Adam Rasmussen

No.

Trying to follow every single Catholic I can find to see if I can make up some of the gap...

The talking point on the far right, for over a decade at least, has been that Islam is an "ideology" incompatible with the Constitution and not a religion and therefore the 1st Amendment doesn't apply. This is false of course, but it's the argument they use.

On X I've seen hundreds if not thousands of posts about the new Vatican document on Mary (many from trads). On BlueSky, nothing. Ngl, BluSky has not lived up to its promise as an X alternative.

Mary is mediatrix because she prays for us, and by her free consent and God's design the sole Redeemer came to us through her. She is NOT mediatrix of all graces. She herself was saved by God's grace at her Immaculate Conception. She does not mediate the graces of the sacraments.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, God and the World: A Conversation With Peter Seewald (Ignatius Press, 2002), 306

Source: Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love 3.11 (tr. Albert C. Outler, 1955), www.tertullian.org/fathers/augu...

"Evil, when it is rightly ordered and kept in its place, commends the good more eminently, since good things yield greater pleasure and praise when compared to the bad things. For the Omnipotent God would not allow any evil in his works unless he is able to bring forth good out of evil." — Augustine

Synodality, listening, dialogue, fraternity, and parrhesia "will enable us to live with confidence and a new spirit amid the tensions that run through the life of the Church: between unity and diversity, tradition and novelty, authority and participation."
www.americamagazine.org/speeches/202...

I don't care whether a priest is conservative or liberal, as long as he's pastoral and synodal, does the works of mercy, and teaches the full social doctrine as taught in papal documents.

The crypto corruption of this administration is astounding.

"Liz Bucar, a professor of religion, said it's clear the syncretic, ad hoc, New Age approach to spirituality by some older generations 'has not been satisfying to Zoomers.' She is seeing a desire for more structured community and moral frameworks that can help Zoomers navigate a suffering world."

I don't think he ever left.

I also don't understand being anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, or wanting to wage holy war. There's a lot I don't understand really.

I understand what's appealing about the Traditional Latin Mass. I don't understand what's appealing about antisemitism or believing only Catholics can be saved!

Statement of Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, on Standing with Immigrants Oct. 21, 2025 My dear brothers and sisters, today I speak to you as your shepherd, but also as a fellow pilgrim who shares the pain of many of our immigrant communities. Families are being torn apart. Children are left in fear, and communities are shaken by immigration raids and detentions. These actions wound the soul of our city. Let me be clear. The Church stands with migrants. We stand with a mother who crosses borders to feed her children. We stand with the father who labors in silence to build a better future. We stand with the young person who dreams of safety and a better future. Our parishes and schools will not turn away those who seek comfort, and we will not be silent when dignity is denied in the enforcement of the law, it is essential that we respect the dignity of every human being. Now I want to say something directly to those immigrants without documents. Most of you have been here for years. You have worked hard. You have raised families. You have contributed to this nation. You have earned our respect. As the Archbishop of Chicago, I will insist that you be treated with dignity. Americans should not forget that we all come from immigrant families. You are our brothers and sisters. We stand with you. God bless you all.

NEW: Cardinal Blase Cupich, the Archbishop of Chicago, has issued a new statement declaring that Chicago "communities are shaken by immigration raids and detentions. These actions wound the soul of our city. Let me be clear. The Church stands with migrants."

And yet the pope himself is an American Christian.

Statement of Cardinal Cupich on the Moral Imperative to Uphold Both Security and Human Dignity.

Reno has done an impressive job destroying the credibility of FT.

"Patristic theology was practical, aiming at a Church that was poor and for the poor, recalling that the Gospel is proclaimed correctly only when it impels us to touch the flesh of the least among us, and warning that doctrinal rigor without mercy is empty talk."
– Pope Leo XIV, Dilexi Te, 48

"...as if they were an obsession on the part of a few and not the burning heart of the Church’s mission, convinces me of the need to go back and re-read the Gospel, lest we risk replacing it with the wisdom of this world. The poor cannot be neglected."
– Pope Leo XIV, Dilexi Te, 15

"Christians too, on a number of occasions, have succumbed to attitudes shaped by secular ideologies or political and economic approaches that lead to gross generalizations and mistaken conclusions. The fact that some dismiss or ridicule charitable works..."

"The poor are not there by chance or by blind and cruel fate. Nor, for most of them, is poverty a choice. Yet, there are those who still presume to make this claim, thus revealing their own blindness and cruelty."
– Pope Leo XIV, Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi Te on Love for the Poor, 14

Straight Answers: The Reasons Behind Restricting the Latin Mass Traditionalists often argue that Traditionis Custodes and diocesan limitations on the Tridentine Mass are unnecessary, punitive, and directed at sincere Catholics who only want to worship as their anc...

This article really clearly lays out, plain as day, why Pope Francis put restrictions on the old Latin Mass and why Pope Leo is also concerned about how the traditionalist movement threatens the Church's unity.
wherepeteris.com/straight-ans...

I've experienced four popes, and I've never *not* looked forward to a new papal document. Catholics should be receptive to the papal magisterium even if we may sometimes struggle in our consciences with some particular teaching. We have a pope for a reason: it's part of the genius of Catholicism!

Pope Leo faces MAGA ire after immigration and climate change remarks | CNN Pope Leo XIV has adopted a more low-key, less combative style to his predecessor in the early months of his papacy. Pope Francis’s openness to the LGBTQ community, advocacy for migrants and critiques ...

Lirerally—

He described a consistent ethic of life derived from Gaudium et Spes and affirmed by John Paul II, authoritative magisterial teaching, and named a climate crisis named by both JP2 and Benedict XVI.

His critics are not serious people.

www.cnn.com/2025/10/04/e...

Bishops against Cardinal: The Plan to Censure Cupich The controversy surrounding the Archdiocese of Chicago’s plan to honor Senator Dick Durbin has rapidly escalated from a local dispute into a revealing test of the internal dynamics of the U.S. hierarc...

"This episode has brought to light a serious rupture in the US Church. Collegiality and fraternity have given way to hostility and open conflict."
wherepeteris.com/bishops-agai...

This is one of the more unusual pictures of a pope I've ever seen! Make a little holy water on the rocks.

A number of Catholics tried to cancel Pope Francis for almost his entire papacy. They were unsuccessful.

The consistent ethic of life has been official Catholic doctrine for many years (see, e.g., the encyclical Fratelli Tutti), so what Pope Leo said isn't surprising or new. However, many American Catholics have been convinced (often by online groups) that it's unorthodox. That needs to change.