Joe Ferullo

Democracy is when voters choose their leaders. Autocracy is when leaders choose their voters.

Oh...

Catholic congressional Dems rebuke Mike Johnson's biblical defense of ICE Their Feb. 13 statement, led by Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, outlines a series of Catholic social teaching principles that the lawmakers say they consider when approaching immigration issues.

Via NCR - Catholic congressional Dems rebuke Mike Johnson's biblical defense of ICE. "Sacred Scripture consistently reminds us of our obligation toward the vulnerable and displaced.”
#ICE #Trump #Catholic #Democrats
www.ncronline.org/news/catholi...

50 Cent's 'Moses the Black' brings 4th-century saint into mainstream culture Producer Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson's "Moses the Black" acknowledges both humanity's propensity toward violence and the transformative power of faith.

Must-read via NCR Reviews - 50 Cent's 'Moses the Black' brings 4th-century saint into mainstream culture. Alongside the violence and mayhem of street life, there is a different reality available.
#Christian #Africa #Black #saint #movies #50Cent
www.ncronline.org/culture/50-c...

Faith leaders blast Trump repeal of linchpin climate rule as legal battle awaits The Trump administration's erasure of the scientific finding that emissions driving climate change endanger public health drew condemnation from Catholic leaders, who characterized the move as morally...

Via @brianroewe.bsky.social in NCR - Faith leaders blast Trump repeal of linchpin climate rule as legal battle awaits. “More than a setback — it is unconscionable.”
#ClimateChange #Environment #Trump
www.ncronline.org/news/faith-l...

After photos in the Daily Mail showed Lewandowski going back and forth between his apartment and Noem’s across the street last year, the secretary moved into a government-owned waterfront house on a military base in Washington that is provided to the leader of the U.S. Coast Guard. The Coast Guard falls under Noem’s purview at DHS during peacetime. Lewandowski also spends time at the house. The DHS spokeswoman said Noem moved to the house for increased security and pays rent. Lewandowski and Noem, who are both married, have publicly denied the reports of an affair, but people said they do little to hide their relationship inside the department. The DHS spokeswoman said the department “doesn’t waste time with salacious, baseless gossip.” The pair have lately been using a luxury 737 MAX jet, with a private cabin in back, for their travel around the country, according to people familiar with the matter. DHS is leasing the plane but is in the process of acquiring it for approximately $70 million. DHS has previously used other planes through the Coast Guard or other agencies for the secretary’s use.

This is an amazing transition in the Wall Street Journal story about Noem and Lewandowski, not only pointiing out that DHS isn't denying they are romantically involved but insinuating that the pair is using a luxury government jet for their trysts.

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

The cruelty of this regime in a nutshell.

Voluntary departures hit record high as detained immigrants lose hope of getting released or winning in court Vilma Palacios is one of thousands who have given up their immigration cases and voluntarily left the U.S. after being detained. More detainees are opting for voluntary departure than ever before, a C...

www.cbsnews.com/news/immigra...
“"It's set up for every individual who is detained to get to the point where they're just emotionally drained and exhausted through it all of the way that we're being treated, to just say, 'OK, all I want is my freedom,'" said Vilma Palacios,”

Catholic cross like no other is a beacon of unity in Olympic host city Milan The Independent News Source

Via NCR - Catholic cross like no other is a beacon of unity in Olympic host city Milan. "We think of sport not as an instrument that separates, but as one that unites."
#Olympics #WinterOlympics #Catholic #Milan
www.ncronline.org/culture/cath...

How utterly embarrassing.

It’s not the pilot’s job to remember cosplay Barbie’s blankie.

Olympic skater aims to honor Italy's Catholic culture with 'Conclave' program The Independent News Source

Via NCR - Olympic skater aims to honor Italy's Catholic culture with 'Conclave' program. "I grew up in a Catholic family, so we wanted to have really also some movements that remember the Church."
#MilanOlympics #Olympics #Conclave #Catholic
www.ncronline.org/culture/olym...

Pam Bondi Thought That Went Pretty Well

Via @theonion.com - Pam Bondi Thought That Went Pretty Well — theonion.com/pam-bondi-th...

Trump is destroying America — he must be stopped At the ballot booth and in the streets, we must show that nonviolent collective action is still alive in America. What is at stake is the soul of our nation.

Via @thomasreesesj.bsky.social in NCR - Trump is destroying America — he must be stopped. “The country must unite and block the stupidity and tyranny of Trump.”
#Trump #MAGA #protest
www.ncronline.org/opinion/gues...

Latin Mass flap turns usual church authority disputes upside down in North Carolina In the Charlotte Diocese, traditionalists publicly spar with Bishop Michael Martin and argue for liturgical diversity, while Vatican II Catholics say that liturgical allowances have been too lax.

Via NCR - Latin Mass flap turns usual church authority disputes upside down in North Carolina. 'I don't think this is just about the Latin Mass. It is about the authority of the bishop.'
#Catholic #Latin #NorthCarolina
www.ncronline.org/news/latin-m...

In a normal government, this results in the resignation of multiple cabinet officials (Transportation, Defense, and Homeland Security), and the closure or (at least!) radical reorg of the cartoonishly incompetent agency at the center of it: CBP.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/u...

Catholic advocates speak out as ICE data shows just 14% arrested have violent criminal records Catholic immigration advocates are speaking out after an internal federal document obtained by CBS News showed most individuals arrested in Trump administration immigration crackdowns over the past ye...

Via NCR - Catholic advocates speak out as ICE data shows just 14% arrested have violent criminal records. Almost 40% of those arrested lacked a criminal record altogether.
#ICE #Trump #immigrants #Catholic
www.ncronline.org/news/catholi...

Epstein files reveal ties to Catholic conservatives' anti-Francis campaign The newly released Epstein files show that Jeffrey Epstein and Steve Bannon discussed opposition to Pope Francis, including a move that Bannon claimed would ‘take down Francis.’

MUST-READ via NCR - Epstein files reveal ties to Catholic conservatives' anti-Francis campaign. Epstein and former Trump aide Steve Bannon discussed strategies to undermine Pope Francis.
#EpsteinFiles #Trump #SteveBannon #PopeFrancis
www.ncronline.org/vatican/epst...

Sisters serve on the front lines of Vietnam's shifting HIV crisis Catholic sisters in Vietnam volunteer as nurses, counselors and emotional anchors for HIV/AIDS patients — many of whom arrive frightened, ashamed and utterly alone.

Via GSR - Women religious serve on the front lines of Vietnam's shifting HIV crisis. Over the past five years, Vietnam has detected, on average, more than 13,000 new HIV cases each year.
#HIV #AIDS #Vietnam #Catholic
www.globalsistersreport.org/ministry/sis...

The Epstein files and before: How do we process political scandals? One of the things that defines a culture is what it will not tolerate in its leaders. In U.S. history, our nation has handled scandals differently and also changed what does, and does not, constitute ...

Via NCR Opinion - The Epstein files and before: How do we process political scandals? ‘One of the things that defines a culture is what it will not tolerate in its leaders.’
#EpsteinFiles #Trump
www.ncronline.org/opinion/ncr-...

Dear fellow Gen Z Catholic converts: Don't settle for fundamentalism Our desire for satisfying alternatives to modernity and a sense of meaning shouldn't turn us against all questioning. Questioning is what brought us to the faith in the first place.

Must-read via @jeromiahtaylor.bsky.social in NCR - Dear fellow Gen Z Catholic converts: Don't settle for fundamentalism
#GenZ #Catholic #fundamentalism
www.ncronline.org/opinion/ncr-...

Irish Man Detained By ICE Describes 'Torture' In 'Modern-Day Concentration Camp' Seamus Culleton, who is married to an American woman, says he’s “in fear for my life” in a Texas detention center.

www.huffpost.com/entry/modern...
“People are being killed by the staff here, by the security staff, you know? & you just don’t know what’s going to happen on a day-to-day basis. You don’t know if there’s going to be riots, you don’t… You don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s a nightmare down here.

Cardinal Cupich says feds stopped priests, demanded citizenship proof "I've had some priests who are of a different color being targeted and arrested — stopped — because of their color and asking them to prove that they're citizens. That's not America," the Chicago card...

Via NCR - Cardinal Cupich says feds stopped priests, demanded citizenship proof. "I've had some priests who are of a different color being targeted and arrested — stopped — because of their color."
#ICE #Trump #Chicago #Catholic
www.ncronline.org/news/cardina...

Every day we're striving to make Idiocracy a documentary

One of my soulmates, wartime consigliere @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

photo of Pam Bondi testifying in the foreground as a group of 7 women and 1 men raise their hands

Likely-historic photo by NBC News of all the Epstein victims asked to raise their hands if they've not yet been asked to meet with the DOJ as Bondi testifies in foreground

Villanova, Notre Dame, eye basketball season opener in Rome, with a papal cameo Organizers have invited Pope Leo XIV to attend the Nov. 1 basketball doubleheader featuring his alma mater.

BREAKING via NCR in Rome - Villanova, Notre Dame, eye basketball season opener in Rome, with a papal cameo (from Villanova's #1 fan)
#PopeLeo #NotreDame #basketball #NCAA #Catholic
www.ncronline.org/vatican/vati...

Speaker Johnson's response to Pope Leo reveals Christian nationalism "This rebuke is designed to support a political agenda, with specific beneficiaries and targets. Christian obligation is individualized; the state's coercive power is maximized. In fact, the dynamics ...

Via NCR Opinion - Speaker Johnson's response to Pope Leo reveals Christian nationalism. “Johnson is performing a real sleight of hand, a sorcerer's trick.”
#GOP #MAGA #PopeLeo #Christian
www.ncronline.org/opinion/gues...

Kansas ICE detention center poised to open despite objections from local Catholics Kansas ICE detention center poised to open despite objections from local CatholicsTeaser: Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth say CoreCivic has a record of not treating immigrants with dignity.

Via NCR - Kansas ICE detention center poised to open despite objections from local Catholics. (DOJ shut it down 5 years ago due to chronic violence and other problems.)
#ICE #immigrants #Trump #Kansas
www.ncronline.org/news/kansas-...

More US bishops condemn political tension, Trump immigration tactics "The political crisis of our time is, at its root, a spiritual crisis," Baltimore Archbishop William Lori wrote, adding that the political atmosphere becomes "toxic" when souls become "untethered from...

It’s a growing movement… Via @bfragancr.bsky.social - More US bishops condemn political tension, Trump immigration tactics
#Trump #ICE #immigrants #Catholic
www.ncronline.org/news/more-us...

Bad Bunny's Super Bowl performance delivered a message for such a time as this GSR columns editor Helga Leija reflects on the role of Bad Bunny in Latin American culture.

Via @helgaleija.bsky.social in NCR - Bad Bunny's Super Bowl performance delivered a message for such a time as this: Latinos belong.
#BadBunny #SuperBowl #Latinos #Benito
www.ncronline.org/culture/bad-...