&#8217;s world. Old powers will keep their current downward trajectory. They are the past, and we are the future. I repeat once again, they represent the past and we represent the future. We are the future. We do believe that according to divine will, just as divine prophets have promised, justice and fairness will overtake the world and the rule of the sincere people, those who truly followed the path of the Omnipotent, will reverberate throughout the world. A world that rejects ignorance. The world awaits the day in which the old paths will come to an end. </blockquote>
Raisi was talking about the messianic beliefs of Shia Islam. He gave a speech in February 2024 in which he ripped into the United States as millions of people turned out in rallies chanting, “Death to Israel, Death to America.”
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1969-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h4>
So what is the explanation for the reaction of the West?
The U.N. Security Council held a moment of silence for Ebrahim Raisi. The entire U.N. Security Council stood up for him, which is vile and disgusting.
The Senate chaplain, Rear Admiral Barry Black held a moment of prayer for the Iranian dictator, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ErxRX-Bqfg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">intoning</a>, “Lord, we pray for the Iranian people who mourn the death of their president. We pray in your loving name. Amen.”
The State Department put out a statement that was beyond parody, <a href="https://www.state.gov/on-the-death-of-iranian-president-raisi-and-others-in-a-helicopter-crash/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a>, “The United States expresses its official condolences for the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian, and other members of their delegation in a helicopter crash in northwest Iran. As Iran selects a new president, we reaffirm our support for the Iranian people and their struggle for human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
Do you see how far we&#8217;ve moved? Pol Pot dies and Bill Clinton, a moderate Democrat, gives a statement about his human rights abuses and why it should remind us to fight human rights abuses in places like Cambodia.
Ebrahim Raisi is president in a regime that presides over terrorism across the world, and the State Department of the United States government puts out a statement with condolences for his death. 
The EU did the same. Charles Michel, who is the president of the European Council, put out <a href="https://twitter.com/CharlesMichel/status/1792438047058890987" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a statement</a> which read, “The EU expresses its sincere condolences for the death of President Raisi and Foreign Minister Abdollahian, as well as other members of their delegation and crew in a helicopter accident. Our thoughts go to the families.”
How about the families of the people who have been slain in protests against the Iranian dictatorship? How about thoughts for the families of the people who are living in repression and poverty, thanks to those dictators?
NATO, which is oriented against aggression by foreign powers, <a href="https://twitter.com/NATOpress/status/1792508173535883362" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a>, “Our condolences to the people of Iran for the death of President Raisi, Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian and others who perished in the helicopter crash.”
The people of Iran don&#8217;t need your condolences. The people of Iran deserve your condolences for having to live under the terroristic auspices of this evil regime.
This is insanity. The entire West could have just stayed silent. They could have said nothing. Instead, they all came to the “moment of silence.”
There was no moment of silence in the UN Security Council for the victims of October 7. They did not stand up and pay homage to the 1,200 people who were slaughtered and 250 who were taken hostage by the terrorist group Hamas.
But they did stand to pay homage to a terrorist dictator who supported October 7 and proxy terror groups from Yemen to Lebanon to Syria to Iraq to Hamas.
What is going on in the West that Western leaders feel the necessity to give condolences on the death of an evil enemy?
There is an error in thinking that has become extraordinarily common in the West that leads to so many bad results. This error in thinking was made clear yesterday by Pope Francis. In his 60 Minutes interview, when asked what gave him hope, he <a href="https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=772332671344936&amp;vanity=60minutes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>:
<blockquote>Everything. You see tragedies, but you also see so many beautiful things. You see heroic mothers, heroic men, men who have hopes and dreams. Women who look to the future. That gives me a lot of hope. People want to live. People forge ahead and people are fundamentally good. We are all fundamentally good. Yes, there are some rogues and sinners, but the heart itself is good.</blockquote>
There are three ways of reading human nature. The traditional Judaic way of reading human nature is that human beings are not inherently good. Human beings have an internal battle. That battle is between what we call the yetzer ha-tov, the good desire, and the yetzer ha-ra, the bad desire. These two things are fighting with each other all the time, and it is up to us to try to cultivate the good desire at the expense of the bad desire. If you do it well, presumably you can even turn the bad desires toward the good.
Then there is the Catholic perspective, as stated by St. Thomas Aquinas, which is that human beings are inherently good in the sense they were made in God&#8217;s image, but through Original Sin, human beings were then cursed with the capacity for sin. That capacity for sin is dominant and powerful, and Original Sin could only be expunged with the death of Jesus.
The secularist idea is that human beings are inherently good, and not only are they inherently good, most human beings are not even sinful.
That is at odds with both the Judaic and the traditionally Christian view of human nature.
The traditionally Christian worldview on human nature is that while the human heart might be made in the image of God — meaning that on a fundamental soul level, the soul of human beings is good — the Bible is replete with statements about how sinful human beings are. But whether you&#8217;re talking about the book of Mark, where Jesus said no one is good except God alone; Romans where he said none are good, no, not one; Jeremiah, where the prophet says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; or Psalms 51:5 which <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+51%3A5&amp;version=NASB1995" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a>, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me,” the traditionally religious view, at the very least, is that the human capacity for sin is extraordinarily strong — and that means all people are inherently sinners.
The solution to that differs between Judaism and Christianity. The solution to that for Judaism is to perform the mitzvot and act in virtuous ways, and you will become more virtuous and you will dominate over sin. As God says to Cain at the beginning of the book of Genesis, sin crouches at your door, but if you&#8217;re strong, you can rule over it.
The Christian perspective is: Only through the grace of Christ can you expunge that Original Sin, giving you the capacity for a free will so that you can conquer sinful nature.
Then, there&#8217;s the secularist point of view, which is different from both of these and is a mis-read of Judeo-Christian tradition. The basic idea is that human beings are not only inherently good — not only is the heart inherently good — but sin is also not something internal to human beings. It&#8217;s not even a force that human beings fight on an individual level. Sin only exists in systems, not in individual human beings. There&#8217;s no such thing as sin. Human beings have a nature, and that nature is inherently good. And if you consider something sinful, it&#8217;s probably because you are the problem.
You see this in secular society all the time. If two people love each other, how can it be a sin? If you do something bad to another person, that&#8217;s just relativistic. It&#8217;s relativistic in morality. Who are you to judge?
All of that is a misreading of traditional Judeo-Christian doctrine. All of it.
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But that widespread secular perception — that human beings are inherently good and that the only problem with human beings is the systems above them — leads to two incredibly false conclusions.
The first fundamental assumption is: Human beings generally agree on right and wrong. This is a lie. It is not true. It is fundamentally false. Human beings do not agree on right and wrong.
There are very few things most human beings agree on (for example, murder is wrong), and, traditionally, even that has to be bounded by the tribe because it turns out that people and tribes are pretty open about being fine with murdering people who are in other tribes. Human beings do not, at a fundamental level, agree on wide aspects of right and wrong — at least not once it comes to outside the tribe.
The second fundamental assumption that arises from the idea that human beings are good is: All it requires is better human institutions and an organizing effort to effectuate right over wrong. Progress is the effectuation of this attempt.
That is the basic Left-wing theology when it comes to curing the sin of the world, considering sin does not abide at the level of the individual; sin only abides at the level of the society. It is the Marxist materialist idea that the only reason people are bad is because the systems under which they live are inherently bad and corrupt, and therefore, if we can cure those systems, then humanity will be magically and absolutely transformed.
This is written in the Communist Manifesto. What people mistake about Marxism is that it’s not an economic philosophy so much as it is a religious philosophy as to how the sin of the world can be cured by curing the systems at the top level.
When put into the language of international politics, this leads to a bizarre belief in international order that is just a lie.
This is why the West is paying homage to Ebrahim Raisi. They feel in the West, if they are nice enough to Raisi and if they change the systems enough, then people like Raisi, his followers, and the mullahs in Iran will become inherently good. In other words, they&#8217;ll become inherently good if we change the international order because human beings are naturally good.
This is absolute trash. It is nonsense. It is garbage. And it is going to create more violence in the world.
If you believe all you have to do is massage your enemies and suddenly they will be your friends, you will be used by your enemies.
And that is what we are seeing right now.

Helicopter Carrying Iran President Reportedly Crashes Near Azerbaijan

Why The West Mourns The ‘Butcher Of Tehran’

Why The West Mourns The 'Butcher Of Tehran'

Bill Clinton

Iran

Judeo-Christian Values

Middle East

Readers Pass

The new rule in the NFL is that if you kneel for the national anthem and a national controversy then engulfs you, you get a million-dollar contract from Nike. Then, the NFL definitely attempts for years on end to get you back into the league, despite the fact that you stink so much that you&#8217;re benched for the immortal Blaine Gabbert. 
That, of course, is the story of Colin Kaepernick, who became even richer and more famous than he was after going to the Super Bowl because he knelt for the national anthem.
Despite all of the attempts to paint Kaepernick as a victim, precisely the opposite is true. Kaepernick was touted as a hero by large swathes of the mainstream media. He was put on the cover of magazines because he was kneeling for the national anthem, supposedly because black Americans like Kaepernick — who, by the way, was raised in a white household that adopted him — were victims of a white supremacist system.
Fast forward a few years. The hot controversy of the day in the NFL is a kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs named Harrison Butker.
There are now calls for him to be removed from the Chiefs roster for the upcoming NFL season from some radical Left fans and their allies. Why?
Because he is Catholic, and he gave a 20-minute commencement speech at Benedictine College, which is Catholic, in which he talked about Catholicism.
That&#8217;s all this is.
What he said was very traditional in terms of men, women, and Catholic theology. This, apparently, is absolutely outrageous. What did he do that was so wildly offensive that people now know his name, when, as a kicker, nobody knew his name five seconds ago?
It&#8217;s not like Kaepernick, who was already well-known for having taken his team to the Super Bowl years before he knelt. Unless you&#8217;re a big fan of football, you really had no idea who Harrison Butker was until five minutes ago.
But now he&#8217;s become a national name because the media have decided he is the root of all evil. Why? Because he&#8217;s saying what Catholics have been saying for 2,000 years. And he said it at a Catholic college.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1966-nfl-kicker-slammed-for-defending-christianity-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h4>
So let&#8217;s examine what Harrison Butker said and the controversy, which is indicative of the real social issues gap between Left and Right that is undergirding so much of our ugly politics these days. You have a Left that has embraced transgenderism as an absolute virtue and a Right that is saying men and women exist and are different.
What Butker said is believed and agreed with by a huge swathe of Americans, Catholic and non-Catholic alike. In his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JS7RIKSaCc&amp;t=474s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commencement address</a>, he stated:
<blockquote>It is only in the past few years that I have grown encouraged to speak more boldly and directly because, as I mentioned earlier, I have leaned into my vocation as a husband and father, and as a man.
To the gentlemen here today: Part of what plagues our society is this lie that has been told to you that men are not necessary in the home or in our communities. As men, we set the tone of the culture, and when that is absent, disorder, dysfunction, and chaos set in. This absence of men in the home is what plays a large role in the violence we see all around the nation. Other countries do not have nearly the same absentee father rates as we find here in the U.S., and a correlation could be made in their drastically lower violence rates, as well.
 Be unapologetic in your masculinity, fighting against the cultural emasculation of men. Do hard things. Never settle for what is easy. You might have a talent that you don&#8217;t necessarily enjoy, but if it glorifies God, maybe you should lean into that over something that you might think suits you better. </blockquote>
These views used to be wildly uncontroversial. But now, if you suggest that men have something special to present to the world, that is considered controversial. What he said was contrasted with his statements about the role of females in society at large and what brings female happiness. It was very traditional, and I agree with it:
<blockquote>I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.
I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother. I&#8217;m on the stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation. I&#8217;m beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.</blockquote>
Why in the world is that controversial? Why? He&#8217;s not saying, “Don&#8217;t have a career.” He&#8217;s saying the most important thing you will do in your life is be a wife and be a mom.
It was this particular statement to women that led to a thousand think pieces about how terrible all of this was. How dare he suggest that perhaps women find fulfillment in being married and having children?
It’s a lie that women can forego being a wife and mother and find the same levels of happiness on a general level. It may not be true for every individual, but on a general level, it’s true. The parallel lie these people envision for men is that they should forego the great joy in life of being a father, a husband, a protector, and a provider.
Those lies have led to the dissolution of society.
Here are your choices: Choice #1: Harrison Butker, who speaks movingly about meeting his wife, marrying her, and having children with her. Choice #2: NFL players who are impregnating women and abandoning their children.
The NFL has nothing to say about that. Nothing. The NFL is completely silent about players like Antonio Cromartie, who seems to have fathered half the country at this point. There’s no comment about him.
But if Harrison Butker speaks of his perspective, the NFL condemns him. They put out <a href="https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/05/16/sport/harrison-butker-commencement-speech-analysis-cec" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a statement</a> saying, “Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity. His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”
Have they ever issued a statement like this before?
The other issue Butker discussed was the sin of pride — that if you’re proud of things that Catholicism considers sinful, that is not good. He stated:
<blockquote>Because there seems to be so much confusion coming from our leaders, there needs to be concrete examples for people to look to in places like Benedictine, a little Kansas college built high on a bluff above the Missouri River, are showing the world how an ordered, Christ-centered existence is the recipe for success. You need to look no further than the examples all around this campus, where over the past 20 years, enrollment has doubled, construction and revitalization are a constant part of life, and people, the students, the faculty and staff, are thriving.
This didn&#8217;t happen by chance. In a deliberate movement to embrace traditional Catholic values, Benedictine has gone from just another liberal arts school with nothing to set it apart to a thriving beacon of light and a reminder to us all that when you embrace tradition, success — worldly and spiritual — will follow.
I am certain the reporters at the AP could not have imagined that their attempt to rebuke and embarrass places and people like those here at Benedictine wouldn&#8217;t be met with anger, but instead met with excitement and pride. Not the deadly sin sort of pride that has an entire month dedicated to it, but the true God-centered pride that is cooperating with the Holy Ghost to glorify him. Reading that article now shared all over the world, we see that in the complete surrender of self and a turning towards Christ, you will find happiness. Right here in a little town in Kansas, we find many inspiring laypeople using their talents.</blockquote>
That, of course, was offensive to the social Left.
Butker also had the temerity to point out that top-level politicians in the United States, including the president of the United States, call themselves Catholic while constantly contravening Catholic doctrine.
He stated:
<blockquote>Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the Sign of the Cross during a pro- abortion rally. He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I&#8217;m sure to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice.
He is not alone. From the man behind the COVID lockdowns to the people pushing dangerous gender ideologies onto the youth of America, they all have a glaring thing in common. They are Catholic. This is an important reminder that being Catholic alone doesn&#8217;t cut it. These are the sorts of things we are told in polite society to not bring up. You know, the difficult and unpleasant things. But if we are going to be men and women for this time in history, we need to stop pretending that the &#8220;Church of Nice&#8221; is a winning proposition. We must always speak and act in charity, but never mistake charity for cowardice.</blockquote>
One hundred percent correct.
Further, Colin Kaepernick hijacked a TV broadcast of the NFL in order to politically protest the American flag. He was doing it on the NFL field before the game as part of the actual NFL broadcast.
Harrison Butker spoke far away from the NFL field at a Catholic college as a Catholic, and the Left is calling for him to be punished by the NFL.
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The real answer as to why this huge yawning gap has emerged in the United States is because there is a culture gap between the values of San Francisco and New York and the values of places like Youngstown, Ohio. It is a massive culture gap between people who believe as Harrison Butker does and people who believe as Joe Biden&#8217;s minions do.
Harrison Butker versus Colin Kaepernick is a good indicator of Right versus Left in the country right now.
And I think that unlike the media, more Americans agree with Harrison Butker than agree with Colin Kaepernick.

Super Bowl LVII – Kansas City Chiefs v Philadelphia Eagles

NFL Kicker SLAMMED For Defending Christianity

Ben Shapiro

Christianity

family

Fathers

Joe Biden

Kansas City Chiefs

Mothers

Social Media

A 16-year-old male gunman was stopped by parishioners and arrested by police officers after he entered a Louisiana Catholic church during Mass on Saturday. The incident occurred during a Mass celebrating a group of children’s first holy communion at St. Mary Magdalen church in Abbeville in southern Louisiana.
No one was injured during the incident.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
USA
An anti Catholic terrorist was arrested after entering a Catholic Church with a rifle, intending to massacre children and families during a First Holy Communion ceremony in Abbeville, Louisiana <a href="https://t.co/5MI36mq20t">pic.twitter.com/5MI36mq20t</a>
&mdash; Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) <a href="https://twitter.com/CatholicArena/status/1789773607897305169?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;This morning, our First Communion ceremony was interrupted when a suspicious person opened the back door,&#8221; St. Mary Magdalen church said in a statement, KGET <a href="https://www.kget.com/national-news/video-parishioners-stop-teen-with-gun-from-entering-louisiana-church/">reported</a>. &#8220;The individual was immediately confronted by parishioners, escorted outside and the police were called.&#8221;
Officers with the Abbeville Police Department apprehended and arrested the teen and then checked inside the church to make sure there was no additional danger.
&#8220;This understandably caused panic. While we realize this was a frightening experience for those in attendance, we are incredibly grateful to both parishioners and police officers for acting quickly to ensure the safety of all,&#8221; the church said.
Multiple law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, are involved in the investigation.
The suspect was questioned at a police station with a parent present and then taken to a hospital behavioral unit to be medically evaluated, the Abbeville Police Department said.
The teen has been charged with “terrorizing” as well as with two counts of possession of a firearm by a juvenile, police said.
The terrifying incident was captured on a church camera that was streaming the Mass online. A man ascends the altar and whispers to the priest, who then asks the parishioners to sit down and join him in prayer and begins reciting Hail Marys. Several men walk around near the front pews, frequently looking towards the back of the church.
Moments later, parishioners can be seen panicking, screaming, and grabbing their small children as police enter the church. The priest continued to pray but was drowned out by the crowd. He and several priests duck behind the altar during the chaos, and altar boys can be seen running across the altar.
&#8220;So guys, just get ahold of your child. Go slowly. We did apprehend a young man. He is in custody. He is in the police&#8217;s custody. Calm down and just get next to your child and go slowly,&#8221; a man can be heard telling the crowd on a microphone.
The church said it will have law enforcement at all upcoming Masses as a precaution.
St. Mary Magdelen church is part of Vermilion Parish and is located about 21 miles southwest of Lafayette.

Catholic eucharistic liturgy.

Teen Gunman Stopped After Entering Louisiana Catholic Church During Mass

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Everyone knows that the most commonly practiced religion in Hollywood is the worship of self, even if most celebrities won’t admit it. 
There are also plenty of stars who dabble in New Age practices, who call themselves “spiritual but not religious,” and a solid number of famous people who follow Eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. 
And while lukewarm “Christians” are prevalent enough in Tinseltown, when it comes to being a Hollywood A-lister, it’s very unlikely that any will admit to being a full-fledged, church-going, sacrament practicing Catholic. It could be that the celebrity lifestyle doesn’t align with Catholicism. Or, perhaps there’s an invisible barrier preventing Catholics from reaching A-list status. More likely it’s a combination of both.
However, there are a handful of Catholic celebrities who wear their faith loudly and proudly. It may mean that they’re shunned by their peers, but despite that, these famous players have decided that their religion means more than fitting in.
<h4>Mark Wahlberg</h4>
<div id="attachment_732461" style="width: 796px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-732461" class="size-large wp-image-732461" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-2003553617-786x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 14: Mark Wahlberg is seen at &quot;Good Morning America&quot; on February 14, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)" width="786" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-2003553617-786x576.jpg 786w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-2003553617-300x220.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-2003553617-768x563.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-2003553617.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 786px) 100vw, 786px" />Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images</div>
Many millennials think of Wahlberg by his former stage name, Marky Mark. Wahlberg has collected plenty of impressive Hollywood accolades including a BAFTA Award, nominations for two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, nine Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. 
Besides just achieving success on the screen, the 52-year-old father of four is also a devout Catholic. 
“I attribute everything good and everything positive in life to my faith,” Wahlberg said during a 2023 <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mark-wahlberg-says-once-he-started-putting-my-faith-and-focus-on-god-good-things-happened-to-him" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a>. “As soon as I started putting my faith and focus on God, good things started happening for me.”
“And even when they didn’t, [faith] gives you the coping skills to deal with things that are inevitable, like loss and failure and those things,” he continued. “But, you know, again, my faith and my family, those are the most important aspects of my life.”
In 2022, Wahlberg appeared in “Father Stu,” a movie based on the true story of a boxer who became a Catholic priest. The actor said it was “his calling” and “mission” to get the movie made.
The meditation app Hallow, the most downloaded and used Catholic app in the world, launched a partnership with the actor in 2022 as he was promoting the movie. At the time, Wahlberg urged his 18 million social media followers to pray the rosary with him.
“You got to stay prayed up. God bless you,” he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/stay-prayed-up-mark-wahlberg-urges-his-18-million-followers-to-say-the-rosary-with-him" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> at the time.
<h4>Gary Sinise</h4>
<div id="attachment_732463" style="width: 382px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-732463" class="size-large wp-image-732463" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1827867832-372x576.jpg" alt="LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 02: Actor Gary Sinise attends the Thalians annual Winter Gala honoring Gary Sinise with the 2023 Mr. Wonderful Award at Brentwood Country Club on December 02, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Tullberg/Getty Images)" width="372" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1827867832-372x576.jpg 372w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1827867832-194x300.jpg 194w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1827867832.jpg 661w" sizes="(max-width: 372px) 100vw, 372px" />Michael Tullberg/Getty Images</div>
Yes, Lieutenant Dan from “Forrest Gump” is also a practicing Catholic in addition to promoting causes that help veterans.
He said he’s found success despite being openly conservative in Hollywood. 
“I’ve had a blessed career in the movie and television and theater business,” Sinise <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gary-sinise-talks-about-being-a-conservative-in-hollywood-and-how-it-affected-his-career" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in January 2023. “I’ve done amazing things, I’ve worked with amazing people, and it really played a major role, if not the key element, in what I’m doing today on the service side.”
Sinise discussed his journey to becoming Catholic in 2019. He said he was led to the church by his wife, Moira Harris, who converted herself after being cast in a play. The actor said he surprised his family by choosing to join the church about a decade after his wife. 
“I surprised my family. I’d gone through the confirmation classes and whatnot myself behind everybody’s back and I didn’t tell anybody that I was doing it,” he <a href="https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2019/02/actor-gary-sinise-describes-his-road-to-the-catholic-church" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Catholic News Service.
“On Christmas Eve 2010 I told the family I was taking them to dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse and have Christmas Eve dinner,” Sinise continued. “And on the way there, I pulled into the church, and everybody asked, ‘What are we doing here?’ I said come on in. We walked into the church. The priest was there, and he confirmed me. It was beautiful.”
<h4>Jim Caviezel</h4>
<div id="attachment_584027" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-584027" class="size-large wp-image-584027" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-652329212-e1680206549796-1024x566.webp" alt="AUSTIN, TX - MARCH 11: Actor Jim Caviezel attends the premiere of &quot;The Ballad of Lefty Brown&quot; during 2017 SXSW Conference and Festivals at Stateside Theater on March 11, 2017 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Steve Rogers Photography/Getty Images for SXSW)" width="1024" height="566" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-652329212-e1680206549796-1024x566.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-652329212-e1680206549796-300x166.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-652329212-e1680206549796-768x425.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/GettyImages-652329212-e1680206549796.webp 1275w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Steve Rogers Photography/Getty Images for SXSW</div>
The actor who portrayed Jesus in Mel Gibson’s massively popular drama, “The Passion of the Christ” (2004) is himself a Catholic. The 55-year-old actor credits his entire career to saying a daily rosary. He also credits his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary with helping him be cast in “The Thin Red Line” (1998), which was the starting point of his career.
While filming “The Passion,” Caviezel is said to have experienced a dislocated shoulder, pneumonia, and hypothermia, among other ailments. 
“When I was up there on the Cross, I learned that in His suffering was our redemption. Remember the servant is no greater than the master,” he <a href="https://aleteia.org/2019/03/20/jim-caviezel-gave-what-may-be-the-greatest-catholic-address-of-the-21st-century/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> while addressing a roomful of college students. “Each of us must carry our own cross. There is a price for our faith, for our freedoms. I have been literally scourged, hit by the whips, crucified, struck by lightning, yes, open heart surgery — that’s what happens after five and a half months of hypothermia.”
He spoke about his faith similarly in 2018. “I never thought that being a Christian would be an easy road, but that my heart, even on a cross in the freezing cold, nothing could stop my burning heart from loving Jesus. It’s important. And I took it as an actor because I want people to see why I am proud to be a Christian,” Caviezel <a href="https://relevantradio.com/2018/03/jim-caviezel-catholic-hollywood-love-greater-motivator-fear/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> at the time.
<h4>Patricia Heaton</h4>
<div id="attachment_732467" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-732467" class="size-large wp-image-732467" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1425932756-864x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 21: Patricia Heaton, Actor, Producer and Author, speaks on stage during Taking a Leading Role in Solving the Global Water Crisis at The 2022 Concordia Annual Summit - Day 3 at Sheraton New York on September 21, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Concordia Summit)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1425932756-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1425932756-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1425932756-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/GettyImages-1425932756.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Concordia Summit</div>
Actress Patricia Heaton is another mainstream actress who was cast on a hit sitcom despite being conservative, and Catholic to boot. She discussed growing up in a devout family during an interview in 2022 after meeting Pope Francis at the VITAE Summit in the Vatican.
“My sister is a Dominican nun,” she <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2022-09/actors-reflect-on-pope-francis-call-to-promote-common-good-vitae1.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> at the time. “My grandparents met Pope John Paul I. My mom was one of 15 children. I have some 100 first cousins on my mom&#8217;s side. So, we&#8217;re a very Catholic family. Meeting the Pope is such an incredible honor that I never thought I would have.”
Unlike some of her peers, Heaton said she hasn’t been ostracized for her faith.
“As much as people want to paint Hollywood as a sort of anti-religious place, I have found that going into work, we&#8217;re all there to do a job,” Heaton said during the same conversation. “We&#8217;re all there to be professional. We all respect each other. We share opinions, different opinions. And because we love each other and we have a common goal of creating something wonderful for people to enjoy, the differences in our religion or politics or whatever, in my experience on a set, have not been a problem.”
Besides sharing bible quotes with her followers, Heaton also openly discusses how she’s pro-life.
“I don’t understand why pro-life people want to know if they are ‘welcome’ to join the democrat party,” the actress <a href="https://twitter.com/PatriciaHeaton/status/1227643710646566914" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shared</a> on X in February 2020. “Why would any civilized person want to support a barbaric platform that champions abortion for any reason through all nine months funded by taxpayers?”
<h4>Shia LaBeouf</h4>
<div id="attachment_432144" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-432144" class="size-large wp-image-432144" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/GettyImages-1185322394-scaled-e1685997615852-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/GettyImages-1185322394-scaled-e1685997615852-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/GettyImages-1185322394-scaled-e1685997615852-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/GettyImages-1185322394-scaled-e1685997615852-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/GettyImages-1185322394-scaled-e1685997615852.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for HFA)</div>
One of the newest Catholic converts in the Hollywood community is actor Shia LaBeouf, best known for getting his start on the Disney series “Even Stevens” and later moving into film roles, including the “Transformers” franchise.
Now the celeb is a practicing Catholic as well after receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation on New Year’s Eve 2023. And he may go even further than that.
His sponsor told Catholic News Agency that the 37-year-old star is also considering becoming a deacon in the future. LaBoeuf credited being cast in the film “Padre Pio” (2022) with influencing his decision to convert after going through turmoil and scandals, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shia-labeoufs-conversion-to-catholicism-becomes-official-confirmation-sponsor-says-he-may-take-it-further" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
LaBeouf said he was “never an atheist,” but was previously agnostic. The actor further explained how the role in “Pio” saved his life.

Celebrity Sightings In New York – February 14, 2024

Faith In Hollywood: 5 Celebrities Who Are Openly Catholic 

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Patricia Heaton

The Vatican reaffirmed the Catholic Church&#8217;s opposition to radical gender theory in a new document published Monday, saying sex change procedures threaten the &#8220;unique dignity&#8221; of a person.
The <a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2024/04/08/240408c.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">document</a>, &#8220;Dignitas Infinita&#8221; or &#8220;Infinite Dignity,&#8221; was signed by Pope Francis and warns against &#8220;the age-old temptation to make oneself God.&#8221;
&#8220;Regarding gender theory, whose scientific coherence is the subject of considerable debate among experts, the Church recalls that human life in all its dimensions, both physical and spiritual, is a gift from God,&#8221; the Vatican document reads.
&#8220;Desiring a personal self-determination, as gender theory prescribes, apart from this fundamental truth that human life is a gift, amounts to a concession to the age-old temptation to make oneself God, entering into competition with the true God of love revealed to us in the Gospel,&#8221; the document says.
Biological sex and gender — &#8220;the socio-cultural role of sex&#8221; — can be &#8220;distinguished but not separated,&#8221; the Vatican said.
Radical gender theory is also problematic because it denies sexual difference, which threatens the family, the Vatican continued.
&#8220;In the male-female couple, this difference achieves the most marvelous of reciprocities,&#8221; the document reads. &#8220;It thus becomes the source of that miracle that never ceases to surprise us: the arrival of new human beings in the world.&#8221;
&#8220;Only by acknowledging and accepting this difference in reciprocity can each person fully discover themselves, their dignity, and their identity,&#8221; the Vatican said.
It is &#8220;unacceptable&#8221; that gender theory asserts itself as &#8220;absolute and unquestionable, even dictating how children should be raised,&#8221; the document says.
On medical sex change procedures, the Vatican reminded readers of the Church&#8217;s position that &#8220;humans are inseparably composed of both body and soul.&#8221;
&#8220;We are called to protect our humanity, and this means, in the first place, accepting it and respecting it as it was created,&#8221; the Vatican said. &#8220;It follows that any sex-change intervention, as a rule, risks threatening the unique dignity the person has received from the moment of conception.&#8221;
The document also reaffirms the Church&#8217;s opposition to surrogacy, abortion, and euthanasia.
Surrogacy, in which a woman carries an unborn child for someone else, turns an &#8220;immensely worthy child&#8221; into a &#8220;mere object,&#8221; the Vatican said.
Pope Francis has previously called for a universal ban on surrogacy.
Monday&#8217;s document comes after a Vatican document released in November resulted in significant confusion around the Catholic Church&#8217;s position on trans-identifying people.
The November document intended to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/people-who-got-transgender-surgery-can-be-baptized-and-be-godparents-under-certain-conditions-vatican-clarifies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">clarify</a> that people who previously received gender surgery or hormone treatment can be baptized and be godparents under certain conditions.
A person who has received gender surgery or hormone treatment can be baptized “under the same conditions as other believers,” the Vatican said.
On the godparent issue, the Vatican said that people who have undergone transgender medical treatment can serve as godparents, but &#8220;pastoral prudence demands that it not be permitted if there is a risk of scandal.&#8221;
In recent years, there has been much speculation about whether Pope Francis would change the Catholic Church’s approach to LGBT people.
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The Catholic Church <a href="https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/does-doctrine-change" target="_blank" rel="noopener">never changes</a> its official doctrine, although it often clarifies particular points.
Transgender medical interventions such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and transgender surgeries like genital surgeries and double mastectomies have exploded in popularity in the last few years, first in Europe and, more recently, in the U.S.
Several European countries have begun to curb these transgender medical interventions for children, more and more of whom are seeking them out.
At least 24 U.S. states have also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sacramento-declares-itself-sanctuary-city-for-trans-identifying-people" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cracked</a> down on these medical interventions for minors.

Pope Francis Visits Sweden  – Day 1

Vatican Clarifies Opposition To Radical Gender Theory, Says It Threatens A Person’s ‘Unique Dignity’

Vatican Clarifies Opposition To Radical Gender Theory, Says It Threatens A Person's 'Unique Dignity'

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