u/wearethemonstertruck

>Confessionals will not be set up during a youth prayer vigil and other events of Pope Leo’s trip to Spain next month, while “listening centers” will be available for young people who wish to speak with lay pastoral workers dispatched as “listening agents.”

What madness is this? And this is the most annoying part of their reasoning:

>The idea was later discarded, with sources saying that some members of the organizing committee said confessionals were not necessary for events with young people...

Lol. Ridiculous.

Source: https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/listening-centers-planned-for-pope

>Germany’s bishops are months away from a potential showdown with a surging political party they have urged Catholics not to vote for because of its “racial-nationalist” attitudes.

>The looming confrontation could take place in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the former communist East Germany, where voters go to the polls Sept. 6 to elect new representatives to the state parliament.

Why the showdown beyond their policies?

>The AfD in Saxony-Anhalt released a manifesto in January that promised to support the state’s smaller Christian communities, while cutting financial subsidies to the two biggest communities, the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church in Germany.

>The manifesto said: “Our desire to abolish the privileges of churches that levy church taxes does not mean that we reject the Christian faith — on the contrary. It is precisely because we recognize the importance of Christianity that we are targeting churches that levy church taxes, because the large churches are damaging the faith.”

And as an FYI - Saxony-Anhalt is also famous for....Luther (and some other facts about the Catholic population in the region)

>With around 2.2 million people, it is one of the smallest German states in terms of population. It is also one of the poorest, with the second-lowest GDP per capita of the 16 states.

>Saxony-Anhalt could be considered the birthplace of the Protestant Reformation because it includes Wittenberg, the town associated with Martin Luther’s 95 Theses. Yet after 40 years of state atheism, it is one of Germany’s most secular regions.

>Roughly 235,000 people in the state belong to the Protestant Church of Germany, a federation of 20 Lutheran, Reformed, and United regional churches. Around 66,000 are Catholics, but only 7,000 are Mass-goers. The vast majority of the population is religiously unaffiliated.

Long read, but interesting all the same: https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/the-german-churchs-afd-nightmare

Source: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2026-05/pope-leo-xiv-first-encyclical-magnifica-humanitas.html

>The Pope will be present, along with several speakers: Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; Professor Anna Rowlands, a theologian and professor at Durham University (United Kingdom); Christopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic (USA) and head of research on the interpretability of artificial intelligence; and Professor Leocadie Lushombo, I.T., professor of political theology and Catholic social thought at the Jesuit School of Theology / Santa Clara University in California (USA).

>Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin will offer closing remarks, followed by an address and blessing by Pope Leo XIV.

Christopher Olah being there suggests it might NOT be all negative on AI as some have speculated.

Interesting that a Santa Clara professor will be presenting, but I guess that makes sense as Santa Clara is in the heart of Silicon Valley.

>After years of being outmanoeuvred, the Vatican may have decided it is going to try to keep up with the German Church’s bureaucratic chicanery, offering a kind of real-time corrective.

Or could the new strategy simply be a sign that there’s not much else the Roman curia can do, other than make it clear that it does not approve of the German blessings project?

>In practical terms, there is no way to discourage German parishes from continuing to host blessing ceremonies. The organizers didn’t care that the ceremonies were unauthorized when they launched them. Why would Rome’s opposition bother them now?

Good read on the subject.

"In the ruling, Judge Kyle Duncan, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, agreed with the state of Louisiana’s contention that allowing the drug to be mailed there makes moot the state’s ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy."

Trump appointed judge (amongst two more Republican appointed judges) overruling Trump's FDA allowing of abortion by mail, likely to go to the Supreme Court of which 3 of the judges are Trump nominated judges.

Spiderman-meme.jpg

Source: https://www.usccb.org/news/2026/archbishop-coakley-condemns-shooting-white-house-correspondents-association-dinner

I mean, since this sub is essentially all Trump all the fucking time now, I figured somebody would post this, because the head of the US Bishop Association condemning yet another attempt at assassinating the sitting US president should be news.