Pope Leo XIV to undergo surgery to remove lung nodule, requests prayers; US celebrates Columbus Day, enjoying a revival, thanks to President Trump; Reports Mamdani to skip NYC’s historic Columbus Day parade, Italian Americans not happy; Feds raid Ilhan Omar’s DC home amid immigration fraud investigation; Jack ‘I am not a politician, and I have no partisan loyalty’ Smith attends anti-Trump concert wearing ‘No Kings’ T-shirt; Miranda Devine asks: With all these ‘sick’ Democrats like James Talarico, one wonders: how are they in the lead?; Houthi missile strikes Riyadh airport, kills 13 people including one American citizen; Catholics celebrate the feast of the Church’s first millennial saint who said ‘Jesus is my great friend and the Eucharist my highway to Heaven’ (Must-see: Online Exhibition of Eucharistic Miracles below); and more —
Pope Leo: ‘I will undergo surgery soon to remove nodule in my lung‘
Pope Leo XIV reveals that he is set to undergo surgery to remove a “localized nodule in my lung,” noting that it is at “a very early stage and is well-localized.” The operation will take place in the coming days at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.
Pope Leo XIV told the faithful gathered for the Angelus on Sunday that his doctors have found a “localized nodule” in his lung and he will be operated on in a few days.
The operation will take place at the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital in Rome.
He added that the nodule was “detected at a very early stage and is well localized.”
The Pope said his doctors recommend surgery and he will follow their advice, with the surgery scheduled for the coming days.
Read more at Vatican News
Pope Leo requests prayers as he prepares for surgery [on Tuesday]
See @EWTNews
New White House Press Secretary post POTUS Columbus Day Greeting
See @KatieZacharia; read also White House proclamation @RapidResponse47
Christopher Columbus and the spread of Christianity
See @Sachinettiyil; see ‘Book: Christopher Columbus: The Catholic Discovery of America’ at Fr. John A. Hardon SJ Archive and Guild
The War on Columbus Was Never Really About Columbus by Jarrett Stepman
Christopher Columbus is having a revival thanks to President Donald Trump and the good sense of the American people.
This is a remarkable change from just a few years ago, when it seemed likely that the country was ready to purge Columbus, the Founding Fathers, and pretty much any notable figure from our past.
It was so over for Columbus Day that even some Republicans were looking to sweep it into the dustbin of history.
But we’ve come a long way since 2020.
More Americans now understand that the attack on Columbus is an attack on the idea of America itself, and that caving to the Left’s demands to strike his holiday from the calendar as his statues came tumbling down was tantamount to civilizational suicide.
Read more at the Daily Signal; watch also ‘Christopher Columbus was a great (and good) man’ at Michael Knowles
Italian Americans not happy Mamdani will skip NYC Columbus Day Parade
See @GuntherEagleman
Federal agents raid Ilhan Omar’s DC home amid immigration fraud investigation
Omar is being investigated over her immigration paperwork
The home of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, was raided early Monday morning by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital.
Multiple federal agents with HSI jackets were seen outside Omar’s Washington, D.C. home in the early hours of Monday.
Two sources close to the investigation say the search stems from a criminal fraud investigation into the Somali-born congresswoman’s immigration paperwork, which was filled out by her late father when she was a child.
Read more at Fox News
More on the federal investigation into Ilhan Omar’s citizenship
Liz Collin of Alpha News (based in Minnesota) explains how Ilhan Omar’s parents may have lied about her age to fraudulently get her citizenship
Watch @bennyjohnson
A Radical Rock ‘n’ Roll Concert for the Terminally Insincere by Tim Graham
The radical rock ‘n’ roll leftists threw a concert in Maryland titled—what else?—the “Power to the People Festival.” The organizer was Tom Morello, the guitarist of the band Rage Against the Machine. The most celebrated guest, as it leaked out on social media, was former Biden-appointed special counsel Jack Smith, who just days earlier told a Senate hearing, “I am not a politician, and I have no partisan loyalty.”
Leftists were delighted at pictures of Smith at this exceedingly anti-Trump hootenanny, wearing a Bruce Springsteen “Land of Hope and Dreams” tour T-shirt with the words “No Kings” at the bottom. You can find it at the Bruce Springsteen store on the internet for … 50 bucks. The crowd was thrilled over the Smith sighting: “People were high-fiving him and taking selfies.”
Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters dedicated his song “My Hero” to Smith: “This one goes out to my new friend Jack.” Grohl was wearing an Iowa Hawkeyes T-shirt to mock Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt for claiming Smith had gone to an Atlanta Hawks basketball game instead of a Maryland Terrapins game against Iowa.
Read more at the Daily Signal
With all these ‘sick’ Democrats like James Talarico, one wonders: how are they in the lead? by Miranda Devine
Talk about an October surprise!
Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, 37, disappeared off the campaign trail for more than 10 days, claiming a bad case of the flu. Now his office is denying reports that he spent the time in a mental health facility in Ohio, after conservative influencer Nick Sortor posted an unverified audio recording purportedly of an employee of the Lindner Center of Hope near Cincinnati, saying a patient named James Talarico had just been discharged.
The Center issued a statement Sunday night, saying: “Representative James Talarico has never received treatment from Lindner Center of Hope.” Talarico’s campaign called the allegation “a pathetic conspiracy theory.”
But that isn’t enough from the party that propped up Joe Biden for years and lied about his health problems. Democrats don’t get the benefit of the doubt anymore.
When a candidate in such a crucial race goes missing for so long in the final month before the election, the situation demands proof beyond an airy flu excuse and “trust me” attitude.
Read more at the New York Post
Houthi missile strike on Saudi Arabia’s second largest airport in its capital city of Riyadh
The October 11, 2026 attack on the civilian airport terminal is the deadliest in Saudi Arabia in over a decade, part of escalating Houthi strikes amid the Yemen war where Saudi forces back the recognized government against Iran-aligned rebels.
Watch @visegrad24
Zelensky Says He’ll Hold Elections If Putin Agrees to a 60-Day Ceasefire
His comments came after Trump said he thinks Ukraine needs a new leader to make a deal
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that he would hold elections in Ukraine if Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a 60-day ceasefire, comments that came after President Trump said Ukraine needed a new president to reach a deal with Russia.
Zelensky’s term expired in May 2024, but he has remained in power because no elections have been held, and he has continued to reject the growing calls within Ukraine to hold a vote.
Trump said on Saturday that he suggested Ukraine “get a new leader who can make a deal because he could have made many deals and for some reason he never does.”
Read more at Antiwar.com
Today is the Feast of St. Carlo Acutis
‘To be always united to Jesus, this is my program for life.’ – St. Carlo Acutis
See @FriarMario; Must-see: A List of the Eucharistic Miracles of the World compiled by Carlo Acutis at carloacutis.com
Documentary on the Life of St. Carlo Acutis (2005)
Filmed on location in Italy, this EWTN original documentary chronicles the life of Blessed Carlo Acutis. Through photos, interviews, and testimonies from family and friends, his story comes alive as a reminder of holiness in our times.
Watch at EWTN
