It didn’t take long for the culture vultures to begin feasting on the recently deceased Queen Elizabeth II. 
Articles in newspapers, tweets from professors and chatter from TV talking heads all emerged decrying the Queen and her nation’s history of colonization. But one group remained conspicuously, and unusually, quiet about the death of a British Monarch. That group is American Irish Catholics.
For us plastic Paddies of a certain age, the death of the Queen is complicated. Growing up in my Irish Catholic family in Philadelphia in the 1980s the only thing we hated more than the English were the Dallas Cowboys. Maybe. For me, back then, England was not a domain of castles and knightly romance. It was the nation that starved half of Ireland to death in the 1850’s and under which Republican (in the Irish sense) hero Bobby Sands died in 1981 on a hunger strike in a British jail.
So, no, I did not share the sense of loss and sadness that so many, even Americans, felt at the passing of Elizabeth II. As the news developed, and it became clearer that she may have died, I thought to myself, “You don’t have to say anything about the Queen.” As I reached out to Irish-American friends (who shared my feelings almost exactly), I saw very subtle tweets hinting at the need to be gracious and quiet.
It is a strange feeling, to watch the world stop for a great figure’s death, to witness the endless adoration, the missives and messages on television and social media about their greatness, the profound and sincere sadness that takes hold, and to just not feel it. But at the same time, I felt no happiness, no mirth at the suffering of others. I felt no need to criticize Elizabeth II or her nation. 20 years ago I may well have.
And then I realized something. In the 40 or so years since I sat at my great grandfather’s knee, hearing stories of the Troubles in his brogue as he sat beneath framed photos of JFK and the Pope, my own attitude towards England has changed. My hatred had been visceral and very real. Though I no longer feel it, I remember it well. I eschewed British history, poets, and novelists. I made an exception for Shakespeare, consoling myself with the theory that he was a secret Catholic. 
But what I ultimately came to understand was that the disdain I felt was harming me. I am after all an American, and America is a child, if not an heir, to England. As it became clear to me (not until my late twenties) that to understand my own country I had to understand England, admiration began to mix with my malice. I could admire the Magna Carta, the speeches of Pitt, and the steely strength that this nation brought to two world wars. I could even admire the Queen. And I do.
All of this also happened at a time, in the late 1990’s when the Good Friday Accords were taking shape, when a new era dawned, one in which Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland had not settled old differences exactly, but had a functional framework for peace. And in the 20 years since, the Troubles have faded into memory. 
It’s not that most Irish Catholic Americans no longer have the goal of a united Republic of Ireland, many of us do, but especially with the sharp gains for Irish nationalist parties in both north and south, it very much seems that the Four Green Fields will live once again through political, not violent means. 
Something in my own family line ended with me. For hundreds of years, my ancestors and relatives passed down hatred of our oppressors — it was a birthright. A birthright I have not passed on to my own son. He knows the basic history of it all, but his chest will never tighten in anger at the sight of the Union Jack as mine did at his age. He will not experience the intellectual and emotional cage that I, and many others have found a way out of. For that I am grateful.
Queen Elizabeth oversaw nearly a century of history on her isles, she reigned over Bloody Sunday, and the H Block prison. She waived her royal waive while the rights of Northern Irish Catholics were trampled on. I do not forgive her for that. But she also reigned over the negotiations that brought about peace, and her grace, her sense of duty, and patriotism may well have helped her people come to terms with such change. 
My scar tissue is too strong to feel the pain of Elizabeth II’s passing, but as a Catholic I pray for her. And I can say that, under her leadership, ancient hatreds have crumbled — for that we can all be grateful.
David Marcus is a Brooklyn based columnist and author of &#8220;Charade: The Covid Lies That Crushed A Nation&#8221;
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations Around New York City

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Pope Francis asked for prayers on Sunday ahead of a trip this week to the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan for an international meeting with religious leaders.
Francis shared the request during his message in St. Peter&#8217;s Square ahead of his scheduled three-day visit to the 7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions that begins Tuesday.
&#8220;It will be an occasion to meet so many religious representatives and to dialogue as brothers, animated by the common desire for peace, the peace for which our world is thirsting,&#8221; Francis <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2022-09/pope-francis-apostolic-journey-kazakhstan-prayers-angelus.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
&#8220;I give thanks for the preparations and the work done in preparation for my visit. I ask everyone to accompany this pilgrimage of peace with prayer,&#8221; he added.
The visit will mark a Pope&#8217;s first visit to the nation since St. John Paul II visited in 2001 as the first leader of the Roman Catholic Church to travel to Kazakhstan.
Francis had previously hoped to meet with Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, who has supported his nation’s president, Vladimir Putin, despite the invasion of Ukraine. However, Patriarch Kirill later announced that he would no longer attend the conference, ending the potential meeting opportunity.
The prayer request echoed the Pope&#8217;s actions ahead of his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pope-francis-requests-prayers-as-he-prepares-for-trip-to-canada" target="_blank" rel="noopener">July trip</a> to Canada. Francis made the journey to multiple stops across the nation, including an official apology for past times when indigenous Canadian children were forced to attend religious schools.
More than 150,000 native children in Canada were forced to attend Christian schools from the 19th century until the 1970s, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-religion-prayer-vatican-city-00150033f0c37bd2fb5fbc69ee8ddc75" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> the Associated Press.
Despite rumors of the Pope&#8217;s potential retirement following knee problems that have limited his travels, Francis has remained active. Following a recent trip to Canada, the Roman Catholic Church leader said he had no plans to step down.
“I think that at my age and with this limitation I have to save some energy to be able to serve the Church, or on the contrary, think about the possibility of stepping down,” Francis <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-pope-francis-says-he-is-thinking-about-retiring" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
“I don’t think I can continue doing trips with the same rhythm as before,” he said. “But I will try to continue to travel in order to be close to people because it is a way of serving.”
Francis has also noted his hopes to travel to both Moscow and Kyiv to help promote peace following Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine. So far, he has been unable to make a trip to either location.
The Pope has also been in the headlines in recent months over his comments regarding President Joe Biden&#8217;s position on abortion. During a July Univision interview, he questioned the president&#8217;s view in which he stated that Biden’s claim to be Catholic yet support abortion is “incoherent.” The Catholic Church’s teachings oppose abortion.
“A month after conception, the DNA of the fetus is already there and the organs are aligned. There is human life,” the pope said during the interview. “Is it just to eliminate a human life?”

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Liberal <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/catholic-church" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Catholic</a> bishops in Germany failed to approve a document changing the Church&#8217;s teachings on sex and sexuality.
The <a href="https://www.synodalerweg.de/fileadmin/Synodalerweg/Dokumente_Reden_Beitraege/englisch-SV-IV/ENGL_SV-IV-SynodalForum-IV-Foundational-text_Second-reading.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">30-page document</a>, entitled “Life in succeeding relationships – The principles of renewed sexual ethics,” was brought to a vote at a meeting of the German Bishops&#8217; Conference&#8217;s &#8220;Synodal Way&#8221; in Frankfurt Thursday. The resolution to approve needed a two-thirds majority to be adopted, but it did not meet that threshold. The document would have radically reformed the Church&#8217;s teachings around same-sex relationships, gender identity, and masturbation, among others.
&#8220;We are convinced that it will not be possible to re-orientate pastoral care without re-defining the emphasis of the Church’s sexual teaching to a significant degree,&#8221; the preamble to the document stated. &#8220;This is why we are suggesting such a major re-emphasis, as we consider it urgently necessary to overcome some of the restrictions in questions of sexuality, for reasons of sexual science as well as theology. In particular, the teaching that sexual intercourse is only ethically legitimate in the context of a lawful marriage, and only with a permanent openness to the transmission of life, has caused a wide rift to open up between the Magisterium and the faithful. This threatens to completely obscure other important aspects of God’s Good News which could have a liberating effect on shaping dignified sexuality.&#8221;
A total of 33 bishops voted to approve the document; 21 voted against it. Three bishops abstained from voting, <a href="https://www.pillarcatholic.com/german-bishops-spike-synodal-way-sex-document/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Pillar</a> reported.
The leaders of the conference expressed outrage at the result. Delegates took the floor for two hours after the vote concluded, blasting those who voted to disapprove, and claiming that the move would foment division in the Church.
Bishop Georg Bätzing, the president of the bishops&#8217; conference, threatened to take the document to Pope Francis&#8217; worldwide bishops&#8217; synod in 2023, despite failing to approve it. &#8220;We will take it to the level of the universal church when we are in Rome in November for the ad limina visit when we go about preparing the World Synod with the continental bishops’ conferences in January,&#8221; he said, via <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/german-catholic-bishops-fail-update-teachings-sex-warning-pope-francis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a>.
The first reform the German bishops pushed was for the Church to honor all forms of personal sexual identity, including gender identity. The German bishops&#8217; document also affirms non-binary and so-called &#8220;intersex&#8221; identities: “[b]iological gender cannot be clearly determined in binary terms in some cases,&#8221; the document states, noting that intersex people have physical and chromosomal variance, while transgender people have a difference of &#8220;gender perception&#8221; from their biological sex. &#8220;As a Church, we must respect the individual self-perception of the sexual identity of any person as an inviolable part of their uniqueness as made in God’s image,&#8221; the document says.
The document went on to call for a radical reform of the teaching on homosexuality. Church doctrine declares homosexual acts as a mortal sin that completely separates the individual from God. The document called on the Church to reject that. &#8220;Same-sex sexuality – also expressed in sexual acts – is therefore not a sin that causes separation from God, and it is not to be judged as intrinsically bad,&#8221; the document declared.
The document would also have radically altered Church teachings on masturbation, which is also a mortal sin under Church doctrine. &#8220;Experiencing one’s own body through self-stimulation in a pleasurable way can be an important building block of self-acceptance for everyone,&#8221; the document declares instead.

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Those who have been to a Catholic mass in the extraordinary form usually have a decided love or distaste for the Latin Mass. Incense swirls around the altar, where red and white clad altar boys kneel, heads bowed in reverence, and the priest intones the mass in Latin facing an ornate gold tabernacle.
Latin Mass parishes are usually bursting with large families. Chapel-veil wearing mothers run in and out to keep their little ones quiet. Children quietly fold their hands and follow their siblings up to the altar rail at communion time. And the choir fills the church with beautiful music evocative of many centuries past.
And so it was an event that <a href="https://twitter.com/RorateCaeli/status/1416000622843858953?s=20&amp;t=qYbtBzRyzkEqLrhk-0x4qg">pierced</a> the homes of traditionally devout Catholic families all over the world when the Vatican <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2021/07/16/pope-francis-restricts-latin-mass/">restricted</a> the celebration of the Latin Mass in parish churches in “the most stinging rebuke by a Pope against his predecessor in living memory.”
In a 2007 ruling, former Pope Benedict XVI <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2021/07/16/pope-francis-restricts-latin-mass/">had encouraged</a> priests to offer the Latin mass if their parishioners requested it, allowing parishioners to go around the priest to the bishop or even the Vatican if their request was denied. Before Benedict&#8217;s ruling, Latin Mass had been banned from parishes normal schedules and had to be requested of the bishop.
<div id="attachment_431909" style="width: 660px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-431909" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-431909 " src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Screen-Shot-2022-09-01-at-11.44.23-AM-1024x538.png" alt="" width="650" height="342" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/Screen-Shot-2022-09-01-at-11.44.23-AM-1024x538.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/Screen-Shot-2022-09-01-at-11.44.23-AM-300x158.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/Screen-Shot-2022-09-01-at-11.44.23-AM-768x404.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/Screen-Shot-2022-09-01-at-11.44.23-AM-1536x808.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/Screen-Shot-2022-09-01-at-11.44.23-AM-2048x1077.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px" />Screenshot of Shia LaBoeuf in Padre Pio trailer. YouTube.</div>
Pope Francis said that his restrictions were intended to unite the church, insisting that the Latin Mass had become a rejection of Vatican II and rallied together those Catholics who favored the church before the council&#8217;s modern reformations. He claimed that allowing the Latin Mass so frequently would “injure the Church, block her path, and expose her to the peril of division,” and his defenders <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/traditional-latin-mass-advocates-prove-pope-francis-was-right">agreed</a> that the Latin Mass “led to a distorted ecclesiology.”
But traditional Catholics strongly disagreed. Writer George Weigel, who prefers the “Norvus Ordo” or English form of the Mass, wrote that Pope Francis&#8217;s <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/20210716-motu-proprio-traditionis-custodes.html">encyclical on the Latin mass</a> was “theologically incoherent, pastorally divisive, unnecessary, cruel — and a sorry example of the liberal bullying that has become all too familiar in Rome recently.”
“The lack of mercy shown here toward traditional Catholics, Benedict XVI, and the young laity and clergy drawn to the Latin Mass is stunning,” warned EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo. “This will create the division that Francis claims to cure through this ill advised and destructive new law.”
Author Michael Brendan Dougherty <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/12/opinion/pope-francis-latin-mass.html?referringSource=articleShare">accused</a> Pope Francis of “tearing the Catholic Church apart.”
“For Catholics, how we pray shapes what we believe,” wrote Dougherty. “The old ritual physically aims us toward an altar and tabernacle. In that way it points us to the cross and to heaven as the ultimate horizon of man’s existence. By doing so, it shows that God graciously loves us and redeems us despite our sins.”
Bishops quickly informed dioceses which churches could or could not hold Latin Masses. Some are not allowed to advertise their Latin Masses or hold them in the main church. Priests <a href="https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-americas/2021/08/74503">have been disciplined</a> for disobeying.
The news spread like wildfire within Catholic circles but was met with relative indifference without. What could the secular world care for a lengthy, incense filled Catholic Mass celebrated in Latin?
And then actor Shia LaBeouf revealed that he had converted to Christianity, becoming a member of the Roman Catholic Church, while he was shooting the movie “Padre Pio.”
Not only that: he shared that the discarded Latin Mass played a major role in his conversion.
<h3>&#8216;Latin Mass Affects Me Deeply&#8217;</h3>
LaBeouf plays Padre Pio in his upcoming film, a humble friar born in southern Italy in 1887, beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1999 and then canonized in 2002. The saint is known for his concise commentary on the importance of prayer and the Mass in modern secular society.
“Today’s society does not pray,” he famously <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/blog/50-wise-and-wonderful-insights-from-padre-pio">said</a>. “That is why it is falling apart.”
Padre Pio bore the stigmata on his body — the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ, who was brutally beaten, whipped, and ultimately nailed to a wooden cross until he died, according to biblical accounts, because he claimed to be the son of God.
No conclusive scientific explanation has been given for the stigmata, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/shia-labeouf-converts-catholicism-studying-padre-pio-movie">reports</a>, though it has been subjected to intense scrutiny by members of the medical community.
LaBeouf shared with Bishop Robert Barron that he lived in a monastery of Franciscan Capuchin friars and studied religious works of literature in order to better understand the saint. The actor was fighting thoughts of suicide as he began the project, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/feb/12/shia-labeoufs-legal-team-denies-abuse-claims-by-ex-girlfriend-fka-twigs?utm_source=dlvr.it&amp;utm_medium=facebook">dodging scandals</a>, and reportedly at one of the darkest points in his life.
“I had a gun on the table. I was outta here,” LaBeouf told the bishop. “I didn&#8217;t want to be alive anymore when all this happened. Shame like I had never experienced before — the kind of shame that you forget how to breathe.”
WATCH: 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Bishop Barron Presents | Shia LaBeouf - Padre Pio and the Friars" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hjxKG4mR3U4?start=3027&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
“I know now that God was using my ego to draw me to Him,” the actor said. “Drawing me away from worldly desires. It was all happening simultaneously. But there would have been no impetus for me to get in my car, drive up [to the monastery] if I didn&#8217;t think, &#8216;Oh, I&#8217;m gonna save my career.&#8217;”
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LaBeouf said he encountered people who had sinned beyond his wildest imagination but were taking refuge in Christ. That gave him hope, he said, and made him feel like he, too, had permission to pursue piety.
And for his role, as he portrayed the famed priest, LaBeouf acted out the celebration of the Latin Mass.
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“While we were practicing Latin Mass, I was having genuine emotional experiences, and aside from the fact that as a Neapolitan speaker, [Pio&#8217;s] accent wouldn&#8217;t have matched Italian anyway, but it felt like that would have taken me out of this thing that felt very personal,” LaBeouf shared.
“Latin Mass affects me deeply, deeply,” the actor said.
<div id="attachment_431873" style="width: 668px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-431873" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-431873 " src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GettyImages-873391818-877x576.jpg" alt="" width="658" height="432" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/GettyImages-873391818-877x576.jpg 877w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/GettyImages-873391818-300x197.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/GettyImages-873391818-768x504.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/GettyImages-873391818-1536x1008.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/GettyImages-873391818-2048x1345.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 658px) 100vw, 658px" />Padre Pio during the mass at the Sanctuary of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina 1966. (Photo by Archivio Cicconi/Getty Images)</div>
He echoed the frustrations of many traditional Catholics in describing modern celebrations of the Catholic Mass, which, since Vatican II, has sought to better include the congregation and to make the biblical texts and liturgical prayers more palatable to the public.
“It&#8217;s almost as though the church is trying to&#8230;activate the audience without putting the agency on the priest,” the actor said, adding, “Old Latin Mass put all the agency on the priest to be fully activated and that at that activation of the priest was supposed to activate the audience, the laity.”
<div class="segment style-scope ytd-transcript-segment-renderer" role="button" aria-label="11 minutes, 37 seconds and the back and forth comes from whereas old latin mass put all the agency on the priest to be">
LaBeouf explained that silence and reverence of the Latin mass strongly resonated with him, drawing him closer to the mass rather than pushing him away.
“It feels like they&#8217;re not selling me a car,” he said of the extraordinary form, describing how brightly lit modern Catholic Masses with “guitars and stuff” often feel like they are “trying to sell me on an idea.”
“I always had a belief,” LaBeouf shared, “but never had a connection. Latin Mass gave me something where I felt connected,  which took me out of belief into connection.”
“As a person who&#8217;s involved in the arts, to deny some of the senses, it heightens some of the others, so when you put me in this rationalistic, logical, word, word, word, plot, plot, plot, it takes me out of the feeling realm,” he continued. “Whereas, Latin Mass puts me squarely in the feeling realm because I can&#8217;t argue the word because I don&#8217;t know what the word means, so I&#8217;m just left with this feeling that feels sacred and connected.”
<div role="button" aria-label="15 minutes, 48 seconds and and i do i mean as a person who's involved in the arts to deny some of the">
<div id="attachment_431874" style="width: 433px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-431874" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-431874 size-large" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GettyImages-3166551-423x576.jpg" alt="" width="423" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/GettyImages-3166551-423x576.jpg 423w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/GettyImages-3166551-220x300.jpg 220w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/GettyImages-3166551-768x1046.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/GettyImages-3166551-1128x1536.jpg 1128w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/GettyImages-3166551-1504x2048.jpg 1504w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/GettyImages-3166551-scaled.jpg 1880w" sizes="(max-width: 423px) 100vw, 423px" />Mystic and Stigmatic, Capuchin friar Padre Pio (Francesco Forgione) (1887 &#8211; 1968) wearing black mittens to cover the stigmata on his hands. He bears on his body the five marks of the crucifixion of Christ, on hands, feet and side. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)</div>
The actor said that he is “quite close” with Catholic actor and director Mel Gibson, who also appreciates the Latin Mass. When LaBeouf didn&#8217;t know how to find Latin Masses, he said that Gibson helped him.
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“He&#8217;s really into that traditionalist thing,” LaBeouf said. And at these Latin Masses he was attending, people began figuring out that LaBeouf was playing Padre Pio.
“They start coming up to you and and tugging at your shirt sleeve and saying, &#8216;Don&#8217;t get it wrong. He&#8217;s the only one we have,” the actor explained. “You ship out with so much pressure that then you&#8217;re in front of the Mass, you&#8217;ve just gone through six, seven months of the shirt tugging, the introduction to the order, the introduction of who Pio was, and you&#8217;re standing in front of the Mass that he used to serve mass at, and you&#8217;re trembling with fear, and there&#8217;s no way you can actually find the agency that he had.”
<h3>The Response</h3>
LaBeouf&#8217;s interview with Barron has garnered over a million views on YouTube. Many of those who praised the interview drew on their own emotional experiences attending the traditional Latin Mass.
“I&#8217;m protestant and enjoyed this interview very much,” one commenter wrote. “Very touching and thought provoking. Now I&#8217;m interested in experiencing a Latin Mass.”
“I grew up in the post-Vatican II church and I never felt anything for it. During COVID lockdowns, I started praying and somehow discovered the TLM and for the first time in my life, I loved attending Mass,” wrote another.
“I found a traditional Latin Mass parish and joined, and I even went to confession after 45 years of being away. I love the Traditional Latin Mass, and I actually thank God for COVID, because it brought me back to the faith. If you never been to a TLM, find one and you will fall in love with Catholicism,” one said.
Responding to the strong reaction to LaBeouf&#8217;s remarks, the Vatican&#8217;s liturgy office said that he would welcome a conversation with LaBeouf.
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“I&#8217;d like to know why he thinks that, what is his experience of the celebration of the Mass,” English Cardinal Arthur Roche, one of the clergy spearheading the restriction of the Latin Mass, <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/vaticans-liturgy-head-latin-mass-convert-shia-labeouf-lets-talk">said</a>. “That&#8217;s what priests do; we try to talk to people.”
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But Roche also said that he hopes LaBeouf will find a similar experience in the Norvus Ordo form of the Mass, saying that the Mass “isn&#8217;t just something, a trait that belongs to the missal of 1962. It belongs to the reform.”
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“Reform of the liturgy was an enormous, long preparation prior to the council and the council is the highest legislation that exists in the church,” he continued. “Once that legislation comes into effect, it&#8217;s a very serious matter. You disregard that and you&#8217;re really putting yourself sideways towards the edges of the church.”
Roche described those who are reluctant to embrace the Vatican II reforms as “stubbornly opposing what the church has decreed,” saying, “that&#8217;s a very serious matter.”
He said, “In the end, people have to ask themselves, &#8216;Am I really a Catholic or am I more of a Protestant?&#8217;”
Catholics like Dougherty, a senior writer at National Review, believe that Vatican&#8217;s restrictions on the Latin Mass were done purposefully in order to “stamp out the old Latin Mass.”
“Pope Francis is using the papacy in precisely the way that progressives once claimed to deplore,” wrote Dougherty. “He centralizes power in Rome, usurps the local bishop’s prerogatives and institutes a micromanaging style that is motivated by paranoia of disloyalty and heresy. Perhaps it’s to protect his deepest beliefs.”
“I don’t know if bishops will adopt Francis’ zeal to crush the Latin Mass,” Dougherty muses. “I don’t know how painful they are willing to make our religious life. If they do, they will create — or reveal — more division in the church. The old slogan of the traditional Latin Mass movement comes to mind: We resist you to the face.”
One day, Dougherty emphasized, historians will look back on the move as the “worst spasm of iconoclasm in the church’s history — dwarfing the Byzantine iconoclasm of the ninth century and the Protestant Reformation.”
“Pope Benedict had temporarily allowed us to begin repairing the damage,&#8221; he writes. “What Pope Francis proposes with his crackdown is a new cover-up.”
LaBeouf did not immediately respond to requests for comment for this story. “Padre Pio”, directed by Abel Ferrara, will premiere on September 2.
WATCH: 
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23rd Annual Hollywood Film Awards – Red Carpet

The Latin Mass, Cast Aside By the Vatican, Finds An Unexpected Ally

Shia LaBeouf

The Vatican

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/indiana" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indiana&#8217;s</a> Supreme Court has ruled unanimously in favor of upholding the termination of a former <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/catholicism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Catholic</a> high school teacher due to his same-sex marriage.
The unanimous 4-0 decision affirmed that the school is protected by church autonomy under the First Amendment in its firing of Joshua Payne-Elliott in 2019.
“Religious freedom protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution encompasses the right of religious institutions ‘to decide for themselves, free from state interference, matters of church government as well as those of faith and doctrine,’” Justice Geoffrey Slaughter wrote in the <a href="https://becketnewsite.s3.amazonaws.com/20220831151405/Payne-Elliott-Opinion.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opinion</a>.
The ruling affirmed that the courts must allow the church to operate without state interference.
“Courts can’t decide what it means to be Catholic—only the Church can do that,” <a href="https://www.becketlaw.org/media/court-says-archdiocese-can-decide-which-schools-are-catholic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Luke Goodrich, VP &amp; senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represented the case. “By keeping the judiciary out of religious identity, the Indiana Supreme Court just protected all religious institutions to be free from government interference in deciding their core religious values.” 
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Today, the Indiana Supreme Court unanimously threw out the lawsuit. As Justice Slaughter explained: The “Constitution encompasses the right of religious institutions ‘to decide for themselves, free from state interference, matters of church government.’” <a href="https://t.co/WZaETausmd">pic.twitter.com/WZaETausmd</a>
&mdash; Luke Goodrich (@LukeWGoodrich) <a href="https://twitter.com/LukeWGoodrich/status/1565013008467763200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The history of the case reaches back to 2017 when Payne-Elliott married Layton Payne-Elliott, a math teacher at another school. In 2019, Payne-Elliott was terminated from his job as a teacher at Catholic Cathedral High School in Indianapolis over entering into a same-sex marriage in violation of church teachings.
Payne-Elliott sued the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
His spouse worked as a teacher at another area school, Brebeuf Jesuit, that declined to fire him over the same issue. On June 21, 2020, the Archbishop <a href="https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/archdiocese-of-indianapolis-will-no-longer-recognize-brebeuf-jesuit-as-a-catholic-school" target="_blank" rel="noopener">determined</a> that Brebeuf Jesuit could no longer use the Catholic name and would not be recognized as a Catholic institution.
An Indiana trial court dismissed the lawsuit in favor of the Archdiocese, but an appeal in May 2021 by Payne-Elliott&#8217;s legal representatives led to a case before the state&#8217;s Court of Appeals that reversed the decision. The case was then appealed by the Archdiocese and heard by the state&#8217;s Supreme Court ahead of the unanimous ruling in its favor.
“The court’s decision today was a commonsense ruling in favor of our most fundamental rights,” said Goodrich. “Religious schools will only be able to pass down the faith to the next generation if they can freely receive guidance from their churches on what their faith is. We are grateful the court recognized this healthy form of separation of church and state.”

Cathedral High School, courtesy of Becket

Indiana Supreme Court Upholds Firing Of Catholic School Teacher Over Same-Sex Marriage

Education

Indiana

Same-Sex Marriage

An Atlantic op-ed argues that the rosary used in prayer by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/catholicism">Catholics</a> is an extremist symbol taken with a militaristic meaning for Christian nationalists.
Atlantic contributor Daniel Panneton compared the prayer beads to an AR-15 rifle in his Sunday article entitled, &#8220;How Extremist Gun Culture Is Trying to Co-Opt the Rosary.&#8221;
&#8220;Just as the AR-15 rifle has become a sacred object for Christian nationalists in general, the rosary has acquired a militaristic meaning for radical-traditional (or &#8216;rad trad&#8217;) Catholics,&#8221; Panneton <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/08/radical-traditionalist-catholic-christian-rosary-weapon/671122/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>. &#8220;On this extremist fringe, rosary beads have been woven into a conspiratorial politics and absolutist gun culture.&#8221;
Comparing the rosary to a &#8220;weapon,&#8221; the writer used the sacred item to blast Catholic campaigns against LGBTQ acceptance in the Catholic Church. Panneton attacked the practice of praying with the rosary: &#8220;in these hands — is anything but holy.”
The article didn&#8217;t stop with attacking the rosary. The op-ed also shifted to an attack on manhood in the church.
&#8220;This conflation of the masculine and the military is rooted in wider anxieties about Catholic manhood,&#8221; Panneton wrote, &#8220;the idea that it is in crisis has some currency among senior Church figures and lay organizations.&#8221;
The criticism continued with a look at the Supreme Court&#8217;s overturning of Roe v. Wade, which returned laws concerning abortion to individual states. Instead of considering the multiple factors involved or the value of life in the womb, Panneton claimed, &#8220;Christian nationalism is cemented in common causes such as hostility toward abortion-rights advocates.&#8221;
Panneton&#8217;s byline identifies him as a writer based in Toronto, Canada. His linked Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/DBPanneton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">account</a> describes him as a museum worker and an &#8220;online hate researcher.&#8221;
The Atlantic contributor is also listed as the manager of the Online Hate Research &amp; Education Project at the Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre. His biography on the organization&#8217;s <a href="https://www.holocaustcentre.com/about-us/who-we-are" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a> states that Panneton holds master&#8217;s degrees in History from Queen’s University and Museum Studies from the University of Toronto and currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Toronto Ward Museum.
Panneton&#8217;s attack on the rosary has received harsh criticism from many. Conservative writer John Hasson noted, &#8220;So much ignorance displayed in so few words. The Atlantic is just a meme now.&#8221;
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So much ignorance displayed in so few words
The Atlantic is just a meme now <a href="https://t.co/HbZhq3Rmn6">pic.twitter.com/HbZhq3Rmn6</a>
&mdash; John Hasson (@SonofHas) <a href="https://twitter.com/SonofHas/status/1558945775002030081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Washington Examiner reporter Jeremiah Poff added &#8220;Rosary extremist&#8221; to his Twitter bio, adding a call for rosary prayer on behalf of Panneton.
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Let’s pray the Rosary this week for the writers and staff at the Atlantic and Daniel Panneton, especially as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary tomorrow. <a href="https://t.co/0YI3y2yhlq">pic.twitter.com/0YI3y2yhlq</a>
&mdash; Jeremiah Poff (@JJ_Poff) <a href="https://twitter.com/JJ_Poff/status/1558963635145392130?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Conservative Catholic Jack Posobiec even changed his Twitter name to &#8220;Rosary Extremist Poso.&#8221;
&#8220;We just had an honor killing spree murderer in New Mexico last week but the Atlantic is terrified about Catholics praying the rosary,&#8221; he tweeted. &#8220;Tells you everything you need to know.&#8221;
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We just had an honor killing spree murderer in New Mexico last week but the Atlantic is terrified about Catholics praying the rosary
Tells you everything you need to know
&mdash; Rosary Extremist Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) <a href="https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1559176205600972802?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Fr. Alex Olszewski also pointed out that The Atlantic used bullet holes for its image of the rosary alongside the op-ed.
&#8220;The Atlantic calls the rosary an extremist symbol — notice they use bullet holes for the rosary,&#8221; he <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexOlszewski/status/1558960256084021249" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>.
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The Atlantic calls the rosary an extremist symbol–notice they use bullet holes for the rosary.
Catholicism is targeted bc Evil knows what has been established by God.
The rosary will still exist a thousand years from now. Unlike the Atlantic.<a href="https://t.co/ajBTdwEYGW">https://t.co/ajBTdwEYGW</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/catholic?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#catholic</a> <a href="https://t.co/JqH9VrDHBe">pic.twitter.com/JqH9VrDHBe</a>
&mdash; Fr. Alex🇻🇦 (@AlexOlszewski) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexOlszewski/status/1558960256084021249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2022</a></blockquote>
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rosary

Atlantic Writer Claims Rosary Is An ‘Extremist Symbol’ With ‘Militaristic’ Meaning For Christian Nationalists

Atlantic Writer Claims Rosary Is An 'Extremist Symbol' With 'Militaristic' Meaning For Christian Nationalists

Christian

Liberalism

My business school and I have been on the forefront of dealing with the phenomenon called “woke capitalism.” 

In October of 2020, we were the first organization to host a conference on the topic in New York, and I wrote <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/woke-capitalism-in-a-secular-world-11606420629">an op-ed on the topic</a> later that year. Since then, we have been in regular conversation with executives on how to manage the onslaught of wokeness.
I have come to realize that a big part of the problem is the word “woke” itself. It’s a trap, and supporters of the market economy have fallen right into it.
The word is defined (e.g., by <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/woke">Merriam-Webster</a>) as being “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).” But its use encompasses a far wider range of meanings, both supportive (being against racism, alienation, exploitation, and oppression) and pejorative (being hostile to free enterprise and in favor of every extreme Left-wing cause).
In this, it is a lot like the word “capitalism.” Capitalism has both positive and negative meanings: a system of private enterprise that has lifted millions out of poverty, and a system of oppression of workers by the owners for the means of production. <a href="https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2009/05/pope-john-paul-ii-defines-capitalism/">Pope St. John Paul II highlighted</a> the ambiguity of the word just over 30 years ago after the fall of Communism, when he asked whether “capitalism should be the goal of the countries now making efforts to rebuild their economy and society.” His answer—it depends:
<blockquote>“If by ‘capitalism’ is meant an economic system which recognizes the fundamental and positive role of business, the market, private property and the resulting responsibility for the means of production, as well as free human creativity in the economic sector,” he wrote, “then the answer is certainly in the affirmative.
“But if by ‘capitalism’ is meant a system in which freedom in the economic sector is not circumscribed within a strong juridical framework which places it at the service of human freedom in its totality, and which sees it as a particular aspect of that freedom, the core of which is ethical and religious, then the reply is certainly negative.”</blockquote>
This ambiguity around the word “capitalism” has been a serious obstacle to the recognition of the wide-ranging benefits of the market economy because, whenever one attempts to describe those benefits, one has to explain first which capitalism one is talking about — the good kind or the bad. How did this happen? Champions of the market economy seem to have accepted, uncritically, a word that was originally used in a derogatory way and that owes much of its initial popularity to Karl Marx’s use of the word “capitalist.” Using your opponents’ terminology lets them set the terms of the debate.
The same thing has happened with the word “woke.” For many people, woke means simply “not racist.” So if you stake out an anti-woke position, others will interpret that as you being racist. Avoid this trap entirely by not using the word “woke.” We don&#8217;t need it. We already have a perfectly good word for what we mean by “woke” when we use it in its pejorative sense—the identification of people by different subgroups and the classification of people into oppressor or oppressed—and that word is “Marxist.” Why let people get away with giving Marxism a hip new name like “woke”? We should abandon this word. 
Once I finish writing this article, I will never again use the word “woke” or any of its derivatives (wokeness, woke business, woke capitalism), and I recommend that everyone who cares about the market economy and freedom, itself, do the same.
Using the correct word, “Marxist,” instead of “woke” will show how absurd it is to speak of “woke capitalism.” Instead of speaking about “woke capitalism,” we would have to say “Marxist capitalism” — but of course there is no such thing. There is only Marxism, pure and simple. Bringing Marxist ideas into the market economy does not lead to a kinder, gentler form of capitalism. It just leads to the destruction of free enterprise and its replacement by totalitarianism. 
Abandoning the word “woke” and saying “Marxist” instead will make that clear.
This is the last time I will be using the word “woke.”
Andrew V. Abela is the founding dean of the Busch School of Business and Ordinary Professor of Marketing at The Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C. 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

v2 Abela – Why I Will No Longer Use The Word ‘Woke’

Why I Will No Longer Use The Word ‘Woke’

Capitalism

Karl Marx

Marxism

Woke Culture

A biological woman who formerly identified as a transgender man says that a Chicago area hospital opted to prioritize gender ideology over biological realities when she fled to that hospital for help.
De-transitioner Helena Kerschner, 23, shared with The Daily Wire that she checked herself into AMITA Health Saint Joseph Hospital Chicago in the summer of 2017. Since she identified as a transgender man at the time, she believes she used the name Vincent Jaszczak (her mother&#8217;s maiden name).
The reason for her hospital visit? For the past 12 months she had been pumping herself full of very high doses of testosterone in an attempt to transition to become a biological man, she said.
And she says it was wreaking havoc on her emotions.
&#8220;When I would get angry I would have the urge to externalize it, but I didn&#8217;t want to hurt anyone,&#8221; she explained. &#8220;It re-routed all my emotions to anger&#8230;instead of feeling sad, afraid of something, I would instantly go from zero to rage.&#8221;
She also said she couldn&#8217;t cry, a common <a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/02/cry#:~:text=Biologically%2C%20there%20may%20be%20a,in%20women)%20may%20promote%20it.">side effect</a> for women on testosterone, and something she found tremendously frustrating. &#8220;I would get to the point of being upset that, before testosterone, I would have been sobbing. It would all just kind of well up inside me, but no tears would come.&#8221;
<h3>The Chicago Hospital</h3>
Overcome with her emotional reaction to the testosterone, Kerschner said she ultimately checked herself into AMITA Health Saint Joseph Hospital Chicago, a Catholic hospital that supposedly abides by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops&#8217; (USCCB) <a href="http://www.usccb.org/about/doctrine/ethical-and-religious-directives/upload/ethical-religious-directives-catholic-health-service-sixth-edition-2016-06.pdf">Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Healthcare Services</a>.
Though the USCCB directives do not specifically reference transgender treatments or counseling, the Catholic Church <a href="https://www.usccb.org/resources/Gender-Ideology-Select-Teaching-Resources_0.pdf">teaches</a> that there are only two genders: male and female. Neither AMITA Health Saint Joseph Hospital Chicago nor the USCCB responded to requests for comment from The Daily Wire.
According to Kerschner, the psychiatrists at AMITA Health Saint Joseph Hospital Chicago didn&#8217;t seem to care about the underlying cause of her distress (the testosterone).
In fact, she said, they began medically treating her as though she were a biological man in emotional distress.
Kerschner does not remember which psychiatrists specifically treated her, but she said that the decision to favor her stated gender over her actual biology is not surprising in light of the &#8220;very complex psychological&#8221; debate on gender identity that <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2022/01/08/trans-ideology-is-distorting-the-training-of-americas-doctors">has permeated the medical world</a>.
&#8220;It&#8217;s an incredibly politically charged issue and you&#8217;re at risk of being accused of discrimination or harassment or conversion therapy,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I think it should be different. Gender identity stuff might be incredibly complex, but an 18-year-old girl on 100 milligrams of testosterone having meltdowns, that&#8217;s not very complex.&#8221;
&#8220;I think that it&#8217;s just too dangerous for these providers who are really only going to be talking to these people for a week or so until they leave the hospital and they never see them again or don&#8217;t see them until they come back to the hospital,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;It&#8217;s just not worth the risk for these doctors and nurses to even bring it up. So yeah, I think it&#8217;s more of an issue with psychiatry as a field and the way that these hospitals work.&#8221;
Seemingly treating her as though she were a biological man, doctors reportedly diagnosed Kerschner with borderline personality disorder, prescribed her two antidepressants, Wellbutrin and Lexapro, the anti-anxiety medication Klonopin, and the antipsychotic medication Abilify.
AMITA Health Saint Joseph Hospital Chicago has not responded to The Daily Wire&#8217;s requests for comment on this point or others. 
Though Kerschner says she listed on her intake form that she had been taking 100 milligrams of testosterone per week, she said there was no discussion of how, specifically, the testosterone was affecting her.
And, though her medical records said that her sex was female, according to Kerschner, the hospital staff validated her gender identity and overlooked her biological sex, medically and socially, treating her as though she were, in fact, a biological man.
The Daily Wire has not obtained a copy of those medical records, and the hospital did not respond to requests for comment on this point.
Kerschner said that she stayed at St. Joseph&#8217;s Hospital for six or seven days on her first visit. Then she went home.
But a psychiatrist at her out-patient program told her she needed to go back to the hospital, Kerschner said. The young woman explained that she had been telling her psychiatrist about her rage attacks (though she said she didn&#8217;t know it was rage at the time and thought these were psychotic episodes) and how she felt suicidal and hopeless.
After she left the hospital this time, she said, she slowly weaned herself off the testosterone.
<h3>Getting The Hormones</h3>
Kerschner said she obtained the testosterone from a Chicago Planned Parenthood clinic where she first went to begin hormonal treatment on August 15, 2016. 
She was 18 years old at the time, she said, describing in detail how she had struggled with depression, self consciousness, loneliness, insecurity, and body image throughout her teenage years.
“Pretty standard stuff, I think, for a teenager,” she said. 
Then she began spending a lot of time on the internet, where she discovered Tumblr and a whole world of gender theory and social justice advocacy. And she began to believe that she was a trans boy.
“I decided that what I needed to do for myself was to go on testosterone and start transitioning,” Kerschner explained. “And I had kind of this fantasy in my head that I was going to transform into this cute boy and be really popular. Very not realistic.”
Her parents were (&#8220;thankfully&#8221;) not supportive of her transition, Kerschner noted. So she made herself an appointment at a Planned Parenthood clinic, Planned Parenthood of Near North: Elizabeth Cohn Morris Health Center, she said, and drove herself from Cincinnati all the way to Chicago.
Neither Planned Parenthood nor Planned Parenthood of Illinois would specifically comment on Kerschner and her experience for this story.
In a statement, Planned Parenthood of Illinois assured The Daily Wire that it &#8220;provides high-quality health care and adheres to all local, state and federal regulations for our sexual and reproductive health services, including gender-affirming care.&#8221;
Screenshots of her social work intake form show that Kerschner wrote that her pronouns were male and that her “sex assigned at birth” was female.
That intake form paints a stark picture of an isolated young girl making a life altering decision: single, frustrated with her parents, she had told only one friend about starting hormone treatment, the form says, though she had come “out to everyone’” as transgender and “connected to online communities for support.” 
The form states that a general screening found her to be capable of making informed consent for the treatment — at least according to the standards set by the clinic at the time. Her last suicidal thought had been two weeks prior, the form says, and her depression was “significantly improving” since starting to transition. 
Planned Parenthood did not comment on the social intake form or address its standards on suicidal thoughts to The Daily Wire.
Kerschner was “well versed and knowledgeable about hormone therapy,” according to the form, had “thought about using hormones for some time, especially over the last 2 years,” and stated that “turning 18 is” why she was able to begin the process.
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This was my full informed consent waiver. These were the only side effects or risks discussed with me. Vaginal atrophy, which I suffered and is now (from what I can tell) thankfully resolved but was painful and frightening at the time, was not even disclosed to me. <a href="https://t.co/dn3iYrQUGF">pic.twitter.com/dn3iYrQUGF</a>
&mdash; helena (@lacroicsz) <a href="https://twitter.com/lacroicsz/status/1151238925698195456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
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That very same day, Planned Parenthood gave her a prescription for testosterone, Kerschner said. She then went to CVS and picked it up.
Kerschner told The Daily Wire that it took about 20 minutes for her to talk to the social worker.
The clinic gave her a prescription for the testosterone, she said, and she took a couple minutes to run to CVS to pick up the prescription, then went back to the clinic where she said they guided her through her injection. 
&#8220;The whole thing from the time I arrived at the clinic to the time I left to begin my drive back to Cincinnati took about an hour,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;They gave me a three month supply when I filled my first prescription,&#8221; Kerschner explained.
When she refilled her prescription, she had switched to a new clinic — Chicago Women&#8217;s Health Center, which she described as &#8220;another place like Planned Parenthood where they do a bunch of abortions and then give girls testosterone.&#8221;
Most of the nurses there were transgender themselves, Kerschner said, noting that she had switched to the clinic because it seemed even more &#8220;woke,&#8221; and she had made a friend who was also &#8220;trans identified&#8221; who was using this clinic. 
Chicago Women&#8217;s Health Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Wire. The center&#8217;s website <a href="https://www.chicagowomenshealthcenter.org/trans-health">says it offers</a> hormones to individuals aged 18 or over.
<h3>‘I Felt Alone’</h3>
According to her Planned Parenthood social work intake form, which she has since posted on social media, Kerschner told staff that she was “100% confident” that in the future she would get <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/masculinizing-surgery/about/pac-20385105">top surgery</a> (have her breasts removed).
She had also considered both <a href="https://thetranscenter.com/transmen/facial-masculinization-surgery-fms/">facial masculinization</a> (surgery to make her face look more masculine) and <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/masculinizing-surgery/about/pac-20385105">bottom surgery</a> (surgery attempting to create male genitalia), the form says. 
Asked how she would cope with stressors from the changes she would experience on hormones, the form says that Kerschner stated she thought she would be “much happier.” 
“Patient states that he has struggled with depression currently and in the past,&#8221; the form says, referring to Kerschner with male pronouns. &#8220;Patient states that this summer was tough for him with depression and suicidal thoughts. Patient states that since he has been able to make this appointment, his depression has already started to improve. Patient expects that his whole life will be quite different and he will be very happy when he starts to change.”
Kerschner told The Daily Wire that the hormone treatment was a desperate bid for happiness, an attempt to fit into a world of beautiful, popular people with perfect lives splayed all over the internet on social media. But it only resulted in more pain.
“Any young person, teenager, or young adult who maybe doesn&#8217;t fit in or just feels insecure is really vulnerable to getting caught up in this gender ideology,” Kerschner said. “Pretty much any safeguard or selection process or screening process or anything like that, it&#8217;s all kind of been taken down in the last couple of years.”
“There’s really nothing protecting a young person who decides they&#8217;re trans and then two weeks later wants to go on hormones or wants to get a surgery or something like that,” she said. “I think most people who aren&#8217;t familiar with this topic really don&#8217;t understand how urgent it&#8217;s becoming.&#8221; 
It was extremely difficult to make the decision to stop taking testosterone, Kerschner shared.
&#8220;My mindset was, I&#8217;m so desperate, I’ve invested so much time and thought into this identity,&#8221; she said, noting that it would be &#8220;really embarrassing to back out of it.&#8221; So she kept telling herself, &#8220;No, you can&#8217;t doubt this, you gotta keep going.&#8221; 
She wasn&#8217;t the only one who felt that pushing forward with her transition was the right thing to do, she said — on Reddit forums, all of the responses that she read urged her to &#8220;keep going.&#8221;
She began to develop an &#8220;intense aversion&#8221; to the massive needle that she stabbed into her leg to inject herself with testosterone. After her second visit to the hospital, she said, she slowly stopped taking testosterone until she had quit completely.
Kerschner said that she doesn&#8217;t remember much about coming off the testosterone, describing that next period as a &#8220;very low point&#8221; in her life.
She was on a ton of medication, she said, her hormones were &#8220;screwed up,&#8221; she was drinking heavily, smoking copious amounts of weed, and does not remember specific withdrawal feelings beyond bewilderment and regret. 
Then she began sharing her experience on social media, making videos with other detransitioners. Fox News host Tucker Carlson recently featured her on Tucker Carlson Tonight, where she <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/TPostMillennial/status/1515129487779938312">warned</a> the pundit: &#8220;I&#8217;m just really concerned for younger girls and boys being led down this path, and being hurt by it.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s completely normal for not only young girls, but often young boys to feel uncomfortable with themselves, uncomfortable with their body,&#8221; she told Carlson. &#8220;But we have this ideology that is especially prevalent online that says that if you have those feelings, that means you&#8217;re trans. I mean, there are literally people who say, if you don&#8217;t even like your voice on a recording, that&#8217;s a sign of gender dysphoria, and you need to go see a medical professional because you&#8217;re trans.&#8221;
She has a boyfriend now, she told The Daily Wire. She&#8217;s on speaking terms with her family, going to school, and is one of the top voices in the transgender debate.
&#8220;My story is not a fluke, and I am not uniquely troubled or irresponsible,&#8221; she wrote in a Substack post <a href="https://lacroicsz.substack.com/p/by-any-other-name?r=18ll6h&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;s=r">explaining her story</a>. &#8220;What I am though, is fortunate, because there are others for whom the harm has been exponentially worse.&#8221;
&#8220;Though there is much strength to be found in overcoming, the fact is that today, any young person who remotely struggles with self-esteem, making friends, fitting in to common gender roles, or body image is now vulnerable to being subjected to what amount to medical experiments that may permanently destroy the prior functioning of their bodies before they have had the chance to build identity and strength through the normal means of overcoming life’s challenges,&#8221; she continued.
 &#8220;I have seen firsthand that for some people, the medical and psychological damage is far beyond what could be considered a healthy amount of adversity.&#8221;

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transgender surgery

Readers Pass – Guarnizo – What The American Pro-Life Movement Must Correct16x9

“Lethal Timidity”: Pro-Life Theologian Calls Out Weak Politicians, Three Errors In Dobbs Opinion

Abortion

Dobbs

Supreme Court

The vicar of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, has declared that &#8220;World War III&#8221; has begun due to Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine and that &#8220;there are no metaphysical good guys and bad guys&#8221; participating in this calamity.
On Tuesday, the Catholic outlet America Magazine <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2022/06/14/pope-francis-war-ukraine-nato-243153">flagged</a> that the pope made his comments to the Italian Jesuit publication, &#8220;La Civiltà Cattolica,” as well as a secular newspaper, &#8220;La Stampa.&#8221; The interview was released on June 14.
“The world is at war,” Pope Francis claimed. “For me, today, World War III has been declared. This is something that should give us pause for thought. What is happening to humanity that we have had three world wars in a century?”
The pope also suggested that the situation is not as simple as the media presents it.
“I am simply against reducing complexity to the distinction between good guys and bad guys without reasoning about roots and interests, which are complex,” Pope Francis said. “While we see the ferocity, the cruelty of Russian troops, we must not forget real problems if we want them to be solved.”
When asked, “What are your suggestions for communicating the situation in which we are living? How can we contribute to a peaceful future?”
“To answer this question, we have to move away from the normal pattern of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’: Little Red Riding Hood was good and the wolf was the bad guy,” the pope responded. “Here there are no metaphysical good guys and bad guys, in an abstract sense. Something global is emerging, with elements that are very much intertwined.”
The pope also explained why he believed that Russia was possibly &#8220;provoked&#8221; into war.
&#8220;&#8230; a couple of months before the war started, I met a head of state, a wise man, who speaks very little, very wise indeed,&#8221; the pope told the European outlets, &#8220;After we talked about the things he wanted to talk about, he told me that he was very concerned about the way NATO was moving.”
“I asked him why, and he said, ‘They are barking at the gates of Russia. They do not understand that the Russians are imperialists and will allow no foreign power to approach them,’” the pope continued. &#8220;He concluded, ‘The situation could lead to war.’ This was his opinion. On Feb. 24, the war began. That head of state was able to read the signs of what was taking place.&#8221;
The pope has consistently prayed for an end to the war since it began and has pled for peace.
In March, shortly after the war began, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pope-francis-consecrates-russia-ukraine-to-immaculate-heart-of-mary-drawing-on-prophecy-on-russia-world-war-from-our-lady-of-fatima">reported</a> that Pope Francis consecrated Russia and Ukraine to “the Immaculate Heart of Mary,&#8221; asking for her intercession to end the conflict.

‘World War III Has Been Declared’: Pope Francis Weighs In On ‘Complex’ Situation In Ukraine

'World War III Has Been Declared': Pope Francis Weighs In On 'Complex' Situation In Ukraine

Christianity

Ukraine

Ukraine-Russia War

A drag and Pride event in Austin, Texas at which drag queens strutted their stuff before a crowd that reportedly included scores of children was partially sponsored by a Catholic health ministry.
“Rainbow on the Creek is a free family-friendly celebration that connects, educates, and celebrates Austin’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQIA+) community,” the event <a href="https://waterloogreenway.org/rainbow-on-the-creek/">announcement</a> on the website boasted.
“The celebration will include 25+ activations by LGBTQIA+ nonprofits and partners, a Queer BIPOC and Latinx artisan &amp; craft market, gender-affirming care &amp; sexual health resources, and many more activities for the whole family,” the website added.
The event was sponsored by many <a href="https://stayhappening.com/e/rainbow-on-the-creek-%E2%80%94-free-family-friendly-pride-celebration-at-waterloo-park-E2ISUKTTVK9">organizations</a>, including Ascension Seton, a medical center in Austin that is a part of Ascension, a <a href="https://ascension.org/Our-Mission?_ga=2.67198550.635889550.1655221301-232102286.1655221301">Catholic health ministry</a>.
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Sponsors for this event include <a href="https://twitter.com/Google?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Google</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/TitosVodka?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TitosVodka</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/PNCBank?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PNCBank</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/HEB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HEB</a>. <a href="https://t.co/NG0Ly7IpxN">pic.twitter.com/NG0Ly7IpxN</a>
&mdash; Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1535868949782441984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 12, 2022</a></blockquote>
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“As a Catholic health ministry, Ascension has a unique obligation and calling – reflected in our Mission – to advocate for a more just and compassionate society in words and actions,” Ascension writes on its <a href="https://healthcare.ascension.org/">website</a> before launching into leftist tropes: “To help address racism and systemic injustice, Ascension has launched a justice-focused framework called ABIDE, built on the hallmarks of Appreciation – Belongingness – Inclusivity – Diversity – Equity.”
“Fostering a more inclusive culture and advocating for social justice can help provide more equitable employment opportunities while also helping to remedy healthcare disparities perpetuated by racism and systemic injustice,” the website declares.
“We have a shared responsibility and accountability, as individuals and as a ministry, to lead and model the changes we wish to see in our communities of valuing inclusion, justice and equity for all,” Ascension President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Impicciche <a href="https://www.ascension.org/Our-Mission/Diversity-and-Inclusion?_ga=2.227111069.1277243785.1655217701-1919750533.1655217701">stated</a>.
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Construction will begin this fall on a new $320 million tower at Ascension Seton Medical Center and is expected to open in fall 2024 as a space dedicated to women&#39;s health. 
This story is for subscribers. <a href="https://t.co/zxvT8N7AAX">https://t.co/zxvT8N7AAX</a>
&mdash; Austin Statesman (@statesman) <a href="https://twitter.com/statesman/status/1485960691135782914?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 25, 2022</a></blockquote>
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A group named the “Hydrated Queer Kitties” just performed one of the most sexual dances of the night—
Over fifty children are in attendance. <a href="https://t.co/Nk3fc4q2g4">pic.twitter.com/Nk3fc4q2g4</a>
&mdash; Tayler Hansen 🇺🇸 (@TaylerUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/TaylerUSA/status/1535787621447655424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 12, 2022</a></blockquote>
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“Performers at the event June 11 included multiple drag queens, including ‘Pelvis Wrestley’ and ‘Roxxxy Andrews of RuPaul’s Drag Race’ as a featured performer, according to the event page,” <a href="https://pluralist.com/rainbow-on-the-creek-pride-event-hosts-family-friendly-drag-show-says-its-sponsored-by-google/">Pluralist</a> reported. “While children were watching, the participants performed suggestive dancing moves. Other parts of the event included the Austin Drag Queen Showcase, ‘Hosted by Vylette Ward &amp; Jezebel’ and Drag Queen Storytime, ‘Presented in partnership with Austin Public Library.’”
After a drag show was held at Jesuit university in Philadelphia in late April,  Dr. Denise Donohue, Vice President for Educator Resources at the Cardinal Newman Society condemned the event, telling the <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251084/catholic-education-expert-decries-drag-show-at-saint-josephs-university">Catholic News Agency</a>:
<blockquote>When worldly views that counter Church teaching are given ‘center stage’ by a Catholic institution, whether just for entertainment or political positioning, Catholic identity is harmed, thus requiring reinforcement of authentic Church teaching for the sake of the souls of students in its care. &#8230; authentic accompaniment demands that the truth of the human person, in all its beauty and complexity, be taught from a Catholic worldview.</blockquote>

Crucifix on bible, with copy space

Catholic Health Ministry Sponsors Texas Drag Queen Event Which Children Attended

Drag Queens

RuPaul’s Drag Race

Texas

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appears to have defied her archbishop&#8217;s order not to receive Holy Communion in light of her pro-abortion stances and advocacy.
The California Democrat attended mass on Sunday at Holy Trinity in Georgetown where she received Holy Communion, <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2022/05/22/where-trump-and-trumpism-stands-in-the-gop-00034260">Politico Playbook reported</a>. Pool reports show that President Joe Biden often attends evening masses at the parish as well.
It is not immediately clear which priest at Holy Trinity gave Pelosi communion.
None of the Jesuit priests on staff at Holy Trinity, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/02/joe-biden-catholic-communion-abortion/618067/">described</a> as &#8220;a parish of the powerful,&#8221; responded to requests for comment from The Daily Wire.
The parish website <a href="https://trinity.org/lgbtqia-ministry/">advertises</a> a June 15 &#8220;Pride Mass,&#8221; and highlights a video of a gay man, who says he is married to a man, though the Catholic Church <a href="http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a6.htm">teaches that marriage</a> should only be between a man and a woman and that &#8220;under no circumstances&#8221; will the church approve homosexual acts.
The church&#8217;s pastor, the Reverend C. Kevin Gillespie, <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2021/07/02/joe-biden-communion-holy-trinity-pastor-240967">has previously said</a> that he would give communion to Biden, the most pro-abortion president in United States history often <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2021/02/02/media-biden-devout-catholic-liberal-ideology/">described</a> by his staff and the liberal media as a &#8220;devout Catholic.&#8221;
“Everyone is welcome,” Gillespie said of Biden in an interview with America Magazine, a liberal Catholic outlet. “He’s a man of faith, and I would give Communion to him like any other Catholic coming up for the Eucharist.”
“It’s really an encounter with God,” Gillespie <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/02/joe-biden-catholic-communion-abortion/618067/">separately told The Atlantic</a>, saying that receiving communion is a “sacred and intimate moment” for pro-abortion Biden, a “gift that enhances his faith, and it energizes his witness.&#8221;
“We most certainly encourage him to improve his intimacy with God through the Eucharist,&#8221; Gillespie told the publication.
The Holy Trinity pastor, who <a href="https://jesuits.georgetown.edu/gillespie/">formerly served</a> as president of Saint Joseph’s University, associate provost of the Chicago-based Loyola University, and as an assistant professor in the Department of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Loyola University of Maryland, did not respond to requests for comment.
His openness to giving communion to the pro-abortion president is apparently backed by the archbishop of Washington, Wilton Gregory, who <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2020/11/24/archbishop-gregory-joe-biden-communion/">said in November 2020</a> that he would also give communion to Biden.
&#8220;There will be moments when I will be able to speak to him about faith, about the works that he is trying to accomplish that we can be supportive of, but also areas where we’re not going to agree,&#8221; Gregory said. &#8220;But I’m going to always try to do it in a respectful way.”
In September 2021, however, the archbishop <a href="https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2021/09/washington-archbishop-offers-rare-criticism-of-biden-after-abortion-statement">offered a rare rebuke</a> of Biden&#8217;s denial that life begins at conception, telling the president that “the Catholic Church teaches, and has taught, that human life begins at conception, so the president is not demonstrating Catholic teaching.&#8221;
“Our church has not changed its position on the immorality of abortion,” Gregory added. “I don’t see how we could because we believe that every human life is sacred.”
To <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251323/here-are-two-basic-requirements-catholics-must-meet-to-receive-holy-communion">receive Holy Communion</a>, which Catholics believe is the body of Jesus Christ, one must be in a state of grace, which means that an individual has recently gone to the sacrament of confession and confessed all serious or mortal sins, and one must have fasted for at least an hour.
The Catholic News Agency <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251323/here-are-two-basic-requirements-catholics-must-meet-to-receive-holy-communion">cites</a> the Catechism of the Catholic Church in reporting that a mortal sin “destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God&#8217;s law; it turns man away from God.&#8221; Examples of mortal sins are murder, adultery, pornography, theft, and missing mass on Sunday.
The Catholic Church <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a5.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">teaches</a> that abortion is “a crime against human life,” “constitutes a grave offense” and that a person who obtains an abortion is automatically excommunicated from the Catholic Church.
Additionally, <a href="https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-citizenship/church-teaching/catholics-in-political-life">the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops</a> has emphasized that Catholics in politics “have an obligation in conscience to work toward correcting morally defective laws, lest they be guilty of cooperating in evil and in sinning against the common good.&#8221;
Pelosi herself has not responded to many requests for comment from The Daily Wire. Discussing whether Catholic priests have ever given her any “difficulties” about receiving communion, Pelosi described herself in 2018 as a “regular communicant.”
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“I think some of it is regional,” she <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/05/02/pelosi-archbishop-communion/">said in a 2018 interview</a>. “It depends on the bishop in a certain region. Fortunately, for me it has not — Communion has not been withheld and I’m a regular communicant so that would be a severe blow to me if that were the case.”
But on Friday, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nancy-pelosi-banned-from-receiving-communion-over-her-abortion-stances">informed Pelosi</a> that she is not to receive holy communion at mass over her repeated support for abortion.
“In light of my responsibility as the Archbishop of San Francisco … I am hereby notifying you that you are not to present yourself for Holy Communion and, should you do so, you are not to be admitted to Holy Communion, until such time as you publicly repudiate your advocacy for the legitimacy of abortion and confess and receive absolution of this grave sin in the sacrament of Penance,” Cordileone said in a Friday letter to Pelosi.
Cordileone also told Pelosi that he is ready to continue their conversations at any time, and that he will be praying and fasting for her change of heart.
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Pro-Abortion Pelosi Ignores Her Archbishop’s Ban, Receives Communion: Report

Pro-Abortion Pelosi Defies Her Archbishop's Ban On Receiving Communion: Report

Nancy Pelosi

Pro-Life Movement

San Francisco

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