Conservative podcaster Vince Coglianese recently called for the arrest of Bill and Hillary Clinton for blowing off congress and their request for testimony in the Epstein case.
The post Podcaster Calls for the Arrest of Bill and Hillary Clinton for Snubbing Congress on Epstein Testimony: ‘Lock ‘Em Up’ (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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A woman in Florida is under arrest after allegedly assaulting troopers in the state this week.
The post Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Responds After Woman is Arrested for Allegedly Assaulting Trooper: ‘This is Not Minneapolis’ (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Every woman wants a hunky, conservative dude to marry. The hard part is knowing how to attract them.
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SPACE, THE FINAL FRONTIER — The exploration of other strange, new worlds and the seeking out of new life and new civilizations hit an unexpected snag this week, as Starfleet’s newest vessel was reportedly unable to reach warp speed because the crew was too fat.
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| Picture of the day |
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Vasabron (Vasa bridge) across the Norrström in Stockholm, with Stockholms Stadshuset (city hall) in the background.
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CNN is a horribly biased outlet.
The post WHAT MEDIA BIAS? Look How CNN Framed Inflation Under Joe Biden Versus Trump appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Read MoreO God, send forth your Holy Spirit into my heart that I may perceive, into my mind that I may remember, and into my soul that I may meditate. Inspire me to speak with piety, holiness, tenderness and mercy. Teach, guide and direct my thoughts and senses from beginning to end. May your grace ever help and correct me, and may I be strengthened now with wisdom from on high, for the sake of your infinite mercy. Amen.
Saint Anthony of Padua
Read MoreA reading from the Book of Samuel
8:4-7, 10-22a
All the elders of Israel came in a body to Samuel at Ramah
and said to him, “Now that you are old,
and your sons do not follow your example,
appoint a king over us, as other nations have, to judge us.”
Samuel was displeased when they asked for a king to judge them.
He prayed to the LORD, however, who said in answer:
“Grant the people’s every request.
It is not you they reject, they are rejecting me as their king.”
Samuel delivered the message of the LORD in full
to those who were asking him for a king.
He told them:
“The rights of the king who will rule you will be as follows:
He will take your sons and assign them to his chariots and horses,
and they will run before his chariot.
He will also appoint from among them his commanders of groups
of a thousand and of a hundred soldiers.
He will set them to do his plowing and his harvesting,
and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.
He will use your daughters as ointment makers, as cooks, and as bakers.
He will take the best of your fields, vineyards, and olive groves,
and give them to his officials.
He will tithe your crops and your vineyards,
and give the revenue to his eunuchs and his slaves.
He will take your male and female servants,
as well as your best oxen and your asses,
and use them to do his work.
He will tithe your flocks and you yourselves will become his slaves.
When this takes place,
you will complain against the king whom you have chosen,
but on that day the LORD will not answer you.”
The people, however, refused to listen to Samuel’s warning and said,
“Not so! There must be a king over us.
We too must be like other nations,
with a king to rule us and to lead us in warfare
and fight our battles.”
When Samuel had listened to all the people had to say,
he repeated it to the LORD, who then said to him,
“Grant their request and appoint a king to rule them.”
From the Gospel according to Mark
2:1-12
When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days,
it became known that he was at home.
Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them,
not even around the door,
and he preached the word to them.
They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.
Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd,
they opened up the roof above him.
After they had broken through,
they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him,
“Child, your sins are forgiven.”
Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves,
“Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming.
Who but God alone can forgive sins?”
Jesus immediately knew in his mind what
they were thinking to themselves,
so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts?
Which is easier, to say to the paralytic,
‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’?
But that you may know
that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”
–he said to the paralytic,
“I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.”
He rose, picked up his mat at once,
and went away in the sight of everyone.
They were all astounded
and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”
What a wonderful example of healing! Christ’s action is a direct response to the faith of those people, to the hope they put in Him, to the love they show that they have for each other. And so, Jesus heals, but He does not simply heal the paralysis. Jesus heals everyone, He forgives sins, He renews the life of the paralyzed man and his friend. He makes him born again, let’s say it that way. It is a physical and spiritual healing, all together, the fruit of personal and social contact. Let’s imagine how this friendship, and the faith of all those present in that house, would have grown thanks to Jesus’s action, that healing encounter with Jesus! And so we can ask ourselves: today, in what way can we help heal our world? As disciples of the Lord Jesus, who is the physician of our souls and bodies, we are called to continue “His work, work of healing and salvation” (CCC, 1421) in a physical, social and spiritual sense. (Pope Francis – General audience, 5 August 2020)
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Jan 15, 2026 / 17:42 pm (CNA).
With the final sealing on Jan. 16 of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, the Holy See will complete the closing — which includes the actual masonry work — of the four Holy Doors of the papal basilicas following the Jubilee of Hope.
The concluding rite of closing the Holy Door of St. Mary Major Basilica took place Jan. 13. St. John Lateran Basilica’s was closed Jan. 14 and the Holy Door of St. Paul Outside the Walls was closed Jan. 15.
The Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica will be sealed shut on Jan. 16.
The so-called “sanpietrini,” the staff of the Fabric of St. Peter — comprising carpenters, cabinetmakers, and electricians — who normally handle the maintenance of the basilica, will repeat the process they have already carried out in the other three basilicas: They will erect a brick wall inside the church to permanently seal the Holy Door.
In addition, the traditional metal capsule (“capsis”), a bronze box, will be inserted into the wall of the church. It will contain the official closing document, the coins minted during the jubilee year, and the keys to the Holy Door.
These elements serve as material and symbolic testimony of the holy year, which, as the pope emphasized in the Jan. 6 ceremony in which he closed the great doors of the Vatican basilica, has concluded on the calendar but not in the spiritual life of the Catholic Church.
In all the papal basilicas, the official document of closing the Holy Door has been deposited along with the key to the door and several pontifical medals from the last sealing, during the conclusion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in 2016 to the present day.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Read More![Republican senators urge more regulations on abortion pill in Senate hearing - #Catholic -
Credit: Carl DMaster/Shutterstock
Jan 15, 2026 / 17:10 pm (CNA).
As the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues its review of the abortion pill mifepristone, Republican lawmakers are repeating calls for stronger federal regulations of the drug.The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, chaired by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, held a hearing about the drugs Jan. 14. Republican lawmakers called for stricter rules, while Democratic lawmakers advocated for easy access to the drugs.Cassidy, who is a medical doctor, urged Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Martin Makary to complete the safety review of mifepristone promised during their confirmation hearings.“Republican members of this committee and many other senators expect an answer,” Cassidy said. “At an absolute minimum, the previous in-person safeguards must be restored immediately.”Cassidy expressed concern about the deregulation of mifepristone under former President Barack Obama in 2016 and former President Joe Biden in 2023 and said they have made women less safe.In 2016, the FDA lowered the number of mandatory in-person doctor visits needed to obtain mifepristone from three to one and then fully eliminated required in-person visits in 2023. In 2016, the FDA stopped requiring doctors to report adverse events and ended rules requiring mifepristone to be dispensed by a physician and taken in a doctor’s office. Another 2016 rule change ended the mandatory follow-up visit and another 2023 rule change authorized delivery of the drug through the mail.“It’s only through a proper medical examination that a doctor can determine a baby’s gestational age, ensure a woman does not have an ectopic pregnancy, and be sure the abortion will not jeopardize future fertility,” Cassidy said. “I’m a doctor, and if the first rule is do no harm, the way things work today has the potential to do a lot of harm.” Speaking to “EWTN News Nightly” prior to the hearing, Cassidy said: “There’s some women at higher risk for complications … and the doctor interviewing her would be able to see that.”He said President Donald Trump’s administration should suspend the use of mifepristone or at least reimpose previous safeguards.An HHS spokesperson said the department “is conducting a study of reported adverse events associated with mifepristone to assess whether the FDA’s risk mitigation program continues to provide appropriate protections for women.”“The FDA’s scientific review process is thorough and takes the time necessary to ensure decisions are grounded in gold-standard science,” the spokesperson said. “Dr. Makary is upholding that standard as part of the Department’s commitment to rigorous, evidence-based review.”Dr. Monique Chireau Wubbenhorst, a practicing OB-GYN and research assistant for Notre Dame’s Center for Ethics and Culture, testified to the committee about potential harms of mifepristone and the added risks caused by the deregulation.“The different risks that are associated with abortion are bleeding, infection, hemorrhage, [and a] need for transfusion,” she said, adding that taking abortion drugs while having an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy can be life-threatening.Apart from the medical risks, Wubbenhorst also said the lack of oversight exacerbates problems with human trafficking, child sex abuse, and domestic violence: “Abusers have been known to force abortion pills down women’s throats, put them in their drinks, and insert them into their bodies,” she said.Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill told senators the deregulation of the Biden administration was a “purely political” decision, as opposed to a medical one, and she spoke about women in her state being coerced into taking mifepristone and cases of adverse events that she blames on the deregulation.“A few examples from Louisiana include a woman who was coerced to abort her wanted baby, multiple [examples] of that, by partners or parents, a pregnant woman who took pills … mailed to her at 20 weeks’ gestation and ended up in the emergency room while her baby was left in a dumpster, [and regarding] another 20-week-old pregnancy, the baby was found recovered in a toilet,” she said.Last year, Murrill sued the FDA over the deregulation after a resident, Rosalie Markezich, said her boyfriend forced her to take an abortion pill that was obtained through the mail.Democratic lawmakers rejected calls for stricter regulations, with ranking member Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, saying the meeting is “not about the safety of a drug” and pointed to medical groups like the American Medical Association vouching for its safety.“It is about the ongoing effort of my friends in the Republican Party to deny the women of this country the basic right to control their own bodies,” Sanders said. “That is what this hearing is about.”Nisha Verma, an OB-GYN and fellow at Physicians for Reproductive Health, testified that the drugs are safe for women and can help women recovering from a miscarriage. She said her patients who suffer from miscarriages “are at risk” because of restrictions in certain states.“My patients are at risk because of restrictions on abortion and cuts to Medicaid,” she said. “They are at risk because of decreased funding to clinics that provide preventative care and cancer screenings and fears about whether they can safely go to the hospital based on their immigration status.”Kennedy ordered a review of mifepristone last year, and the federal government has yet to reestablish any safeguards on the drug. Rather, the FDA approved a generic version of mifepristone in October, sparking backlash from Republican lawmakers and pro-life organizations.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/republican-senators-urge-more-regulations-on-abortion-pill-in-senate-hearing-catholic-credit-carl-dmaster-shutterstockjan-15-2026-1710-pm-cna-as-the-food-and-drug-administration-fd.jpg)
Jan 15, 2026 / 17:10 pm (CNA).
As the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues its review of the abortion pill mifepristone, Republican lawmakers are repeating calls for stronger federal regulations of the drug.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, chaired by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, held a hearing about the drugs Jan. 14. Republican lawmakers called for stricter rules, while Democratic lawmakers advocated for easy access to the drugs.
Cassidy, who is a medical doctor, urged Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Martin Makary to complete the safety review of mifepristone promised during their confirmation hearings.
“Republican members of this committee and many other senators expect an answer,” Cassidy said. “At an absolute minimum, the previous in-person safeguards must be restored immediately.”
Cassidy expressed concern about the deregulation of mifepristone under former President Barack Obama in 2016 and former President Joe Biden in 2023 and said they have made women less safe.
In 2016, the FDA lowered the number of mandatory in-person doctor visits needed to obtain mifepristone from three to one and then fully eliminated required in-person visits in 2023. In 2016, the FDA stopped requiring doctors to report adverse events and ended rules requiring mifepristone to be dispensed by a physician and taken in a doctor’s office. Another 2016 rule change ended the mandatory follow-up visit and another 2023 rule change authorized delivery of the drug through the mail.
“It’s only through a proper medical examination that a doctor can determine a baby’s gestational age, ensure a woman does not have an ectopic pregnancy, and be sure the abortion will not jeopardize future fertility,” Cassidy said. “I’m a doctor, and if the first rule is do no harm, the way things work today has the potential to do a lot of harm.”
Speaking to “EWTN News Nightly” prior to the hearing, Cassidy said: “There’s some women at higher risk for complications … and the doctor interviewing her would be able to see that.”
He said President Donald Trump’s administration should suspend the use of mifepristone or at least reimpose previous safeguards.
An HHS spokesperson said the department “is conducting a study of reported adverse events associated with mifepristone to assess whether the FDA’s risk mitigation program continues to provide appropriate protections for women.”
“The FDA’s scientific review process is thorough and takes the time necessary to ensure decisions are grounded in gold-standard science,” the spokesperson said. “Dr. Makary is upholding that standard as part of the Department’s commitment to rigorous, evidence-based review.”
Dr. Monique Chireau Wubbenhorst, a practicing OB-GYN and research assistant for Notre Dame’s Center for Ethics and Culture, testified to the committee about potential harms of mifepristone and the added risks caused by the deregulation.
“The different risks that are associated with abortion are bleeding, infection, hemorrhage, [and a] need for transfusion,” she said, adding that taking abortion drugs while having an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy can be life-threatening.
Apart from the medical risks, Wubbenhorst also said the lack of oversight exacerbates problems with human trafficking, child sex abuse, and domestic violence: “Abusers have been known to force abortion pills down women’s throats, put them in their drinks, and insert them into their bodies,” she said.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill told senators the deregulation of the Biden administration was a “purely political” decision, as opposed to a medical one, and she spoke about women in her state being coerced into taking mifepristone and cases of adverse events that she blames on the deregulation.
“A few examples from Louisiana include a woman who was coerced to abort her wanted baby, multiple [examples] of that, by partners or parents, a pregnant woman who took pills … mailed to her at 20 weeks’ gestation and ended up in the emergency room while her baby was left in a dumpster, [and regarding] another 20-week-old pregnancy, the baby was found recovered in a toilet,” she said.
Last year, Murrill sued the FDA over the deregulation after a resident, Rosalie Markezich, said her boyfriend forced her to take an abortion pill that was obtained through the mail.
Democratic lawmakers rejected calls for stricter regulations, with ranking member Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, saying the meeting is “not about the safety of a drug” and pointed to medical groups like the American Medical Association vouching for its safety.
“It is about the ongoing effort of my friends in the Republican Party to deny the women of this country the basic right to control their own bodies,” Sanders said. “That is what this hearing is about.”
Nisha Verma, an OB-GYN and fellow at Physicians for Reproductive Health, testified that the drugs are safe for women and can help women recovering from a miscarriage. She said her patients who suffer from miscarriages “are at risk” because of restrictions in certain states.
“My patients are at risk because of restrictions on abortion and cuts to Medicaid,” she said. “They are at risk because of decreased funding to clinics that provide preventative care and cancer screenings and fears about whether they can safely go to the hospital based on their immigration status.”
Kennedy ordered a review of mifepristone last year, and the federal government has yet to reestablish any safeguards on the drug. Rather, the FDA approved a generic version of mifepristone in October, sparking backlash from Republican lawmakers and pro-life organizations.
Read More
Jan 15, 2026 / 15:57 pm (CNA).
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. government is working with the Catholic Church to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Cuba after a late-October hurricane.
“The U.S. is sending the first humanitarian shipment to Cuba to help people in need as they continue to recover from Hurricane Melissa,” Rubio said in a Jan. 14 post on X. “We are working with the Catholic Church and partners to ensure aid reaches the Cuban people directly — not the illegitimate regime.”
The U.S. is sending the first humanitarian shipment to Cuba to help people in need as they continue to recover from Hurricane Melissa. We are working with the Catholic Church and partners to ensure aid reaches the Cuban people directly—not the illegitimate regime. The Trump…
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) January 14, 2026
U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Brian Burch also reposted the message.
“The Trump administration stands with the Cuban people,” Rubio added.
Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on Oct. 28, 2025. The storm’s high winds left a path of destruction and affected millions across the Caribbean, including Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Floodwaters and damaged water systems created conditions for disease outbreaks in Cuba, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The State Department said Jan. 14 the Trump administration “is following through on our commitment to deliver $3 million in much-needed disaster relief to the Cuban people” with the first of a series of direct humanitarian aid shipments to Cuba.
The next aid shipment is set to be delivered from Miami on Jan. 16 and could reach an estimated 6,000 Cuban families in the “hardest-hit provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Granma, and Guantanamo,” according to a State Department press release.
The statement said the State Department is “working closely” with the Catholic Church on delivering the assistance “without regime interference.”
Aid will take the form of food kits, including rice, beans, oil, and sugar; hygiene and water treatment kits; kitchen sets with pots and cooking utensils; and other household items such as sheets and blankets, solar lanterns, and more, the State Department said.
Catholic nongovernmental organizations in Cuba play a significant role in providing humanitarian aid on the island, with Caritas Cuba functioning as “the largest independent nongovernmental organization on the island, with more than 40 staff and a network of some 12,000 volunteers,” according to Catholic Relief Services (CRS), which works in partnership with Caritas Cuba.
Caritas Cuba provides emergency response and humanitarian aid as well as programs for HIV and AIDS, elderly people, human development, and other educational programs, according to its website.
Working in tandem with Caritas, CRS Cuba has distributed more than $32 million in medical emergency supplies for hospitals, elderly homes, and victims of natural disasters since 1993. CRS provides emergency shelter support, food assistance, clean drinking water, home repair, and assistance to farmers and small businesses recovering from natural disasters.
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Young men moved to consider vocations at Jefferson event #Catholic – 
Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney and three seminarians of the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey encouraged nine young men to discern their vocations, including to the Catholic priesthood, during a Project Andrew event at Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish in the Lake Hopatcong neighborhood in Jefferson, N.J.
In Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Bishop Sweeney led the congregation in praying the Liturgy of the Hours. The men, high-school age and older, and some of their parents listened to the bishop preach about how St. Andrew was the first Apostle to invite others to follow Jesus, including his brother, St. Peter, to meet the Messiah. The bishop then asked the men to identify their “Andrews”: people in their lives who have been leading them to Jesus or a vocation.
Afterward, those assembled had dinner with Bishop Sweeney. There, Eric D. Hasenbein, John Peter Zappe, and Jean-Baptiste Mollet spoke about their vocation journeys and their time as seminarians. Hasenbein is a second-year pre-theology student at Immaculate Conception Seminary in South Orange, N.J., and Zappe is a second-year theology student at Immaculate Conception. Mollet is in his first year of studies, called a Propaedeutic Year, at St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y.
The diocesan Vocations Office sponsored the Project Andrew gathering, held monthly at various parishes. Priests, including Father Sean McDonnell, pastor of Our Lady Star of the Sea, attended the event.
“The Project Andrew helps young men learn more about vocations and the priesthood. They also get to hear from priests and seminarians about what led them to follow Jesus’ call to pursue a priestly vocation,” said Father Charles Lana Jr., diocesan vocations director.
The next Project Andrew event will be held on Friday, Feb. 6, at 6:30 p.m. at St. Mary Parish in Denville, N.J. To register, call the Vocations Office at 973-77-8818, ext. 711.
– Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney and three seminarians of the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey encouraged nine young men to discern their vocations, including to the Catholic priesthood, during a Project Andrew event at Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish in the Lake Hopatcong neighborhood in Jefferson, N.J. In Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Bishop Sweeney led the congregation in praying the Liturgy of the Hours. The men, high-school age and older, and some of their parents listened to the bishop preach about how St. Andrew was the first Apostle to invite others to follow Jesus, including his
![Two Assumption charities deliver love, hope to impoverished Africans #Catholic - Dennis, a 30-year-old who lives in a village of the impoverished African nation of Sierra Leone, had been suffering from excruciating leg pain for the past few years. Cellulitis, a bacterial infection, had caused a burning red sore up the entire side of his left leg.
Thanks to Africa Surgery, a non-profit based at Assumption Parish in Morristown, N.J., Dennis received surgery that relieved his pain. Surgeons in Sierra Leone took skin from the thigh of his right leg and grafted it to the infected left leg. Dennis has since returned to his daily activities, including work.
Last month, Assumption helped ensure that two non-profit outreaches started at the parish — Africa Surgery and the Village Angels of Tanzania — continue transforming the lives of poor people in Africa. The parish held its 15th Annual Christmas Market, which raised a record $27,792 to support urgent medical care, food, and education in Sierra Leone and Tanzania.
In addition, men from Assumption filled two large shipping containers late last year with items such as crutches and hand-powered mobility carts. The first container arrived in Sierra Leone on Jan. 14. Tom Johnson, founder of Africa Surgery and an Assumption parishioner, will distribute the items in Sierra Leone, where he is situated now.
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In 2007, Johnson founded African Surgery, which has helped thousands of Sierra Leonians with medical issues ranging from simple tooth extractions to complex spinal surgeries around Freetown and Makeni. For about six months a year, he lives in Sierra Leone, working with international and local medical programs and facilities that provide diagnoses and treatment on a wide range of medical issues. For the rest of the year, Johnson coordinates activities from Morristown, NJ, with help from some in-country assistants.
“It’s hard for people in Sierra Leone. They are desperately poor and work but don’t have enough food,” said Johnson, a home repairs contractor. “I’m overwhelmed by the number of people in great need. We don’t have enough resources for everyone. But when we can help, it’s exhilarating,” he said.
Africa Surgery also supports some students in their education and provides some locals with part-time jobs and food.
“I’m grateful for Assumption’s support. Their donations mean a lot to the people of Sierra Leone,” Johnson said.
Founded in 2015, the Village Angels provides urgently needed food, clothing, and basic home furnishings to residents of several small villages in northwest Tanzania. They are mainly elderly people who have little to eat and live in remote huts. The program partners with the local Franciscan Sisters of St. Bernadette to provide jobs to local youths, who visit the isolated elderly people every week. Sergio Burani and his wife, Johanna, also parishioners of Assumption, established the outreach.
The Village Angels reaches people in the area, which welcomed 500,000 refugees of the Rwandan War of 1994. The U.N. built a huge tent city where some refugees stayed for 10 years, straining family dynamics, infrastructure, farmland, and other resources. The impoverished conditions forced middle-aged people to take their children and move to the cities, leaving the elderly to live alone with no pensions or family support. The youth bring them food, water, and firewood. Meanwhile, Sister Dativa Mukebita, the program’s director, and other sisters in her community provide moral support and minor medical attention.
In 2017, the Village Angels dedicated a new multipurpose building in honor of the late Msgr. Martin Rauscher, Assumption’s former pastor, who supported both non-profits. The youths in the program weave baskets, sew clothing and household items, harvest honey from their bee farm, and harvest bananas from their plantation to generate local revenue for the program. The Village Angels also purchase food items, clothing, and furnishings for the elderly.
“Our efforts give dignity to the young and the old. We’re saying, ‘We see you. You’re important.’ The Village Angels fills a void. The youth like visiting the elderly. The elderly like it when the youth call them ‘grandma’ or ‘grandpa.’ Everybody wins,” Johanna Burani said. “This is what the Lord wants us to do. We know these people and want to be their voice.”
Like his predecessor, Msgr. Rauscher, Msgr. John Hart, Assumption’s current pastor, is supportive of Africa Surgery and the Village Angels of Tanzania.
“Our generous parishioners support these two charities, founded by people we know and love. We have parishioners who work to help them in many ways. These charities are always in our prayers,” Msgr. Hart said.
Information: visit Africa Surgery and the Village Angels of Tanzania.
[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/two-assumption-charities-deliver-love-hope-to-impoverished-africans-catholic-dennis-a-30-year-old-who-lives-in-a-village-of-the-impoverished-african-nation-of-sierra-leone-had-been-suffering-fro.jpg)
Two Assumption charities deliver love, hope to impoverished Africans #Catholic – 
Dennis, a 30-year-old who lives in a village of the impoverished African nation of Sierra Leone, had been suffering from excruciating leg pain for the past few years. Cellulitis, a bacterial infection, had caused a burning red sore up the entire side of his left leg.
Thanks to Africa Surgery, a non-profit based at Assumption Parish in Morristown, N.J., Dennis received surgery that relieved his pain. Surgeons in Sierra Leone took skin from the thigh of his right leg and grafted it to the infected left leg. Dennis has since returned to his daily activities, including work.
Last month, Assumption helped ensure that two non-profit outreaches started at the parish — Africa Surgery and the Village Angels of Tanzania — continue transforming the lives of poor people in Africa. The parish held its 15th Annual Christmas Market, which raised a record $27,792 to support urgent medical care, food, and education in Sierra Leone and Tanzania.
In addition, men from Assumption filled two large shipping containers late last year with items such as crutches and hand-powered mobility carts. The first container arrived in Sierra Leone on Jan. 14. Tom Johnson, founder of Africa Surgery and an Assumption parishioner, will distribute the items in Sierra Leone, where he is situated now.
In 2007, Johnson founded African Surgery, which has helped thousands of Sierra Leonians with medical issues ranging from simple tooth extractions to complex spinal surgeries around Freetown and Makeni. For about six months a year, he lives in Sierra Leone, working with international and local medical programs and facilities that provide diagnoses and treatment on a wide range of medical issues. For the rest of the year, Johnson coordinates activities from Morristown, NJ, with help from some in-country assistants.
“It’s hard for people in Sierra Leone. They are desperately poor and work but don’t have enough food,” said Johnson, a home repairs contractor. “I’m overwhelmed by the number of people in great need. We don’t have enough resources for everyone. But when we can help, it’s exhilarating,” he said.
Africa Surgery also supports some students in their education and provides some locals with part-time jobs and food.
“I’m grateful for Assumption’s support. Their donations mean a lot to the people of Sierra Leone,” Johnson said.
Founded in 2015, the Village Angels provides urgently needed food, clothing, and basic home furnishings to residents of several small villages in northwest Tanzania. They are mainly elderly people who have little to eat and live in remote huts. The program partners with the local Franciscan Sisters of St. Bernadette to provide jobs to local youths, who visit the isolated elderly people every week. Sergio Burani and his wife, Johanna, also parishioners of Assumption, established the outreach.
The Village Angels reaches people in the area, which welcomed 500,000 refugees of the Rwandan War of 1994. The U.N. built a huge tent city where some refugees stayed for 10 years, straining family dynamics, infrastructure, farmland, and other resources. The impoverished conditions forced middle-aged people to take their children and move to the cities, leaving the elderly to live alone with no pensions or family support. The youth bring them food, water, and firewood. Meanwhile, Sister Dativa Mukebita, the program’s director, and other sisters in her community provide moral support and minor medical attention.
In 2017, the Village Angels dedicated a new multipurpose building in honor of the late Msgr. Martin Rauscher, Assumption’s former pastor, who supported both non-profits. The youths in the program weave baskets, sew clothing and household items, harvest honey from their bee farm, and harvest bananas from their plantation to generate local revenue for the program. The Village Angels also purchase food items, clothing, and furnishings for the elderly.
“Our efforts give dignity to the young and the old. We’re saying, ‘We see you. You’re important.’ The Village Angels fills a void. The youth like visiting the elderly. The elderly like it when the youth call them ‘grandma’ or ‘grandpa.’ Everybody wins,” Johanna Burani said. “This is what the Lord wants us to do. We know these people and want to be their voice.”
Like his predecessor, Msgr. Rauscher, Msgr. John Hart, Assumption’s current pastor, is supportive of Africa Surgery and the Village Angels of Tanzania.
“Our generous parishioners support these two charities, founded by people we know and love. We have parishioners who work to help them in many ways. These charities are always in our prayers,” Msgr. Hart said.
Information: visit Africa Surgery and the Village Angels of Tanzania.
[See image gallery at beaconnj.org] – Dennis, a 30-year-old who lives in a village of the impoverished African nation of Sierra Leone, had been suffering from excruciating leg pain for the past few years. Cellulitis, a bacterial infection, had caused a burning red sore up the entire side of his left leg. Thanks to Africa Surgery, a non-profit based at Assumption Parish in Morristown, N.J., Dennis received surgery that relieved his pain. Surgeons in Sierra Leone took skin from the thigh of his right leg and grafted it to the infected left leg. Dennis has since returned to his daily activities, including work. Last month, Assumption
Jan 15, 2026 / 06:00 am (CNA).
The attorney general of Ohio is moving to shut down a nursing home after a congregation of Catholic nuns sold it, amid reports that the facility’s “shockingly poor care” is placing elderly residents in “clear and present danger.”
House of Loreto, a nursing facility formerly run by the sisters of the Congregation of the Divine Spirit, has allegedly committed “widespread care failures,” Attorney General Dave Yost’s office said in a Jan. 13 press release.
The sisters were involved with the home from 1957, when then-Youngstown Bishop Emmet Walsh asked for the religious to run the facility. The current facility opened in 1963.
The Youngstown Diocese said in March 2025 that the home had been acquired by Hari Group LLC, a company based out of Ohio. In its press release announcing the sale the diocese did not note any troubles experienced by House of Loreto at the time. A diocesan spokesman said on Jan. 15 that the home was no longer under Catholic control after the sale.
In a court order request filed on Jan. 12, Yost’s office said that state inspectors have observed a “rapid deterioration of care” at the facility, with the filing claiming that “shockingly poor care” was putting residents in “real and present danger.”
Among the problems alleged by inspectors include the lack of a director of nursing, leaving the facility “spinning out of control” with repeated resident falls, improper medicine administration, denial of pain medication, and other alleged mismanagement issues.
The facility is “so dysfunctional” that the government “lacks any confidence that the current leadership … will be able to right the ship,” the court filing says.
The attorney general’s office said it is trying to get the facility shut down and “relocate residents to safer facilities.”
In a statement to EWTN News, the Youngstown Diocese said it was “deeply saddened” at the imminent closure of the facility.
Youngstown Bishop David Bonnar in the statement said the sisters “poured their lives into creating a home where the elderly were cherished and protected.”
“Their ministry at the House of Loreto was a profound witness to the Gospel,” the prelate said. “It is painful to see their legacy overshadowed by the serious concerns that have emerged under the new ownership.”
The facility said it takes its name from the Holy House of Loreto in Italy, said to be the home at which the Annunciation occurred and the Word was made flesh.
The nursing home said it seeks to foster “an environment where seniors can experience the same love and respect they would find in their own homes —truly standing on the threshold of heaven as they navigate life’s later chapters.”
Correction: This story originally identified the House of Loreto as a "Catholic-run" facility based on information from the facility's website. The home is actually no longer under Catholic ownership. This story was updated on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026 at 9:30 a.m. ET.
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