Government shuts down after Senate Dems fail to support stopgap funding bill; Hegseth ends ‘war on warriors’; Pope Leo praises President Trump’s peace plan for Gaza; Durbin declines ‘Catholic’ award, gives Cupich a way out of the scandal; Political satirist draws attention to plight of Christians in Nigeria; Catholics celebrate the feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux who promised: ‘I will spend my Heaven doing good on earth’; and more —
Federal government enters shutdown after Congress lets funding expire
The federal government entered its first shutdown in nearly seven years on Wednesday after a bitterly divided Congress failed to pass more funding by a midnight deadline.
Lawmakers remained deadlocked over Democratic demands to extend expiring enhanced Obamacare subsidies. Hours earlier, the Senate failed to overcome a 60-vote filibuster and approve a short-term funding proposal passed by the House that did not address the health insurance tax credits.
Read more at the Washington Examiner
The VP on the Democrat Shutdown
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Trump’s Troll: Truth in Jest?
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Highlight of Hegseth’s address: Ending the war on warriors
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Posobiec: ‘Best speech the military has heard since General Patton’
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Pete Hegseth’s Full Remarks at The War Department Address
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Pope Leo reacts to Trump’s Gaza peace plan: ‘We hope Hamas accepts’
Pope Leo welcomed President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza Sept. 30, calling it a “realistic proposal” and urging Hamas to accept the deal.
“We hope they accept it,” the Pope told reporters outside Villa Barberini Sept. 30, according to Vatican News. “So far, it seems a realistic proposal.” Pope Leo also reiterated his appeal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages. “There are very interesting elements,” he said of the U.S.-backed deal. “We hope Hamas accepts within the established timeframe.”
Read more at CatholicVote
Pope Leo XIV praises President Trump’s Peace Plan for Gaza
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Trump to announce Pfizer price cuts, Trump-themed drug website: Report
President Donald Trump is expected to announce the development of a Trump-themed online drug market and price cuts from Pfizer as part of his effort to lower healthcare costs.
The website, TrumpRx, will permit direct consumer purchase of pharmaceuticals, Reuters reported, citing “a White House official.” Trump previously directed pharmaceutical companies to charge Americans the same prices they charge in other countries.
Read more at Just the News
DOJ Opens Probe Into Des Moines Schools As Illegal Alien Superintendent Resigns
The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into Des Moines Public Schools in the wake of immigration enforcement agents’ arrest last week of the district’s superintendent, Ian Roberts.
DOJ says investigators will be looking into whether Iowa’s largest public school system is employing discriminatory DEI initiatives in its hiring practices.
Read more at The Federalist
Durbin declines [Catholic] award as USCCB pressure mounted
Illinois Senator Dick Durbin declined on Tuesday a lifetime achievement award he was scheduled to receive from the Archdiocese of Chicago’s office of human dignity and solidarity. …
The announcement came after more than a week of controversy over the Archdiocese of Chicago’s decision to give Durbin an award at a November reception, aimed at recognizing his advocacy for immigrants in the United States.
Read more at The Pillar
Pope Leo XIV wades into Durbin debate
Pope Leo XIV responded to controversy over the Chicago cardinal’s plans to honor a Catholic U.S. senator who supports legalized abortion, saying that the senator’s record should be considered in its totality and that Americans should search together for the truth on ethical issues. …
“I am not terribly familiar with the particular case. I think it’s important to look at the overall work that a senator has done during, if I’m not mistaken, in 40 years of service in the United States Senate,” the pope told reporters on Tuesday in response to a question from EWTN News.
Read more at the Catholic News Agency
Statement of Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, after Durbin declines award
“Senator Durbin today informed me that he has decided not to receive an award at our Keep Hope Alive celebration. While I am saddened by this news, I respect his decision. But I want to make clear that the decision to present him an award was specifically in recognition of his singular contribution to immigration reform and his unwavering support of immigrants, which is so needed in our day …”
“I believe it would be worthwhile to schedule some synodal gatherings for members of the faithful to experience listening to each other with respect on these issues, all the while remaining open to maturing more fully in their common identity as Catholics” …
Read more at the Archdiocese of Chicago website
Kidnapped Nigerians Say Terrorists Use Vast Network of Villages to Persecute Locals
Nigerian Christians say their communities are under siege by Islamist “bandits” who are planning nothing less than genocide.
The Fulani militants preying on these Christians are often portrayed as small bands of criminals, but victims of their kidnapping and murder sprees say they have developed a vast and well-organized system of persecution.
Read more at Breitbart
Top U.S. Political Satirist Draws Attention to Plight of Christians in Nigeria
Since July 2009, more than 19,000 Christian churches have been destroyed or looted, while hundreds of clergy, including Catholic priests, have been kidnapped or attacked.
Political satirist Bill Maher, who has often been a vocal critic of Christianity, recently called attention to the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, calling the ongoing violence a “genocide attempt.”
“I’m not a Christian, but they are systematically killing the Christians in Nigeria,” he said during the Sept. 26 episode of his HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher.
“They’ve killed over 100,000 since 2009. They’ve burned 18,000 churches,” Maher said, referring to violent Islamists in Nigeria such as Boko Haram.
Read more at the National Catholic Register
British archbishop calls out UN over silence on Christian persecution
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organisations, has called on the international community to do more to end the persecution of Christians globally.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York on 29 September, Archbishop Gallagher stated that “Christians are the most persecuted group globally, yet the international community seems to be turning a blind eye to their plight.”
Read more at The Catholic Herald
Historic Buffalo parish wins temporary reopening from Vatican
St. John Kanty Church in Buffalo, New York, a landmark of the city’s Polish Catholic community, has been ordered to reopen by the Vatican after the Diocese of Buffalo closed it earlier this year as part of a sweeping restructuring plan prompted by bankruptcy due to abuse settlements, declining Mass attendance, and a shortage of priests.
The parish, located on Swinburne Street, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, WBEN reported. It was shut down in May as part of the diocese’s “Road to Renewal” plan, which included a wave of parish mergers and closures, affecting more than half of all parishes in Buffalo. sparking resistance from Catholics who see the closures as devastating to their communities.
Read more at CatholicVote
The Cross Conquers the World – Essay by Fr. Kevin Drew
Christ told us to be merciful as our Father is merciful. And so we are. He told us to love our enemies. But as I’ve instructed before, loving our enemies does not mean pretending they are our friends. And note that Christ never said “Blessed are the pacifists.” Rather, He said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
My friends, we are not Quakers. When our homes, families, or churches are attacked, we have a duty to defend those things. It is not mercy to stand by and watch good things be destroyed, it is cowardice. A Christian puts a stop to mindless evil destruction. Then he forgives. For he desires that all men, friend and foe alike, attain eternal life.
Read more at Crisis Magazine
Reminder: Pope Leo has asked us to pray the Rosary each day in October for peace
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St. Thérèse of Lisieux: “I will spend my Heaven doing good on earth.”
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Today is the Feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux
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