Our mission is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the status quo. Independent journalism with a focus on politics and satire, public safety, judicial misconduct, government corruption, HOA/CID, senior advocacy, sanctity of life & marriage and a voice to the voiceless
The Thomas More Society has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in California on behalf of David Daleiden against former California Attorney General and now VicePresident Kamala Harris for prosecuting David in bad faith, twisting and perverting California's anti-eavesdropping law to persecute a citizen journalist because of his political views. Daleiden is the undercover journalist who spent 30 months investigating and capturing video evidence of Planned Parenthood 's top leadership: medical directors, national program directors, even its Senior Director of Medical Services --callously negotiating the harvesting and sale of aborted baby body parts. And now, he’s been charged with nine bogus felonies. "It's a grave injustice that David is the one being hit with felony charges and massive civil penalties while Planned Parenthood (so far, at least) has gone unpunished" said Tom Brejcha
David and his Thomas Moore Representation
The Thomas More Society is a not-for-profit law firm underwriting and helping to spearhead David's criminal defense. It previously defended many renowned pro-life and religious leaders in America's pro-life movement such as Joe, Ann, and Eric Scheidler, the Pro-Life Action League, Shawn Carney and 40 Days for Life, Abby Johnson, the Susan B. Anthony List, David Bereit, Lila Rose and Live Action, Students for Life, Sidewalk Advocates for Life, Created Equal, former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline, the March for Life, and many more.
According to Tom Brejcha President & Chief Counsel, Thomas Moore Society, "after Daleiden released the shocking videos of the illegal and disgusting actions of abortion executives, Kamala Harris, then California's Attorney General, colluded with Planned Parenthood to file felony charges against David. ... Kamala Harris even ordered the California Department of Justice to raid David's home and confiscate his unpublished videos. If not cleared of these charges, David faces steep fines and years in state penitentiary and the consequences of being a convicted felon. While Kamala Harris --- a bought-and-paid-for ally of the abortion industry --- is sitting one heartbeat away from the presidency.."
Hard to imagine when David entered the dark underbelly of the abortion industry --- sitting across the table from abortionists haggling over the price of baby body parts with cold-blooded clarity... "I want a Lamborghini." David saw with his own eyes the preborn children who had been killed with great precision and delicacy to preserve their organs for maximum profit. Hard to imagine when the videos were released and Kamala Harris and Planned Parenthood conspired to crush David with trumped up legal charges and an armed raid on his home in which they seized laptops, hard-drives, and recording equipment. Hard to imagine when David Daleiden - The Thomas Moore criminal defense team was there - when David voluntarily appeared in both Texas and California for booking and processing --- fingerprinted and photographed for a mugshot like a common criminal.
David Daleiden is fighting back: He is appealing the verdict in the civil lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood, along with the judge's order permanently banning David from doing any more undercover journalism against Planned Parenthood. Recently, Thomas Moore posted a $700,000 appeal bond to keep Planned Parenthood’s nasty collection agents from harassing him with collection agents and even seizing his belongings. The civil lawsuit brought by the National Abortion Federation and the "gag order" injunction that still prohibits David from releasing any more of his video evidence exposing Planned Parenthood's illegal fetal tissue business. And now, in light of the Planned Parenthood civil lawsuit, NAF has moved for summary judgment – they want a ruling against David without a trial at all. And the civil lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood personnel in federal court in Seattle, where Thomas Moore just achieved a victory for a second time on appeal, but it appears it may need at least a third victory on appeal before this case ends.
Daleiden is taking another opportunity to drag more of Planned Parenthood's dark criminality into the spotlight with two new federal lawsuits. Also, the Thomas More Society filed a defamation (libel) lawsuit in federal court in New York against Planned Parenthood, which said David created a "fake" and "false" "smear campaign" against Planned Parenthood. "Because when dark forces like Planned Parenthood unleash their full might to legally, financially, and personally destroy our clients --- we fight back. I have to tell you, despite all that David is facing, his spirits remain high. Of course, I've never known anyone in this kind of position who didn't feel an empty pit in his stomach. But David's not giving up. His willingness to fight back is a true profile in Pro-Life courage." said Mr. Brejcha
The Catholic Media's war on Pope Francis continues. The piece titled Vatican Inconsistencies: A Tale of Two Bishops By Edward Pentin is an example: The piece is hardly news worthy. It is not breaking news, Simply recycled news to make sure its readers discontent with Pope Francis is top of mind. Perhaps they missed Matt 12:25 "Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid Thwaste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand." They complain about what he does, what he does not do, what he says & what he fails to say: They have a "better" slate of Cardinals-designates than the ones Pope Francis chose. They dislike that Pope Francis did not spike the ball when SCOTUS overturned Roe V Wade, as it was an earthly victory like the Super Bowl. They dislike that Pope Francis offered communion to so-called devout Catholics Joseph Biden & Nancy Pelosi. They love to report on disobedient priests and hail them as heroes.
Throughout the New Testament stops the disciples to do certain things, such as in Acts 16:6 "Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time." Whereas in Matt 28:19 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. In other words, the Holy Spirit prevented them to do certain things or encouraged them to do certain things. But the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) even mocks Pope Francis when he admits he has made mistakes and asks for forgiveness, NCR claims a higher moral ground than the Holy Father.
The Catholic Media covers the Vatican as if it was a secular organization, perhaps ruled by a military junta, or a corporation ruled by a CEO and a board of directors. To say that the Catholic Media dies not like Pope Francis, is an understatement. They have called for his resignation and they can't wait to see it happen. Apparently they do not believe the Holy Spirit guides the Vatican
Like Big Tech, that monetizes hate and division, the Catholic Media seems to thrive in hate and division and disobedience. They do not seem to recognize the concept of Papal Supremacy. Papal supremacy is the doctrine of the Catholic Church that the Pope, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, the visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful, and as pastor of the entire Catholic Church, has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered: that, in brief, the Pope enjoys, by divine institution, supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls.
Image: Stained glass, depiction Christ appearing to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and showing her His Sacred Heart | St. Francis Xavier Basilica, Vincennes, IN
The opposite of so many saints, including Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque. As a youngster, Saint Margaret was sickly with painful home problems entering the Order of the Visitation nuns at the age of 24. A Visitation nun was “not to be extraordinary except by being ordinary,” but the young nun was not to enjoy this anonymity. A fellow novice characterized Margaret Mary humble, simple, and frank, but above all, kind and patient under sharp criticism and correction. She could not meditate in the formal way expected, though she tried her best to give up her “prayer of simplicity.” Slow, quiet, and clumsy, she was assigned to help an infirmarian who was a bundle of energy. Like all saints, Margaret Mary had to pay for her gift of holiness. Some of her own sisters were hostile. Theologians who were called in declared her visions delusions and suggested that she eat more heartily. Later, parents of children she taught called her an impostor, an unorthodox innovator. A new confessor, the Jesuit Claude de la Colombière, recognized her genuineness and supported her. Against her great resistance, Christ called her to be a sacrificial victim for the shortcomings of her own sisters, and to make this known. After serving as novice mistress and assistant superior, Margaret Mary died at the age of 43, while being anointed. She said: “I need nothing but God, and to lose myself in the heart of Jesus.” Antithetical to priests who cannot wait to go in front of the camera to criticize the Vatican: Matt 16:23 Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
Reminiscent of non Believers or those who left the Church, "because they are all hypocritical." Forgetting the obvious: Mark 2:17 "On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”" Even in Giovanni Boccacio's stories, Abraham a Jewish businessman converts to Catholicism after visiting Rome. He witnesses the corruption and concludes "that what these scoundrel clerics so zealously want never takes root." Therefore, Abraham concludes: "It is quite to me your Church must have the Holy Spirit for its foundation & support." Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist and one of the most important figures in the European literary panorama of the fourteenth century. Some scholars define him as the greatest European prose writer of his time, a versatile writer who amalgamated different literary trends and genres, making them converge in original works, thanks to a creative activity exercised under the banner of experimentalism.
Acts 5:39 "But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God!” Feels like the current Catholic Media is fighting God and fails to acknowledge the work of the Holy Spirit
I was caught by surprise this week when memes started circulating in social media accusing Pope Francis' of being silent regarding the US Supreme Court's historic decision to overturn Roe V. Wade, reminiscent of the old NFL Super Bowl MVP player ambushed by the media that asked him: "And now, now, what are you going to do?" And the response of course was: "To Disneyland!"
Carl DeMarco's piece titled No Comment: Pope Francis Remains Silent On Supreme Court’s Abortion Decision? was yet another reminder. My initial Peter-eresque response was. "Right- why hasn't he spoken yet?" Then I remembered Matthew 16:23: "Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” -
DeMarco goes on to write: "Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Pope Francis has remained largely silent on the historic ruling returning the power to restrict abortion to the states, despite church leaders from around the world applauding the decision"
So, why the question? Who is the audience? Does that mean Pope Francis doesn't care? That he thinks it's not a big deal? That he's irresponsible? After all, even Catholic Media's reporting like EWTN, National Catholic Reporter, National Catholica Register and so on suggests that the Holy Spirt has departed from the Catholic Church. If the audience is the Pope's flock, they all know what he thinks. We see it daily and or on Sunday services. There are signs all over the place celebrating life. The Pope Himself, prioritized the X World Meeting Of Families (WMOF), in Rome June 22-26, 2022. At the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis calls the faithful to follow Jesus, who did not respond to opposition with anger and bitterness, but instead made a “resolute decision” to continue on to Jerusalem, knowing that rejection and death awaited Him there". The Diocese of Rome and the Vatican Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life jointly released the official prayer for the Church event titled “Family Love: Vocation and Path to Holiness"
If the intended audience of Pope Francis is not the traditional Catholic Church, but for presumably for pro-Abortion Catholics or non believers, the audience expects the Pope to spike the ball and add fuel to fire? We already know. When a reporter asked Pope Francis about Joe Biden, a self described devout Catholic promoting abortion, the Pope answered: What must the pastor do? B
e a pastor, don’t go condemning.” The Pope's views of the LGBT community are similar but consistent with Matthew 5:43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
Often time silence speaks louder than words, but the secular world and the Pope's critics prefer to react like Peter would.
Lori E. Deveny, 56, pleaded guilty to mail, bank, and wire fraud; aggravated identity theft; money laundering; and filing a false tax return this past Monday according to court records: between April 2011 and May 2019, Deveny systematically stole funds she held in trust for her clients. The funds were derived from insurance proceeds due and payable to her clients. Deveny is accused of forging client signatures on settlement documents she sent to various insurance companies, making unauthorized transfers of funds to personal accounts and falsely telling clients that the insurance companies were to blame for delays in settling claims. Many of Deveny’s clients never received the insurance payout they were owed.
Deveny used the proceeds of her scheme to pay for personal credit card and loan payments, numerous big game hunting trips to Africa and the resulting taxidermy costs, other vacations, her husband’s photography business, home remodeling, expensive cigars and other expenses associated with a lavish lifestyle.
On May 7, 2019, a federal grand jury in Portland returned a 24-count indictment charging Deveny with mail, bank, and wire fraud; aggravated identity theft; money laundering; and filing a false tax return. Deveny is scheduled to face be sentenced on November 23, 2022, before U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Mosman. As part of her plea agreement, Deveny has also agreed to pay restitution in full to her victims as determined by the government and ordered by the court.
The Mother of All Decisions, the Great Tsunami, The Decision Heard Around The World, The Hyperbole of Hyperbolas, all can be applied to the recent United States Supreme Court Decision to ban abortion. The assertion that journalists abdicated the 4th estate and now are more vested in the narrative than in reporting the truth also applies. Consider NPR reports: "In a historic and far-reaching decision, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) officially reversed Roe v. Wade on Friday, declaring that the constitutional right to abortion, upheld for nearly a half century, no longer exists....The decision, most of which was leaked in early May, means that abortion rights will be rolled back in nearly half of the states immediately, with more restrictions likely to follow." Breaking it down, "upheld for half a century" and the "abortion rights" reference immediately gives away Nina Totenberg's narrative. The NY Times questions the legitimacy of the court and ABC News quotes Elizabeth Warren as making an argument to pack the Court "The Supreme Court has "burned whatever legitimacy they may still have had" with their ruling last week overturning Roe v. Wade, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said on Sunday." Not the mention the rioting and looting, which look more like an insurrection than peaceful protests, not unlike the ones we saw for two years led by ANTIFA and BLM.
The Abortion is safer than Pregnancy Fallacy
But now one of the arguments being used to vilify the Court's decision is the "Abortion is safer than Pregnancy Fallacy." In a Linkedin Post, Cindy Gallop writes that "Pregnancy is more than thirty times more dangerous than abortion. One study estimates that a nationwide ban would lead to a twenty-one-percent rise in pregnancy related deaths. Some of the woman who will die from abortion bans are pregnant right now. Their deaths will come not from back-alley procedures but from a silent denial of care: Interventions delayed, desires disregarded. They will die of infections, of preeclampsia, of hemorrhage, as they are forced to submit their bodies to pregnancies that they never wanted to carry and will not be hard for the anti-abortion movement to accept these deaths as a tragic, even noble consequence of womanhood itself.' The conclusion is that to take a life is 30 times safer than giving life for women who did no want the pregnancy to start out with. For the latter, perhaps vasectomy is an answer, after all, according to NIH: Vasectomy is not associated with an increase in overall mortality or mortality from cardiovascular disease. Our study also found no increase in overall mortality from cancer after vasectomy, but there was an apparent increase in the risk of cancer 20 or more years after vasectomy that requires further study. The NIH has multiple studies comparing safety of abortion to pregnancy.
During the early 1980s, the mortality rate associated with general anesthesia was unacceptable and the anesthesia patient safety movement was born. There was an increase awareness of anesthetic-related injuries to patients and a growing malpractice insurance crisis, but the patient safety movement during this period generated highly successful and innovative patient safety initiatives that led to a dramatic reduction in patient harm associated with anesthesia. In the early 2000s, Dr. Atul Gawande urged the medical profession to use systems engineering principles to "fix medicine." He writes : "Our great struggle in medicine these days is not just with ignorance and uncertainty. It's also with complexity: how much you have to make sure you have in your head and think about. There are a thousand ways things can go wrong." His solution: Prepare checklists. His recommendation when implemented were so successful Gawande admits that even he was skeptical that using a checklist in everyday practice would help to save the lives of his patients. "I didn't expect it, It's massively improved the kind of results that I'm getting. When we implemented this checklist in eight other hospitals, I started using it because I didn't want to be a hypocrite. But hey, I'm at Harvard, did I need a checklist? No."
If after 80 billion babies have been delivered and pregnancy is still as dangerous as Zachary Coon says it is: " Pregnancy is dangerous, medically invasive, body and life changing. Even when it is intended and smartly engage (it) can go wrong and have dire consequences" He goes on to say that Abortion is Vital Healthcare. Period. any woman should have unhindered healthcare at any time. Period. Nothing else matters. The fetus is not alive, in any sense we consider important to humans, It has no awareness, personality, hopes and dreams. It does not even begin to develop brain structure," then Pre-natal Cares is in the medieval age.
Apparently pro-abortionists are willingly to buy the Pfizer Doubling of the Curve science, but ignore the rest. In 2017 the American College of Pediatricians determined that "the predominance of human biological research confirms that human life begins at conception—fertilization. At fertilization, the human being emerges as a whole, genetically distinct, individuated zygotic living human organism, a member of the species Homo sapiens, needing only the proper environment in order to grow and develop. The difference between the individual in its adult stage and in its zygotic stage is one of form, not nature. This statement focuses on the scientific evidence of when an individual human life begins."
While it is true that international human rights instruments lack a universal inclusion of the fetus as a person for the purposes of human rights, the fetus is granted various rights in the constitutions and civil codes of several countries.
Abortion is safer than pregnancy is a fallacy. Its not either or. Those who think the COVID Vaccine is too dangerous, refuse to be vaccinated. Those who think pregnancy is too dangerous, should not get pregnant. And it is unintended, they must be help responsible and not the unborn, The overwhelming majority of pregnancies are wanted. Where about 95% of unintended pregnancies occur in women who do not use contraception or women who use it inconsistently or incorrectly. America's Healthcare Rankings has suggested strategies to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies. In additrion, perhaps we need a national movement such as the one used to increase the safety of general anesthesia, or Dr. Awalde's checklist for general surgery to decrease pregnancy mortality rate so as to make it easier to choose life and not death.
Abortion is not healthcare. Abortion is Black Genocide - millions of preborns are killed, mostly nonwhite. According to the pro-Abortion Guttmacher Institute, Hispanic women have double the amount of abortions that white women do. Black women have five times the amount. In cities such as New York, more black babies are killed in the womb than are born every year. Nationally, some 474 black children are aborted for every 1,000 live births to black women — in other words, almost a third of black babies are aborted every year. This coupled with the near extinction of the African American nuclear family- In 1965, 25% of African American children were raised fatherless. Today it is 75% and a related "Fatherlessness crisis. Paradoxically, proAbortinists passionately denounced illigal immigrant family separation, but say nothing about the African-American family separation. According to Fathers.com children from fatherless homes are more likely to be poor, become involved in drug and alcohol abuse, drop out of school, and suffer from health and emotional problems. Boys are more likely to become involved in crime, and girls are more likely to become pregnant as teens. Children in father-absent homes are almost four times more likely to be poor. In 2011, 12 percent of children in married-couple families were living in poverty, compared to 44 percent of children in mother-only families.
Patients and nuns
My body my choice is an invalid syllogism. A woman's body is like a ABnB - Scriptures call it a Temp: "Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself" 1 Corinthians 6:19. In an ABnB, you can trash the property all you want. Once it's rented out, trashing it, or killing the renter, is a crime. Children cannot be expected to make wise choices. As Comedian Bill Maher notes: "I'm sure the vast majority of parents do not take this lightly. And that it is very hard to know when something is real or just a phase. And I understand being trans is different. It's innate. But kids do also have phases. They're kids, it's all phases. The dinosaur phase, the Hello Kitty phase, one day they want to be an astronaut, the next day you can't get them to leave their room. ‘Gender-fluid’ — kids are fluid about everything. If kids knew what they wanted to be at age 8, then the world would be filled with cowboys and princesses."
Stop the cycle of poverty as an argument for abortion is the same argument used by the government to sterilize, against their will, Native American women and for 40 years, inject African American man with syphilis. William Galston, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, columnist, and former Clinton Advisor, has done plenty of research on the subject of poverty and concludes that to prevent poverty: Finish high school, marry before having a child, and marry after the age of 20!. Only 8 percent of families who do all three are poor, but 79 percent of those who fail to do all three are poor. Students who fail to finish high school will not have access to many well-paying careers and will not be perceived as well by employers. Those who have children before marriage (many teens and young adults) will find it that much more difficult to enter college or complete their degree due to the immense responsibility and financial demands of raising a child. Finally, those who marry before age 20 tend to have higher divorce rates and greater career and life challenges. The common thread of all three poverty causes is reduced access to attractive careers due to lack of education or life circumstances.
Affordable care was also an argument used by the government to inject African American males with syphilis sterilize Native American women. But since its founding, the Church has made it a focus to take care of the most vulnerable. In Matthew 10:8, Jesus orders his disciples to "heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give." The Romans did not want the homeless, sick & lame to settle on their cities. Some Christian doctors. Like St Cyrus & St John were even martyred for taking care of the sick. Saint Cyrus was an Alexandrian doctor who used his calling to convert many of his patients to Christianity. He joined an Arabian physician named John in encouraging Athanasia and her three daughters to remain constant in their faith under torture at Canopus, Egypt. They, in turn, were both seized and tortured, and then all six were beheaded. When Christianity was finally legalized, every major town with a bishop's cathedral was expected to have a hospital. The early hospitals were called basilias after St Basil the Great for his efforts to establish hospitals throughout the Empire. Not only were the sick treated but the early hospitals were also places used as medical universities equipped with libraries and medicine was distributed free. The first professionally trained nurses were religious sisters from the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent De Paul dating back to 1633.
Little Sisters of the Poor
Today, the Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of health care services in the world with around 18,000 clinics, 16,000 homes for the elderly and those with special needs, and 5,500 hospitals, with 65 percent of them located in developing countries. In 2010, the Church's Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers said that the Church manages 26% of the world's health care facilities. Yet Pro-Abortionists keep insisting the Little Sisters of the Por pay for birth control but not access to healthcare,
Abortion is euphemism for promiscuity, infanticide & trafficking of parts
Pro-Abortionists claim abortion that “abortion is social justice” and that “reproductive rights and social justice” are essential to the human rights of women. As previously discussed, the body is like an ABnB. Once conceived, the preborn has as much right to the rented house as the renter. Better yet. The Church has been a social justice pioneer. In fact, the Church has been fighting for true social justice before it was cool. Stop the euphemisms to advance the pro-Abortion Lobby's agenda. As Ken Poirot put it: "Whenever there is power, greed ad money, there is corruption"
The X World Meeting of Families Celebration takes place in Rome starting tomorrow June 22, through June 26, 2022. The theme chosen for theX World Meeting of Families is, “Family Love: A Vocation and a Path to Holiness.” The World Meeting of Families (WMOF) will conclude the Year of Amoris Laetitia Family, a celebration of families in honor of the fifth anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical Amoris Laetitia. The celebration began on March 19, 2021, the day Amoris Laetitia was released 5 years ago on the Solemnity of Saint Joseph. the meeting will reflect on the spirituality of the family in light of the call to holiness expressed in Gaudete et Exsultate. A US couple is to share advice for Catholic family life at World Meeting of Families
The logo recalls the oval shape of Bernini's colonnade in St. Peter's Square, the place which defines the Catholic Church par excellence, and it refers back to its original meaning that is the welcoming and inclusive embrace of the Mother Church of Rome and of her Bishop, extending it to every man and woman throughout time: For more details: http://www.laityfamilylife.va/content/laityfamilylife/en/news/amorislaetitia/x-incontro-mondiale-delle-famiglie--roma--22---26-giugno-2022---.html
The World Meeting of Families is a gathering of the Roman Catholic Church that takes place every three years. The first World Meeting of Families took place in Rome in 1994 at the request of Pope John Paul II and it is organized by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, which promotes the pastoral care of families, protects their rights and dignity in the Church and in civil society, so that they may ever be more able to fulfill their duties. It is the biggest gathering of Catholic families in the world. The most recent meeting took place in Dublin in 2018.
Holy Family, in Barcelona Spain By God's Architect Gaudi
The meeting was originally planned for 2021, but rescheduled due to the pandemic. The event will take place in an unprecedented and multi-centered format, with local initiatives in dioceses around the world, similar to those that will take place simultaneously in Rome. While Rome will remain the designated venue, each diocese will be able to be the center of a local Meeting for its own families and communities. This is to allow everyone to feel like protagonists at a time when it is still difficult to travel because of the pandemic. In 2015, more than a million people attended Pope Francis’ Mass at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. But in 2022, the attendance this year will be limited to to around 2,000 families due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
So, why another big event? Just like the church has been fighting for Juneteenth before it was cool and has been advocating social justice since it was founded, it sees the family as foundational. In fact, the Catechism affirms that the family is the original cell of society, that the families' communion of persons closely resembles the persons of the Holy Trinity, Antonin Gaudi called God's Architect was so inspired by the notion, he designed the Holy Family (Sagrada Familia) Cathedral in Barcelona, Spain. It is Gaudi's most renowned building - whose cause for beatification was opened last year by the Cardinal Archbishop of Barcelona. The cathedral is a testament to the architect’s faith. Pope St. John Paul II said, “The future of humanity passes by way of the family.” "The family is the foundation of co-existence and a remedy against social fragmentation. Children have a right to grow up in a family with a father and a mother capable of creating a suitable environment for the child’s development and emotional maturity". – Pope Francis Humanum Conference, November 17, 2014.
Statistics demonstrate the wisdom of the Church. Sadly, like in the case of Juneteenth, the Church's efforts to edify the family have not born much fruit. In 1965, 25% of African American children were raised fatherless. Today it is 75% According to Fathers.com children from fatherless homes are more likely to be poor, become involved in drug and alcohol abuse, drop out of school, and suffer from health and emotional problems. Boys are more likely to become involved in crime, and girls are more likely to become pregnant as teens. Children in father-absent homes are almost four times more likely to be poor. In 2011, 12 percent of children in married-couple families were living in poverty, compared to 44 percent of children in mother-only families.
Fatherless children are at a dramatically greater risk of drug and alcohol abuse. There is significantly more drug use among children who do not live with their mother and father. A study of 1,977 children age 3 and older living with a residential father or father figure found that children living with married biological parents had significantly fewer externalizing and internalizing behavioral problems than children living with at least one non-biological parent. Children of single-parent homes are more than twice as likely to commit suicide. Data from three waves of the Fragile Families Study (N= 2,111) was used to examine the prevalence and effects of mothers’ relationship changes between birth and age 3 on their children’s well-being. Children born to single mothers show higher levels of aggressive behavior than children born to married mothers. Living in a single-mother household is equivalent to experiencing 5.25 partnership transitions.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life and event organizer, says Pope Francis wants the WMOF to be lived in local Churches around the world, and points to the holy examples of married couples who have become canonized saints.
The event is a reminder for us all. It’s easy to slip into thinking that the work of the Church rests on the shoulders of priests and religious and schools. But since 1963 when the Supreme Court in Abington Township v. Schempp (1963) decided that teaching children about wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, fear of the Lord., charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity was so radical that required Bible readings in public schools was unconstitutional., a mental health crisis and mass shootings ensued..”
The event also reminds us that without a family being healthy, it cannot fulfill its mission in the world. Pope Francis says that “Perfect families do not exist. This must not discourage us. Quite the opposite. Love is something we learn; love is something we live; love grows as it is 'forged' by the concrete situations which each particular family experiences. Love is born and constantly develops amid lights and shadows. Love can flourish in men and women who try not to make conflict the last word, but rather a new opportunity. An opportunity to seek help, an opportunity to question how we need to improve, an opportunity to discover the God Who is with us and never abandons us. This is a great legacy that we can give to our children, a very good lesson: we make mistakes, yes; we have problems, yes. But we know that that is not really what counts. We know that mistakes, problems and conflicts are an opportunity to draw closer to others, to draw closer to God.”-- Address to Festival of Families, Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, Sept. 27, 2015
Finally, the Holy Father is asking the1.2 billion fellow Catholics around the world to pray for the spiritual health of the family. The father is the spiritual leader of the family and leaders set the tone. There are countless issues Pope Francis could focus on, but he is prioritizing the need to pray for families—to strengthen and encourage them at a time when the future does not seem too bright. The power and reality of intercessory prayer means that brothers and sisters in Christ are lifting up your family’s intentions to the Lord. And with the World Meeting of Families official prayer, you and your family are also invited to intercede for others.
The Church has been fighting for Juneteenth before it was cool - it has been advocating social justice since it was founded. By establishing the New Covenant, Jesus formed a new and everlasting family of God, bound not by ethnicity but by grace and the Holy Spirit. But as is usually the case, corporate greed takes over, such as building casinos in the Reservation or enabling the Russian Invasion of Ukraine or human rights abuses in China. "Wherever there is power, greed and money, there is corruption"- Ken Poirot
Throughout, the New Testament stressed equality of all mankind. For example: Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Romans 2:11: For God shows no partiality. John 13:16: Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Acts 17:26: And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, Acts 10:34: So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,. Romans 10:12: For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. The first missionaries of the Gospel, men of Jewish origin, came from a country where slavery existed, but under a form very different from the Roman form. The Mosaic Law was merciful to the slave (Exodus 21; Leviticus 25; Deuteronomy 15:21) and carefully secured his fair wage to the laborer (Deuteronomy 24:15). Christianity accepts society as it is, influencing it for its transformation through, and only through, individual souls. What it demands in the first place from masters and from slaves is, to live as brethren — commanding with equity, without threatening, remembering that God is the master of all - obeying with fear, but without servile flattery, in simplicity of heart, as they would obey Christ (cf. Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 3:22-4; 4:1).
While initially the Church's influence over culture was limited, gradually it was able to take a fierce stance against any form of slavery:
From 1435 to 1890, there are numerous bulls and encyclicals from several popes written to many bishops and the whole Christian faithful condemning both slavery and the slave trade
In 1453 Pope Eugene IV issued a fierce order against Portuguese slave traders in the Canary Islands to release all men & women at once. Pope Eugene IV was clear in his intentions both to condemn the enslavement of the residents of the Canary Islands, and to demand correction of the injustice within 15 days. Those who did not restore the enslaved to their liberty in that time were to incur the sentence of excommunication ipso facto
The date 1435, is very significant. Nearly 60 years before the Europeans were to find the New World, there was already papal condemnation of slavery as soon as this crime was discovered in one of the first of the Portuguese geographical discoveries
In 1462 Pope Pius II declared slavery an "enormous crime" (magnum scelus).
In 1537 (Sublimis Deus) Pope Paul III forbade the enslavement of native people in the New World. - Sublimis Deus, is regarded as the most important papal pronouncement on the human condition of the Indians, advanced the cause of social justice.
Two other bulls were published to implement the teaching of Sublimis, one to impose penalties on those who failed to abide by the teaching against slavery, and a second to specify the sacramental consequences of the teaching that the Indians are true men.
Pope Urban VIII forbade slavery again in 1639.
In 1741, with slave owners being slow to heed the advice, Pope Benedict XIV condemned slavery in the New World again
In 1815 Pope Pius VII demanded the Congress of Vienna suppress the slave trade in 1815
In 1839 Pope Gregory XVI condemned the slave trade
In 1888, In the bull canonizing Jesuit St. Peter Claver, Pope Pius IX reviled slavery globally calling it summum nefas or "supreme villainy."
Saint Peter Claver, patron of slaves spent his life ministering to Africans in the filthy hulls of the slave ships traveling to South America
In 1888 Pope Leo XIII sent out the encyclical In Plurimism on the abolition of slavery in 1888, ordering Brazilian bishops to abolish slavery.
But corporate greed has been more powerful than the Church: Aubrey Henderson writes that some black people, not only participated in the slave trade but who often profited greatly from it. They owned slaves as property in order to enhance their own economical well-being by having free labor for their plantations.. Some were considered slave magnates, for owning more than 50 slaves
While major public universities pay top diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) employees massive six-figure salaries, more than tenured professors, for leading initiatives for enforcing a political orthodoxy. The universities of Michigan, Maryland, Virginia and Illinois, plus Virginia Tech, boast some of the highest-paid DEI staffers at public universities. Fox News reports these institutions' top diversity employees earn salaries ranging from $329,000 to $430,000 – vastly eclipsing the average pay for the schools' full-time tenured professors.
Regarding the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, German corporations do far more business than any other country in the world. Why Germany Inc. and Corporate America could end the war today by cutting off Russia & China funding. Instead, like the NBA, their silence is an endorsement. Since 24 February, nearly 12.8 million people have been displaced in Ukraine. 7.7 million people are internally displaced as a result of the conflict, which is equivalent to 17.5 percent of the entire population Germany paid for the Russian oil pipeline and refuses to pay her allocated dues to NATO. Some say a war of attrition is better than nuclear war. I say nuclear war is a red herring: Putin is anything but stupid. And a War of attrition works for those not being killed! Pope Francis told the Editors of European Jesuit Journals "What we are seeing is the brutality and ferocity with which this war is being carried out by the troops, generally mercenaries, used by the Russians. The Russians prefer to send in Chechen and Syrian mercenaries. But the danger is that we only see this, which is monstrous, and we do not see the whole drama unfolding behind this war, which was perhaps somehow either provoked or not prevented. And note the interest in testing and selling weapons. It is very sad, but at the end of the day that is what is at stake.
In the post-pandemic era, corporation like Meta boast of teir work-from-anywhere polices. Yet the only options for Native Americans tribal leaders and politicians alike promote is to build more casinos in the Reservation: Douglas M. Walkera and Peter T. Calcagno studied casinos and political corruption in the United States using a causality analysis to conclude that there is "evidence that predicted casino adoptions Granger cause corruption convictions. This finding is suggestive of a scenario of regulatory capture and may help explain why state-level gaming regulatory agencies have a history of softening gaming regulations after the initial introduction of casinos. Our study provides the first empirical evidence linkingcasinos to political corruption."
Writing for NBC News, Keisha N. Blain writes: "Juneteenth was made a federal holiday in 2021, and since then, American companies have quickly moved to make a profit by selling new goods and services targeted to Black consumers. While those businesses look to make money, the newly recognized federal holiday ought to serve as an opportunity for all Americans to acknowledge — and pursue redress for — the centuries of economic exploitation of Black people and the continuing impact of economic inequality. Reparations are a way to break this cycle."
