In Case You Missed It – Wednesday, May 28, 2025
- Souls and Liberty
- 3 days ago
- 7 min read
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Pope Leo XIV calls for peace in Ukraine and ceasefire in Gaza
Pope Leo XIV forcefully appealed for a “ceasefire now!” in Gaza, along with the liberation of all hostages, and that humanitarian law be fully respected.
“From the Gaza Strip,” the Pope said, we hear “rising ever more insistently to the heavens, the cries of mothers and fathers who clutch the lifeless bodies of their children, and who are continually forced to move about in search of a little food and water and safer shelter from bombardments."
Read more at Vatican News
Zelensky Calls For Three-Way Talks With Trump and Putin, Calls For New Sanctions if Russia Refuses Peace
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky called for trilateral leaders’ talks between himself, the U.S., and Russia, while Moscow said that the next round of “direct talks” will be announced soon. ...
On the minds of many are the next steps if Russia continues its feet-dragging over the peace process, with President Trump having previously suggested “secondary tariffs,” the levying of punishment of countries that buy Russian goods and energy. Zelensky was naturally enthusiastic for this, remarking: “Trump confirmed that if Russia does not stop, sanctions will be imposed ... I would very much like that.”
Read more at Breitbart
State Department Officials Head To Europe To Fight For Free Speech
A group of senior State Department officials will head to France and Ireland this week to push both countries to respect citizens’ rights ...
The trip is part of a State Department effort to fight “egregious examples of democratic backsliding” and “violations of basic natural rights” in Europe ... The initiative, launched by the department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, is especially focused on defending freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to privacy.
Read more at The Daily Wire
State department representative calls out UK's violation of free speech
Jason Miller exposes the UK’s jailing of a woman for 31 months over a social media post, shows that even left-leaning magazine The Economist admits EU has a free speech problem.
Watch at @JackPosobiec
Rubio announces visa restrictions for foreigners 'complicit' in censoring Americans
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced new visa restrictions the Trump administration is implementing against foreign authorities who it says are "complicit" in censoring Americans.
"For too long, Americans have been fined, harassed, and even charged by foreign authorities for exercising their free speech rights ... Free speech is essential to the American way of life – a birthright over which foreign governments have no authority."
Read more at Fox News
Read official announcement at US Department of State
NPR sues Trump White House over executive order targeting public media
NPR and a trio of Colorado public radio stations sued the Trump administration in federal court on Tuesday over an executive order seeking to cease all federal funding to NPR and PBS.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this month instructing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies "to cease Federal funding for NPR" and other public media outlets. NPR has vowed to challenge the order "by all means available," and CEO Katherine Maher took action.
Read more at Fox News
Essay: NPR and PBS Aren’t Entitled to Your Tax Dollars
National Public Radio is suing the Trump administration for cutting off its federal funds, which, according to NPR’s complaint, is a “blatant,” “textbook” First Amendment violation.
But NPR seems to have forgotten some free speech basics. As the District of Columbia District Court—the court where NPR filed suit on Tuesday—stated just a few weeks ago, “the government does not abridge the right to free speech by choosing not to subsidize it.”
Read more at The Free Press
Trump threatens to revoke California’s federal funding over ‘transgender’ athletes
President Donald Trump threatened Tuesday to pull federal funding from California unless the state stops allowing males to compete in women’s sports.
In a social media post, Trump criticized California for continuing “to ILLEGALLY allow ‘MEN TO PLAY IN WOMEN’S SPORTS.’” He highlighted a May 24 event where a 16-year-old male won both the women’s long jump and triple jump at the California Interscholastic Federation’s (CIF) Southern Section Masters, earning a spot in the state championships later this week.
Read more at CatholicVote
Milwaukee Catholic Charities suit: Finance director stole ‘millions,’ Charities charges
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee alleged this month that its former finance director stole millions of dollars via a number of false accounting schemes and misuse of company credit cards.
The allegations were presented in a lawsuit filed May 9 against Brandi Ellis, who worked at the organization for 10 years.
According to the suit, Ellis served in a variety of accounting and finance roles in Milwaukee Catholic Charities from 2014 until 2024, effectively functioning as director of finance from 2019.
Read more at The Pillar
Mike Lindell Says He’s Considering Challenging Tim Walz for Governor of Minnesota
Mike Lindell has announced that he is considering running for governor against incumbent and likely Democratic nominee Tim Walz in 2026.
Walz, who is currently serving his second term since taking office in 2019, is eligible for a third term. The failed Vice Presidential candidate is reportedly considering a reelection campaign after ruling out a bid for the Senate.
Lindell recently announced on Lindell TV that he is “considering it” and “going to do due diligence,” including running polls before he officially announces anything.
Read more at the Gateway Pundit
The Navy is ending animal testing on cats and dogs
Secretary of the Navy, John Phelan: “Today it gives me great pleasure to terminate all Department of the Navy's testing on cats and dogs, saving taxpayer dollars and ending these inhumane studies.
This is long overdue. In addition to this termination, I'm directing the Surgeon General of the Navy to conduct a comprehensive review of all medical research programs to ensure they align with ethical guidelines, scientific necessity, and our core values of integrity and readiness.”
Read/view more at Eric Daugherty on X
North Carolina priests urge Charlotte Bishop Martin to reconsider Latin Mass restrictions
A letter was sent by the four priests who are the pastors of the parishes in which the remaining Traditional Latin Masses are offered.
As is their pastoral responsibility and canonical right, the four pastors of the impacted parishes have written Charlotte Bishop Martin urging reconsideration of his restrictions against the Latin Mass, per Fr. V on X.
Read the bishops' letter here
Information re: how to sign petition against bishop's decree here
Archbishop Cordileone announces project aimed at renewing reverence in the liturgy
San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone has announced he will be launching a project aimed at establishing more reverent liturgical practices.
“I am about to launch a major new more reverent liturgy project,” Cordileone wrote on X on May 22, asking “any pastors, priests, seminarians, deacons or music directors who would like to help” to email Maggie Gallagher, executive director of the Benedict XVI Institute.
Read more at Lifesite; view Abp. Cordileone's post on X
Opinion: Gen Z Finds Meaning in Traditional Religion
Progressives do not seem to understand the dramatic societal transformation that is occurring among young people searching for meaning in an increasingly chaotic culture. Failing to recognize these changes, David Hogg, the clueless Democratic National Committee Vice Chair, recently told an interviewer that young people just want to “get laid and have fun.”
The truth is that Gen Z is rejecting the kind of life that Hogg is promoting, preferring instead to find meaning in authentic relationships and traditional institutions. A growing number of them are finding meaning in Catholicism. ...
Read more at Crisis Magazine
The Architect Who Fought Modernism — and Inspired a Sacred Architecture Revival
One does not necessarily expect to hear the language of warfare coming from the mouth of Duncan Stroik while discussing sacred architecture. ...
And yet, the 63-year-old Stroik sees the effort to promote traditional forms of church architecture, a movement that he’s been at the fore of for decades, as a fight of epic significance: of the right understanding of worship against the wrong one, of beauty against mere utility, and of artistic humility against self-aggrandizing pride.
Read more at the National Catholic Register
Noem blasts 'weak' European leaders, stumps for conservative candidate in Poland
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday pushed for Karol Nawrocki to be president of Poland while speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Warsaw, decrying his opponent as a "train wreck."
It is an extraordinary move for a sitting member of the U.S. Cabinet to advocate for a political candidate in a foreign country.
Noem spoke for more than 20 minutes at CPAC, an American group that seeks to spread conservative ideas and held its first conference in Poland on Tuesday.
Read more at ABCNews
View excerpt of Noem's speech @NEWSMAX
Poland: The Fight for God Against Globalism (podcast)
Jack Posobiec's Human Events podcast from Poland's first-ever CPAC features interviews with EU MP Dominic Tarczynski (IN: 7:25 apple) and Matt Schlapp (IN: 30:15 apple) as well as Posobiec's rousing speech (IN: 22:19 apple).
The conservative gathering takes place ahead of the critical Polish election between conservative Karol Nawrocki and globalist Rafał Trzaskowski on June 1.
Togo’s Change of Constitution Removing Presidential Term Limit Poses “serious risk” to Social Cohesion: Catholic Bishops
Catholic Bishops in the African country of Togo have expressed concern about the 2024 change of the country's Constitution that eliminated the presidential term limit.
In a statement issued Monday, May 26, members of the Episcopal Conference of Togo (CET) warn that the removal of the Presidential term limit poses “a serious risk” to Togo’s national unity and endangers the “social cohesion” and stability of the West African nation.
Read more at aciafrica
Belgium: Mass attendance rises almost 4% in a year
New annual statistics, usually released in November but compiled earlier than scheduled this year, indicated that 173,335 people attended Mass on an average Sunday in 2024, 3.6% more than in 2023, when the average attendance was 167,360.
The Belgian bishops’ conference said May 27 that “it is still too early to speak of a real change in trend, which may or may not continue.”
Read more at The Pillar
President Trump said he will look into pardoning men convicted of "plotting" to kidnap MI Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
Reporter: "Will you pardon the people who are accused of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer?"
Trump: "I will take a look at it. It's been brought to my attention. I did watch the trial. It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job."
View Q&A at George on X
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Editor-in-Chief, Souls and Liberty