Faith Watch
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The New York Times, along with multiple other outlets, chastised President Donald Trump for allegedly breaking the Vatican’s dress code for Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday.
The featured image of their story was cropped in such a way as to suggest that Trump was the only leader in a blue suit at the event.
The Times’ chief fashion critic, Vanessa Friedman, wrote that President Emmanuel Macron of France, Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Great Britain, and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy all wore black.
But, “Mr. Trump? He was wearing blue. And not even dark, midnight blue, but a clear, sapphire-like blue, with matching tie. Amid all the black and Cardinal red, it popped out like a sign.”
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Ahead of next week’s papal conclave, Friday’s edition of CBS Evening News was caught in a tough situation. On one hand, being the diversity-conscious liberal show that it is, Africa correspondent Debora Patta lamented Africans are not reflected in the Vatican’s halls of power despite Catholicism growing in the area. On the other, Patta warned that an African pope would not be the pro-LGBTQ reformer liberals would want him to be.
Talking over footage of African worshipers, Patta set the scene, “This is the face of the Catholic Church’s future. The African continent is its fastest growing region. Home to at least one-fifth of its followers. That’s more than 272 million people.”
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Christians need not profess the Catholic faith in order to recognize the importance of the moment.
In short, someone must now teach the world to seek truth in something other than whims and fashion.
On Monday, 88-year-old Pope Francis died, bringing an end to a papacy that, in many ways, conservatives regarded as little more than an apostasy and setting the stage for a papal enclave that could result in the election of a conservative favorite, 79-year-old Cardinal Robert Sarah from the west African nation of Guinea.
Of course, the phrase “could result” must temper conservatives’ expectations.
In fact, on Monday The Guardian profiled Sarah as one of nine possible candidates to succeed Francis. So the African cardinal’s elevation to the papacy hardly qualifies as a foregone conclusion.
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- Pope Francis died from a stroke followed by heart failure, Vatican says The Guardian
- Pope Francis dies at 88 from stroke and heart failure, Vatican says: Live updates and reactions Yahoo
- First photos released of Pope Francis in his casket; funeral set for Saturday Fox News
- Who will be the next pope? Here are some possible candidates CNN
- Who Runs the Vatican Between Popes? Time Magazine
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Pope Francis will be laid to rest Saturday after lying in state for three days in St. Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff.
The cardinals met Tuesday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10.
The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. U.S. President Donald Trump said he and first lady Melania Trump plan to attend, and Argentine President Javier Milei is also expected.
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President Donald J. Trump has ordered all United States flags on government and military properties to be lowered to half-staff in memory of His Holiness Pope Francis on the morning after his passing.
The Vatican announced the pope’s passing early Monday morning in Rome after a fight against pneumonia, Breitbart News reported. He was 88.
Francis had recently left Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he was admitted on February 14, before briefly meeting with Vice President JD Vance on Easter Sunday.
Trump released a proclamation shortly after the news broke, calling for flags to be flown at half-mast until sunset out of “respect” for the Catholic leader:
As a mark of respect for the memory of His Holiness Pope Francis, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, on the day of interment. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.
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Pope Francis died of a cerebral stroke and irreversible heart failure, Vatican doctor Andrea Arcangeli has said in a death certificate.
The certificate released on Monday for the 88-year-old pontiff said the pope had fallen into a coma before his death earlier in the day.
Pope Francis had suffered various ailments during his 12-year papacy, with severe complications in recent weeks following a bout of double pneumonia for which he spent 38 days at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.
The Vatican also released Pope Francis’s spiritual testament – a written statement of faith – in which he said he wished to be buried in Rome’s Basilica of Saint Mary Major and not at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, unlike many of his predecessors.
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JD Vance had a “brief” meeting with the Pope amid tensions between the pontiff and the White House on migration policy and welfare cuts. The US Vice President, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, is understood to have been keen to meet his Holiness whilst in Rome with his family.
The leader of the Catholic church had been reticent to grant an official meeting, but a “brief” audience was held on Sunday morning in Casa Santa Marta where the 88-year-old lives. The meeting is understood to have “lasted a few minutes” according to the Vatican, allowing the two to exchange Easter greetings. The Pope has previously been critical of the US administration, condemning their policy on migration and pledge of mass deportations as “a disgrace”.
Mr Vance has at times attempted to clumsily use Catholic teachings to justify the White House’s approach to migration but has been slapped down by the Pope in open letters to Catholic Bishops in the US.
He was also outspoken on President Donald Trump, hours before his inauguration, telling Italian TV: “This won’t do! This is not the way to solve things. That’s not how things are resolved.”
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Josh Sullivan, a U.S. pastor abducted at gunpoint while delivering a sermon in his church in South Africa Thursday evening has been rescued in a shootout that left three suspected dead, authorities say.
According to a statement issued by the “Hawks” — a specialized police unit that investigates serious crimes — Sullivan, 45, was abducted at the Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell Township outside the coastal city of Gqeberha and was being held in a safehouse in that city.
The Hawks say numerous police agencies acting on tips went to the house Tuesday and saw a vehicle. Suspects in the vehicle tried to flee, opening fire on the officers as they did and “the officers responded with tactical precision, leading to a high-intensity shootout” in which the three suspects were killed.
Sullivan was found in the vehicle “miraculously unharmed,” the statement says, adding that he was “immediately assessed by medical personnel and is currently in an excellent condition.
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At least 40 people were killed in a brutal attack on a Christian farming community in north-central Nigeria late Sunday night, according to President Bola Tinubu. The attackers, who were reported as being Muslim gunmen, struck on Palm Sunday in the Zike community, located in Bassa, Plateau State.
Open Doors reports this latest attack brings the death toll to around 113 people who have been killed in an ongoing spate of attacks in Plateau State since the end of March. The watchdog group reports Muslim Fulani militants have attacked at least eight communities, destroying more than 300 homes and displacing 3,000 people.
In the last few weeks, the militants killed 3 Christians who were in the middle of farming their land, 11 Christians who had gathered for a funeral – including a pregnant woman and a ten-year-old girl – and at least five Christian women who had gathered for fellowship.
In the Palm Sunday attack, Andy Yakubu, a resident of Zike, said homes were looted and set ablaze during the onslaught, and the death toll could exceed 50. At the last count, an Open Doors contact reported, “43 people were killed, several houses were burnt down with people inside.”
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The State Department will cooperate with a government-wide task force to collect information “involving anti-religious bias during the last presidential administration.”
The Trump administration has directed State Department employees to report incidents of alleged “anti-Christian bias” among their colleagues, as part of a broader initiative to support Christian employees across the federal government.
According to an internal cable obtained by Politico, the State Department will cooperate with a government-wide task force to collect information “involving anti-religious bias during the last presidential administration” and will document examples of anti-Christian bias via anonymous employee reports.
The cable was sent to embassies worldwide under Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s name. A department-wide notice was also sent out detailing the instructions.
Trump Will Celebrate Jesus on Easter After Biden Turn Holy Week Into Trans Holiday– www.lifenews.com
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President Donald Trump will mark Holy Week with a series of events aimed at honoring Easter “with the observance it deserves,” a move the White House is framing as a contrast to the Biden administration’s controversial decision to proclaim Easter Sunday 2024 as Transgender Day of Visibility.
The White House Faith Office, newly established under Trump’s administration, has organized what it calls an “extraordinary” weeklong celebration leading up to Easter Sunday.
“The newly created White House Faith Office is grateful to share that President Trump will honor and celebrate Holy Week and Easter with the observance it deserves,” Jennifer Korn, faith director of the White House Faith Office, told Fox News Digital.
Police arrest U.K. parents for criticizing school leaders in private social media group – Standing for Freedom Center– www.standingforfreedom.com
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The increasingly authoritarian nature of the British government is back in the spotlight this week after news broke that police arrested, interrogated, and jailed parents in Hertfordshire, England, for complaining about school policy and criticizing school leaders in a private group chat.
All this comes as the town’s new constable is set to release a report on the incident.
It all started in May 2024, when Maxie Allen, whose daughter Sascha, 9, was attending Cowley Hill Primary School, contacted the chair of governors of the school to question the hiring process of its new head teacher. Allen noted that despite the former head teacher having retired six months earlier, the school had not publicly posted the job and had instead given it to the former deputy head teacher.
Allen says that the chair’s response was “evasive,” so he sent a letter to all the school governors asking about the decision not to open recruitment to other candidates.
Allen posted the letter in a private WhatsApp parents’ group.
The next month, Jackie Spriggs, who is the chair of governors, wrote a letter to parents claiming that parents were using WhatsApp “to make inflammatory and defamatory comments about senior leaders in the school.”
Labour council seeks to imprison street preachers up to 2 years for causing ‘offense,’ ‘distress’ – Christian Post
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New archaeological finds at Megiddo could confirm a biblical battle – Aurora Israel
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U.S. Supreme Court examines Wisconsin’s denial of Catholic charity tax exemption – Catholic News Agency
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Orthodox Christian Institutions Plundered in Turkish Muslim-Nationalist Campaign – The European Conservative
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Majority of US Catholics now support same-sex ‘marriage’ and abortion, Pew research finds– www.lifesitenews.com
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(Corpus Christi for Unity and Peace) — The U.S. Catholic Church stands at a crossroads, marked by an aging flock, a growing immigrant presence, and a devastating erosion of faith and morals.
The Pew Religious Landscape Study (RLS) for Catholics from 2007, 2014, and 2023-24 offers a sobering glimpse into this crisis for traditional Catholics rooted in the Magisterium’s truths: for every 100 Catholics entering, 800 Catholics leave, prayer is declining, belief in God is plummeting, and a super majority supports issues deemed morally evil by the Church – demographically propped up by immigrants yet spiritually adrift.
While the sharp declines from 2007 to 2014 have slowed by 2023-24, the downward trend persists, demanding urgent reflection.
President Trump Invites Faith Leaders From Across America To White House For Prayer– wltreport.com
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President Donald Trump has been seen by many Americans as a respite from the supposedly devout Joe Biden’s apparent assault on the faith community.
Joe Biden claims to be a Devout Catholic. I believe actions speak louder than words. And Joe’s actions have proven him to be Anti Christian…over and over again. 👇 👊 pic.twitter.com/Gyd7KnP5Z3
— ❤️🔥 ❤️🔥 (@DameScorpio) March 31, 2024
This week, a group of faith leaders from across the nation gathered at the White House to participate in a prayer on behalf of the Trump administration.
As the Washington Examiner reported:
The White House invited multiple faith leaders from across the nation to visit the Oval Office on Wednesday, where they were given the chance to pray for President Donald Trump and his leadership.
The Trump administration uploaded a photo on X of the leaders visiting the president, gathered around Trump as he sat at his desk. William Wolfe, the executive director of the Center for Baptist Leadership, was among the attendees who prayed for the president.
Half Of US Churches Experiencing Post-Pandemic Attendance Growth – Religion Unplugged
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Half of U.S. Protestant pastors say their churches are growing but some warning signs remain about their congregational future.
U.S. Protestant churches are almost evenly split between those that have grown within the past two years and those that are plateaued or declining, according to an Exponential study by Lifeway Research.
Around half of the congregations (52%) increased their worship service attendance by at least 4% in the past two years. The other 48% of churches have either remained within plus or minus 4% since 2022 (33%) or declined by at least 4% (15%).
“Clearly, the last two years of attendance growth was aided by people returning to regular attendance after being away since the start of the pandemic,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “Most pastors wish they had returned earlier, but their attendance is a source of optimism, though future growth will need to come from brand new contacts.”
Trump Urged to Designate Nigeria as a ‘Concern’ for Christian Persecution – Decision Magazine
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he House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa passed a resolution urging President Donald Trump to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC).
U.S. Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, presented House Resolution 220, which expresses “the need to designate Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern,” during a committee hearing on the matter March 12. A CPC is a country designated on a special watch list of countries where citizens face “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.”
In the hearing, Smith explained the history of Nigeria’s inclusion and removal in the CPC.
“In December 2020, President Trump designated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern only to be reversed without justification by Secretary Blinken in November of 2021,” Smith said. “Religious leaders in Nigeria were outraged by Secretary Blinken’s decision.” He referred to Bishop Stephen Dami Mamza, who challenged Nigeria’s removal and stated that Christian persecution is “more intense than ever.”
Nina Shea, senior fellow and director of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute, described the terror group responsible for most of the persecution in Nigeria.