In Case You Missed It –Tuesday, May 20, 2025
- Souls and Liberty
- May 20
- 7 min read
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U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone, as the U.S. president continues his push to settle the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump said he believed that his call with the Russian leader went well.
“The tone and spirit of the conversation was excellent,” he wrote in a May 19 post on his Truth Social platform.
In his May 19 post, Trump indicated that he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders immediately after he wrapped up his call with Putin.
Read more at NTD
Trump says Vatican ‘very interested’ in hosting Ukraine-Russia peace talks
A move to hold talks between Ukraine and Russia at the Vatican appeared to gain momentum May 19, following a call between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said he believed his two-hour call with Putin “went very well," adding “The Vatican, as represented by the Pope, has stated that it would be very interested in hosting the negotiations.”
Read more at the Catholic Review
Members of Congress Ask House Speaker to Invite Pope Leo to Give Major Speech
Fourteen House Republicans sent a letter Monday to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA, urging him to invite Pope Leo XIV to address Congress—a historic first for a US-born pontiff.
“We as Catholics celebrate the first-ever American pope and hope you will consider an invitation to him,” the lawmakers wrote. “It would be valuable for Congress to hear His Holiness’s vision for the role of Catholic faith in the world and how he plans to lead the over 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide and the many others who look to the Holy See for spiritual and moral guidance.”
Read more at Life News
‘Great charity and great clarity’ - How Pope Leo is remembered in Chiclayo
[H]ow do the people of Chiclayo [in Peru] remember the man they still call “Monseñor Roberto”?
The Pillar spoke with priests and laypeople who knew Pope Leo XIV during his time as bishop. They shared stories of a man they remembered to be approachable and humble, an adept administrator with a sharp intellect, committed to both orthodoxy in Catholic teaching and tenderness in dialoguing openly with others.
Read more at The Pillar
Marco Rubio's powerful faithful message about the legacy of St. Peter
Listen at Catholics for Catholics on X
Secretary of State touts Trump's speech in Saudi Arabia as “one of the most profound foreign policy speeches in American history”
Watch @RapidResponse47
JD Vance meeting with Pope Leo brings invitation from Trump to visit the U.S.
Pope Leo XIV received the U.S. Vice President, JD Vance, in a private audience this morning, May 19, the Vatican said in a communique to the press. At the start of the meeting, Mr. Vance gave the pope a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump inviting him to visit the United States.
They met in the private library of the Apostolic Palace, where popes normally receive heads of state or government and other distinguished guests. ...
Read more at America Magazine
Fr. James Martin speaking engagement cancelled
Philadelphia Catholic University in Newtown, PA had invited Fr James Martin as a commencement speaker but got cancelled after Catholic protest. After a TFP [Tradition Family Property] Student Action petition gathered over 11,000 signatures and a public rosary rally was planned, the university quietly removed Fr. Martin from the commencement speaker list.
Watch more at TFP Student Action YouTube
Bishop Barron Warns Catholic University Graduates: Secularism Is a ‘Poison to the Soul’
Bishop Robert Barron challenged the new graduates: ‘Contrive a way to make your life a gift. Do not endeavor to fill up your ego; rather, endeavor to make it a conduit of grace …’
Read more at National Catholic Register
Benedictine College awards honorary degrees to attorneys who helped end Roe v. Wade
The three attorneys worked to draft and/or defend Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act, which ultimately led to the end of Roe v. Wade at the U.S. Supreme Court in Dobbs.
Benedictine College president Stephen D. Minnis said, ”We’re pleased to recognize and welcome into the community of Ravens three wonderful women who have become known for their pro-life work, which led to the landmark Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe versus Wade and remove abortion as the law of the land.”
Read more at LIVEACTION
Washington state Democrats pass bill effectively legalizing infanticide
Washington state Democratic legislators have sent to Governor Bob Ferguson a bill that, if enacted, will make it more difficult for law enforcement to investigate infanticide and sex trafficking.
Deceptively titled “an act relating to dignity in pregnancy loss,” substitute Senate Bill 5093 (SSB 5093) “repeals the crime of concealing a birth and guts the authority of coroners to investigate suspicious infant deaths unless there’s an obvious, provable crime attached" ...
Read more at Lifesite
Bishops Thomas and Barron Applaud Move to Defund Abortion and “Gender Transition” Industries, Call for Authentic Health Care
“Americans should not be forced to subsidize abortions and ‘gender transition’ services with their tax dollars,” said Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Bishop Robert E. Barron, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth.
In recognition of last week's committee markups of the U.S. House of Representatives’ budget reconciliation bill, and in anticipation of its being voted on in the House in the days ahead, the bishops also urged Congress to support authentic health care for vulnerable women and children.
Read more at USCCB website
Supreme Court Lets Trump Administration End Protections For Venezuelan Immigrants
The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the Trump administration to remove hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans from the U.S., ruling 8-1 to throw out a lower court order, while litigation moves forward, that blocked the federal government from rescinding Venezuelan immigrants' temporary protected status.
Watch at Forbes Breaking News
DAVID MARCUS: Old Man Biden’s autopen pardons should be null and void
[I]f we are finally admitting that Biden had less command of his faculties than Ivy League university presidents, then how can we allow any of his supposedly signed orders to stand?
Most importantly, what are we to make of Biden’s last-minute pardons, including one he swore he would never grant?
Read more at Fox News
Biden’s cancer diagnosis sparks prayers and concern
A day after former President Joe Biden revealed he has advanced prostate cancer, conservatives and Catholic leaders responded with prayers, alongside serious questions about the Biden administration’s lack of transparency.
Scrutiny regarding the timeline of Biden’s diagnosis intensified Monday when a 2022 video resurfaced in which he appeared to say, “I … have cancer.” The clip, widely shared on social media, has fueled growing speculation that the former president’s condition may have been known long before the public announcement.
Read more at CatholicVote
Commentary: Biden’s Presidency Is a Scandal of Historic Proportions
The legacy media is only now covering the mental incapacity of a president who apparently left the entire ship of state to the unaccountable bureaucracy.
On Friday, Axios released Friday night news dump audio of Biden’s 2023 interview with special counsel Robert Hur.
If you heard the tape and haven’t been in a coma for the past four years, then nothing here is truly surprising. The former president sounded senile and evasive when answering questions about his handling of top secret documents.
Read more at The Daily Signal
South African Catholic leaders dismiss Trump’s ‘white genocide’ claim as dangerous myth
Catholic leaders in South Africa have blasted the Trump administration over claims of an ongoing genocide against white South Africans.
US President Donald Trump recently claimed that “genocide” was taking place in South Africa. He said white farmers were being “brutally killed” and their “land is being confiscated.”
Read more at the Catholic Herald
House GOP Moves Forward with Plan to Punish Comey: He’d Never Serve in Government Again
Republican lawmakers want to translate their wrath over James Comey’s stunning social media post concerning President Donald Trump into a tangible step against the former FBI director.
Last week, Comey posted on Instagram and then deleted an arrangement of seashells that read “8647.” Because 86 is a slang term for getting rid of someone — often with some sense of finality — something Comey has claimed he did not know, the post was widely read as a call for removing Trump from office.
Read more at The Gateway Pundit
Justice Department investigating Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for alleged racially motivated hiring
The U.S. Department of Justice began an investigation into Mayor Brandon Johnson Monday over allegations of race-based discrimination, citing his recent remarks at a Woodlawn church in which he emphasized how many Black people he’s hired in his administration.
Johnson received a letter from assistant attorney general Harmeet Dhillon saying there is “reasonable cause” to believe the mayor “made hiring decisions solely on the basis of race,” in potential violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Read more at GMToday
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson calls DOJ probe a 'divisive tactic'
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson spoke to the media Tuesday morning, one day after the U.S. Department of Justice announced an investigation into the city for possible race-based hiring practices.
The DOJ is investigating whether Johnson’s hiring practices violated federal civil rights law. The probe follows a speech where he emphasized appointing Black leaders to key positions in his administration.
Read more at Fox News Chicago
Upcoming Online Course Aims to Help the Faithful Rediscover the Holy Mass
A new online course has been launched to help the faithful rediscover the “beauty, meaning, and power” of the Holy Mass.
Led by Italian liturgical scholar Aurelio Porfiri, the course aims to offer “deep formation” in the sacred liturgy and features an “innovative” program with instruction from several esteemed formators. ...
Read more at National Catholic Register
Miracles Worked by Modern-Day Saints
A series explores miracles as proof of the truths of Catholic doctrine. In the latest installment four modern saints are showcased, including Padre Pio. Miracles continue to this day to show the truth that the Catholic religion alone is the true religion.
Read more at OnePeterFive
Hail Mary, full of grace: Why popes and other Catholics pray to the Virgin Mary
The month of May is dedicated to Marian celebrations, so here’s a look at the history and traditions about Mary and why praying to Her means so much to so many.
Pope Leo XIV closed his first public blessing as pontiff with a Hail Mary, after invoking the feast day of Our Lady of Pompei. On his first papal trip, he went to the Sanctuary of Our Mother of Good Counsel in the medieval village of Genazzano and on the drive back stopped to pray by Pope Francis’ tomb in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. ...
Read more at Religion News Service
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Editor-in-Chief, Souls and Liberty
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