While the news media is focused on the anti-ICE protests happening in Minnesota, there was another protest happening on the west coast that did not get nearly as much attention.
The post Thousands Protest in Pacific Palisades a Year After Fires With No Rebuilding: ‘They Let Us Burn’ (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley appeared on FOX News this week to discuss the situation in Minneapolis following the shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent.
The post Law Professor Jonathan Turley Slams Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for Wanting to be Part of Investigation of ICE Shooting (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Ben Bankas is a stand-up comedian from Canada.
The post SATURDAY LAUGH: Check Out This Hilarious Stand-Up Comedian Who Liberals Absolutely Hate (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Read MoreMy soul, the happy hour is arrived;
Jesus comes to dwell in my poor heart.
Behold the King of heaven,
thy Redeemer and thy God,
coming to thee;
prepare thyself to receive Him with love;
say to Him with the most ardent desire:
Come, O my Jesus,
come to me:
I desire to receive Thee,
before Thou dost give Thyself to me,
I desire to give Thee my miserable heart;
accept it,
come and take full possession of it.
Come, my God, make haste;
do not delay.
I would wish to …
Areading from the Book of Isaiah
42:1-4, 6-7
Thus says the LORD:
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
upon whom I have put my spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
a bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.
I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles
10:34-38
Peter proceeded to speak to those gathered
in the house of Cornelius, saying:
“In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.
Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly
is acceptable to him.
You know the word that he sent to the Israelites
as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all,
what has happened all over Judea,
beginning in Galilee after the baptism
that John preached,
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and power.
He went about doing good
and healing all those oppressed by the devil,
for God was with him.”
From the Gospel according to Matthew
3:13-17
Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan
to be baptized by him.
John tried to prevent him, saying,
“I need to be baptized by you,
and yet you are coming to me?”
Jesus said to him in reply,
“Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us
to fulfill all righteousness.”
Then he allowed him.
After Jesus was baptized,
he came up from the water and behold,
the heavens were opened for him,
and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove
and coming upon him.
And a voice came from the heavens, saying,
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Images depicting NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are projected onto the Washington Monument as part of an event to kick off the nation’s 250th birthday year, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, in Washington.
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Jan 10, 2026 / 11:30 am (CNA).
Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun delivered a forceful critique of synodality at the extraordinary consistory of cardinals this week, decrying the process as an “ironclad manipulation” that was an “insult to the dignity of the bishops.”
The bishop emeritus of Hong Kong also described the “continual reference to the Holy Spirit” during the 2021-2024 Synod on Synodality as “ridiculous and almost blasphemous.”
The cardinal, 93, made his remarks during one of two free discussion periods during the Jan. 7-8 consistory that drew together 170 of the 245 members of the College of Cardinals in Pope Leo XIV’s first major meeting with the sacred college since his election.
In impassioned comments, first reported Jan. 9 by the College of Cardinals Report, the bishop emeritus criticized Pope Francis for bypassing the college of bishops while at the same time Francis was insisting it was an appropriate means for “understanding the hierarchical ministry.”
The cardinal questioned the ability of any pope to listen to the entire People of God and whether the laity represent the People of God. He asked if the bishops elected to take part in the synodal process had been able to carry out a work of discernment.
“The ironclad manipulation of the process is an insult to the dignity of the bishops, and the continual reference to the Holy Spirit is ridiculous and almost blasphemous,” Zen said. “They expect surprises from the Holy Spirit. What surprises? That he should repudiate what he inspired in the Church’s two-thousand-year tradition?”
The cardinal also observed apparent inconsistencies in the synod’s final document: That it was declared to be part of the magisterium and yet it said it did not establish any norms; that although it stressed unity of teaching and practice, it said these could be applied according to “different contexts;” and that each country or region “can seek solutions better suited to its culture and sensitive to its tradition and needs.”
The cardinal also pointed to what he called “many ambiguous and tendentious expressions in the document,” and asked if the Holy Spirit guarantees that “contradictory interpretations will not arise.”
Zen openly wondered whether the results of what the document calls “experimenting and testing” of these “new forms of ministeriality” will be submitted to the Synod Secretariat and, if so, whether the secretariat will be “more competent than the bishops to judge different contexts” of the Church in various countries or regions.
“If the bishops believe themselves to be more competent, do the differing interpretations and choices not lead our Church to the same division (fracture) found in the Anglican Communion?” the cardinal asked.
Regarding the Orthodox Church, Zen said he believes their bishops “will never accept” what he called “Bergoglian synodality” as, for them, synodality is “the importance of the Synod of Bishops.”
Pope Francis, he said, “exploited the word synod, but has made the Synod of Bishops — an institution established by Paul VI — disappear.” Zen’s remark was an apparent reference to how the late pope had reshaped the institution by giving non-bishops a formal role, making the institution no longer simply an episcopal advisory body.
The Vatican press office and cardinals chosen to speak to the press made no mention of Zen’s remarks during the consistory.
In press statements, it was claimed there was no criticism of Pope Francis during the two-day meeting, although Cardinal Stephen Brislin did speak of a “divergence” of opinion, saying some cardinals wanted the concept of synodality to be further clarified.
The consistory was a closed-door meeting to which no media were admitted, and cardinals were asked to keep the proceedings confidential.
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Jan 10, 2026 / 10:12 am (CNA).
Assessing the impact of the Catholic Church's first American pope was front and center at the 106th annual meeting of the American Catholic Historical Association (ACHA), which met in Pope Leo XIV's hometown of Chicago from Jan. 8-11.
During a panel on the subject, Catholic scholars noted some of the historic caricatures of what an American papacy would be like and compared that to the first eight months of Leo's actual papacy.
At the outset of the panel, University of Notre Dame history professor Kathleen Sprows Cummings referenced the 1894 Puck magazine cartoon titled “ The American Pope,” which depicts the first apostolic delegate to the United States, Cardinal Francesco Satolli, sitting atop a church labeled the “American headquarters” and casting a shadow of then Pope Leo XIII over the entire country.
Sprows Cummings noted the cartoon illustrates “fears about papal intervention in the United States” at a time when the country was receiving waves of Catholic immigrants from countries such as Ireland and Italy.
As Catholics became more settled in American society in the subsequent decades, she said some of those prejudices began to lessen and pointed to the 1918 election of Catholic Democrat Al Smith as New York’s governor. By this point, Catholics had become “much more confident about their place in American culture.”
During the same early 20th century period, the United States also began to rise as a superpower. Sprows Cummings noted that predominant concerns about an American pope shifted to Vatican concerns over the “Americanization of the Catholic Church.”
America magazine's Vatican correspondent, Colleen Dulle, said some of those concerns were evidently mitigated in the person of then Cardinal Robert Prevost, whose service to the Church included many years as a missionary and bishop in Peru as well as in Rome as the head of a global religious order, the Augustinians.
Sprows Cummings said the College of Cardinals clearly saw in Cardinal Prevost the "pastoral presence, administrative savvy and global vision" that the Church needed at this time and that he was “not elected in some flex of American power.”
Miguel Diaz, the John Courtney Murray, S.J. Chair in Public Service at Loyola University Chicago, noted that some of Leo’s actions have actually amounted to the opposite of flexing American power, such as his focus on the dignity of migrants, which he contrasted to the policies of the Trump administration.
Diaz, who served as U.S. ambassador to the Holy See under former President Barack Obama, said Leo is “a different symbol, from America first to America cares.”
He emphasized that having an American pope is significant amid the country’s political debates because “he can say things and he will be listened to.”
The panelists also discussed what Leo’s papacy may look like moving forward, with Dulle noting that only this year are there clear signs of him charting his own programmatic course, as the events and itinerary of the 2025 Jubilee were primarily developed for Pope Francis.
Up until now, she said, he has been mostly “continuing the Francis initiatives in a different style.”
She noted Pope Leo's management of this week's consistory — a meeting between the pope and the College of Cardinals — where the pontiff gave them four topics to choose from, which were all in line with Francis’s priorities: synodality, evangelization, reform of the curia, and the liturgy. The cardinals chose synodality and evangelization.
Dulle said Leo is seen as "a consensus builder” who aims to build consensus around the Church's priorities. She noted Pope Leo's announcement this week of a regular schedule of consistories, with the next one set for this June. This approach is emerging as a "hallmark of how he governs the Church" Dulle said.
Brian Flanagan, the John Cardinal Cody Chair of Catholic Theology at Loyola University Chicago, also emphasized Leo’s strong appeal to the cardinals and bishops in efforts to reach consensus, in keeping with the Pope's role as a preserver of unity.
Flanagan said he sees Leo exercising the papacy as not so much "at the top of the pyramid, but as at the center of conversation.” He said this is likely influenced by Leo's past as leader of a religious order — the Order of Saint Augustine — rather than a diocese because the orders are “global, diverse, and somewhat fractious.”
“You can’t govern a global religious community without getting people on board,” he said.
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Jan 10, 2026 / 10:00 am (CNA).
A major pro-life leader is urging the movement to continue to press for protection for the unborn, calling on advocates to demand more pro-life policy even as the Republican party shows signs of wavering.
"We have to do everything we can to make sure that we're communicating the moral position and also the political position," Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said on Jan. 9.
Dannenfelser spoke to "EWTN News in Depth" anchor Catherine Hadro on President Donald Trump's recent remarks in which the president urged the Republican party to be more "flexible" regarding the taxpayer funding of abortion.
“Now you have to be a little flexible on Hyde,” the president said on Jan. 6, referring to the long-standing federal Hyde Amendment, which has broadly prohibited taxpayer funding of abortion for nearly half a century.
Speaking to Hadro, Dannenfelser said bluntly: "There's no flexibility on that."
"Flexibility should be reserved for what you wear tomorrow, what you're going to eat tonight, where you go on vacation," she said. "This is a matter of life and death."
Hadro noted that during his first run for presidency, Trump had outlined a slate of pro-life promises to voters, including the intent to make the Hyde Amendment "permanent law" rather than a legislative provision. Dannenfelser admitted that she engaged with Trump on pro-life issues during his first term alone.
"Once he got into the second term, he thought he was dealing with the life issue by basically saying, 'States only, we're not doing anything else on the federal level'," she said.
"Now we see the consequence of such a position. It means you can't even stand firm on the Hyde Amendment," she argued.
Asked by Hadro whether or not the pro-life movement needs to "face reality" and accept changing political priorities with respect to the Hyde Amendment, Dannenfelser said: "I 100% reject it."
"There is no chance that the power has left the pro-life position," she argued.
"We've been here before. We've been here at moments where there was a weakening in the GOP spine, where we have to do everything that we can to make sure that we're communicating the moral position and also the political position," she said.
Dannenfelser argued that the pro-life movement is "at the best place we could possibly be to move forward" and continue advancing pro-life goals.
She admitted, however, that the movement is "not safe" in the current Republican party.
"I think communication is key," she said. "We can't hold back in demanding what has been promised and following through."
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Jan 10, 2026 / 09:00 am (CNA).
A new and unique house of mission and prayer inspired by the call to a new evangelization has opened in the U.K., hoping to enable Catholics to “catch the fire” of God’s love.
The St. Elena House of Mission and Prayer, which opened in December in Northampton, England, has been established to help the Church become more mission-oriented.
Speaking to CNA, Maria Heath, director of mission in the Diocese of Northampton, called the new House of Mission and Prayer “a prophetic sign in our times.”
“The Church needs to embrace its call to mission, and I believe this house and others like it will enable and inspire the Church to explore new ways to reach out to people with the Gospel,” she said.
The new St. Elena House is comprised of a small community of young women — Beth, Kacey, and Marielle — who are between 20 and 40 years old. As members committed to a life of prayer and mission, they either work or study full or part time while seeking out ways to evangelize.
“The people living there are working or studying but want to serve the Church in a radical way,” Heath explained. “The witness value of community in our times is so important. People are yearning for connection and purpose, and a community centered on prayer and mission is like a light on the hilltop.”
Speaking of the impact of the new evangelization on the formation of the new house, Heath quoted one of its main proponents, St. John Paul II.
“Evangelization needs to be new in its method, ardor, and expression. I believe that raising up communities like this is one of the new expressions that speaks to the world at this time,” she said.
The St. Elena House came about after Heath and her team were exploring how new communities and religious orders could move into the Diocese of Northampton. There was also an idea that a homegrown community could be established.
“Sometimes you push doors and they close, other times the doors keep opening, and this is what happened as we began looking into this possibility,” Heath said. “The idea became a reality and, 18 months on from that initial conversation, the St. Elena House of Mission and Prayer was born.”
Heath explained that she was inspired by the book “Heart Fire,“ by German Catholic evangelist Johannes Hartl, in which a strong connection was presented between 24/7 prayer and mission.
Establishing 24/7 prayer will be one of the priorities in the new house, including perpetual adoration. “While this is a new expression, there is nothing new about the fundamentals: It is communion and mission, which we see down the ages of the Church,” she said.
Explaining the vision for the house, Heath underlined the importance of providing a place to encounter Christ.
“The vision for the St. Elena House of Mission and Prayer is simple: to be a place of encounter, an encounter with Jesus as we pray for the world through 24/7 prayer, and a place where others can come and encounter Jesus.”
Heath also spoke of the impact of the Second Vatican Council.
“The Church needs both the hierarchical and charismatic dimensions of the Church (Lumen Gentium, 4) and if dioceses are to respond to the Church’s call to become mission-oriented, such communities and movements, which are expressions of this charismatic dimension, offer an energy and focus on mission that can support this important work,” she said.
A member of the new community, Beth, also underlined the importance of encounter in the new house, sharing her hopes that people will have “a real deep encounter with (Christ).”
“The hope is that this will be a place where community can be formed, where people can feel welcomed and really catch the fire of God’s love for them,” she told CNA.
Beth said living in the house as a community will enable single people to grow together in faith, highlighting the importance of “being together, inviting other people, and welcoming people.” She added: “As single people, we can feel that sense of isolation in our faith. So it’s about letting people know you’re not on your own.”
The community is intentionally named after St. Elena Guerra, the “apostle of the Holy Spirit” who was canonized in October 2024. Writing at the end of the 19th century, St. Elena urged Pope Leo XIII to encourage Catholics to be open to the power of the Holy Spirit. This prompted Pope Leo to write an encyclical on the Holy Spirit, to create a novena to the Holy Spirit, and to consecrate the 20th century to the Holy Spirit.
“Prayer and mission go hand in hand, and this is what St. Elena longed to see for the Church,” Heath said.
The new initiative has been welcomed in the Diocese of Northampton, with diocesan trustees, friends, and supporters joining members of Mission Northampton for a Mass on Dec. 13 to mark the opening of the new house. The Mass was celebrated by Episcopal Vicar for Mission Canon Simon Penhalagan, with Vicar General Canon Michael Harrison and Father Jithu James concelebrating.
Looking forward, Heath shared her hopes for the new house to “be the first of many houses across our diocese — and beyond.”
“We need to cooperate with the grace of the Holy Spirit and find new ways to reach out to all people,” she said. “This, in its simplest form, is the mission of the Church: to let each person know the joy of being known and loved by God, and the joy of a relationship with him that satisfies our deepest needs and desires.”
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MINNEAPOLIS, MN — According to witnesses, federal ICE agents shifted their tactics slightly by donning Capitol Police uniforms so that Democrats would start defending them from being harmed.
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RED ALERT! Everything you once believed is a lie. Your toddler is now capable of reaching your counters, and nothing in your home is safe anymore.
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New Year’s fireworks over the Swabian village Eberhardzell near Biberach an der Riss. Today is New Year’s Day.
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Jan 10, 2026 / 06:00 am (CNA).
Catholics in the U.S. were witness to a rare Church decision in 2023 when Pope Francis elevated the Diocese of Las Vegas to a metropolitan archdiocese. Las Vegas had previously been a suffragan diocese of San Francisco, having been created by Pope John Paul II in 1995.
A suffragan diocese operates within an ecclesiastical province subordinate to a larger archdiocese and is led by a suffragan bishop who has the authority to lead his own diocese but works under the metropolitan archbishop.
In September 2025, Pope Leo XIV created a new Catholic diocese in northern China; though it goes by the same name as one established decades ago by Beijing without Vatican approval — a product of ongoing tensions between China and the Holy See — the move demonstrated the Holy See’s authority in creating local Church jurisdictions.
Outside of one’s own parish, a diocese or archdiocese is arguably the average Catholic’s most common point of interaction with the Church. These jurisdictions manage local Church life and administration, with bishops and archbishops offering both spiritual and temporal guidance and authority to Catholics under their care.
But how does the Catholic Church decide what becomes a diocese or an archdiocese? What are the roots of this ancient practice, and how does it function today?
Monsignor William King, JCD, KCHS, an assistant professor at the school of canon law at The Catholic University of America, told CNA that the right to erect (or suppress) a diocese “belongs exclusively to the successor of Peter, the bishop of Rome,” that is, the pope.
“Historically, secular rulers have intruded into the process and the autonomy of the Church in this action has been hard-won,” he said, pointing out that “even today in certain parts of the world, secular or civil rulers wish to have input into matters such as this.”
The pope never makes decisions regarding dioceses and archdioceses “without considerable study and consultation,” King said.
The history of diocesan administration stretches back to the earliest years of the Church, he said. In those days a diocese consisted of “a city larger than the surrounding cities and towns,” often a place of commerce or a center of government.
Throughout the centuries, including after the imperial legalization of the Church by Constantine, Church leaders refined the diocesan structure of “pastoral ministry and governance” in order to facilitate “communication and decision-making” throughout Christendom.
“This became increasingly important as the Church grew and encountered different systems of law, philosophy, and religious practice,” King said. Roman models of government structure proved useful and sufficient for Church governance; King noted that the Church structure even today more closely resembles a government than a corporation.
The process by determining which jurisdictions counted as archdioceses likely arose in earlier centuries organically, King said, with Church leaders identifying major centers of “culture, education, commerce, government, and transportation” as particularly significant jurisdictions.
The procedure for elevating a diocese to an archdiocese, meanwhile — as Pope Francis did to Las Vegas in 2023 — requires “significant study, discussion, and decision-making,” King said.
The Holy See conducts such reviews in part through a diocese’s “quinquennial report,” a detailed rundown of the diocese’s activities and administration. Such a report may indicate to the Holy See that a particular region is growing and could benefit from elevation to an archdiocese.
Local suffragan bishops will participate in discussions to that effect, King said, and the Roman Curia will work with bishops’ conferences as well as the local apostolic nuncio.
“The ultimate decision is that of the Roman pontiff, the bishop of Rome,” King said, “but is always done with his awareness of the conversations and consultations already conducted at every level.”
The priest pointed out that not every local jurisdiction of the Church is a diocese or archdiocese. At times, he said, the pope may establish a less common ecclesiastical administration “for a variety of reasons that relate to culture, legal acceptance or opposition, small numbers, and the like.”
Such jurisdictions include apostolic prefectures, apostolic vicariates, ordinariates, and other designations. Such areas may be governed by a bishop or a priest named by the pope, King said.
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Minneapolis police officers, including Chief Brian O’Hara, were attacked and chased out of a downtown area by violent anti-ICE rioters on Friday night.
The post BREAKING: Minneapolis Police, INCLUDING THE CHIEF, Retreat After Anti-ICE Rioters Attack Them and Seize Control (VIDEOS) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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