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

US-CONVENTION-SATAN

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

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

Catholic

Catholicism

Religion

satanic

The National Catholic Prayer Breakfast (NCPB) will partner with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/god-is-doing-something-pretty-incredible-catholic-app-passes-up-google-tiktok-on-ash-wednesday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hallow</a>, a popular Catholic meditation and prayer app, to lead a nationwide, 9-day novena ahead of its event, NCPB exclusively shared with The Daily Wire.
The 20th annual NCPB will be held in Washington, D.C., on February 28, about a month into the new presidential administration&#8217;s term. The breakfast is expected to draw around 1,200 of the nation&#8217;s most prominent Catholics to pray for the leadership and direction of the country.
The novena, which is a Catholic nine-day period of prayer for special petitions, is called &#8220;A Prayer for Our Nation.&#8221; It will be featured on Hallow starting on February 20, running through the day of the prayer breakfast, which will be held at the Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
“We are proud to partner with Hallow, and to join millions of Catholics across America in praying for our great nation,&#8221; NCPB Event Chairman Mark Randall said in a statement to The Daily Wire. &#8220;I hope our humble commitment to this novena will strengthen, unify and guide us as we prepare for the 20th National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.”
Hallow CEO Alex Jones called it &#8220;an honor&#8221; to partner with the NCPB &#8220;to pray for our country, our leaders, the armed forces and their families, and all our fellow citizens.&#8221;
<a href="http://dailywire.com/subscribe">PRESIDENTS’ DAY SALE! 40% Off DailyWire+ Annual Memberships With Code DW40</a>
&#8220;In a world filled with so much division, it’s a blessing to stand together as brothers and sisters in Christ,&#8221; Jones added. &#8220;Join us in praying the Litany of American Saints on Hallow in the days leading up to the event. Immaculate Mary, pray for us.”
Monsignor James P. Shea, President of the University of Mary, will keynote the prayer breakfast. His remarks will touch on the impact of the NCPB over the last two decades and the event&#8217;s theme, which is hope.
Hallow, as highlighted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-couple-more-people-in-heaven-would-be-nice-hallow-ceo-talks-success-of-catholic-app-rise-of-faith-based-content" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a>, was first launched in 2018 by Jones and fellow University of Notre Dame graduates Alessandro DiSanto and Erich Kerekes. The app has rocketed in popularity, garnering more than 23 million downloads across 150 countries.
During a previous interview with The Daily Wire, Jones was asked how he and his team would measure the app&#8217;s success, and he responded, “A couple more people in Heaven would be nice.”
“Maybe a couple more people who are in that really dark spot, who might be lost, who might feel like they’re all alone — maybe a couple of those people might experience the warmth of God’s love,” Jones added. “So it’s that for us, that’s really what we’re focused on.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-couple-more-people-in-heaven-would-be-nice-hallow-ceo-talks-success-of-catholic-app-rise-of-faith-based-content" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘A Couple More People In Heaven Would Be Nice’: Hallow CEO Talks Success Of Catholic App, Rise Of Faith-Based Content</a>

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

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

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

Catholics

Prayer

U.S.

Washington D.C.

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

Rosary Beads in Hands of Catholic Woman

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

Abortion

Birth Control

Catholic Church

Chicago

Contraception

Health Care

Margaret Sanger

Planned Parenthood

It is a truth universally acknowledged (by all right-thinking people, anyway) that Christmas comes too early. First you have the people who hoist up their wreaths and garlands at the first sign of falling leaves—a practice which should, in my opinion, be punishable by immediate deportation. I don’t care if you’re a legal citizen. The spirit of Project 2025 surely demands that we send October hall-deckers back to whichever country their ancestors most recently arrived from. Boughs of holly, gay apparel, and so forth become permissible at exactly the moment when Santa Claus reaches Herald Square in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. This was decided at the Council of Chalcedon.
But even then, December 25 is surely a demoralizing choice of dates for the pinnacle of all jollities. The excitement ramps up to a maximum just as the days are starting to droop into their coldest and darkest. This is a bright consolation for the feeling that you are looking at the sun from an increasingly unflattering angle. But then Boxing Day hits like a hangover on December 26 when, in the words of an extraordinarily depressing and mawkish poem by civil rights leader Howard Thurman, “the star in the sky is gone” and “the kings and princes are home.”
Thurman somehow meant this to be inspiring, but it’s obviously a galactic let-down. Here you are, your yearly allotment of cheer utterly spent, and there now stretch before you two months of slush and darkness with nothing to punctuate the tedium but New Year’s resolutions and Valentine’s Day. So the only activities scheduled to leaven the winter doldrums in our modern system are setting homework assignments for yourself and grappling with the crushing fear that you might die alone. Nice going, everyone.
Our ancestors knew better. What if I told you December 25 could be not the punishing end, but the gleeful start of the festivities? “The Twelve Days of Christmas” isn’t just the wish-list of an eccentric and high-maintenance wifejak. It’s a picture of how the season ought to be. Instead of dutifully pledging to obsess over hydration come January, you could be cavorting merrily among a retinue of milkmaids and an assortment of waterfowl. Or at least you could leave your Christmas lights up without remorse.
All this and more can be ours if we simply ditch the secular falderal and refer back to the liturgical calendar. Christmas would then last until January 6—which is not the Solemnity of the Insurrection but the Feast of the Epiphany, commemorating the wise men’s visit to the manger. The kings and princes are not home come New Year’s, thanks very much, they are just getting started—as we should be. By some accounts the Christmas season extends all the way to “Candlemas” on February 2, which commemorates the presentation of the baby Jesus in the temple according to Jewish rite. That would make Christmas 40 days long, rivaling the 50 days of “Eastertide” to celebrate the resurrection.
But just as the exuberance of Easter is preceded by the 40 somber days of Lent, the 40 days of Christmas are preceded by days of preparation known as Advent. This is the key to understanding the rhythm of the whole liturgical calendar: it goes through successive periods of grief and joy, silence and music, death and resurrection. It takes the natural ebb and flow of the light throughout the year as raw material in a grand work of art, using the solar system itself to construct a symbolic picture of Jesus’ life. In Genesis, when God sets up the stars as “signs to mark the seasons,” the rhythm of the year becomes a language for conveying the order of creation. The Jewish calendar, pinned to the cycles of the moon, established the pattern. The Christian calendar, founded on the schedule of Jewish feasts that Christ observed, grows out of it.
The winter solstice, when the daylight becomes shortest, makes for a natural beginning to this yearly sequence. Unlike Easter, which took place firmly during the festival of Passover, Christmas isn’t identified with a specific date in the Bible. Many people now think Jesus was born sometime in the Spring. But the winter date was fixed already by the <a href="https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EMCO/SIM-00726.xml?language=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">4th century A.D</a>. St. Augustine of Hippo loved to <a href="http://dec25th.info/Augustine's%20Sermon%20192.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">preach</a> about the symbolic appropriateness of December 25th as an entry point for God into the world, precisely because of the dark and the cold: “He, therefore, who bent low and lifted us up chose the shortest day, yet the one whence light begins to increase.” As the day wanes to its lowest ebb and the year rolls into its most brooding silence, the light of the world slips in and begins to grow.
This is deep and ancient magic. Every people and tribe has long since recognized that the earth wheels through a cycle of death and rebirth. Christians saw in their lord and savior the answer to a promise whispered through the very structure of creation, written in the very bones of the year. This is why it remains hilarious when detractors, as they have done since antiquity, accuse Christians of “appropriating” or imitating pagan rituals. The obvious answer to this is that yes, of course—in Christ we behold the fullness of a reality only dimly glimpsed in the nature worship of old. All the pageantry of myth and legend points at last to the greatest story ever told, and told again each year.
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/its-beginning-to-look-a-lot-like-advent/id1513602173?i=1000678202687" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
Hence the season of Advent, a period of waiting and watching as the world grows dark. It covers the four weeks before Christmas, each one of which is dedicated to a different element of the story—the hope of the prophets, the peace of Bethlehem, the joy of the shepherds, the love of the angels. Shortly after <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3501.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">St. Martin of Tours</a> ripped his cloak and gave half to a beggar on a cold winter day, the season became associated in France with alms and fasting. Now most churches keep some form of the ritual. Creation itself holds its breath, and mankind awaits the adventus, the arrival, of a transforming light.
Not that you can’t play Christmas music in December. But you’ll get more out of the season if you spend part of it in contemplation, reading, and prayer. The world winds down this month in anticipation of a rebirth that comes just when creation feels most exhausted, its natural powers and energies spent. At that moment an all but invisible gap opens in the machinery of things, and there enters—unseen by the government sentries prowling the city streets, undreamt of in the palaces of emperors—the light and the lord of the world. At which point, the party’s on.
* * *
Spencer A. Klavan is host of the Young Heretics podcast and author, most recently, of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Light-Mind-World-Science-Illuminating/dp/1684515335" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Light of the Mind, Light of the World: Illuminating Science Through Faith</a>. The associate editor of the <a href="https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Claremont Review of Books</a>, he has written for many outlets, including The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, City Journal, Newsweek, The Federalist, The American Mind, and The Daily Wire. Follow him on X: <a href="https://x.com/SpencerKlavan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@SpencerKlavan</a>. You find his daily Advent posts on Substack at and read further theological reflections at <a href="https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New Jerusalem</a>, where he writes alongside his father, novelist Andrew Klavan.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.

Four lit candles for Advent

The Case For Advent-Maxxing

Advent

Christians

Christmas

Church

History

Jesus Christ

Liturgical

Opinion

The following is part three of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dante-and-the-redemption-of-politics-part-i-understanding-dantes-vision">four-part series</a> taken from a <a class="c-link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b9wODrWwQo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b9wODrWwQo" data-sk="tooltip_parent">speech</a> delivered by <a class="c-link" href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-michael-knowles-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-michael-knowles-show" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Michael Knowles</a> at the National Intercollegiate Studies Institute Honors Conference.
* * *
So does this mean Dante hates freedom? Nothing could be further from the truth. We hear in “Paradiso” V that “the greatest gift that ever in his bountifulness God gave in creating, and the most conformed to his goodness, the one that is most prized, was the freedom of the will, with which the creatures with intelligence, all of them and only they, were and are endowed.” Dante tells us in “Monarchia” that “the human race is in its ideal state when it is completely free” and that “the first principle of our freedom is free will, which many people talk about but few understand.”
Here Dante seems to be speaking directly into our own time, when so many people are confused about the true meaning of “freedom.” 
Dante distinguishes between true and false freedom: “If judgment controls desire completely and is in no way pre-empted by it, it is free; but if judgment is in any way at all pre-empted and thus controlled by desire, it cannot be free, because it does not act under its own power, but is dragged along in the power of something else.” Lord Acton summarizes this view in the pithy statement that freedom is not the ability to do what we wish but the right to do what we ought. 
Dante loves freedom. And it is because he loves freedom that he demands universal monarchy. Because, as he tells us in “Monarchia,” “The activity proper to mankind considered as a whole is constantly to actualize the full intellectual potential of humanity, primarily through thought and secondarily through action (as a function and extension of thought).” He adds that “mankind most readily attends to this activity … in the calm or tranquility of peace.” Therefore, “universal peace is the best of those things which are ordained for our human happiness.” And the only way to get universal peace is through a universal ruler.
But then doesn’t this therefore imply a merger of Church and State under one single ruler? Not for Dante. But Dante’s enemy Pope Boniface VIII thought it did, as the pope argued in 1302 in his papal bull “Unam Sanctam.”
Boniface argued that all power on earth lies ultimately with the pope — that even the emperor is subordinate to the pope. To defend his claim, Boniface made a couple of dubious scriptural arguments. Boniface also relied on the Donation of Constantine — a document later proven to be a forgery — in which the Emperor purportedly transferred authority over the western Roman Empire to the pope.
Dante says no. Even if Boniface’s questionable readings of scripture were accurate, even if Constantine had really attempted to transfer political authority to the pope, nevertheless it would not be possible. Because on earth, everything has limits. Even the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, which our Lord gives to St. Peter — the power “to loose and to bind” — cannot be absolute because Peter could not do things that God himself cannot do.
Peter could, for instance, absolve an unrepentant sinner. He could not “loosen a wife from her husband and bind her to another while the first was still alive.” There are limits not only to the power of the emperor but also of the pope. Those limits derive from the nature of their respective offices, and the distinction between the offices derives from the fact that man himself has two natures: corruptible body and incorruptible mind. Mankind therefore, having two natures, necessarily has two ends: happiness in this life and happiness in eternity. The political order — the Empire — is meant to serve man’s temporal happiness; the spiritual order — the Church — should conduce to man’s eternal happiness.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-michael-knowles-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show</a></h4>
And yet Dante does not call, as later political thinkers will, for a “firm separation of church and state.” On the contrary, he concludes by warning that his argument “should not be taken so literally as to mean that the Roman Prince is not in some sense subject to the Roman Pontiff, since this earthly happiness is in some sense ordered towards immortal happiness. Let Caesar therefore show that reverence towards Peter which a firstborn son should show his father, so that, illumined by the light of paternal grace, he may the more effectively light up the world, over which he has been placed by Him alone who is ruler over all things spiritual and temporal.” 
The pope and the emperor have distinct realms of action. But we cannot totally separate the temporal and the spiritual just as we cannot separate the literal from the allegorical or the particular from the universal.
Now, having digressed for all that context, let’s move on to the pre-political canto, Canto V of “Inferno.” Here Dante encounters Francesca da Rimini, who had an affair with her brother-in-law Paolo, both of whom are killed by her jilted husband when he discovers them.
Paolo and Francesca fall in love, she tells us, while reading. They read the story of Lancelot and Guinevere. And here Dante makes an important point about language. When read in Italian, it is most important to listen to the language.
<blockquote>Amor, ch&#8217;al cor gentil ratto s&#8217;apprende,
prese costui de la bella persona
che mi fu tolta; e &#8216;l modo ancor m&#8217;offende.
&nbsp;
Amor, ch’a nullo amato amar perdona,
mi prese del costui piacer sì forte,
che, come vedi, ancor non m’abbandona.
&nbsp;
Amor condusse noi ad una morte.
Caina attende chi a vita ci spense&#8221;.
Queste parole da lor ci fuor porte.</blockquote>
“Love, which is quickly kindled in the gentle heart,” “love, which does not pardon any beloved from loving,” “love led us to one death.” That last phrase: “amor condusse noi ad una morte.” “Amor” — love — is precisely in the middle of “una morte” — “one death.”
It’s untranslatable. It is possible to gist in translation, but it only really works in Italian. Dante is showing, as he tells explicitly in his essay on language, “De Vulgari Eloquentia,” that particular languages are appropriate for particular works and particular writers. Not only do different circumstances call for different forms of language — the high grammatica of Latin versus the vulgar vernacular — but writers have a special obligation to their own native vernaculars simply by virtue of those vernaculars’ being their own. Dante writes in “The Banquet” of “the perpetual shame and mortification of the wicked men of Italy who praise the vernacular of others and disparage their own.”
Dante condemns his own teacher Brunetto Latini in part for betraying his vernacular. The point is that language is particular. There’s an old expression, “traduttore, traditore” — the translator is a traitor. Individual experiences are not interchangeable.
This is more evident in Canto XXXI of Inferno when Dante meets Nimrod, who builds the Tower of Babel. When Dante meets him, Nimrod says, “Raphèl maì amècche zabì almì,” which is untranslatable, not because of some pun, but more basically because no one knows what language it is. It seems the phrase is nonsense. Which in itself is meaningful.
Observing the Babel builders, the Lord says, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.” So he confused their language and scattered them over the face of the earth.
The combination of political and linguistic unity would have unleashed invincible evil on the world. So God disrupted — temporarily — their political unity and permanently severed their linguistic unity. Now we see a chasm between what is said and what is understood — a chasm which is itself merely an exaggeration of the gap that appeared between word and meaning at the Fall.
Nimrod attempted to short-circuit the particularity of politics and history. He transgressed the limits placed on man at the Fall. We learn more about this fact in “Paradiso” XXVI, when Dante meets Adam, who explains that ”the tasting of the tree in itself” did not cause “so long an exile, but only going beyond the sign.” A crucial word: “sign.” Adam in disobedience figuratively “goes beyond the sign,” and as a result there emerges a distance between literal signs — that is, words — and the meanings that they signify.
In “Paradiso” XXVI, Adam corrects Dante’s earlier belief, articulated in “De Vulgari Eloquentia,” that Hebrew alone survived the confusion of languages at Babel — that Hebrew is in fact the original language created by God — “so that our redeemer, who was to descend from them (in so far as He was human), should not speak the language of confusion, but that of grace.”
Adam says no. “The language that I spoke was all extinct before Nimrod’s people became intent on the unfinishable work.” This is because “no rational effect, because of human preference, which changes following the heavens, has ever been enduring.” Nothing is immune from history. God himself enters into history, and the Word himself speaks a language that is contingent, particular, and constantly changing.
Even the names we call God change: first it was “I,” then “El,” and so on. “This is necessary,” Adam explains, “for the usage of mortals is like a leaf on the branch, which departs and another comes.” The usage of mortals changes because, as Dante writes in “De Vulgari Eloquentia,” “Nothing can be conveyed from one reasoning mind to another except by means perceptible to the sense.” And percepts are always changing. God does not change, but everything else does, including the names we call him.
This is one reason Dante chose to write the “Comedy” in the vernacular. For some of his minor works, he chose the high grammatica of Latin. For his magnum opus, he chose the low vernacular. To go up, we must go down.
* * *
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dante-and-the-redemption-of-politics-part-i-understanding-dantes-vision" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: Dante And The Redemption Of Politics, Part I: Understanding Dante’s Vision</a></h3>
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dante-and-the-redemption-of-politics-part-ii-the-pilgrims-journey" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: Dante And The Redemption Of Politics, Part II: The Pilgrim’s Journey</a></h3>

The Florence Cathedral – Santa Maria del Fiore in an orange sunset.

Dante And The Redemption Of Politics, Part III: Distinguishing Between True And False Freedom

Dante

Florence

Italy

Michael Knowles

Politics

speech

The following is part two of a four-part series taken from a <a class="c-link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b9wODrWwQo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b9wODrWwQo" data-sk="tooltip_parent">speech</a> delivered by <a class="c-link" href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-michael-knowles-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-michael-knowles-show" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Michael Knowles</a> at the National Intercollegiate Studies Institute Honors Conference.
* * *
In “Inferno” VI, Dante calls his political party “the party of the woods” — “la parte selvaggia” — because its central family, the Cerchi, came from a rural area. It seems to me — though I’ve never seen this in any commentaries on the poem — that this explains the repetition in the first lines. Especially when we consider the timing of Dante’s arrival in the dark wood just before his ascent to the Priorate, it seems to me Dante is calling our attention immediately to the political cause of his losing the straight way.
Some additional evidence for this view comes from Dante himself, in a letter preserved by the historian Leonardo Bruni, in which he says, “All my woes and all my misfortunes had their cause and origin in my ill-omened election to the Priorate.” So, if my interpretation is correct, this means even the vaguest and more general scene in the poem, “Inferno” I, is rooted in highly particular historical experience.
Dante then encounters three beasts at the foot of a “desert slope”: a leopard, a lion, and a lupa — a “she-wolf.”And the she-wolf scares him the most. Why? Lions and leopards seem scarier to me. What is it about the she-wolf?
We know that later on Dante will connect the she-wolf with avarice. Beyond that, we really don’t know Dante’s precise meaning. And I suspect we’re not supposed to know because we usually don’t understand the meaning of events as they occur. This isn’t “Pilgrim’s Progress.” In Dante’s journey, just as in real life, we don’t encounter giant, talking allegories. We encounter literal events and figures — with allegorical significance, no doubt, but allegorical significance that often eludes us, at least at first.
In the fallen world, there is a distance between sign and signified, between symbol and symbolized. It is a distance present in language itself. Angels don’t need language. Angels’ knowledge is directly infused. Humans need language because we’re incarnate. So we communicate in perceptible sounds and scribbles. But there’s a problem with our language. As a consequence of the Fall, a chasm has opened between what we say and what we mean. This distance — this desert, we might say — constitutes another kind of exile between word and meaning. We don’t quite say what we want to say, and we don’t immediately grasp the meaning of symbols.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-michael-knowles-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show</a></h3>
So politics is the particular things that happen, the full meaning of which we cannot know as they occur. And history is the record of politics, the significance of which we later interpret. But if we can interpret history, that means that history is not merely literal. Every particular thing evinces some universal truth, and the universal is made manifest to us only through the particular.
So what does the she-wolf mean? It seems to me the clearest connotation is political. The she-wolf nurses Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. What strikes the most fear into Dante’s heart — what most obstructs his path — is a political beast, a beast, we’ll read 40 lines later, which “lets no one pass by her way, but so much impedes him that she kills him.”
We learn this from the first character that Dante meets: Virgil, the poet of empire and history, whose “Aeneid” tells the story of the founding of Rome, the universal empire, transferred west from Troy to Italy through Aeneas, ancestor to Romulus and Remus.
Dante’s journey is not a straight-shot to God. It’s a journey incited by a particular individual, Virgil, whom we later learn was sent by another individual, Dante’s beloved Beatrice — not even a public figure — who will then introduce Dante to another individual, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who will serve as the final guide on the pilgrim’s journey, which is mediated at all times by real and specific people.
<div id="attachment_805345" style="width: 922px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-805345" class="wp-image-805345 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-171101483-912x576.jpg" alt="Dante Alighieri and Beatrice in Florence. 20th century illustration. Italian poet, 1265-1321. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)" width="912" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-171101483-912x576.jpg 912w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-171101483-300x190.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-171101483-768x485.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/GettyImages-171101483.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 912px) 100vw, 912px" />Dante Alighieri and Beatrice in Florence. 20th century illustration. Italian poet, 1265-1321. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)</div>
When Dante sees Virgil “in the great desert,” he cries, “‘Miserere di me,’ whatever you may be, whether shade or true man.” Dante doesn’t quite meet “Virgil.” He meets the “shade” of Virgil.
“Not a man — I was once a man,” Virgil explains. “My parents were Lombards, both Mantuans by birth. I was born under Julius, though it was late, and I lived in Rome under the good Augustus in the time of the false and lying gods.” Virgil is not a man because men are irreducibly historic beings. We are not souls flitting through eternity. We are incarnate creatures — composites of body and soul — and we can only ever be men by virtue of our place in history.
Therefore, Virgil identifies himself by his political circumstances: geographic in that he is Mantuan, and temporal in that he was “born under Julius.” Which isn’t even true, by the way. Virgil was born in 70 B.C. He was 21-years-old when Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon. But Dante is connecting Virgil with the Empire, the perfection of political order.
Virgil speaks of the journey that they are about to undertake — even of God himself — in imperial terms. He refers to “that Emperor who reigns on high,” and he informs Dante that they will not exit the wood by going up. Dante will not retrieve the straight path by virtue of his own intellect and will. To go up, he must go down.
Dante is skeptical. He says, “I am not Aeneas, I am not Paul.” Why invoke Aeneas and Paul? What do they have in common? Two things. They both travel to the “immortal realm” — Aeneas to the land of the dead, Paul to the third heaven. And they both go to Rome. 
Dante writes of Aeneas: 
<blockquote>He in the Empyrean heaven had been chosen to 
be father of mother Rome and her empire: 
and Rome and her empire, to tell the truth, were 
established to be the holy place where the successor 
of great Peter is enthroned.
Through this journey that you claim for him, he 
understood things that were the cause of his victory
and of the papal mantle.
Later the chosen Vessel [Paul] went there, to bring back 
strengthening for that faith which is the beginning of 
the way of salvation.</blockquote>
Virgil tells Dante that he must venture into the pit of Hell, and the first thing Dante thinks of is politics. And it’s not a frivolous obsession. For Dante, Rome is divinely imbued with authority. God the Father sent his only begotten Son to be incarnate in the fullness of time into the Roman Empire. For Dante, Rome has a divine mandate to govern the whole world attested to in the Gospel of St. Luke: “There went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed,” which for Dante signifies, as he explains in his political tract “Monarchia,” “that at that time the Romans exercised jurisdiction over the whole world.”
For Dante, it’s appropriate that the Romans governed the world because they were not only the noblest people but also providentially formed, as we see in the marriages of Aeneas, who had three wives: Creusa in Troy, then Dido in Carthage, and finally Lavinia in Italy — Asia, Africa, and Europe, all brought under the headship of one man. “Who will fail,” Dante asks, “to recognize divine predestination in that double confluence of blood from every part of the world into a single man?”
The Roman Empire’s divine mandate to govern is not only apparent but necessary, according to Dante, if Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross is to redeem all of mankind. As Dante explains in “Monarchia,” “If the Roman empire was not based on right, Adam’s sin was not punished in Christ.” That is, “If Christ had not suffered under an authorized judge, that penalty would not have been a punishment. And no judge could be authorized unless he had jurisdiction over the whole of mankind, since the whole of mankind was punished in that flesh of Christ.”
So Rome had the special right to govern the world. And this is good, Dante believes, because “mankind most closely resembles God when it is most a unity.” Today we worship “diversity” for diversity’s sake. Dante does not. Mankind, he writes, “is in its ideal state when it follows the footsteps of heaven, insofar as its nature allows. And since the whole sphere of heaven is guided by a single movement … and by a single source of motion (who is God) … mankind is in its ideal state when it is guided by a single ruler.”
In other words, we ought to imitate the heavens, and the kingdom of heaven is not a democracy — or an oligarchy, or a tyranny, or any form of government other than universal monarchy, which Dante concludes “is necessary to the world.”
* * *
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dante-and-the-redemption-of-politics-part-i-understanding-dantes-vision" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: Dante And The Redemption Of Politics, Part I: Understanding Dante’s Vision</a></h3>

Divine Comedy. Journey of Dante through the Hell, guided by the Roman poet Virgil. By Dore.

Dante And The Redemption Of Politics, Part II: The Pilgrim’s Journey

Dante And The Redemption Of Politics, Part II: The Pilgrim's Journey

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

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

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

2024 Election

Donald Trump

Kamala Harris

Michigan

Nevada

Pennsylvania

transgender surgery

Wisconsin

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

small catholic church

Returning To The Faith: Tradition As The Way Forward

Bible

Faith

Scripture

Women

Pope Francis reportedly expressed his opposition to gay men becoming priests during a meeting with Roman priests this week, which comes only a couple weeks after he made similar remarks during a closed-door meeting.
Francis, 87, <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/06/12/world-news/pope-francis-repeats-gay-slur-just-weeks-after-apologizing-for-using-it-reports/">reportedly</a> said that &#8220;there is an air of frociaggine in the Vatican&#8221; and that those who are gay should not be admitted into seminaries. According to the Washington Post, the word &#8220;frociaggine&#8221; roughly translates to &#8220;fa***tness&#8221; in the Roman Italian dialect.
The Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/06/11/pope-repeats-gay-slur/">reported</a> that Francis made the remarks while meeting with approximately 200 priests at Rome’s Salesian Pontifical University.
While speaking about the “danger of ideologies in the Church”,  he reportedly “reiterated the need to welcome and accompany gay men in the Church” but indicated they should not be allowed into priesthood.
Francis made nearly identical <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pope-francis-rails-against-gay-priests-in-training-theres-already-too-much-fatry-in-seminaries">remarks</a> during a private address to Catholic bishops in May while railing against the number of gay priests who were in training.
He reportedly made the remarks in the context of proposals from Italian bishops about changes they want to see in guidelines determining the candidates that seminaries accept.
He reportedly said that he was opposed to letting in candidates who were leading a “double life” by claiming to be celibate while secretly being gay, The Telegraph <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/05/27/pope-francis-reported-derogatory-phrase-homosexuals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
He said that there was “already too much fa***try” in seminaries, according to numerous translations of his speech, which was in Italian.
CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/27/europe/pope-francis-accused-homophobic-slur-intl-latam/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> that Francis in 2016 upheld the Vatican’s ruling in 2005 that the Catholic church cannot allow the ordination of gay men. In 2018, he told Italian bishops “not to accept gay candidates for the priesthood,” the report added.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1716990157394000&amp;usg=AOvVaw33qQydjIo8bet419amChif">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
However, the Vatican backtracked on his comments late last month after they were leaked to the press and some backlash ensued online.
“The Pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he extends his apologies to those who felt offended by the use of a term, as reported by others,” the Vatican said in a May statement. “As he (Pope Francis) has said on several occasions, ‘in the Church there is room for everyone, everyone! No one is useless, no one is superfluous, there is room for everyone. Just as we are, everyone.’”

Vatican Pool Images 2024

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

Pope Francis

World

On Friday night, Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-chiefs-kicker-harrison-butker-breaks-silence-says-he-will-continue-to-be-unapologetic-catholic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gave a speech</a> in Nashville at the “Courage Under Fire” gala fundraiser event for Regina Caeli Academy, a Catholic homeschool organization. The speech was Butker’s first public remarks following his viral commencement speech at Benedictine College where he championed Catholic values, causing a leftist meltdown.
The Daily Wire was on hand for Butker’s Friday speech. Below is transcript of his remarks lightly edited for clarity:
Good evening everyone. Thank you for being here in support of Regina Caeli Academy. It&#8217;s been great to see a lot of friends here tonight and to meet so many of the families that attend our centers across the country. Going into my second year as a board member, I can tell you there is an exciting future ahead with plans for expansion and new leadership. It&#8217;s safe to say that RCA has the potential to lay a solid foundation for a legion of future saints.
Thank you to Charlie McKinney for joining us on the journey and for hitting the ground running from day one. I especially would like to recognize Nicole Juba for her years of dedication to RCA and its mission. She&#8217;s provided a steady hand over many years, and I know I speak on behalf of the entire board when I say that we are thankful for her leadership.
Lastly, this night has been made possible because one woman has tirelessly dedicated herself to its success. Thank you, Alissa Walsh, for the many hours you and your team have worked to make tonight possible.
Lastly, I would like to recognize Canon Commons and Father Acres for being here and supporting RCA. The fraternity and the institute have both been instrumental in my formation as a husband and as a father.
The theme for tonight&#8217;s gala, “Courage Under Fire,” was decided many months ago, but it now feels providential that this would be the theme after what we have all witnessed these past two weeks. If it wasn&#8217;t clear that the timeless Catholic values are hated by many, it is now. Over the past few days, my beliefs &#8212; or what people think I believe &#8212; have been the focus of countless discussions around the globe.
At the outset, many people expressed a shocking level of hate, but as the days went on, even those who disagreed with my viewpoints shared their support for my freedom of religion. In my seven years in the NFL, I&#8217;ve become familiar with the positive and negative comments, but the majority of them revolve around my performance on the field.
But, as to be expected, the more I&#8217;ve talked about what I value most, which is my Catholic faith, the more polarizing I have become. It&#8217;s a decision I&#8217;ve consciously made and one I do not regret at all. If we have truth and charity, we should trust in the Lord&#8217;s providence and let the Holy Ghost do the rest of the work.
Our love for Jesus and thus our desire to speak out should never be outweighed by the longing of our fallen nature to be loved by the world. Glorifying God and not ourselves should always remain our motivation despite any pushback or even support. I lean on those closest to me for guidance, but I can never forget that it is not people, but Jesus Christ who I am trying to please.
I&#8217;m humbled by the support I&#8217;ve received from all walks of life, but I can&#8217;t help but tremble at the thought of the courage many saints have shown in their lives. Would I be so bold if the repercussion was what Daniel faced in being fed to lions? In reality, any courage I&#8217;ve shown will lead to some small suffering and it will lead to some people maybe never liking me, but that could be God&#8217;s will.
If I constantly remind myself of the hardships the saints went through, especially the martyrs in their persecution, it makes it all seem not so bad. For if heaven is our goal, we should embrace our cross however large or small it may be and live our life with joy to be a bold witness for Christ.
My hope is that tonight&#8217;s theme and RCA&#8217;s mission will embolden others that many more will be unapologetic of their Catholic faith and never be afraid to speak out for truth, even when it goes against the loudest voices. In the end, being courageous starts with the small things. Being disliked and mischaracterized by some is nothing compared to finding yourself in a lion’s den. Thank you.
Lastly, it&#8217;s great to see my friend, President Steve Minnis. I would be remiss if I didn&#8217;t thank him for his courage and his friendship. Thank you again for being here tonight. To the heights.
WATCH: 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Harrison Butker Speaks Out: No Regrets, No Apologies" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9wJEsz2JdpI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Screen Shot 2024-05-28 at 1.52.40 PM

READ IT: Harrison Butker’s Full Speech At The ‘Courage Under Fire’ Gala In Nashville

Harrison Butker

Kansas City Chiefs

Nashville

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pope-francis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pope Francis</a> reportedly railed against the number of gay priests-in-training during a private address to Catholic bishops last week that leaked to Italian news organizations this week.
Francis, 87, allegedly made the remarks in the context of proposals that were being made from Italian bishops about changes they want to see made on guidelines determining the candidates that seminaries accept.
He reportedly said that he was opposed to letting in candidates who were leading a “double life” by claiming to be celibate while secretly being gay, The Telegraph <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/05/27/pope-francis-reported-derogatory-phrase-homosexuals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
He said that there was “already too much fa***try” in seminaries, according to numerous translations of his speech, which was in Italian.
CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/27/europe/pope-francis-accused-homophobic-slur-intl-latam/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> that Francis in 2016 upheld the Vatican&#8217;s ruling in 2005 that the Catholic church cannot allow the ordination of gay men. In 2018, he told Italian bishops &#8220;not to accept gay candidates for the priesthood,&#8221; the report added.
However, the Vatican backtracked on his comments from last week after they were leaked to the press and some backlash ensued online.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1716990157394000&amp;usg=AOvVaw33qQydjIo8bet419amChif">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
“The Pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he extends his apologies to those who felt offended by the use of a term, as reported by others,” the Vatican said in a Tuesday statement. “As he (Pope Francis) has said on several occasions, ‘in the Church there is room for everyone, everyone! No one is useless, no one is superfluous, there is room for everyone. Just as we are, everyone.’”

Vatican Apologizes After Pope Francis Says There’s ‘Too Much Fa***try’ In Seminaries

Homosexuality

LGBTQ

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