at
| WARNING ON BUDGET DEAL Before the budget deal was finalized, Sen. Steve Daines, R-MT, circulated a letter of other pro-life senators calling on President Trump to insist on keeping all pro-life spending protections, like the Hyde Amendment, in place. “As members of the pro-life majority in the United States Senate, we will strongly oppose each of these anti-life poison pill riders and will work to ensure they are not inserted into any appropriations bill before the Senate, either in committee or on the floor,” the letter stated. READ |
| BUDGET DEALHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Trump agreed to a two-year budget that suspends the debt ceiling until July 2021. The annual deficit for both years will be over $1 trillion, causing some fiscal conservatives on Capitol Hill to denounce the plan. The budget compromise keeps the pro-life Hyde Amendment in place. President Trump said the deal contained “no poison pills.” READ |
| SCHUMER ON DETENTION CENTERSSenate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer praised a detention center run by Catholic charities as “humane” yet still run by the rule of law. “99% of them that Catholic charities are working with show up for their hearings, and then there’s rule of law. If they’re adjudicated that they’re entitled to asylum – they get it. If not, they have to leave,” said Schumer, who said he would speak to Trump about how Catholic Charities operated their detention center. Schumer said detention centers run by the government are still a disaster. READ |
| MORE DEPORTATIONS The Trump administration is preparing to announce a change in policy which would allow for immigration authorities to deport more illegal immigrants without having to give them a hearing with an immigration judge. Currently, only illegal immigrants captured within 100 miles of the border and within two weeks of arrival are given expedited removal. The new policy removes the border proximity requirement and extends the time limit to two years. READ |
| HEALTH CARE Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren outlined a vision where everyone eventually “transitions” to a government health care plan. READ |
| CULTURE OF DEATH Even the New York Times acknowledged that Hollywood’s portrayals of abortion is at “record levels.” Already 21 TV and movie characters have aborted babies this year. READ |
| CHURCH IN DECLINE The Catholic Church in Germany lost 200,000 members last year. Priestly ordinations have also plummeted. In 2005, a total of 122 diocesan priests were ordained in Germany. By 2015, that dropped to just 58. READ |
| AD ORIENTEM Bishop James S. Wall of Gallup, NM, announced that the 11 am Mass at the Cathedral will be celebrated ad orientem. The bishop explained: “The common way of describing such Masses is usually to say, by way of objection, that ‘the priest has his back to the people.’ Now, while this is technically true, it largely misses the main point, which is one much grander and more beautiful: ad orientem worship shows, even in its literal orientation, that the priest and the people are united together as one in worshipping God, even physically with their bodies.” READ |
| SAINT OF THE DAY Saint Bridget of Sweden was married, mother of eight, and the foundress of a monastery for men and women. She spent her final days in Rome seeking to correct Church abuses for which she received much opposition. READ |
| DAILY READINGS “Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.” (Ex 15:8) READ |
