JUDICIARY // President Trump held a press conference with religious leaders back in May in which he said: “We will not allow people of faith to be targeted, bullied, or silenced anymore.” But three months later, lawyers for the Justice Department are delaying or undercutting what Trump had promised. http://cvote.it/2wp6aBT
JUDICIARY // Senate Democrats continue to block votes on constitutionalist judicial nominees as the number of vacancies on the federal bench rise at an alarming rate. Senate Republicans are reconsidering a plan by Sen. James Lankford, R-OK, to establish a maximum of 8 hours of Senate debate per nominee. The current maximum is 30 hours, and Democrats have demanded that full amount on each and every nominee in order to slow down the number of nominees confirmed and bring the business of the Senate to a crawl. http://cvote.it/2w5eaW9
MIGRATION // The Trump administration has triggered visa sanctions against four countries that have refused to take back citizens the United States is trying to deport. http://cvote.it/2wpwTOI
ICONOCLASM // Here are the 7 monuments (including a Peace Monument!) in the United States that have been vandalized since the awful riot in Charlottesville earlier this month. http://cvote.it/2wpl62Z
ABORTION // Abortion giant Planned Parenthood is seeking a financial lifeline from a company that sells X-rated “toys” and merchandise. http://cvote.it/2wpm3IB
CULTURE // The cable channel AMC has a new program called “Preacher” which depicts Our Lord doing something which we refuse to describe here in the Loop. If you would like details of this vile program, read this report from the watchdogs at the Media Research Center. But you were warned. http://cvote.it/2w5WKZM
CATHOLIC // “Much as I sympathize with certain points he makes, I reject Fr. Martin’s call for civility. Either the Catholic Church is right in what it teaches about human sexuality, or it is wrong. A great many people are convinced that the latter is the case—and thus that any expression of the Church’s teaching on homosexual acts will be insensitive and disrespectful,” writes Matthew Schmitz. http://cvote.it/2w5cbRT .
CATHOLIC // In reaction to the neo-nazi and Klan rally in Charlottesville last week, the U.S. Bishops have created an Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism. It should be noted that membership in avowedly racist organizations has been in steep decline over the last 100 years. At its peak in the 1920s, membership in the Ku Klux Klan exceeded 4 million members nationwide. As of 2016, the number of active members in the country was estimated at between 5000 and 8000. http://cvote.it/2wpk9I2
CATHOLIC // Christians return to Iraq’s Nineveh Plain after having been driven out by ISIS. http://cvote.it/2w5p3qW
SAINT // Saint Bartholomew – http://cvote.it/dailysaint
DAILY MASS // “Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.” (Ps 145:12) – http://cvote.it/Daily-Readings
HERO // Iceland made the news this week for their ghastly practice of aborting every child with Down syndrome. They need to know about Valerio Catoioa, a 17-year-old who has become a national hero in Italy for saving a girl from drowning. http://cvote.it/2wpOOoN