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| TRUMP-KIM AT DMZ President Trump makes history by crossing into North Korea and shaking hands with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un at the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea. “Stepping across that line was a great honor,” said Trump, who also met with U.S. service members stationed in South Korea. READ |
| COURT TO HEAR IMMIGRATION The Supreme Court will decide whether President Trump can rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program during its next term. READ |
| COURT WON’T HEAR ABORTION The Supreme Court refused to hear a case involving a 2016 pro-life law in Alabama which banned the abortion procedure known as “dilation and evacuation.” A lower court’s ruling against the law will thus remain in place. This case does not involve the most recent pro-life law passed in Alabama. Justice Clarence Thomas said that the Alabama case did not present the right fact pattern for revisiting existing precedents involving abortion. But Thomas wrote: “The notion that anything in the Constitution prevents States from passing laws prohibiting the dismembering of a living child is implausible.” READ |
| END OF BLAINE AMENDMENTS? Anti-Catholic Blaine amendments forbid many states from providing educational assistance to children attending religious schools. But the Supreme Court just announced that they will hear a case which could give the justices a chance to rule these amendments unconstitutional. READ |
| MOB MENTALITY Eric Trump said a waitress allegedly spitting in his face is proof that his father is doing well as president and that the Left is “losing.” READ |
| OPINIONS CHANGE FAST A Kaiser poll found that 56% of Americans support Medicare For All. But when the same people are told that Medicare For All would raise taxes and eliminate private health insurance, support dropped to 37%. But Medicare For All has been endorsed by almost every Democratic presidential candidate. Political analyst Michael Scherer said that by veering left, Democrats are endangering a strategy that delivered them victory in 2018. READ |
| TWIN PRIESTS 26-year-old twins ordained to the priesthood side by side on the same day in the Diocese of Treviso, Italy. READ |
| SPRAY CITY WITH HOLY WATER?A Catholic bishop in Colombia is borrowing a navy helicopter on July 14 to bless the city with holy water. “We have to get rid of the devil,” said Monsignor Rubén Darío Jaramillo Montoya. READ |
| SACRIFICIAL HERO A recent bus crash in Colorado with Catholic youth could have been much worse. Seminarian Jason Marshall saw danger and leaped into action. “He saw the driver in distress, grabbed the wheel and prevented the bus from flipping,” Marshall’s brother Jeff said. Fr. Rob Yaksich added: “A bus that big and so top heavy carrying that kind of momentum, it could have been absolutely disastrous. It could have been so horrible.” READ |
| SAINT OF THE DAY Embroiled in some controversy due to the interpretation of historical facts, Saint Junipero Serra was canonized by Pope Francis on the steps of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC on September 23, 2015. Known for having traveled the west coast of the country, Saint Junipero founded many of the famous California Missions in the 18th century. READ |
| DAILY READINGS “The Lord is kind and merciful.” (Ps 103:1) READ |
| DEVOTION The month of July is dedicated to the Precious Blood. The feast of the Precious Blood of our Lord was instituted in 1849 by Pius IX, but the devotion is as old as Christianity. SHARE |
