Thousands converge on DC to rededicate US as ‘one nation under God’; US eliminates ISIS fighters in northwest Nigeria, including prominent militant Abu-Bilal al-Minuki; White House posts recap of Trump’s visit to China; Trump says Xi told him release of Jimmy Lai ‘would be a tough one’; Colorado’s governor commutes ex-election clerk Tina Peters’ sentence after Trump intervention; POTUS urges passage of the SAVE America Act – again; Health secretary calls for restoring ‘sacred ritual’ of home-cooked meals; Christian faith looms large at ‘Unite The Kingdom’ protest in London; Dutch Cdl. Willem Eijk: Same-Sex Synod report must be forcefully refuted; Today is St. John Paul the Great’s 106th birthday anniversary; Catholics honor 6th century AD pope who urged courage to those who would compromise the faith; and more —
Top U.S. leadership rededicate country as ‘One nation, under God’
Catholic participants at the event included U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Bishop Robert Barron and actor Jonathan Roumie.
In a marathon ecumenical prayer and praise celebration ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary, top U.S. political figures gathered with major faith leaders and several thousand Americans on May 17 to reflect on the role of Providence in American history and rededicate the country as “One Nation, under God.”
The event, which was held under the auspices of Freedom 250, the country’s public-private initiative leading the celebration of the United States’ 250th birthday, also commemorated the act of the American colonies’ Continental Congress which ahead of the Revolutionary War proclaimed for May 17,1776 a “Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer.”
In that proclamation, the leaders of the nascent nation urged their fellow citizens to “confess and bewail our manifold sins and transgressions, and by a sincere repentance and amendment of life, appease his [Godʼs] righteous displeasure, and through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, obtain his pardon and forgiveness.”
Read more at EWTN News; watch the entire event @Freedom250
VP’s message for Rededicate 250
Watch @VP
State Sec’s message for Rededicate 250
Watch @SecRubio
National Intelligence director’s message for Rededicate 250
Watch @DNIGabbard
Rubio: ‘I would be the first person to support Vice President JD Vance if he runs for president in 2028’
See @BreitbartNews
Trump says U.S. has killed Islamic State leader in Nigeria
President Trump announced Friday evening that U.S. and Nigerian military forces had killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, a leader of the Islamic State group, in a “meticulously planned and very complex mission.”
Mr. Trump described al-Minuki as the Islamic State’s second-in-command globally and “the most active terrorist in the world.”
“He will no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “With his removal, ISIS’s global operation is greatly diminished.”
The Nigerian president’s office also confirmed the operation, and said that “early assessments confirm the elimination” of al-Minuki. “Several of his lieutenants” were also killed, the office said.
The operation took place at al-Minuki’s compound on Lake Chad Basin, the Nigerian president’s office said. Nigeria’s defense department described it as a “meticulously planned and highly coordinated counterterrorism operation.”
Read more at CBS News
WV legislator: Trump focused on defending Nigerian Christians
See @RepRileyMoore
Recap of Trump’s trip to China
Watch @WhiteHouse
Trump says Xi told him release of Jimmy Lai ‘would be a tough one’
After his two-day meeting in China this week, President Donald Trump said May 15 that Chinese leader Xi Jinping responded negatively when he raised the potential release of Jimmy Lai, the Catholic, pro-democracy advocate a Hong Kong court recently sentenced to 20 years in prison.
According to Reuters, Trump told journalists aboard Air Force One during his return flight to the U.S. that Xi was “giving very serious consideration” to releasing Zion Church founder Pastor Jin Mingri but indicated Lai’s case would be “a tough one.”
“He told me that would be a tough one,” Trump said.
In an interview with FOX News Channel’s “Special Report,” the President added that Xi’s response to the request “was not positive.”
Trump said that Xi “went through a whole thing and I said, ‘Well, we’d appreciate if you would release him. He’s gotten old, and he’s probably not feeling too well. It would be nice.’ And I did not feel optimistic. I have to be honest with you about that one,” according to Reuters.
Read more at Zeale
POTUS urges passage of the SAVE America Act – again
See @WhiteHouse
POTUS’ efforts to make DC beautiful again
See @Interior; see also @Interior
Colorado’s Democratic governor commutes ex-election clerk Tina Peters’ sentence after Trump pressure
Former Colorado clerk Tina Peters, the first local election official to be charged with a security breach after the 2020 election as unfounded conspiracy theories swirled, was found guilty by a jury on most charges Monday.
Peters, a one-time hero to election deniers, was accused of using someone else’s security badge to give an expert affiliated with My Pillow chief executive Mike Lindell access to the Mesa County election system and deceiving other officials about that person’s identity.
Lindell is a prominent promoter of false claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the election from Donald Trump. His online broadcasting site has been showing a livestream of Peters’ trial and sending out daily email updates, sometimes asking for prayers for Peters and including statements from her.
Prosecutors said Peters was seeking fame and became “fixated” on voting problems after becoming involved with those who had questioned the accuracy of the 2020 presidential election results.
Read more at AP News
RFK Jr.: ‘We are the sickest country in history,’ calls for restoring ‘sacred ritual’ of home-cooked meals
See @BreitbartNews
Why Restaurant Food is Declining
Watch at Matt Walsh
Christian faith looms large at ‘Unite The Kingdom’ protest in London
Many attendees said they felt white working-class Britons are being marginalized and Christian values eroded.
This weekend, tens of thousands of protesters gathered under an overcast sky in central London for a rally led by political activist and recent Christian convert, Tommy Robinson.
Under Union flags and banners of ‘Make England Great Again’, protesters chanted anti-government slogans such as “We want Starmer out.” Many attendees said they felt white working-class Britons are being marginalized and Christian values eroded.
Robinson – whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – converted to Christianity while in prison in 2025, serving a sentence for contempt of court. Christianity has become an
increasingly visible theme at these gatherings, with Robinson posting the Lord’s Prayer on X before the event.
Read more at EWTN News
British patriots reach for the Cross
Watch @MAGAVoice
Same-Sex Synod Report Must Be Forcefully Refuted – by Dutch Cdl. Willem Eijk
By elevating such testimonies without doctrinal commentary, the report effectively normalizes homosexual relationships within a Church context.
The recently published report from Synod Study Group 9 represents a troubling departure from the Catholic Church’s consistent moral teaching. While the authors claim they lack “the expertise or, above all, the necessary ecclesiastical authorization” to address individual moral issues definitively, the report’s methodology and framework systematically undermine the Church’s ability to proclaim and apply her moral doctrine. This is not merely a technical deficiency — it is a fundamental contradiction of Catholic teaching that demands a forceful response.
The most immediate concern involves the report’s treatment of same-sex relationships. The document presents testimonies from individuals with homosexual attractions without providing the Church’s moral framework for understanding these experiences. The report says that one witness “bears witness to the discovery that sin, at its root, does not consist in the (same sex) couple relationship, but in a lack of faith in a God who desires our fulfillment.” The authors of the report reproduce this claim without correction or clarification.
This witness’s thinking is fundamentally flawed. Homosexual acts are intrinsically evil — this is settled Catholic doctrine. A believing Christian who engages in such acts certainly falls short in faith, insofar as he fails to trust in God’s grace, which enables him to avoid sin. But this does not mean the sin lies primarily in lack of faith rather than in the act itself, as the witness suggests. The authors’ failure to clarify this point creates dangerous ambiguity.
Read more at the National Catholic Register
Netherlands: ALERT
After Loosdrecht [town] where 9,000 residents have been blocking the forced installation of 110 young male asylum seekers without local consultation, Apeldoorn [another town] is now joining the resistance. The authorities invoke the housing pressure, the locals defend their community and their way of life.
Watch @Media404
Today marks the 106th anniversary of Karol Wojtyła’s birth
Polish President Karol Nawrocki with his wife lay flowers and pray for the Fatherland at the tomb of St. John Paul II in Rome
See @VaticanNewsPL
Pope Leo’s first encyclical to be published May 25
See @cnalive
Today is the Feast Day of Saint John I, Pope and Martyr
See @FriarMario; read more at My Catholic Life!
Celebrating kindness to animals
Watch @MarioNawfal
