u/wearethemonstertruck

>A notable feature of the June Consistory was Pope Leo XIV’s call for frankness in addressing the pressing issues facing the Church. According to sources close to AdVaticanum, this approach has recently been put into practice through the Pope’s personal engagement with the highest levels of the French government on the question of euthanasia.

>The intervention has taken place through quiet but consistent channels. While sources could not confirm exactly when it began, Pope Leo XIV is said to have initiated a series of direct communications with Emmanuel Macron. According to sources within both the diplomatic sphere and the Vatican, His Holiness has been making regular 15-minute phone calls to the French President focused solely on the euthanasia and assisted suicide bill.

Source: https://advaticanum.com/article/pope-leo-xiv-personally-lobbied-macron-over-french-euthanasia-bill-sources-say/

Pray for the Eldest Daughter of the Church.

Don't know if you guys have been following the World Cup - but it's been taking over my life this year, especially with the US doing so well (yes, even with last night's results).

The starting goal keeper for the first two games (and presumably next week's knockout game against Bosnia) is a guy named Matt Freese who is a Catholic and he's been following Father Mike Schmitz's Bible in a Year!

Thought that was pretty cool. And it makes me feel guilty that if the starting goal keeper for the US National Team can keep up with Bible in a Year, I need to get back on that wagon.

Source: https://sportsspectrum.com/sport/soccer/2026/06/17/world-cup-goalkeeper-matt-freese-grateful-gods-opportunities/

And here is Father Mike Schimitz's reaction: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZ-KHmcEaqk/

As a related note, it's been pretty cool to see how openly religious the US team is during this World Cup.

I know there have been players who have been religious in the past (and even present), and you'll see various players do the sign of the cross when they get onto the field (or before the start of the match), but seeing the entire team huddled together after the first two games, and praying together - not just the players, but the entire staff - that's something I don't think I've ever seen the US Soccer team do. And it's pretty cool.

Not the usual stuff I post, but I think it's a good piece that deserves more eyes on it.

Northern Ireland is going through some rough times right now, with riots yesterday in response to am attempted beheading of a Northern Irishman by a migrant.

Northern Ireland, of course, is no stranger to violence and riots, having their own long history with sectarian violence, and this article looks at the recent riots through a Republican/Loyalist, Catholic/Protestant, Green/Orange lens.

>The nightmare scenario for Sinn Féin would have been Catholics rioting against immigrants. That did not happen: instead, working-class Catholics merely turned out to watch their Protestant neighbors riot with an anthropological detachment newly devoid of open contempt. I have never until now heard working-class Catholics, from devoutly Republican areas, talking about the coming together of the “Orange and the Green” with anything other than derision. At Ardoyne Roundabout, one of North Belfast’s most volatile sectarian interface areas, protestors from both communities shook hands and declared amity in scenes that were genuinely startling.

Source: https://unherd.com/2026/06/belfast-after-the-beheading/?edition=us

Archive: https://archive.ph/XSKJP#selection-683.829-687.609

I highly suggest you pay for the article, but for those who can't afford it, I provided the archived link to read.

Source: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2026-06/pope-leo-xiv-addresses-members-of-parliament-in-spain1.html

The pope gave a speech to the Spanish parliament, going through a whole bunch of topics - from abortion and euthanasia, to supporting the common good and strengthening families, to migration and peace, and how war is a "defeat", to protecting the seal of confession (is this something that the Spanish government was debating trying to end? a seemingly random thing to touch upon on this speech).

It's quite extensive, so worth reading the article (and watching the accompanying video).

But here's a bit that I liked:

>Pope Leo said that, without confusing the juridical and moral spheres, it is worth recalling that freedom requires a full understanding of itself. To be free, he noted, does not mean merely to live without constraints or to possess many options from which to choose, but means being able to recognize the good and adhere to it responsibly.

>The Chinese government is reportedly using state-sanctioned Church bodies to promote a contentious new law aimed at ethnic minorities.

>The online magazine Bitter Winter published a June 2 article documenting an event in the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia, in which priests reportedly handed out booklets on the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, scheduled to go into effect July 1.

Source: https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/catholic-clergy-promote-chinas-ethnic

>An Andorran minister said Monday that the decriminalization of abortion in the country will be approved before parliamentary elections are held next year, amid negotiations with the Catholic Church in the principality.

The Andorran minister of institutional relations, Ladislau Baró, said in a Jun. 1 interview that the proposal to decriminalize abortion in the country is finished but thorny negotiations with the Holy See might delay the bill.

Source: https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/andorran-minister-says-abortion-will

Source: https://religionnews.com/2026/06/01/trump-administration-pledges-100m-in-aid-for-cuba-but-only-if-catholic-or-other-faith-based-groups-distribute-it/

>The United States is prepared to provide US$100 million in humanitarian assistance to Cuba, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on May 13, 2026.

>But there’s a catch.

>Neither the Cuban government nor its military would be allowed to manage its distribution. Instead, only humanitarian and faith-based partners, such as Caritas – the Catholic Church’s humanitarian aid network – and other nonprofits would deliver the aid. That is, the U.S. is willing to provide assistance that will help the Cuban people, but it does not trust the Cuban government to distribute it.

>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.