Church Militant (a 501(c)4 corporation) is responsible for the content of this commentary. If you also seek the truth, then please consider joining Church Militant today by supporting our work. Sign up for a Church Militant Premium account or simply make a donation. Feel free to contact Church Militant with your questions, comments, or concerns, at anytime. And now, let's begin with today's Vortex...

It's more than just boys.

We reported in yesterday's Vortex on the legal hellhole the archdiocese of Baltimore has fallen into, owing to a flood of 600 lawsuits over sexual predation of minors.

It is very likely that, in short order, Abp. William Lori will file for bankruptcy protection for his archdiocese — the first diocese established in America.

Aside from the symbolic blow such a move would be to the Church in the United States — joining 30 other dioceses in filing for bankruptcy for the same reason — there is an entirely overlooked aspect to all this as well.

It isn't just minors that have been sexually assaulted, although those cases are the ones that make headlines because of the victims' ages.

There are also vulnerable adults — especially seminarians who have been and are assaulted by homopredator clergy.

Recall that most of Theodore McCarrick's victims were not minors, although significantly some were, but were mostly seminarians at his Jersey Shore beach house — and then this went on for years.

Charges and accusations just like this have plagued seminaries and their faculties for decades now, up to and including the prestigious bishop factory in Rome: the North American College.

Most of the time, corrupt leaders circle the wagons and get rid of the whistle-blower seminarians and then return to business as usual.

One such leader who is accused of this is the Baltimore archbishop, William Lori, the chaplain of the Knights of Columbus who, by the way, has yet to release any statement on the Maryland attorney general's report proving Lori kept predators and cover-up personnel in place.

He knew what had happened and participated in the cover-up. For that alone, if he doesn't resign, he should be removed by Pope Francis.

Please consider Church Militant Evening News for daily hard-hitting news and analysis through an authentic Catholic lens, covering the latest developments in the Church, across the nation and around the world.

Church Militant (a 501(c)4 corporation) is responsible for the content of this commentary. If you also seek the truth, then please consider joining Church Militant today by supporting our work. Sign up for a Church Militant Premium account or simply make a donation. Feel free to contact Church Militant with your questions, comments, or concerns, at anytime. And now, let's begin with today's Vortex...

The list keeps growing.

With the recent announcement by the diocese of Oakland, California, that it too would now join the growing list of bankrupt dioceses in the United States, the number now stands at 30 out of approximately 180. That's more than 15% of all dioceses in the country. However, there is a monster case, a very likely bankruptcy that is sitting out there in the wings, very likely to be filed sooner rather than later.

Church Militant broke the news a couple of weeks ago of the release of the state of Maryland attorney general's report nailing the archdiocese of Baltimore in its complicity in covering up hundreds of sex abuse cases. Baltimore is massively important because of its symbolic value to the Church here in the United States, being the first diocese erected in the new nation and therefore having pride of place.

For the past few decades, the archdiocese, it turns out, has been a cesspool of cover-up, secret payouts, shifting and/or hiding culprit clergy and doling out huge sums of parshioners' money to lawyers to keep it all under wraps. Church Militant has been all over this story for quite some time now, even before the A.G. report, and joining me on set for this Vortex is our producer/reporter Nick Wylie, who has been looking deeply into all this for us.

Please consider Church Militant Evening News for daily hard-hitting news and analysis through an authentic Catholic lens, covering the latest developments in the Church, across the nation and around the world.

Church Militant (a 501(c)4 corporation) is responsible for the content of this commentary. If you also seek the truth, then please consider joining Church Militant today by supporting our work. Sign up for a Church Militant Premium account or simply make a donation. Feel free to contact Church Militant with your questions, comments, or concerns, at anytime. And now, let's begin with today's Vortex...

Woke bishops like Abp. Gustavo García-Siller aren't really shepherds at all.

There are fewer things in the Church more revolting to listen to or see than woke bishops. They are just the latest evolution in the class of men who began as social justice warriors and simply morphed into the next phase.

Take, for example, the archbishop of San Antonio, Texas, Gustavo García-Siller, a poster boy for the woke crap we see everywhere. And before we get into specifics about him, consider that all of these terms are nothing other than dog whistles for communism: woke, social justice, socialism, equity and any other substitute word that comes to mind. It's communism, plain and simple.

And communists create and use and deploy every imaginable weapon they can in their attempt to gain global domination. It's done through a combination of seizing on naturally occurring events, like the weather, and then insisting that global domination must be exerted to gain control of the climate.

Please consider Church Militant Evening News for daily hard-hitting news and analysis through an authentic Catholic lens, covering the latest developments in the Church, across the nation and around the world.

Church Militant (a 501(c)4 corporation) is responsible for the content of this commentary. If you also seek the truth, then please consider joining Church Militant today by supporting our work. Sign up for a Church Militant Premium account or simply make a donation. Feel free to contact Church Militant with your questions, comments, or concerns, at anytime. And now, let's begin with today's Vortex...

There was a moment when it was just one person.

As we arrive at and live through the holiest days of the year, there is one very tragic yet also profoundly beautiful thought to reflect on — Our Blessed Mother's experience through all this.

In a certain sense, it is not incorrect to say that the entire Church "collapsed" into her while Our Blessed Lord was in the tomb. Remember, the faith of the Apostles had evaporated (even though it was very likely at least some of them were watching the gruesome crucifixion, even St. John up close). Their presence was motivated by love, sadness, emotional attachment — but not Faith.

Remember, none of the Apostles, as well as Mary Magdalene, James and John's mother, none of them, not one, had belief in Our Lord's Resurrection or, when all was said and done, even the prospect of it. The women went to the tomb not to witness their resurrected Lord and God but to finish the burial anointing per Jewish law.

The Apostles were shaking like terrified cats in the Upper Room. Even when Our Lord physically presented Himself to them that first Easter evening, the gospels tell us He had to upbraid them for their disbelief.

So the women didn't believe. The Apostles didn't believe. Even His disciples didn't believe. In a word, they all saw all of this as over.

Now it was turning into every man for himself. No faith, no hope, questionable charity at best.

And before we turn to Our Blessed Mother, let's consider for just a brief moment the reaction of the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin.

As Ven. Abp. Fulton Sheen observes, it is the greatest irony that with regard to Our Lord's Resurrection, His enemies believed and His friends did not.

Please consider Church Militant Evening News for daily hard-hitting news and analysis through an authentic Catholic lens, covering the latest developments in the Church, across the nation and around the world.

Church Militant (a 501(c)4 corporation) is responsible for the content of this commentary. If you also seek the truth, then please consider joining Church Militant today by supporting our work. Sign up for a Church Militant Premium account or simply make a donation. Feel free to contact Church Militant with your questions, comments, or concerns, at anytime. And now, let's begin with today's Vortex...

2023 Winter News Wrap-Up.

It's almost impossible to be involved in the Church — believing, caring, concerned — without being plugged into affairs in the world. Venerable Abp. Fulton Sheen called the world "the theater of redemption."

While we are not of the world, we certainly are in the world. And that imparts a duty, an obligation to be involved in the work of evangelization. And that means a sufficient grasp of the world — what's going on, how it intersects with the Faith — is vital, especially in these days of such tumult and confusion.

It's why Church Militant is so adamant that faithful Catholics be aware of what's going on in the Church, the culture, politics — all of it. You have to be informed and knowledgeable.

That's why, each quarter, at the end-of-calendar quarter, we bring you a summary of the major stories Catholics should know. For today's Vortex, we are going to present the major stories, with analysis, from this just-passed first quarter.

Please consider Church Militant Evening News for daily hard-hitting news and analysis through an authentic Catholic lens, covering the latest developments in the Church, across the nation and around the world.

Church Militant (a 501(c)4 corporation) is responsible for the content of this commentary. If you also seek the truth, then please consider joining Church Militant today by supporting our work. Sign up for a Church Militant Premium account or simply make a donation. Feel free to contact Church Militant with your questions, comments, or concerns, at anytime. And now, let's begin with today's Vortex...

The Flanders Fighter.

Belgium used to be one of the most Catholic countries on earth — specifically, the northern part which shares a border with the Netherlands, the region known as Flanders. But like so many former Catholic bastions, Belgium — Flanders — has fallen prey to the hopelessness and despair that come with modernism and Marxism. However, one strong young man is not only pushing back, he’s also trying to help others see and reclaim the Catholicity of the once very Catholic region.

[Transcript unavailable]

Dries Van Langenhove is Belgium's leading activist. He came to his choice after being the youngest member of the Belgian Parliament, which he has since resigned from, believing that politics in and of itself is insufficient.

...

Keep Dries and his developing Belgian youth movement in your prayers. The fight is real — it's intense — but it contains within itself its own reward and glory. Thank you, Dries, for your work. Keep it up, brother, and when the inevitable discouragement begins to encroach and hem you in on all sides, remember your original zeal and tap back into it as often as need be.

Wherever you are in your faith, grow even stronger. The Faith is not a weapon for just changing the culture, which is, of course, a noble goal in and of itself, but Catholicism is an end in itself, changing men. It is changed men — changed from sinful creatures into fully alive sons of God — who will change the culture.

Please consider Church Militant Evening News for daily hard-hitting news and analysis through an authentic Catholic lens, covering the latest developments in the Church, across the nation and around the world.

Church Militant (a 501(c)4 corporation) is responsible for the content of this commentary. If you also seek the truth, then please consider joining Church Militant today by supporting our work. Sign up for a Church Militant Premium account or simply make a donation. Feel free to contact Church Militant with your questions, comments, or concerns, at anytime. And now, let's begin with today's Vortex...

Needed now, more than ever!

Just before we begin, we'd like to wish a happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone out there, and the reason we are singling out St. Patrick is because roughly half of the Catholic population, historically, in the United States, has roots stretching back to Ireland, which obviously goes back to St. Patrick who converted the savage Celts. So, Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Starting this coming Monday and each Monday following, Church Militant will be airing what we call Membership Monday at 7 p.m. ET. It will be a live chat program where Premium members will have access to the live chat — meaning, your questions or comments can be tapped to further the live discussion.

Viewers on the ChurchMilitant.com site or on the Church Militant YouTube site will each be able to view the show. But, again, to get into the chat, please sign up for a Premium membership — that's why we call it Membership Monday. There are so many things going on in the Church and the world that it is impossible to cover everything.

Many times, things happening intersect with the world and the Church and need to be talked about (explained more in-depth) and you need to be given an opportunity to ask more about them. That's why we're launching this new effort. And I'm a bit biased, I know, but I can say with full confidence — there is no outfit in the Catholic world (as well as many secular outfits or personalities) that has the chops to talk about a large assortment of issues like Church Militant.

In short, there's just nobody in the Catholic world that has the firepower we have here at Church Militant. I did a little canvas of our staff, and even I was surprised at how much knowledge and accreditation is here.

...

You mean those reliable sources? You cannot make this stuff up, folks. Church Militant is a constant target precisely because what we report is based on fact, and they know it. That's why no other Catholic media apostolate or operation draws the scrutiny that we do, plain and simple. We talk plainly, truthfully and reliably — and the bad actors hate it. And we have the firepower here to ensure we know what we're talking about.

Please consider Church Militant Evening News for daily hard-hitting news and analysis through an authentic Catholic lens, covering the latest developments in the Church, across the nation and around the world.

Church Militant (a 501(c)4 corporation) is responsible for the content of this commentary. If you also seek the truth, then please consider joining Church Militant today by supporting our work. Sign up for a Church Militant Premium account or simply make a donation. Feel free to contact Church Militant with your questions, comments, or concerns, at anytime. And now, let's begin with today's Vortex...

Godlessness is the number one problem.

I'm coming to you from the Bringing America Back to Life Convention here in Cleveland, where a thousand participants are wrapping things up after a very productive weekend. One of the great things about the convention is the speakers they are able to draw each year, and, this year, the slate included Human Events chief, Jack Posobiec — a dedicated, committed Catholic who has a thing or two to say about the demise of the American culture.

[Transcript unavailable]

Indeed, America, as the whole of Western civilization, could very well be facing its death knell, but the reason it has happened, according to Posobiec, is because of a lack of authentic Christianity. In that position, he echoes much of what Church Militant has been saying for years.

[Transcript unavailable]

Likewise, the unwillingness on the part of those in the establishment — including the Catholic establishment — who will not add their voices to the condemning of the injustice and corruption.

[Transcript unavailable]

If you'd like to see the interview in its entirety, please just click on the provided link. And while we are on the topic, we'd like to let you know that beginning this Monday, and every Monday thereafter, Church Militant is kicking off what we call Membership Monday. It's an opportunity to live chat with various members of the team here about everything going on in the Church and the world.

And, as you know, there's a lot to talk about — loads. It's why we decided to give Church Militant supporters a chance to interact with various staff in a live format. Each Monday at 7 p.m. ET, we will be taking questions and comments from Premium members who join in.

Please consider Church Militant Evening News for daily hard-hitting news and analysis through an authentic Catholic lens, covering the latest developments in the Church, across the nation and around the world.

Church Militant (a 501(c)4 corporation) is responsible for the content of this commentary. If you also seek the truth, then please consider joining Church Militant today by supporting our work. Sign up for a Church Militant Premium account or simply make a donation. Feel free to contact Church Militant with your questions, comments, or concerns, at anytime. And now, let's begin with today's Vortex...

What an honor!

The news about that FBI dossier talking about faithful Catholics being terror threats and naming Church Militant is like the gift that keeps on giving. The other day, a reporter here in Michigan called and asked to interview me on the subject of Christian nationalism, which I agreed to.

He said he was trying to better understand what Christian nationalism is, and since I had been interviewed earlier on the subject, he wanted to get inside my head and learn about it. Of course, all this talk about Church Militant, as well as others, being domestic White terrorist nationalist extremist Christians (there, did I cover every permutation possible?) is completely insane.

These adjectives are thrown around in every possible combination you can think of: White terrorists, extremist nationalists, domestic Christians and a hundred other combos. What it shows, more than any threat, is just how idiotic and propagandist the people conflating all these things are.

If you take those six adjectives — Christian, terrorist, extreme, White, domestic and nationalist — and arrange them in varying combos, you get the entire, crazy world of the leftists trying to label Christians, especially Catholics, as a threat to the established order: enemies of the State. And the combination can be whatever combo a given outlet or government agency wants it to be because, in the end, for them and multiple media allies, all that matters is that we are somehow portrayed as dangerous or violent.

Nevermind it's not Catholics lopping the heads off hundreds of statues of saints across the country or defacing our own parishes with graffiti and sometimes setting them on fire or attacking pro-life pregnancy centers. What matters is that we are the enemy — period.

And if they can't find an actual crime, like with the case of pro-life dad Mark Houck, then they'll just scramble the adjective list around and come up with a fresh label. When the reporter asked me what Christian nationalism is, I told him, 

A view of the nation and culture rooted in the Christian belief that all men are created equal and possess a certain dignity because they are created in the image and likeness of God. From that truth flows how laws should be constructed, how politics should be conducted and how the natural moral law should be the basis for the governing of human affairs.

He said, "Well, why does it have to be Christian? Why can't it be Hindu or Islamic?"

I said,

Because neither of those belief systems subscribes to the natural moral law or the foundational truth that we are all made in the image and likeness of God and, therefore, cannot be treated with less dignity. Islam doesn't treat its women with the deserved dignity of being made in the image and likeness of God, and Hinduism has a caste system where those on the bottom are viewed as practically less than human and, we might add, treated accordingly in law.

He appeared to have gotten that notion but then moved on to the question of nationalism, saying, "Why would a nation have to be governed by Christian principles?"

I replied, 

Because it is Christian, specifically Catholic, teaching that recognizes natural moral law as originating from God as the standard in how we should relate to each other. We don't kill children in the womb, we don't subject the poor, we don't mutilate our children, we don't treat perverse sex as something protected in law and so on. We don't take away people's rights and means to defend their lives and property as well as the lives of others.

Please consider Church Militant Evening News for daily hard-hitting news and analysis through an authentic Catholic lens, covering the latest developments in the Church, across the nation and around the world.

Church Militant (a 501(c)4 corporation) is responsible for the content of this commentary. If you also seek the truth, then please consider joining Church Militant today by supporting our work. Sign up for a Church Militant Premium account or simply make a donation. Feel free to contact Church Militant with your questions, comments, or concerns, at anytime. And now, let's begin with today's Vortex...

Convert or die.

There is a widening split within the Republican Party and it's not the obvious Trump vs. DeSantis issue. It's the rank and file vs. the Party elites. It's not exactly like that's new to the Party, but in recent years, it's become apparent even to the most Pollyanna Republican on Main Street that the elites don't represent them anymore — not that they really ever did.

A recent survey by the American Principles Project — APP — of Grand Old Party primary voters shows that Republican voters are much more interested in defending American culture than so-called conservative elites. The culture wars have been of little interest to the Paul Ryan–Mitch McConnell ruling class, and that disinterest stretches back decades.

Multiple so-called conservative outlets simply dismissed the culture wars, sensing that Americans in general were reasonably down with the sexual revolution and its aftermath. They were correct in that analysis. It's only now — in the wake of the massive devastation brought on by the 1960s-era train wreck — that more than a few are beginning to wake up.

Quoting from survey results of those GOP primary voters, "There was also significant GOP voter enthusiasm for candidates who back federal laws banning permanent sex-changing medical procedures for minors (76 percent), prohibiting biological males from competing in girls' sports (69 percent), and requiring age-verification measures for pornographic websites to protect kids (86 percent) ... ."

...

We are now in the out-of-control clown world portion of the collapse. And no amount of fighting about the Second Amendment is going to fix that. America is sick, and only a healthy dose of Catholicism can cure it — because only Catholicism has the intellectual heft to overcome all these issues and provide an answer for all of this. Americans need to convert or watch this nation die.

Please consider Church Militant Evening News for daily hard-hitting news and analysis through an authentic Catholic lens, covering the latest developments in the Church, across the nation and around the world.