In Case You Missed It – Tuesday, May 6, 2025

If you value information like this, sign up for our daily email newsletter and support us with a donation. 

Tension Mounts as Conclave Approaches

"With just a few hours until the conclave, the atmosphere in Rome Monday had reached fever pitch, with a rumor mill in full swing and just a few cardinals offering the occasional glimpse into what they are thinking and expecting," writes Edward Pentin.

Read more at the National Catholic Register

In Rome’s shadows, smoke and speculation: the conclave’s political ballet begins

As Rome braces for the conclave, cardinals gather and intrigue swirls. Will it be Parolin, Tagle, Prevost, or a surprise?

Read more at the Catholic Herald

African Bishops Don’t Want A Pope Like Francis; We Want A Pope Like Christ

While Francis’s legacy as a promoter of peace and justice, a warrior for environmental stewardship, and a crusader for an inclusive Church certainly resonates with clerics across Africa, many balk at defining the kind of pontiff who should be elected when the conclave begins meeting on May 7, except by noting that the new Pope should be like Christ himself.

Read more at Crux

Circulating in Rome: ‘The Italian cardinals are not united’

“I received an insight from a reliable source regarding the upcoming conclave. The insight: the Italians are not united. And this lack of unity is preventing an early consensus on a candidate. And this could throw the conclave wide open,” says Robert Moynihan, editor of Inside the Vatican.

Read more at Inside the Vatican

Preparing for a bad pope

We should pray and fast for a good pope out of love for the Church, but we should not look for the next pope to “save” us so that we will not have to suffer or convert personally. The Church is as holy as her members.

Read more at Catholic Culture

EU Parliament pays tribute to Pope Francis' moral authority

[T]he President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, highlighted Pope Francis’s enduring message of unity and compassion. He “will be remembered for his inspiring leadership, moral authority, and kindness, seizing every opportunity to speak in favour of a more humane, peaceful, and united world," she said.

Read more at Vatican News

Conservative Catholics Take Stage in Rome, Looking to Shape the Church

In lavish halls, days before a conclave will select a new pope, power brokers came together for a mix of devotion, activism, money and socializing. … Brian Burch, President Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to the Holy See, dined at a head table next to Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, the German aristocrat who befriended Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., and alongside current and former members of hard-right European political parties.

“Only together we can effectively conquer the demographic winter,” he said, nodding to low birthrates and a push for pronatalist policies, said one of the attendees.

Read more at The New York Times

Bishop Barron says he takes heterodox priest as his ‘model’ for new Trump admin role

Bishop Robert Barron said he takes Fr. Ted Hesburgh – a supporter of ‘population control’ and ‘women priests’ – as his ‘model’ for his role on Trump’s White House Religious Freedom Commission. 

Read more at Lifesite

DOJ investigating ‘anti-Catholic’ Washington state law requiring clergy to report child abuse

A law signed by Washington State Gov. Bob Ferguson last week that requires members of the clergy to report confessions of child abuse or neglect is under scrutiny, as the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened a civil rights investigation into whether the law violates the First Amendment.

Read more at Fox News

Trump dismisses backlash over AI-generated pope image

President Donald Trump brushed off media criticism Monday after an AI-generated image portraying him as the Pope went viral, making clear he had no role in its creation.

“I had nothing to do with it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “Somebody made up a picture of me dressed like the Pope, and they put it out on the Internet. That’s not me that did it. I have no idea where it came from. Maybe it was AI.”

Read more at CatholicVote

Essay: Hateful Legacy Press Is Fighting a Losing Battle

The press hates Trump more than it loves the truth — and the hyperbolic fear-mongering we’ve seen is proof ...

Read more at the New York Post

Democrat Sen. Ruben Gallego Pushes Amnesty for Illegal Aliens in Response to Trump’s Self-Deportation Program

The Arizonan says he opposes self-deportations and instead suggests an amnesty plan that would keep eligible illegal aliens on renewable work visas indefinitely — flooding the American labor market with millions of newly legalized foreign workers.

Read more at Breitbart

Catholic health group backs HHS review: ‘Gender affirming’ care is harmful to children

Catholic health group backs HHS review: ‘Gender affirming’ care is harmful to children.

The Christ Medicus Foundation is praising the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for a new federal report rejecting “gender-affirming” procedures for minors, calling it a major step toward protecting children.

Read more at Catholic Vote

20 Blue States Sue to Reverse RFK Jr's HHS Cuts

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is being sued by California, New York, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, and other states over what they call the dismantling of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.

Read more at The Daily Signal

Hegseth Unveils 'Less Generals, More GIs' Reform For The Pentagon And U.S. Military

Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth unveils his "leaner and meaner" reform. "In keeping with President Trump's commitment to achieving peace through strength, we're going to shift resources from bloated headquarters elements to our war fighters," he says. 

View at Forbes Breaking News

Army suspends helicopter flights near Reagan National airport after DOT’s complaints about safety

The announcement came three days after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy admonished military VIPs to “take a taxi or Uber” rather than fly choppers through D.C.’s crowded airspace.

Read more at Politico

"We Don't Need Anything They Have... Except Friendship" – Trump Trounces New Canadian PM Carney Ahead Of White House Visit

Ahead of his meeting with freshly elected Canadian PM Mark Carney, President Trump has made his feelings clear about the relationship with USA's northern neighbor.

In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, President Trump [said]

"I look forward to meeting the new Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney. I very much want to work with him, but cannot understand one simple TRUTH - Why is America subsidizing Canada by $200 Billion Dollars a year, in addition to giving them FREE Military Protection, and many other things?" 

Read more at ZeroHedge

BOOM! Stephen Miller’s America First Legal Drops Bombshell Lawsuit Against Chief Justice John Roberts

Stephen Miller’s America First Legal (AFL) has filed a bombshell lawsuit against Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., in his capacity as Presiding Officer of the Judicial Conference of the United States, and Robert J. Conrad, Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

The lawsuit accuses the powerful duo of running what AFL describes as an “unconstitutional shadow agency” and violating federal transparency laws.

Read more at Gateway Pundit

Key GOP senator says he won’t back controversial Trump pick for US attorney for DC

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a key vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee, says he will not support Ed Martin’s nomination to serve as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, citing his concerns over Martin’s advocacy for people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Tillis’s opposition is a serious blow, as Martin needs the support of a majority of the Senate Judiciary Committee to advance to the Senate floor, and other Republicans on the panel have yet to announce their positions.

Read more at The Hill

Vatican ambassador promotes beatification of Venerable Hungarian Cardinal József Mindszenty

"OTD 50 years ago Venerable Hungarian Cardinal József Mindszenty went home to the Father. If you want to help his cause of beatification I encourage you to pray for his intercession in desperate medical situations. (And kindly let me know when he helps you)" requests Eduard Habsburg, Ambassador of Hungary to the Holy See.

Read more @EduardHabsburg

Cardinal Raymond Burke continues to urge novena prayer for the election of the successor to St. Peter

"I ask you to continue praying the Novena Prayer, until the new Successor of Saint Peter is elected. If you have not yet begun to pray the Novena Prayer, I urge you to begin praying it immediately."

Cardinal Burke's prayer is available here

Editor's note:

HOW SOULS AND LIBERTY WILL MOVE FORWARD THE NEXT FOUR YEARS

There can be no doubt we have witnessed an extraordinary moment in the history of the United States and the world. The election of Donald Trump to a second Presidential term is a great victory for Christian patriots, but it is not a complete or final victory. Rather, it is a reprieve from the ceaseless assaults on life, liberty and faith we have had to endure for four years.

Donald Trump is president once again, and his decisions, Cabinet selections, and force of personality are shaping the United States and the world in ways we could only dream of.

We have a Heaven-sent opportunity to step up and ensure this victory is not merely a one-off, but the first of many and the foundation of a lasting legacy of patriotic, Christian, pro-family policies.

Souls and Liberty will be part of that effort, but we cannot do it without you. It will require reporting and activism that YOU can be a part of.

Can you step up and support us? Just once – a one-time donation is very valuable. Or, better yet, support us every month with a recurring donation. Thank you, and may God bless you.

Stephen Wynne

Editor-in-Chief, Souls and Liberty