Trump announces ‘Project Freedom’ to escort ships out of Hormuz; Secretary of State Marco Rubio to meet with Pope Leo this week; Rudy Giuliani hospitalized, in critical condition, prayers requested; Calls to indict Fauci before statute of limitations expires; Catholic priest who criticized Trump immigration crackdown named West Virginia bishop; Wisconsin brewpub owner pledging free beer if Trump dies running for governor; Trump nominates pro-life Dr. Nicole Saphier to serve as US Surgeon General; Hezbollah targets Maronite Catholic cardinal; Catholic family makes 22-mile hike to Our Lady of Champion Shrine; Catholics today celebrate the saint of mothers, wives and difficult marriages; and more —
Trump Announces ‘Project Freedom’ to Escort Ships Out of Hormuz — ‘Any Interference Will Be Dealt with Forcefully’
President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the United States will begin what he dubbed “Project Freedom” on Monday to guide and free foreign ships trapped in the Strait of Hormuz, warning that any interference with the humanitarian operation “will be dealt with forcefully” as vessels he described as “neutral and innocent bystanders” remain stranded amid the conflict.
In a Truth Social post, President Trump said countries “from all over the World” that are not party to the ongoing regional conflict have asked Washington to help free ships “locked up in the Strait of Hormuz,” describing them as “neutral and innocent bystanders.”
“For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business,” he wrote, adding that U.S. representatives have been directed to “use best efforts” to secure the safe departure of both vessels and crews.
Read more at Breitbart
Trump’s post on ‘Project Freedom’
See @RapidResponse47
Transportation secretary predicts lower energy prices now that Strait of Hormuz is open
Watch @ThisWeekABC
Rubio to visit Italy, Vatican amid troop drawdown call, tension with Trump, Pope Leo: reports
Nearly 13,000 US troops are stationed across six bases in Italy as Trump questions the alliance’s value
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly planning to travel to the Vatican and Italy this week for meetings aimed at steadying relations after public spats between President Donald Trump, Pope Leo and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Rubio, a Catholic, is expected to meet with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s top diplomatic official, Reuters reported, citing Italian newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera.
Rubio is also expected to hold talks with Italy’s foreign and defense ministers, the Italian newspapers reported.
Read more at Fox News
Rubio to meet with Pope Thursday
See @EricLDaugh
Rudy Giuliani hospitalized, in critical condition
Read @RapidResponse47
Call to pray for ‘America’s Mayor’
See @Bp_Richard_Min
Rep. Nancy Mace Calls On DOJ To Indict Fauci Before Statute Of Limitations Expires
Today, Congresswoman Nancy Mace (R-SC) called on the Department of Justice to indict former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci for lying to Congress before the five-year statute of limitations expires on May 11.
In 2021, Fauci testified under oath the National Institutes of Health (NIH) never funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the same city where COVID-19 emerged and killed millions of people worldwide.
In 2023, the Government Accountability Office determined the Wuhan Institute of Virology and Wuhan University received NIH funding, including for “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence” through “genetic experiments to combine naturally occurring bat coronaviruses with SARS and MERS viruses, resulting in hybridized coronavirus strains.”
In 2024, NIH Principal Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak admitted before a House committee the U.S. government did fund gain-of-function research in Wuhan. Documents confirm Fauci’s agency awarded EcoHealth Alliance $3.1 million in grants, $750,000 of which went directly to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Read more at Office of Congresswoman Nancy Mace
Those seeking justice call out Fauci’s treatment of animals
See @AnimalUnite
Catholic priest who criticized Trump immigration crackdown named West Virginia bishop
The next bishop for West Virginia Catholics will be an El Salvador-born advocate for immigrants who has opposed U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown policies.
Pope Leo XIV announced Friday the appointment of Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, an auxiliary bishop in Washington, D.C., as the new leader of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, which comprises West Virginia, one of the nation’s least racially diverse states.
Menjivar-Ayala, 55, fled El Salvador’s civil war as a teen in the late 1980s, eventually crossing illegally into the United States in 1990, he told The Associated Press in an interview last year. But within “a couple of weeks” he gained humanitarian protection, later was granted a visa as a religious worker, and became a U.S. citizen two decades ago.
Nonetheless, he feels close to immigrants who have been caught up by raids, including last year’s federal law enforcement surge in Washington, because “that could have been me,” he said in 2025.
Read more at Crux
WI Brewpub Owner Pledging Free Beer If Trump Dies Now Running For Governor
The leftist Wisconsin brewpub owner who lamented last month’s failed assassination attempt against President Donald Trump is using his 15 minutes of radical fame to run for governor. And, as you might expect, his platform is full-on Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Kirk Bangstad, owner of the leftist front business Minocqua Brewery, posted on his company Facebook page that the “rumors are true.”
“5 minutes before I started writing this essay, I filed papers to become the next Governor of Wisconsin,” Bangstad declared. He added that he’s throwing his hat into the crowded field of far-left candidates because he believes Wisconsin “needs a battle-hardened fighter to join the rest of America to save our Democracy from Trump’s regime.” He thinks he’s the only gubernatorial candidate who fits his particular Trump-hating credentials.
Bangstad’s campaign announcement came a week after a Minocqua Brewery social media post urged the next would-be Trump assassin to improve his “marksmanship.”
“Well, we almost got #freebeerday,” Bangstad apparently wrote in now-deleted posts after a gunman stormed past a lax security post at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 25. Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old California man, has been charged with attempting to assassinate the president, transporting a firearm and ammunition with intent to commit a felony, and discharging a firearm during a violent crime.
“Either a brother or sister in the Resistance needs to work on their marksmanship or he faked another assassination to get a positive news cycle. We’ll never know,” the incendiary post stated. “Regardless, we stand at the ready to pour free beer the day it happens.”
Read more at The Federalist
Trump’s Surgeon General Nominee Nicole Saphier is a Solid Pro-Life Selection
President Donald Trump has made an excellent choice in nominating Dr. Nicole Saphier to serve as U.S. Surgeon General.
At a time when America needs medical leadership rooted in truth, prevention, compassion, and respect for human life, Dr. Saphier brings both professional excellence and personal witness. She is a radiologist, director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth, and board-certified in diagnostic radiology. Her medical work has centered on women facing breast cancer, early detection, and image-guided care that helps patients receive answers and treatment with skill and dignity.
But there is another part of her story that makes this nomination especially meaningful to pro-life Americans.
Dr. Saphier became pregnant at 17. She has spoken openly about the fear, uncertainty, judgment, and pressure that surrounded that moment. Many young women in that situation hear one message from the culture: abortion will fix this. Motherhood will ruin your future. Your child stands between you and your dreams.
Read more at Life News
Georgia legislator grills abortion advocate
Watch @RepBrandonGill
Brandon Gill: The Dems’ decline into the culture of death
Watch @RepBrandonGill
After Armenian Mother Church Demolished in Nagorno-Karabakh, Europe Is Starting to Push Back
Artsakh advocates are arriving at the May 4 European Summit in Yerevan with unexpected momentum — after a European Parliament resolution calling on Azerbaijan to respect Armenian heritage sparked a fierce reaction from Baku.
The main cathedral of Stepanakert in Nagorno-Karabakh — also known as Artsakh — has become the latest casualty in what Armenian church officials describe as a systematic effort to erase Armenian presence from the region, in the aftermath of the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive that displaced the entire population — more than 120,000 Armenians.
The issue has now erupted onto the European stage. On April 30, the European Parliament adopted a resolution explicitly calling for those responsible for the destruction of Armenian cultural and religious heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh to be held accountable and demanding renewed international pressure for a UNESCO mission to assess the affected sites. The reaction in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, was swift. On May 1, Azerbaijan’s parliament voted to sever ties with the European Parliament entirely, while the European Union’s ambassador in Baku was summoned and handed a diplomatic note condemning the resolution as distorting facts.
Read more at the National Catholic Register
Hezbollah attacks Maronite Catholic cardinal
See @makramrabah; read more at ‘Hezbollah’s Manufactured Outrage and the Assault on the Maronite Patriarchate’ at Now
Artistic efforts to preserve Christianity in Syria
See @cnalive
I investigated Fatima. This is What I Found
Watch at Capturing Catholicism
Pilgrimage to Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, only Church-approved Marian apparition site in the US
Read more @cnalive
Imitating Mary
There is a story told about a holy man who prayed to Mary in all his difficulties: “Show yourself to be my mother.” One day he heard the reply: “Show yourself to be my son.”
Read @father_rmv
Today is the Feast Day of St. Monica
See @JefferyFasching
A Story about St. Monica’s Methods
See @TempusFugit4016
