Pope’s visit to France dominates Catholic, even secular news; Must see: Thousands chant ‘Mary, Mary,’ sing Salve Regina on the steps of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris – Pope weeps; ‘Eldest daughter of the Church’ puts on spectacular show for the Pope – reenacts lives of saints in France from Mary Magdalene to St. Thérèse of Lisieux; Watch Pope Leo offer Holy Mass today at site of King Louis XVI’s beheading (see below for link); SCOTUS rules 6-3 that states may use the SAVE database to verify eligibility of voters; SCOTUS rules Missouri cannot use map that aids GOP; ‘Vote NO’: Virginia bishops instruct Catholics on abortion, same-sex marriage amendments; Catholics celebrate amazing twins who both became saints and whose names are included in the Roman Canon and the Litany of the Saints; and more —
Supreme Court clears way for Trump administration to use modified voter verification database
The Supreme Court on Friday cleared the way for the Trump administration to move forward with its plan to use a modified centralized database to verify voters’ citizenship. In a seven-page opinion issued just 39 days before the Nov. 3, 2026, election, the justices paused a ruling by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., that had blocked the government from doing so on the ground that it violated (among other things) federal privacy laws.
The unsigned opinion for the majority indicated that the lower court’s order “inhibits the Federal Government’s efforts to assist state and local agencies in the proper administration of the midterm elections.”
In a dissenting opinion joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson called Friday’s decision a “questionable interim ruling[] about two statutory provisions” that the Supreme Court “has never before interpreted.” She also contended that the majority “focuses only on the harms the Government will purportedly suffer absent a stay, disregarding the harms that the” use of the modified database “has caused, and will likely continue to cause, to lawful voters.”
Read at SCOTUSblog
Patriot Scott Presler on the ruling
See @ScottPresler
For the third time, Supreme Court declines to allow Missouri to use congressional map expected to aid Republicans
For the third time in less than a month, the Supreme Court on Friday declined to allow Missouri to use a new congressional map, intended to benefit Republicans, in the November 2026 elections. In a five-page, unsigned order, the justices paused a ruling by a federal appeals court in St. Louis that had directed the state to implement the new map.
In Friday’s opinion, which was released to reporters shortly before 6 p.m. EDT, the court emphasized that the federal district and appeals courts “should not enjoin or otherwise prohibit the use of the” map enacted in 2022, which is currently in use in voting already underway, “in the 2026 congressional election in Missouri.” Moreover, the court added, those courts “should not order or otherwise require Missouri to use the” new map “in the 2026 congressional election in Missouri.”
There were no public dissents from the Supreme Court’s opinion.
The dispute began in September 2025, when Missouri adopted a new map that was intended to give Republicans an additional seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. On Dec. 9, opponents of the state’s new map – including the group People Not Politicians and its executive director, Richard von Glahn – submitted more than 300,000 signatures in support of a petition to put the new map up for a vote on the ballot in the November 2026 general election. Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, Missouri’s top election official, rejected the petition on Aug. 4, 2026 – the last day to do so – and the state conducted its August primary with the new map.
Read more at SCOTUSblog
VA Bishop launching effort to rally Catholic opposition to abortion, same-sex marriage amendments
‘Prayer, fasting, sacrifice—all these are important. We have the truth and we have the power of prayer.’ – Bishop Michael Burbidge
Watch @VaNewsVanguard
DOJ Settles With 6 Hospitals to End Gender Surgeries on Minors
See @DailySignal; read also “‘Vote NO’: Virginia bishops instruct Catholics on abortion, same-sex marriage amendments” at Cardinal News
FYI – Pope Leo’s Schedule: APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF POPE LEO XIV TO FRANCE – SEPTEMBER 25-28, 2026
Schedule for Saturday, September 26, 2026 (Times listed are in local French time)
From PARIS to LOURDES
09:00 VISIT TO THE MAISON BAKHITA CENTRE FOR SOCIAL SUPPORT AND INTEGRATION
10:15 MEETING WITH MEMBERS OF THE PROVINCIAL SYNODAL ASSEMBLY, CATECHUMENS AND NEWLY BAPTIZED at the Institut Catholique de Paris
15:00 HOLY MASS at the Place de la Concorde
17:45 Departure by airplane from Paris Orly International Airport to Lourdes
19:05 Arrival at Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées International Airport
19:40 PRAYER AT THE GROTTO OF THE APPARITIONS AT MASSABIELLE at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes
See complete schedule at The Holy See
Pope encourages Catholics in deeply secular France to persevere as Paris shuts down for huge Mass
Pope Leo XIV encouraged French Catholics on Saturday to persevere in their faith “even amid the thorns” of a secular world, rallying the faithful ahead of a huge Mass at the iconic Place de la Concorde that shut down central Paris.
Leo opened his second day in France by meeting with young converts, whose decision to join the Catholic Church has sparked optimism in the French hierarchy even amid an overall downward spiral of the practicing faithful in the once staunchly Catholic but now deeply secular country.
Leo has sought to encourage them during his visit, which began on Friday with his arrival and prayer at the newly restored Notre Dame cathedral, the first by a pope since the devastating 2019 fire. After Leo’s Mass on Saturday, the pope travels to the Catholic shrine at Lourdes, where he is due to meet with survivors of clergy sexual abuse.
Read more at Associated Press; read more at Breitbart
You can watch Pope Leo offer Holy Mass live today at the site of King Louis XVI’s beheading
Watch @DWS News; watch also at Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV visibly affected as thousands sing Salve Regina on steps of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris
Watch @CatholicSat
Must watch: Young people of France reenact the incredible history of the Church of France
Watch @CatholicSat; see also at Rome Reports in English
The Ash Wednesday Tsunami by Xandro Pachta-Reyhofen
A Catholic priest in France reports on an upsurge of interest in faith among young adults.
Here in Europe, some Christian churches share the same fate as the alpine glaciers: for several decades now, they have been melting not only continuously but at an ever-increasing rate. Glacier experts no longer speak of retreat but of collapse. The forecast is bleak: soon the ice will have disappeared entirely. Something similar could be said about Christianity in the Western world.
But what actually happens when, in a country where for centuries nearly all children were baptized in their first year, only a quarter of the babies born in a given year are baptized? What does it mean when religion, as a defining social factor that has shaped the worldview and way of life of nearly everyone, disintegrates? What does such a massive decline feel like? What consequences does it have for society and the church?
France, where I have served as a priest and youth minister for the past few years, presents an interesting case study. Developments in this country are paradigmatic because of the dramatic decline in faith across Europe. The “oldest daughter of the church,” as France has been called since the conversion of the Franks in the fifth century, had Catholic baptism rates of up to 94 percent as recently as the 1960s. Today, only 25 percent of the population identifies as Catholic. Add to this the church’s abuse scandals, its precarious financial situation, and the dwindling number of priests, and a bleak picture of the French church emerges, as fragile as that of the glaciers.
On the other hand, however, the French church’s current mood hardly corresponds to its desolate condition. If you ask church staff members about their predictions for the future, you will be surprised to find that there is no sense of doom – or to be more precise, there is no longer a sense of doom. At least in the cities.
“It is a paradox: a decline in membership – in fact, the disintegration of the church – on the one hand, and a hopeful and joyful sense of confidence on the other. Even if I am exaggerating somewhat, the current sense of optimism, which is impossible to overlook, demands attention.”
Read more at Plough
Pope Leo to visit Lourdes today
‘What I think is very important is the enthusiasm of people. A lot of people have been calling us saying even if they couldnʼt come, they were so happy for the pope to come to Lourdes, to reveal more about the message of Our Lady to Bernadette,’ [a hotel owner] told EWTN News.
See @cnalive
Today is the Feast of Sts. Cosmas and Damian
See @FriarMario; see also @father_rmv; read more about Sts. Cosmas and Damian at My Catholic Life!
