This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
I’m a Catholic convert. We <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-catholic-convert-boom-is-real-but-a-troubling-pattern-is-emerging">hear about that</a> a lot lately. Some of the most prominent podcasters, online influencers, and elected officials are announcing their conversions. Rosaries are becoming more prominent, and the Latin Mass is back in vogue.  
Conversion is good, and these conversions align with a positive trend in the Catholic Church. After a 20-year decline in conversions, the Catholic Church has experienced a surge in new members since 2020. Converts in 2025 more than <a href="https://www.osvnews.com/trending-a-young-revival-in-the-faith/">doubled</a> those in 2020. Even Los Angeles <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/news/easter-2025-new-catholics-by-the-numbers?utm_source=chatgpt.com">experienced a 44% year-over-year growth in 2025</a>. The word “Gospel” comes from the Greek “euangelion,” which means “good news.” This is the good news.
But it comes with some tension. Some of the largest converts leverage their massive online followings and media audiences to proclaim their conversions to the world. Algorithms reward visibility, announcement, and identity signaling. This actually fits perfectly into conversion, which is declarative, shareable, and witnessed by an audience.
But this contrasts sharply with Holy Week, which is quiet, uncomfortable, and non-performative in its nature. This week is about ensuring we don’t skip the part of our faith that actually defines it. Today’s culture emphasizes performance, but Holy Week emphasizes discernment. Rather than partaking in passive activities such as sitting and scrolling, Catholics are taught to participate in Holy Week. Mass attendees take part in the full reading of the Passion on Palm Sunday, and we fast, abstain, and worship on Good Friday.
So, I’m urging my fellow Catholics — and specifically, my fellow converts — not to squander this week but to embrace the elements of our faith that actually define it. To bridge the gap between “becoming a Catholic” and what the faith actually asks of you.
I’ll never forget my first Holy Week. I was confused about what could be “good” about the Friday on which Christ was crucified, not knowing that good means “holy” and this was the day his suffering delivered redemption and his death gave us life. In my early years of conversion, Holy Week was something I observed, but over time, it has become something I live.
Easter aligns with cultural preferences for joy, victory, and public celebrations. This fits into our modern instincts of resolution, progress, and clean endings. While social media favors identity over transformation and announcement over discipline, there are very few hashtags for silence, repentance, and interior change. You can “like” Easter. You can post Easter.
But Easter without Good Friday is incomplete. Good Friday requires a specific tone that would be punished in any online algorithm. Two days before the culmination of Lent, we emphasize silence and a reflective slowness. There is no spectacle or performative payoff. You spend a day sitting with the heavy responsibility of carrying the faith forward. For me, my first Good Friday was quite dark. The kids were off from school, but this was no vacation. Good Friday is a day to log spiritual hours.
My fellow Catholic and friend Arthur Brooks has made a career out of proving that <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/arthur-brooks-why-your-perfect-life-feels-so-empty">“meaning” is a key ingredient to a happy life.</a> Holy Week gives meaning to our Catholic faith, and we should use this week to help accelerate the positive conversion trends in our church. It’s good that people are coming in, but it can’t stop at one’s announcement. Interest must lead to commitment. The internet can celebrate conversion, but only real life can sustain it. Jesus Christ’s faith doesn’t fit neatly into our algorithms today. If that’s where your faith is performing best, you may have skipped the part that actually changes you.
Pope John Paul II often discussed the divided life. He cautioned against separating spiritual values from one’s daily actions and promoted a unified life fixed in God’s eternal love. This is a message I hope my fellow converts will heed — especially those who lead <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/im-a-social-media-influencer-but-my-real-audience-isnt-the-internet">very public lives</a>, reaching audiences far larger than any single congregation or diocese. I pray they are participating in all of the activities of Holy Week, not just outwardly, but internally. Like prayer, Holy Week is an external sign of inward grace. And our culture is craving grace right now.
I’ll let Jesus in Matthew 16:24-25 have the last word: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it.”
***
Gates Garcia is the host of the YouTube show and podcast We The People with Gates Garcia. Follow him on X and Instagram @GatesGarciaFL.

GettyImages-2218768175

More Americans Are Finding Faith, But Social Media Is Changing What That Looks Like

Catholic Church

Christianity

Faith

Social Media

Upstream

The Trump administration thanked Israel for taking steps to ensure that Catholic Church officials still had access to Christian sites during Holy Week after a back-and-forth over access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that the Trump administration had intially expressed &#8220;concern&#8221; after the Palm Sunday incident, but said they appreciated steps taken by Israeli police to resolve the conflict.
&#8220;We did express our concerns with Israel, with respect to these holy sites being shut down. We want worshipers to be able to access these holy sites,&#8221; Leavitt said during Monday&#8217;s press briefing. &#8220; Of course, safety is a top priority, but we understand Israel is working on those security measures to reopen the sites throughout Holy Week, and that&#8217;s something that we&#8217;re appreciative of.&#8221;
Earlier on Monday, Catholic Church authorities and Israeli police said Monday they had “resolved” a dispute to allow access to religious sites in Jerusalem. 
The announcement comes after officials representing the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custody of the Holy Land <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/israel-blocks-catholic-cardinal-from-holy-site-on-palm-sunday-over-safety-concerns?author=Drew+Berkemeyer&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Israel+Blocks+Catholic+Cardinal+From+Holy+Site+On+Palm+Sunday+Over+Safety+Concerns">said</a> police blocked them from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Israeli authorities pointed to safety concerns, noting that shrapnel from Iranian missile attacks had fallen near the church in recent days. 
Israeli police said “a mutual framework has been established for upcoming Easter ceremonies,” adding that events would be scaled back.
“Due to the complex security reality of Operation ‘Roaring Lion,’ ceremonies including the ‘Holy Fire’ will be held in a symbolic, limited format,&#8221; police said. &#8220;This coordination ensures that freedom of worship is maintained alongside our shared, primary duty: the protection of human life.”
Officials added that Iranian missile debris had recently impacted areas within Jerusalem&#8217;s Old City, prompting restrictions. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
An Iranian missile exploded over Jerusalem’s Old City. Its fragments fell on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Armenian Patriarchate, the Jewish Quarter and on the Temple Mount near the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Iranian regime is firing missiles toward Jerusalem’s holy sites,… <a href="https://t.co/8vKyURiGVW">pic.twitter.com/8vKyURiGVW</a>
— Israel ישראל (@Israel) <a href="https://twitter.com/Israel/status/2033586841387970642?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custody of the Holy Land also released a statement saying “that the matters concerning the Holy Week and Easter celebrations at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre have been addressed and resolved in coordination with the relevant authorities.”
They added that, given the ongoing war, limits on public gatherings will remain in place, with services &#8220;broadcast live to the faithful in the Holy Land and throughout the world.&#8221;
“It is our hope that appropriate arrangements will continue to be found, enabling prayer to take place in places of worship, particularly in the Holy Places of all religions, in a manner that respects both legitimate safety needs and the religious observances and prayers that are of profound importance to hundreds of millions of believers,&#8221; the statement said.
Photos from earlier this month show shrapnel from Iranian missiles landing near several religious sites in Jerusalem&#8217;s Old City, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Armenian Patriarchate, the Jewish Quarter, and on the Temple Mount. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Here is a photo of the giant shrapnel fragment that fell beside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre earlier today. <a href="https://t.co/Hh3Mq2OyDK">pic.twitter.com/Hh3Mq2OyDK</a>
— Marc Zell &#8211; מארק צל (@GOPIsrael) <a href="https://twitter.com/GOPIsrael/status/2033613530088271914?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

MixCollage-30-Mar-2026-07-53-AM-6693

Trump Admin Weighs In On Access To Christian Sites During Holy Week

Easter

Israel

Jerusalem

Since 2021, more than 80 churches across Canada have suffered <a href="https://ccrl.ca/">arson attacks</a>. The most recent casualty is the <a href="https://x.com/RebelNewsOnline/status/2036815655941353570">reported</a> fire at the historic Christ Church Anglican in Maugerville, New Brunswick.
If Canadian media covers the fires at all, they will claim a total of 30 to 35 churches have burned across Canada, meaning churches that have burned entirely to the ground. The media will often use phrases like “arson is suspected” and “motives remain unclear.” By that description, one would think a Walmart had burned down. An attack on a house of God, however, is treated by the media as an incidental detail. This is not a stylistic tic — it is the prose of a society willfully blind to the crisis in which it is engulfed.
One need not be Socrates to see the obvious. These are not random accidents but episodes in a larger campaign: an open war being waged against the West. Our collective silence does not assuage it; it shields it and helps it spread.
Every Canadian understands, though few will confess publicly, that these burnings are half-applauded as revenge. Our previous prime minister <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2024/01/18/church-burnings-canada-unmarked-graves-246978/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIt%20is%20sad%2C%E2%80%9D%20Horgan,%2C%20including%20against%20Catholic%20churches.%E2%80%9D">assured us</a> they are “understandable,” albeit regrettable, responses to the “discovery” of mass graves at residential schools. Except there is one problem: it was and is a lie.
Nevertheless, hints became headlines, headlines became dogma, and dogma became license.
<div id="attachment_1067267" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1067267" class="size-large wp-image-1067267" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/stat-can-1024x315.jpg" alt="Source: StatCan" width="1024" height="315" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/stat-can-1024x315.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/stat-can-300x92.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/stat-can-768x236.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/stat-can-1536x472.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/stat-can.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Source: StatCan</div>
To the Left, whether it corresponds to the truth is secondary to the permission it grants. It conceals under the guise of “justice” a hatred that long predates the tale. Much of what now presents itself as moral outrage is little more than repackaged hatred of Western civilization: of its God, its truth, and its nobility. Old resentments have now learned to call themselves righteous.
To refuse to name this as such is not neutrality but complicity. Consider Canada’s nominally Catholic Prime Minister, Mark Carney. He is known to thunder like a prophet when it comes to Trump or climate change. And yet here he is conspicuously silent. Indeed, he takes great pains to avoid invoking the terms “the West” or “Western civilization.” One gets the impression Mr. Carney prefers to deliver its eulogy rather than defend its inheritance.
This silence is instructive. It educates citizens, especially the young, that nothing is sacred, least of all its own civilization. Resentment, not reverence, becomes the proper orientation towards the highest things. Our enemies, both foreign and domestic, understand precisely what must be erased if the West is to be disarmed.
<div id="attachment_1067255" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1067255" class="size-large wp-image-1067255" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2156422264-1-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2156422264-1-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2156422264-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2156422264-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2156422264-1.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Toronto, ON &#8211; June 10: Investigators survey St. Anne&#8217;s as they begin to piece together what caused the fire. Historic St. Anne&#8217;s Anglican Church at 270 Gladstone Ave. was destroyed by a fire early on June 9th. (Photo by Nick Lachance/Toronto Star via Getty Images)</div>
These fires, however, did not begin in sanctuaries but in the seminar rooms of our universities. Our reigning orthodoxy and radical relativism, pushed by the Left, have filtered down through every institution: from our classrooms to our boardrooms and even our bathrooms. The church burnings are simply where theory meets action: where the lit match meets our steeples.
For decades, we have taught students that all ways of life are equal; that any claim to superiority is a disguised will to power; and that distinctions between noble and base, just and unjust, good and bad, and above all, true and false, are instruments of “oppression.” Relativism came promising peace. We were told that wars and persecutions arose from the conviction that one’s own way is best. Reduce all virtues to “values,” all truth to “opinions,” and civilization to “cultures,” and the source of conflict would dissolve. After all, if there is no truth, there is nothing over which to fight.
But relativism produced not gentle tolerance but a new and fanatical intolerance. “Everything is relative” except, of course, relativism. This alone is absolute and unquestionable. The one unforgivable sin is precisely what the West at its best affirms: that our way of life is superior not by race or conquest, but because it is true; therefore, it is good, just, and noble.
For these radicals, the West represents a rival claim to their tyrannical rule. The West does not simply assert that it is true: we boldly proclaim it is true by both God and nature. Our founding is constituted by the twin roots of Jerusalem and Athens: biblical revelation and reason. Despite their differences, both converge on the same point: there is the Truth; there is a best way of life; and there is a standard that stands both outside and above us.
This is why our churches must burn. Our steeples are the most visible symbol of the biblical half of our inheritance. It is no wonder these steeples were once the highest structures in cities and towns, rising above parliaments, banks, and homes. Our steeples served as silent reminders guiding our eyes, and with them our souls, upward to the highest things, higher than political power, commerce, or comfort.
When the Christian claims that Jesus is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” it is a living rebuke to these radicals. It not only condemns them as inferior or unequal, but exposes them as false. The Church testifies that there is an order and law greater than ourselves and accessible to all through our reason: we are neither our own Creators nor legislators. For leftist radicals, this is intolerable. For, when there is God and Truth, then everything is not permissible.
<div id="attachment_1067257" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1067257" class="size-large wp-image-1067257" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2156422018-864x576.jpg" alt="Toronto, ON - June 10: St. Anne's Reverend Don Beyers looks towards the remains of his church. Historic St. Anne's Anglican Church at 270 Gladstone Ave. was destroyed by a fire early on June 9th. (Photo by Nick Lachance/Toronto Star via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2156422018-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2156422018-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2156422018-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2156422018.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Nick Lachance/Toronto Star via Getty Images</div>
Our American friends should not delude themselves into thinking this is some uniquely Canadian phenomenon. The same doctrine, the same hatred for the West, and the same fanatics are already entrenched in your universities, bureaucracies, and halls of power. They look north and see not an aberration but a guiding model. Given the opportunity, they would happily bury your churches under ashes, too.
And yet, our enemies pay us great compliments. Hatred and resentment always look upwards: inadvertently, they betray our superiority. If we were truly inferior, the proper orientation would be pity or indifference. Confident victors do not waste precious time and energy making war against defeated opponents. One does not attempt to murder a corpse.
In this way, we owe our enemies thanks. The vehemence of their rage is proportional to the threat they perceive. Our enemies declare that the West is not dead: it is alive and well and remains the greatest obstacle to the tyranny they wish to institute. Our enemies understand this; it is we who have forgotten.
The proper response is not to hide or to apologize for existing, but to regain a seriousness equal to that of our opponents. If they judge this way of life dangerous enough to burn, then it is time we judged it once more worthy of living and of defending in full.
* * *
Dimpee Brar currently serves as the Director of Engagement for Allies for a Strong Canada. She is a writer whose work can be found in the Federalist, the Western Standard, and the Toronto Sun. She appears frequently on various podcasts and radio shows. You can follow her on X: @isthisdimpeeb

Catholic church in Morinville destroyed by fire

Churches Are Burning, And The Lie Fueling It Still Holds

Arson

Canada

Church

Graves

indigenous

Leftists

Legacy Media

Progressivism

The following is an edited transcript from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mks-ep-1938-sub?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">The Michael Knowles Show</a>.
* * *
Lego has just <a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/2598968/legos-biggest-set-yet-leaks-with-12000-pieces">announced</a> its largest Lego set ever. 
And in our culture, what would you expect that Lego set to be? The pride progress flag? What would you expect it to be — some big lib thing? Maybe even the &#8220;Kamala Sitting Under a Coconut Tree&#8221; set?
Do you know what it is? It’s a Catholic church.
The largest Lego set ever — some 12,060 bricks priced around $600 — is The Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona, Spain.
This is good news for the culture. We’re not done yet.
The hottest toy that’s coming out this year is of a Catholic church that has been under construction for — what — 140 years now? They started building this thing in March of 1882. It’s not even completed yet. It’s expected to be completed in 2034.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mks-ep-1938-sub?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-1054531 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-1024x171.jpg" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-1024x171.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-768x128.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-1536x256.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1.jpg 1800w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
This is such good news, in the abstract, that I’m willing to overlook the fact that this church is one of the ugliest buildings ever constructed. It is so bad. 
I had the privilege of visiting Spain once and got to see The Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona — and it’s pretty ugly. It looks like a melted anthill or some kind of weird distorted honeycomb.
It’s supposed to be kind of like a neo-Gothic church, like all those great Gothic churches of Europe. But it’s weird because it’s modern. Construction started in the late 19th century, and then continued for a long time — these cathedrals can take centuries — and as other people took over, it somehow got even worse.
<div id="attachment_1065731" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1065731" class="size-large wp-image-1065731" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1236701325-864x576.jpg" alt="BARCELONA, CATALONIA, SPAIN - 2021/11/20: A lego reproduction of the temple of the Sagrada Família by Antoni Gaudí is seen inside the new store.The Danish construction toy company LEGO has opened a new store on Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona inspired by the work of the modernist architect Antoni Gaudi. The 800 m2 makes it the brand's third largest store after New York and China. (Photo by Paco Freire/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1236701325-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1236701325-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1236701325-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1236701325.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Paco Freire/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</div>
Now, when you go inside, however, it’s quite stunning. It’s still a little too weird for me to say it’s beautiful, but it is stunning — the way the glass reflects the light. Really stunning.
But it’s just ugly to look at. It&#8217;s not as ugly as sin, but it’s ugly.
And yet — we’ll take the &#8220;W&#8221;. We’ll take the win.
I am confident I will be pilloried from all sides for this — the people who say I’m a Philistine for not appreciating the modern basilica, the people who say I’m too religious not to be focused on a toy church — I don’t care. I’m going to take the win.
But let’s not lie to ourselves. Let’s use our our taste, our real intelligence — not artificial intelligence — and say it’s not ugly.
Listen, Lego could have done the Cathedral of Chartres.
They could have done Notre-Dame de Paris.
They could have —
But no matter. I’ll take the win.

The Sagrada Familia cross is now fully revealed

Lego’s Biggest Set Ever Takes An Unexpected Turn And It’s A Win For Tradition

Lego

Michael Knowles

Spain

Toys

As we approach the holiest day of the year for the Catholic Church, tens of millions will prepare to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Americans across the country are preparing to join the faith I have belonged to since birth.
Converts to the faith have played a crucial role over the last two millennia, from St. Paul’s journey to Damascus, to St. Augustine&#8217;s departure from a life of debauchery that would make Hugh Hefner blush, to G.K. Chesterton, whose writings still speak to millions nearly a century later, to St. Elizabeth Seton, the first American-born saint.
I firmly believe the Catholic Church is the greatest civil institution ever created. Since its founding, the Church has clothed the naked, educated the young, fed the hungry, tended to the sick, and through divine mercy provided the path to salvation for billions of people.
During the darkest times in human history, the Catholic Church was the only institution that separated the West from barbarism. The very fabric of Western civilization is tied to the history of the Church.
While it’s easy for me to wax poetic about a church I have repeatedly fallen in love with over the years — even with all of its shortcomings — other high-profile converts appear to be using their newfound membership in the Catholic faith as nothing more than a political prop.
It is true, the vast majority of new converts join for all the right reasons. But a small, vocal cadre of political influencers are using their catholicism to build social media platforms, feigning purity as an E-girl or, even worse, promoting antisemitism. It is people doing the latter who pose the most credible threat to the integrity of all Catholics and create a widespread erroneous belief that Catholicism has an issue with Jews.
Unlike many branches of Christianity, the Catholic Church does not demand that the faithful be committed Zionists to receive God’s blessing. Many prominent members of the Church have spoken out about the plight of civilians in Gaza. It seems recent converts to the faith understand those teachings but somehow forget that the Church also rejects any form of antisemitism, condemns hostility toward Jews, and upholds the enduring covenant with the Jewish people as God’s chosen people. They have already become cafeteria Catholics, picking and choosing which parts of the teachings they prefer.
Holding nuanced opinions about sensitive subjects in the Middle East, like America&#8217;s relationship with Israel, can be a tough balancing act for anyone. For the Catholic, however, it is completely possible to be a critic of Middle Eastern affairs without being expressly antisemitic. And your new membership in the Catholic faith should not serve as your call to action against the State of Israel.
Yet for some political influencers, their call to the faith doesn&#8217;t seem rooted in deep devotion or hope for eternal salvation. Rather, their main mission seems to be in &#8220;otherizing&#8221; of those who don’t fall into their particular bubble.
Perhaps the gravest sin in all of this is using Christ and the Church as a political prop. Using a phrase like “Christ is King” — not to celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, the salvation of souls from hell, and His resurrection — but to otherize those of different faiths is no different than taking the Lord’s name in vain.
The phrase “Christ is King” should not be followed by &#8220;Netanyahu should be on trial for war crimes.&#8221;
For those just joining the Church, it is worth remembering that Catholics in this country were long treated as outsiders — feared, condemned, and accused of harboring foreign allegiances. Most cradle Catholics of the Ellis Island stock have a better understanding of that shared history.
Those looking to use the Church as a platform to dictate foreign policy or dismiss the life of other faiths are no less cringeworthy than when priests from the Boomer generation host climate change events or demand that the United States change its immigration laws.
It seems transparent that your membership in this church is one more platform, like a social media account where views and followers are all that matter, not devotion.
These are uneasy times, but it’s in moments of darkness that we as Catholics should look to the saints who have come before us and truly offer our lives to Christ and build the church – not use it for self-advancement.
* * *
Ryan James Girdusky is an author, podcaster, political consultant, and writer whose work has been featured in the Washington Examiner, The American Conservative Magazine, The Week, Human Events, and The Daily Caller. He is the host of “It’s A Numbers Game with Ryan Girdusky” podcast. Follow him on X: @RyanGirdusky
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Happy couple taking selfie in front of Duomo cathedral in Milan, Lombardia – Two tourists having fun on romantic summer vacation in Italy – Holidays and traveling lifestyle concept

The Catholic Convert Boom Is Real But A Troubling Pattern Is Emerging

antisemitism

Catholicism

Catholics

Jews

Opinion

Religion

U.S. Politics

Western Civilization

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
This summer marks the 250th birthday of the United States. In preparation for this historic moment, over 1,500 prominent Catholics from across America will soon gather in prayer for the country’s future at the 21st annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.
Their witness testifies to the endurance of American Catholics over the past two and a half centuries, whose commitment to prayer — and refusal to be cowed by adversity or hostility — helped establish enduring concepts of human dignity, freedom, and excellence that powerfully shaped the world. Though secular forces seek to undermine Catholic beliefs and influence today, the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast annually reminds our adversaries that Catholicism has historically prevailed against great evil, and accomplished miracles, thanks to the prayers of those who refused to give up on their country or their faith.
Catholicism played a role in offering peace and hope to settlers from the earliest days of the American founding. There is some evidence that <a id="m_8748698953216603900OWAc3addc5d-8e37-a0b8-f5c1-bac159165378" title="https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/was-squanto-catholic-what-we-know-about-this-hero-of-the-first-thanksgiving?redirectedfrom=cna" href="https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/was-squanto-catholic-what-we-know-about-this-hero-of-the-first-thanksgiving?redirectedfrom=cna" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/was-squanto-catholic-what-we-know-about-this-hero-of-the-first-thanksgiving?redirectedfrom%3Dcna&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773855206894000&amp;usg=AOvVaw15CNWv2xXBRslxjvpULwI-">Squanto</a>, a Native American translator without whom the earliest pilgrims wouldn’t have survived their first winter in New England, was Catholic.
Many of the Catholics joining Christian pilgrims for a better life in the new world were welcomed with pervasive anti-Catholic skepticism and legislation in the early American colonies. Undeterred, Catholics braved harsh conditions and uncertain futures — even death — to bring faith and civilization to America. The sacrifice of Catholic Jesuits such as Saint Isaac Jogues, who was brutally tortured and martyred by the Mohawks, as well as the missions, schools, and hospitals founded by the Jesuits, Spanish Franciscans, and other Catholics, played a pivotal role in shaping and sustaining the nation for generations to come. Their impact is evident in the <a id="m_8748698953216603900OWAe656ce6a-c7dd-da6d-b91f-d006c0388c4a" title="https://www.churchpop.com/the-hardcore-catholic-saints-behind-american-cities-names/" href="https://www.churchpop.com/the-hardcore-catholic-saints-behind-american-cities-names/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.churchpop.com/the-hardcore-catholic-saints-behind-american-cities-names/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773855206894000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1kRZH6aZdY6ir9Ky6jtd9e">number of major cities</a> that were named after Catholic saints.
Catholics also helped to establish and protect core American freedoms. Cecil Calvert, the Catholic 2nd Baron of Baltimore, was a primary driver behind the 1649 “Act of Toleration,” which made Maryland the first colony to pass religious freedom laws and later influenced the drafting of the First Amendment.
Charles Carroll made history as the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, which drew upon concepts of the natural law originally derived from the logic of the Catholic Saint Thomas Aquinas. Carroll&#8217;s signature on that globe-shattering document was significant since most of the colonies didn’t allow Catholics to hold office at the time. Following the Revolutionary War, won partially thanks to the aid of Catholic King Louis XVI of France, <a id="m_8748698953216603900OWA869e99c8-aa6b-f169-9782-d03d15b07f8f" title="https://catholicvote.org/7-surprising-facts-about-the-american-founding/#:~:text=Without%20hesitation%20they%20threw%20in,to%20be%20suffered%20or%20excused." href="https://catholicvote.org/7-surprising-facts-about-the-american-founding/#:~:text=Without%20hesitation%20they%20threw%20in,to%20be%20suffered%20or%20excused." target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://catholicvote.org/7-surprising-facts-about-the-american-founding/%23:~:text%3DWithout%2520hesitation%2520they%2520threw%2520in,to%2520be%2520suffered%2520or%2520excused.&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773855206894000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0UkcNwrIZRZC79cqJgrD8D">two of Carroll’s relatives</a> became the first Catholic members of Congress. In 1961, John F. Kennedy would make history as the first Catholic to become the president of the United States.
Over the 17th to 21st centuries, Catholics continued shaping America through religious, philanthropic, and educational endeavors. To this day, the Catholic impact on <a id="m_8748698953216603900OWAad7812b5-6a61-c55c-fef5-60b5bd6e662c" title="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21452027/" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21452027/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21452027/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773855206894000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3J7QaB7hrekaN6agG-ITeC">American health systems</a> and philanthropy can&#8217;t be overstated. Heroic figures such as Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton and Saint Mother Frances Cabrini, like thousands of other religious sisters, braved anti-Catholic sentiment and horrible conditions to create dozens of schools, orphanages, and hospitals.
Three major medical institutions today, the Columbus Hospitals in New York and Chicago and the Columbus Sanitarium in Seattle, were founded by Cabrini, while the U.S. Catholic <a id="m_8748698953216603900OWA427d8dba-b12b-776a-ed38-42e6a9cd86e0" title="https://www.catholicherald.com/article/columns/a-patron-saint-for-catholic-schools/" href="https://www.catholicherald.com/article/columns/a-patron-saint-for-catholic-schools/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.catholicherald.com/article/columns/a-patron-saint-for-catholic-schools/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773855206894000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0UtsvUhnw1KEBFKNgWHHQj">parochial school system</a> was established by Seton. Thanks to these and other Catholic efforts, the Catholic Church is universally respected as the leading philanthropic organization in America and the world. Catholics have also been vital forces in the key moral battles of the 21st century pertaining to human life and dignity.
Catholic Bishops staunchly opposed segregation during the Civil Rights movement, while Catholic nuns and an estimated 35 Catholic priests marched in the historic Selma to Montgomery march for voting rights in 1965.
When the Supreme Court of the United States legalized abortion in 1973, Catholics galvanized on behalf of the unborn. Catholic lawyer Nellie Gray responded by founding what is now the largest annual human rights demonstration in the world: the <a id="m_8748698953216603900OWA05e1e3fd-1c7c-cb19-c44e-f5b547707d47" title="https://marchforlife.org/women-of-the-pro-life-movement-nellie-gray/" href="https://marchforlife.org/women-of-the-pro-life-movement-nellie-gray/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://marchforlife.org/women-of-the-pro-life-movement-nellie-gray/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773855206894000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1HoD4SU6-V8BlrjU5OS2Cz">March for Life</a>. Today, this peaceful protest draws over 100,000 Americans, including tens of thousands of Catholics, from across the country. Catholics also helped establish the pro-life safety net, which now boasts <a id="m_8748698953216603900OWAbf8b89ad-7a99-25e6-728e-6065794eb14f" title="https://lozierinstitute.org/new-pregnancy-centers-provided-over-452-million-in-services-and-goods-to-families/" href="https://lozierinstitute.org/new-pregnancy-centers-provided-over-452-million-in-services-and-goods-to-families/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://lozierinstitute.org/new-pregnancy-centers-provided-over-452-million-in-services-and-goods-to-families/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773855206894000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0u0_KwcMfHVyuQI81HRohI">over 3,000 organizations</a> and countless volunteers (many Catholic!) nationwide that care for women and children in need — despite <a id="m_8748698953216603900OWA8c203794-770c-7de7-7204-07b6d936f9ec" title="https://catholicvote.org/pregnancy-center-attack-tracker/" href="https://catholicvote.org/pregnancy-center-attack-tracker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://catholicvote.org/pregnancy-center-attack-tracker/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773855206894000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2CaT5NVHDVGKYZih8VmBLK">violent hostility</a> from pro-abortion opponents.
As attacks on religious freedom increasingly threatened Americans’ right to practice their faith in the public sphere, Catholics boldly fought back. In 1993, Catholic lawyer Kevin “Seamus” Hasson founded the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which has won 13 Supreme Court cases in the past 15 years. In 1994, Catholic Alan Sears was a primary founder and president of Alliance Defending Freedom, which is now the leading religious freedom law firm in the world and has played a role in 83 Supreme Court victories.
From attempts to force poor nuns to fund contraception in their healthcare plans, to attacks on pregnancy resource centers for not providing abortions, or pressure on religious employers and business owners to participate in activities that violate their sincerely held religious beliefs, both Becket and ADF have won hard-fought victories and established Supreme Court precedent that protects American freedoms for generations to come.
And at a time when European nations imprison citizens for social media posts and prayer, Catholics at nonprofits and religious freedom firms such as Becket and ADF are leading the fight to protect men, women, children, and ultimately the truth — especially against attempts to allow biological males in women and girls’ sports and spaces, as well as the horrifying trend of transgender surgeries on children.
These fights — over the gender wars, abortion, religious freedom, free speech, immigration — and so many others continue dominating news cycles and evoking despair among many that our nation is irreconcilably damaged and headed towards ruin. Yet on Thursday, Catholics will unite in prayer for the nation’s future at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. As they reflect on the challenges ahead and the past 250 years of American history, they have every reason for optimism.
Catholics faced setbacks and discouragement at every period of our nation’s history, including many grave threats to truth and freedom in America today. Yet Catholic heroes like Jogues, Cabrini, Seton, Gray, Hasson, Sears, and so many others continue to lead us by example, teaching us to meet adversity with the hope and perseverance that only authentic prayer can sustain. I hope attendees of this year’s prayer breakfast take heart from this remarkable Catholic legacy. Through the power of prayer, we can similarly fight the good fight that God has entrusted to each of us for the benefit of our nation, and ultimately the world.
***
Mark Randall is a board of director and chairman of the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

GettyImages-2033775702

America At 250 — Catholics Gather In Prayer As The Fight For The Nation’s Soul Heats Up

History

The following is an edited transcript excerpt from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1931-iran-war-fallout-two-islamic-terror-attacks-in-one-day?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">The Michael Knowles Show</a>.
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For years, American elites have told us a simple story about religion and reason: religious people are the crazy ones.
They are irrational, superstitious, emotionally needy, clinging to old myths in an age of science and sophistication. The serious people, we are told, are the secular people. The smart people have moved on. The enlightened people know better. Faith is for the weak, the backward, the unthinking. Religion is a crutch. Orthodoxy is neurosis. Church is for the people who cannot handle reality.
It is one of the most enduring prejudices in modern public life. And it is one of the most revealing.
Because when you look at the actual data, the picture is not merely more complicated than the stereotype. It is, in a very important way, the opposite of the stereotype.
According to <a href="https://x.com/howertonjosh/status/2032488566933131385">survey data</a> from the Pew American Trends Panel, the least crazy people in the country are conservative Christians who go to church weekly. The craziest people in the country are liberals who do not go to church. That is not the story we have been told for the last hundred years. It is certainly not the story we were told during the New Atheist moment, when public intellectuals and their admirers assured us that religion was the great enemy of reason, sanity, and civilization.
But the numbers point in another direction. Asked whether a doctor or health care provider had ever told them they had a mental health condition, the highest rates came from liberals with no religious attendance. The lowest rates came from conservatives who attended weekly religious services. One can quibble around the edges. One can offer caveats, and there are caveats. But one cannot escape the central fact: the people most committed to regular religious practice appear, by this measure, to be the least crazy, and the people most detached from religion appear to be the most crazy.
That does not prove every theological claim. It does not mean every churchgoer is mentally well or every secular person is mentally unwell. It does not justify cruelty toward people who struggle. But it does demolish a civilizational assumption that has shaped elite culture for generations.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1931-iran-war-fallout-two-islamic-terror-attacks-in-one-day?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-1054531" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-1024x171.jpg" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-1024x171.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-768x128.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-1536x256.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1.jpg 1800w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
What we were told, over and over again, is that religious people are crazy. They are illogical. They are irrational. They believe in “sky daddy” and other cartoon versions of religion invented by people who have no intention of grappling with what believers actually believe. The secularists do not want to deal with the substance of faith, because that would require argument. It is easier to sneer. Easier to reduce millennia of theology, metaphysics, and moral reasoning to a punchline. Easier to dismiss the churchgoing neighbor as simple-minded than to answer him.
And yet the data say the opposite. The religious people are the sanest people. The irreligious people are the craziest people.
That reversal matters for reasons beyond partisanship. It suggests that faith and reason do not stand in opposition after all. In fact, the Christian tradition has always insisted on precisely the opposite. The Gospel of Saint John begins not with sentimentality, not with anti-rational emotionalism, but with a profound metaphysical claim: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Word, the Logos, is not merely speech. It is divine logic, divine reason, the intelligible order of reality itself.
That is why Christianity, properly understood, has never been a rebellion against reason. It has been a fulfillment of reason. Faith and reason go together. God is not the negation of logic. God is the source of logic. Orthodoxy is not a retreat from reality, it is an attempt to live in right relation to reality.
And perhaps that helps explain why the most orthodox believers are often the least crazy. A serious religious life imposes moral structure. It disciplines desire. It situates suffering within a larger frame of meaning. It teaches that man is not the measure of all things and that appetite is not destiny. It offers ritual, continuity, accountability, community, repentance, forgiveness, obligation, inheritance, transcendence. In a lonely, fragmented, hyper-individualistic culture, those are not small things. They are stabilizing things.
By contrast, a secular culture that severs itself from transcendence does not become neutral. It does not become merely rational. It often becomes disordered. If there is no higher truth, then the self becomes sovereign. If the self becomes sovereign, then every desire demands validation. If every desire demands validation, then limits feel like oppression. And if there are no limits, no sacred order, no given nature, no created purpose, then the person is left not liberated but untethered.
That is not sanity. That is confusion with better branding.
None of this means Christians should gloat. It is fine to dunk on the libs a little, but only if it is a loving dunk, one intended to bring them over rather than merely humiliate them. The deeper point here is not mockery. It is vindication. A great many people fell away from religion because they thought religion was for stupid people, for weak people, for crazy people. They assumed smart people had outgrown God. They assumed sanity belonged to the secular.
That just is not true.
Actually, the opposite appears to be true. The people most rooted in orthodox belief and weekly worship are often the least crazy people in the country. And the people who have spent decades mocking them from the commanding heights of culture are, by this measure at least, faring much worse.
The choir does need preaching sometimes. But this argument is not only for the choir. It is for the many people who have absorbed the modern prejudice against religion without ever seriously examining it. It is for those who have been told that faith is irrational, that church is for fools, that belief is a form of neurosis. The data do not merely complicate that prejudice. They shatter it.
Maybe the real madness is not believing in God. Maybe the real madness is building a culture on the assumption that man can remain sane after cutting himself off from truth, order, and the divine logic of the universe.

People praying and singing inside St. Paul Cathedral

Not The Crazy Ones: Why Churchgoing Is A Mark Of Sanity

Atheism

Liberals

Secularism

The following is an edited transcript excerpt from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1916-they-just-made-elmo-muslim?elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">The Michael Knowles Show</a>.
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A woman who presents herself as a “priestess” — a role that does not exist in Christianity — just went viral. This priestess puts on a collar and a stole and pretends to be a priest. And to make the whole presentation even more satanic, she includes the Planned Parenthood logo on the priestly stole.
Here is her defense of the Left&#8217;s highest sacrament, abortion:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Headline: RELIGION MEETS PLANNED PARENTHOOD
A female pastor is sparking a firestorm after claiming she &#8220;felt God’s presence&#8221; while deciding to end two pregnancies—all while wearing a Planned Parenthood stole at the pulpit <a href="https://t.co/sUvgk7HIRz">pic.twitter.com/sUvgk7HIRz</a>
— BuzzBrief (@_BuzzBrief__) <a href="https://twitter.com/_BuzzBrief__/status/2023078105242640722?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Credit: @_BuzzBrief_X.com &amp; @OilLondonTV/X.com
<blockquote>In the abortion imaginary, all people of faith are against abortion. This imaginary has colonized our minds, traumatizing many people with its toxic theology and shaping a culture of stigma and shame that has silenced millions of women and people who have had abortions, erasing their voices, their stories, and their witness from the public sphere. As a child of God, I can certainly appreciate the lyrical beauty of this text, as well as the descriptions in Jeremiah and Job of their certain knowledge that God was with them in the womb. I too feel that I am known by God in these ways. As a woman who has borne two children, I can affirm that I felt something sacred happening in my gestating body during those pregnancies. I can also attest that I felt God&#8217;s presence with me as I made the decision to end two pregnancies, and I felt no guilt, no shame, no sin.</blockquote>
Okay, this is horrifying. 
But you have to give this murderous woman, this truly sacrilegious heretic, some credit for honesty. She is openly acknowledging something that most pro-abortion Christians will not: something sacred was going on in my womb when that baby was being knit there. 
She goes on to basically say, Jeremiah and Job describe being knit in the womb. And yeah, that&#8217;s all real. I totally grant that. And I felt it. I personally know it&#8217;s real — but I chose to kill my kids and I felt that that was cool too.
So, of course, the difference between real Christianity and a lot of pagan cults is that Christianity is a definitive religion. Our Lord is a real person who lives in real time and space and picks real people to build his Church with and upon, like Saint Peter, to whom he gave the keys to the kingdom of heaven and the power to bind and to loose. It is a religion that has real, visible authority in the world throughout history.
During that history, our Lord says, I will send the helper, I will send the Holy Spirit to you, and I will be with you always, even until the end of the age, because our Lord is the bridegroom and the Church is the bride. It is a real, definitive religion.
We can definitively say Christianity outlaws abortion.
We can definitively say Christianity has a real view of marriage, and it doesn&#8217;t change.
We can really say all of that.
And this woman kind of admits that, which is why you have to give her points for honesty. She says there was a divine thing happening when babies were being created in her womb. But she killed them anyway because her autonomy trumped even the spark of the divine. In other words, her autonomy trumps even God himself.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1916-they-just-made-elmo-muslim?elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show on DailyWire+</a></h3>
And it&#8217;s nuts when you hear it that way from a forthright liberal woman. But that is the premise of liberalism today — nothing is more important than my autonomy. I will make of myself the highest god.
We saw this in the Biden administration. Joe Biden believed he could be a liberal and a Christian, he was happy to do it. He called himself the most devout Catholic in the world. However, when his liberalism conflicted with his Christianity, he always chose liberalism.
And this is what liberalism tells us to do. We can believe a wide number of things. We can engage in a wide number of behaviors. We can even join many political parties. But the highest good is my autonomy. I&#8217;m really number one. I will make a god of myself. It&#8217;s a fulfillment of what the serpent promises to our first ancestors in the garden: “You will be like gods.”
You don&#8217;t have to listen to him.
And that&#8217;s what this woman is saying. It&#8217;s all the more shocking because she admits: Jeremiah and Job talk about the divine spark in the womb. I felt it too — and I killed them.
Press them on that.
Press the Democrats and the liberals on that: If you&#8217;re a Christian, what happens when Christianity contradicts your liberalism? Which side do you pick?

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WATCH: Liberal ‘Priestess’ Gives Viral Sermon On Abortion

WATCH: Liberal 'Priestess' Gives Viral Sermon On Abortion

Abortion

Planned Parenthood

A major Catholic health system taught staff members how to be legally uncooperative with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in one of the hospital’s most prestigious lecture settings.
<a href="https://www.providence.org/locations/or/provider-resources-and-referrals/womens-health-provider-resources/professional-education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Providence Health</a> hosted a virtual version of grand rounds — a weekly occurrence where leading doctors train other physicians and staff in crucial methodologies — aimed at providing better understanding of the “intense fear in which their immigrant patients are living” and taught staff how to be effective advocates during ICE encounters “within the boundaries of internal policy,” according to a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ORacXqH8Jc9XuEcyZFzaZaqrsQ3Hpxuo/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">document</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA_zOzGQgyc&amp;list=PL5EjetDHODdNsYNrClwtvsJPyKCnke2BB&amp;index=13">recording</a> reviewed by The Daily Wire. After publication of this story, Providence removed the video from YouTube, where it was posted.
Erin McKee, co-founder of the <a href="https://www.ojrc.info/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oregon Justice Resource Center</a>, presented during the one-hour webinar titled “Providence Women and Children&#8217;s Virtual Grand Rounds: Know Your Rights with ICE,” on January 29, 2026.
“When ICE is after you or your friends or family and you don&#8217;t want to help them, right? You&#8217;re not obligated to do that,” McKee said during the presentation. “If you think ICE is after you or your friends and family and you don’t want to help, your mindset should be don’t trust. They might not be telling you the truth. And ICE, ICE will often lie in order to get someone to move from maybe a private protected space to a public space where they can lawfully arrest them.&#8221;
Providence is a major health system with a Catholic heritage that spans six states and includes more than 125,000 employees, 51 hospitals, and 1,014 health clinics, according to its <a href="https://www.providence.org/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>. It is unclear how many employees tuned in to grand rounds, but the session was open to the entire staff nationwide.
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Credit: Daily Wire
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The Oregon Justice Resource Center suggests individuals follow a “Don’t Trust, Don’t Talk, Don’t Consent” model when approached by law enforcement, as stated on its <a href="https://www.ojrc.info/kyr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>.
McKee mocked <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/02/04/dhs-sets-record-straight-administrative-warrants-and-american-public-support" target="_blank" rel="noopener">administrative warrants</a> used by ICE agents when arresting illegal migrants, calling them, “A paper that says, ‘Dear me, you can do whatever you want. Signed me.’ And then they’re like, ‘See, this paper says I can do whatever I want.’”
McKee encouraged hospital staff to call the <a href="https://pircoregon.org/about/what-to-do-if-you-see-ice" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition</a> (PIRC) hotline, an activist group that tracks ICE activity and provides a rapid response, if they came across ICE agents.
“And what happens is if you witness or observe ICE enforcement activity or suspected ICE enforcement activity, you call the hotline. PIRC will send a volunteer to that location to verify whether it is, in fact, ICE activity,” said McKee.
Dr. Kurt Miceli, medical director at Do No Harm, disagrees with the insertion of political activism into grand rounds.
“Grand Rounds have long been dedicated to clinical, medical, and scientific topics that directly advance patient care and research, not to political activism. The profession’s core responsibility is to care for patients, and presenting politically oriented content as Grand Rounds risks weakening professional focus, compromising institutional neutrality, and diminishing trust in the educational mission,” Miceli told The Daily Wire.
At the start of the presentation, a Providence Health staff member noted federal immigration enforcement was causing the community “deep pain.”
“I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the deep pain, fear and grief being felt across our communities in light of the recent escalation and federal immigration enforcement activity and the tragic fatal shootings of Renee [Good] and Alex [Pretti] in Minnesota,” said Kara Johnson, the senior director of women and children’s services at Providence, at the beginning of the session. After publication of this story, Johnson removed her LinkedIn profile.
Johnson’s remarks refer to Good and Pretti, two anti-ICE <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alex-pretti-attacked-immigration-enforcement-days-before-fatal-shooting-video-shows" target="_blank" rel="noopener">protesters</a> killed by federal immigration officials in Minneapolis amid the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge. The deaths of Pretti and Good have led to massive protests in the Twin Cities and caused the Trump administration to <a href="http://dailywire.com/news/ice-agents-ordered-to-meet-this-democrat-demand?author=Jennie+Taer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Some+ICE+Agents+Ordered+To+Cut+Back+On+Deportation+Tactic+Targeted+By+Dems%2C+Sources+Say" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rethink</a> its approach to deportations.
“These events have sent shock waves through immigrant communities and all who care about justice and safety. Many of our patients, our colleagues, and our neighbors are carrying heavy trauma right now,” said Johnson.
“Obviously federal agents are violating rights. We are watching it on TV. We are seeing them completely disregard the Constitution, any type of norms that have applied in law enforcement situations,” McGee stated.
After publication of this article, Providence defended the training session in a lengthy statement provided to The Daily Wire.
&#8220;As a not-for-profit, Catholic health system, Providence sees health care as a fundamental human right, not a privilege. We serve members of our communities without regard to legal or socioeconomic status and believe that everyone deserves quality health care,&#8221; the organization said. &#8220;As a mission-driven organization, we have a special focus on those who are most vulnerable and know that immigrants, undocumented or not, face unique challenges. Our medical facilities are a place of healing where everyone can expect to be treated with compassion and respect.&#8221;
&#8220;Patients are never asked about their citizenship or legal status in order to receive medically necessary care, and we follow federal and state privacy laws, including HIPAA, that protect the confidentiality, dignity and safety of every patient we serve. While law enforcement officials are permitted in public spaces including entrances, lobbies and waiting areas, pursuant to our longstanding practice they are not allowed to access private areas of our facilities unless we have the patient’s explicit consent or the requesting party presents the appropriate legal authority — such as continuing legal custody, valid subpoena, court order or judicial warrant. Caregivers have clear procedures to follow if law enforcement agents request access to patients or their information, consistent with federal and state patient privacy requirements, which prohibit disclosure of protected health information without proper authorization.&#8221;
Update, 6:40 p.m. CT: This piece was updated with a statement from the Providence health system.

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‘Don’t Trust Police!’: Video Shows Leading Catholic Health System Training Doctors To Resist ICE

Hospitals

Illegal Immigration

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan delivered a stern rebuke of antisemitism and of those who invoke the Catholic faith while spreading hate, saying such behavior is “downright opposed” to the Church&#8217;s core teachings.
In an interview with Will Rahn of The Free Press, Dolan said Christians have a moral obligation to forcefully reject antisemitism.
“Catholic teaching is based on two pillars,” Dolan said. “The dignity of the human person and the sacredness of human life. Those are the two. And to hate somebody because of race or religion is just downright opposed to that.”
Dolan, a historian by training, offered a candid reflection of the Church&#8217;s past, acknowledging that Catholics have not always lived up to these standards.
“There have been times in the past that we, as Catholics, have not risen to the defense of our Jewish neighbors,” Dolan acknowledged. “There’s actually times in the past where we’ve been part of antisemitism. And so I’m thinking we can’t let that happen again.”
The conversation turned to the rise of online figures who claim Catholicism while promoting antisemitic rhetoric, specifically citing figures like Nick Fuentes. When asked what his message is to those who &#8220;spew horrible antisemitic things&#8221; in the name of the faith, the Cardinal did not mince words.
Invoking the words of Jesus, Dolan remarked, “Not every person who says, ‘Lord, Lord,’ is going to get into heaven, but only the ones who do the will of my Father. You may say you’re a Catholic; if you’re not doing the will of your Heavenly Father, you ain’t.”
The Cardinal concluded by asserting that faith requires integrity and a commitment to the dignity of all people.
“The will of your Heavenly Father is that, darn it, we all get along and treat each other with dignity and respect,” Dolan said. “So if you’re spewing hatred against the Jews, if you’re spewing hatred against the unborn baby in the womb, this isn’t the will of your Heavenly Father. So you better look long and hard to see if you can, with integrity, claim to be a Catholic.”
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New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan calls on Catholics to “vigorously oppose” antisemitism:
“If you are spewing hatred against the Jews &#8230; this isn&#8217;t the will of your Heavenly Father. So, you better look long and hard to see if you can, with integrity, claim to be a… <a href="https://t.co/UESh3mWic7">pic.twitter.com/UESh3mWic7</a>
— Ryan Saavedra (@RyanSaavedra) <a href="https://twitter.com/RyanSaavedra/status/2019586965587562797?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2026</a></blockquote>
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NYC Archbishop Timothy Dolan Celebrates Easter Mass Inside Empty Cathedral

Cardinal Dolan Condemns Antisemitism As ‘Downright Opposed’ To Catholic Faith

Cardinal Timothy Dolan

While more and more <a href="https://www.deseret.com/faith/2025/09/03/gen-z-millenials-faith-church-attendance/">young people</a> are searching for God, Catholic advocacy group CatholicVote is stepping up to meet the moment with the launch of its new platform, <a href="https://zeale.co/">Zeale</a>.
Zeale aims to put out high-quality, entertaining Catholic content – including news, podcasts, documentaries, and other special programming – while also building community and prayer life. And, most importantly, it promises to do so while never sacrificing depth or truth.
Surveys show folks in Gen Z are increasingly drawing closer to Christ, and churchgoers in this ever-online generation are actually more inclined to show up to service than other generations. Moreover, Catholic affiliation, in particular, is on the rise with young people.
CatholicVote hopes to guide and support those in this search. As the organization’s president and CEO Kelsey Reinhardt put it, Zeale is designed to “inspire every American to live out the truth through the lens of beauty and goodness.”
“Zeale engages people in the political and cultural discussions of our time through the heart and imagination,” Reinhardt said in a statement sent to The Daily Wire. The platform, she added, “helps you ‘live Catholic’ with confidence and enthusiasm.”
The new platform is accessible on mobile devices, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.zeale.app&amp;hl=en_US">available</a> to download on the App Store and Google Play, meeting Gen Z in their own space. The platform is also <a href="https://zeale.co/">available</a> on desktop.
<div id="attachment_1033907" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1033907" class="wp-image-1033907 size-large" src="https://drwordpress.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Kelsey-Reinhardt-headshot-384x576.jpg" alt="" width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Kelsey-Reinhardt-headshot-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Kelsey-Reinhardt-headshot-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Kelsey-Reinhardt-headshot-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Kelsey-Reinhardt-headshot.jpg 837w" sizes=" (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" />Kelsey Reinhardt, Courtesy of CatholicVote</div>
Zeale will feature CatholicVote’s new Morning LOOPcast, which is a video roundup of the day’s most compelling headlines, in addition to the organization’s beloved daily news roundup, The Loop.
Users will also have access to a growing library of podcasts, documentaries, and special programming — covering everything from fashion and food, to sports and travel, prayers and spirituality, human-interest stories, cultural issues, and even games.
Prayer, unsurprisingly, is also a huge focus of Zeale. The platform allows users to access daily Mass readings and connect with fellow Catholics. Notably, you can pray with and for others, submit prayer intentions, and join the Zeale community when urgent news calls for collective prayer.
“Zeale is the hub for Catholics who want to stay informed and respond together, thoughtfully, collectively and prayerfully when crises arise,” Reinhardt said.

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‘Gen Z Is Searching For God’: CatholicVote Meets The Moment, Launches New Faith Platform

Gen Z

U.S.

The former president of Ireland, Mary McAleese, has claimed baptism denies babies their human rights.
Her comments were highlighted in an article in the <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026/01/11/mary-mcaleese-baptism-is-a-key-catholic-recruitment-tool-it-denies-babies-their-human-rights/">Irish Times</a> with the headline: “Mary McAleese: Baptism denies babies their human rights.”
This woman is nominally Catholic, but doesn’t agree with the teaching or practice of the Catholic Church. I believe she is a canon lawyer, but somehow she was radicalized. She also says this is the real issue we need to focus on — the great injustice in the world today.
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No one is Catholic by birth and the notion of ‘Baptismal promises’ is risible, writes Mary McAleese <a href="https://t.co/8WopKFeMhi">https://t.co/8WopKFeMhi</a>
— The Irish Times (@IrishTimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/IrishTimes/status/2010386279486136346?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Credit: @IrishTimes/X.com
She’s not a prelate. She’s not a theologian. She’s a politician. And she says the real injustice, the real violation of human rights in our world, is not immigration, not foreign policy, not the economy, not how we treat the poor. It’s not even abortion, the wholesale slaughter of little babies, no — it’s baptism.
It’s difficult to see how one arrives at that conclusion or that obsession without demonic influence. Now, I’m not someone who says there’s a demon under every rock. We live in a world where the material and immaterial are not totally separable, nevertheless, I’m not demon-hunting all the time.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1889-president-trump-fights-anti-white-racism?elementPosition=6&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show</a></h3>
It’s very difficult to understand how the former president of Ireland can say the great human rights violation of our time is baptizing babies. Because it is supposedly “bad.&#8221;
One could try to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe you could argue that infant baptism is technically a violation of human rights because, after the Fall, humans deserve death. Sin and death pervade the world, and in our fallen nature what we deserve is death, and baptism saves us from death.
Many people have different views of baptism, but you do see it in Scripture. Our Lord <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2019%3A14&amp;version=RSVCE">says</a>, “Let the little children come to Me.” You see baptisms of children in the book of Acts multiple times. In 1 Peter 3:21, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Peter%203%3A20-22&amp;version=NKJV">Saint Peter essentially says</a> baptism now saves you. There are many theological discussions about what that means exactly, but baptism is what demarcates us as Christians. Plenty of people disagree with infant baptism, but it is the traditional practice of the Catholic Church.
But setting those theological debates aside, the closest one could get to her argument is that baptism denies babies their human rights insofar as it saves them from the consequences of the Fall of man. And that’s a good thing. Isn’t that a good thing?
My last point: this woman, who says baptism violates babies’ human rights, supports abortion. She supports legally murdering babies in the womb, but not baptizing them once they are born. The only way to reach that conclusion is either to follow the perversity of liberalism to its end, or through demonic influence. I don’t see any other explanation.
And it really makes me raise an eyebrow at other Left-wing politicians.

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