Show Notes:

Bishops vote to ban gender transition treatments at Catholic hospitals - Aleteia

Bishop Joseph Strickland interjects at US Conference of Catholic Bishops - Catholic Herald — his subsequent statement can be found here.

Catholic Vote quotes the Catechism on immigration

More: Catholic Vote has provided a response to the bishops’ statement on immigration, emphasizing the nation’s duty to protect its own citizens: Immigration Enforcement and the Christian Conscience: The Receipts

EXCLUSIVE: I have obtained a copy of the Diocesan Synod Leaders’ meeting schedule for this year, not posted on their website as far as I can tell. Note that this is how the “synodal path” will be distributed to the dioceses and from thence to the parishes, by means of these meetings:

And what is Porticus, featured on this schedule? AI process content, hard to get a handle on, with one extremely rich sponsor, the Brenninkmeijer family of entrepreneurs, the philanthropic arm of which’s only substantive goals, if you can call them that, seem to be climate change and social action, and DEI.

Refugee Revenue: US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ $455 million in grant awards

Lepanto Institute on the latest Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) scandal: BOMBSHELL: US Catholic Bishops Give $1 Million to Marxist Movement

Lepanto research reports (see specific reports on CCHD awards)

Bait and Switch by Diogenes (Catholic Culture, from 2007)

The time is now for reform of the CCHD by Phil Lawler (from 2010)

CCHD lost $11.4M in 2023

Is it Time to Abolish the USCCB? by Leila Marie Lawler

Pope Leo supports the US bishops’ immigration position as stated in this video

Pew Report — 12th grade girls less likely than boys to say they want to marry

Phil’s novel! Ghost Runner makes a great Christmas gift!

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A British WWII veteran speaks his mind, but the BBC doesn’t want to listen; neither do many others

A veteran’s haunting question: Was his sacrifice worth it? by Phil Lawler

Katy Faust | How Obergefell Commodified Children — a must listen!

Supreme Court declines to hear challenge to same-sex marriage decision — The Federalist

The Obergefell ruling rode rough-shod over religions and dozens of state constitutions on the bases of a moral — not legal — opinion. — The Federalist

The Three Necessary Societies by Russell Hittinger

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Show Notes:

What is a good age to have a baby? by Leila Marie Lawler — embedded link re: progesterone treatment in IVF

The Facebook post, “40 is not the onset of menopause” — up to 300 likes/loves and 146 testimonials and comments

Leila on how silencing works — this strategy applies to all sorts of issues:

For a long time, many of good will wanted to extend a charitable interpretation of whatever seems disturbing in Fr. Martin’s work, especially when it comes to rejecting Church teaching (and normal morality) on something as important as homosexuality.

Their relentless overlooking of his intent is in part due to the success of LGBT+ activists in creating an identity to substitute for mental illness and perversion, and thus effecting a handy self-silencing culture among opponents.

Fr. Martin is good at this. He has maneuvered many Catholics into thinking they have to approve him in order to avoid being thought “mean” (a term he often uses for bigoted and hateful).

Why now? The Vatican’s odd ‘clarification’ of Marian piety by Phil Lawler

The Vatican and the trolls — Or: Is Cardinal Fernandez spending too much time online? by Phil Lawler

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Nigeria once again declared world’s deadliest country for Christians Catholic Vote

Catholic Church Cries Out Over Renewed Herdsmen Attacks In Taraba Communities As Hundreds Are Displaced Sahara Reporters

The Trump Card That Could Free Jimmy Lai by William McGurn Wall Street Journal (go here for archived version)

Vatican confirms papal approval of new Chinese bishop Catholic Culture

The Vatican’s one-sided deal with China Phil Lawler

Hong Kong Catholics Deserve the Church’s Leadership, Not Silence by Frances Hui

A Brief History of Baby Feeding

Baby Formula: The Story of How America Helped Invent One of the Great Life-Saving Technologies for Babies, Made Parents Dependent On It, Then Let the System Collapse Is…Uniquely American

Here’s why a patriarch gave Sox-fan Leo a Cubs jersey

The Dean’s Watch by Elizabeth Goudge (affiliate link)

Elizabeth Goudge in the Library Project by Leila Marie Lawler

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Helen Andrews: The Great Feminization, Compact Magazine

Harvey Mansfield: Manliness (affiliate link)

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Show Notes:

* Morale, Leadership, and Pastoral Priorities: Highlights from the 2025 National Study of Catholic Priests

Some reports on the report:

Younger American priests more conservative, traditional, survey shows (Catholic World News)

U.S. priests report high confidence in Pope Leo XIV, less trust in bishops (Catholic News Agency)

Study sheds light on generational divide among US priests (The Pillar)

* Leila wrote about Fr. Carter’s letter to Latin Mass parishioners here, and why I think it puts Bishop Martin of Charlotte in a better light — didn’t think that was possible, to be honest:

* Turns out we did talk about Pope Francis’s deception about the bishops’ survey, back in July.

* Beauty Will Save the Neighborhood — a podcast I did on this subject. An article I wrote about it.

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Jay Jones’s texts.

Is violence “across the board” in politics today? And what about that Cato Institute study? Bruce Gilley

Conservatives Urge The Cato Institute To Withdraw Its Deeply Flawed Political Violence Study

Some left-wing violence the legacy media wants you to forget.

Man arrested outside cathedral found to have explosives

Pope Francis: “There is no such thing as a just war.” Not helpful, as the alternative to reasoning through this problem is… not reasoning through and going with whatever that is.

Exploring Just-War Principles: Phil’s in-depth seminar on classical Catholic thought on the morality of warfare, and how it could be applied to contemporary conflicts.

Cardinal Parolin on October 7, Gaza: Human beings are not collateral damage

Israel in Gaza: a just cause, an unjust campaign by Phil Lawler

Israel forces threaten Catholic community in Gaza (CWNews): The Israeli defense ministry announced on October 1 that troops would move into Gaza City, having ordered residents to leave. “Those who remain will be considered terrorists and terror supporters,” the defense ministry warned.

Catholic and Orthodox Church workers in Gaza have vowed that they will not leave the city, explaining that they are dedicated to the care of elderly, disabled, and sick people living in their church compounds, who are unable to leave.

Lawler Family Book Club book (we discuss one book every two months — next week I will try to post the previous books we’ve read, and upcoming ones): The Double by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The Revolution of the Saints by Michael Walzer (affiliate link)

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Statement of Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, on the Keep Hope Alive Award

Pope Leo’s comments on Cardinal Cupich’s intention to award Sen. Dick Durbin

The Pope’s statement on the Durbin award: wrong, and irrelevant; if Pope Leo is quoted here accurately (and I have no reason to think otherwise), it’s a terribly disappointing statement for several reasons; Durbin’s decision to decline the Chicago award has the ‘look and feel’ of a negotiated solution; Pope Leo describes American immigration policy as “inhuman.” Well…

Dick Durbin says he was ‘overwhelmed’ by pope’s support (Politico)

Phil Lawler on the Durbin award: The Cupich assault on episcopal unity

Cupich needs fraternal correction by Phil Lawler

Maybe it’s a coincidence that the Archdiocese of Chicago was forced to cancel a meeting of the board of the Catholic Conference of Illinois (CCI), right after a board member indicated that he would raise an objection to the plan to honor Senator Richard Durbin

The Faithful Departed by Phil Lawler (affiliate link)

How the Government Built the American Dream House by Joseph Lawler, New Atlantis, Number 81, Summer 2025

“Across the United States, it is functionally illegal to build housing like what you find on Elfreth’s Alley, Philadelphia, one of the most photographed residential areas in the country, famous for its gorgeous row houses in the middle of the city. At the same time, the federal government subsidizes the construction of McMansions in greenfield locations miles from the nearest town center.”

“This system is a deliberate creation of the government, going back many decades. It is not a product simply of demand meeting supply at agreed-upon prices. Ostensibly, it is meant to promote homeownership. But in reality, it does not. Instead, it encourages mass financial speculation on housing, urban sprawl, and widespread resistance to new construction.”

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Show Notes:

JD Vance’s Sharp-Elbowed Theology by Tony Badran, The Tablet — I don’t know what he’s saying, and neither do you

Charlie Kirk DM’d me before he was murdered. Here’s what he said by Van Jones, CNN — what’s missing in this statement is any call to the Left to stand down.

Paprocki ‘shocked’ by Durbin’s Chicago award (The Pillar)

Archbishop Cordileone supports Paprocki

Statement of Cardinal Blase J. Cupich

The Scandalous Case of Cardinal Cupich and Senator Durbin, by Jayd Hendricks - Catholic World Report. Hendricks, who studied in a seminary where Cupich was the rector, and later worked on the staff of the US bishops’ conference, has some interesting background on the cardinal’s rise through the ecclesiastical ranks.

John Henry Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons (affiliate link). Sermon 22, The Gospel a Trust Committed to Us

Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens

The Cypresses Believe in God (affiliate link), by José Maria Gironella (A novel about the onset of the Spanish Civil War.)

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Leila on Pam Bondi’s error

Actually, Tim Walz [and Pam Bondi! —Ed.], the First Amendment Does Protect Misinformation and “Hate Speech,” by David Inserra and Jennifer Huddleston

Law & Liberty: Freedom of expression in the university: excellent essay by John O. McGinnis

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Ida Friederike Görres: A Forgotten Catholic Rediscovered by Jennifer S. Bryson