POPE AND PRESIDENT // The meeting between the President and the Holy Father seems to have been productive, with both of them emphasizing peace and speaking about the plight of Christians in the Middle East. CatholicVote President Brian Burch spoke with USA Today about the common ground between the two leaders. http://cvote.it/2qmarPJ
FLOTUS IS CATHOLIC // Melania Trump had Pope Francis bless her rosary. Her spokesman later confirmed that the First Lady is indeed Catholic. Her family in Slovenia was apparently atheist, but most Slovenians are Catholic. (Donald and Melania were married in an Episcopalian Church in 2005.) Also, Melania wore a veil when she met Pope Francis, but she did not wear a veil when she visited with the King of Saudi Arabia. http://cvote.it/2qm2ycP
MELANIA // The First Lady visited a hospital run by Catholics that provides free care for children. Melania once lived in Milan and spoke to the children in Italian. “I ask that everyone keep these amazing children in your thoughts & prayers,” she said. http://cvote.it/2qlUTeE
FIRST LADIES // Here’s an article from 2009 featuring several other times in the past when the First Lady of the United States met with the Pope. http://cvote.it/2qmaqLI
REPORTER ATTACKED // Crazy: The GOP candidate for Congress in Montana body slammed a reporter who had just written a report on his investments in Russia. The election for this seat is today, but it’s not certain how this incident will affect the race because about 65% of ballots have already been mailed in. Fox News reporter Alicia Acuna gave an amazing eyewitness account. http://cvote.it/2qlYDwK
HEALTH CARE // Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is clearly signaling that there is no consensus among Senate Republicans on how to move forward on replacing Obamacare. “I don’t know how we get to 50 (votes) at the moment. But that’s the goal. And exactly what the composition of that (bill) is I’m not going to speculate about because it serves no purpose,” he said. http://cvote.it/2qmapr7
HEALTH CARE // The Congressional Budget Office released its scoring of the recently-passed GOP health care bill. The good news for Republicans is that it would reduce the deficit, so it can clear the Senate by a simple majority vote. The bad news (at least politically) is that the CBO said that the health care plan would likely raise premiums significantly for sick people. Rep. Mark Meadows of the conservative House Freedom Caucus said that he’s open to more aid to keep premiums from spiking. http://cvote.it/2qm8iDp
PERSONNEL IS POLICY // Pro-lifers have been very impressed with the pro-life personnel that President Trump has selected for his Cabinet and other important positions in the government. But 41 pro-life members of Congress sent a letter to President Donald Trump asking him to replace the head of the National Institutes of Health, citing the current director’s support of embryonic destructive research. http://cvote.it/2qm9NSc
EDUCATION // A Christian high school will not allow a pregnant student to walk in graduation, and it is causing national media attention. Pro-life groups think that the student’s confession, suspension, and removal from student leadership positions should have sufficed as punishment. They note it is highly unlikely that she is the only student that has had premarital sex at the school. http://cvote.it/2qmnU9Y
CATHOLIC // ISIS militants seize cathedral in Phillippines, taking a priest and several Church-goers hostage. Martial law was declared in the province. http://cvote.it/2qRqSqG
SAINT // Saint Bede the Venerable – http://cvote.it/dailysaint
DAILY MASS // We are giving you the Psalm reading for the Ascension — which is the Feast Day we all should be celebrating today: “God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.” (Ps 47:6) – http://cvote.it/Daily-Readings
FUNNY //