By and large, Catholic and non-Catholic students alike are looking for truth, 'something that’s permanent,' in a world that is deeply divided politically and otherwise

American college campuses are cloaked in the annual splendor of fall colors, and students are buckling down in a new semester. Amid the many diversions of campus life, Catholic chaplains say unexpectedly large numbers of students at universities across the country — including many secular institutions — are expressing interest in the Catholic faith.

It’s reached the point where many Newman Centers — named, of course, for the newest Doctor of the Church and patron saint of education, St. John Henry Newman — are almost overwhelmed by the response from young men and women on campus to their educational, recreational and sacramental offerings.

“We’re in a golden age of campus ministry right now,” Father Ryan Kaup, pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Church and Newman Centerat the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), told the Register.

“We so often focus on the negative, but there’s a lot of hope” on college campuses, he continued.

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Long before even half-way through Ken Burns new documentary, The American Revolution, did I realize he and his some twenty-two ‘historians’ and writers had no interest in securing America’s Christian founding. AI itself has concluded against Mr Burns’ full omission of including the Black Robe Regiment throughout the Revolution as integral beyond it's influence, with his lamest of all saying, the founders were all “Deist”. Which if he had one bit of journalistic integrity, he would have tapped just one of the nation’s largest privately-owned collections of founding letters and archives available. It was not.

The Federal Association for the Right to Life, an umbrella organization for numerous pro-life organizations, has condemned the “glorification” of the assisted suicide of the 89-year-old Kessler twins.

Alice and Ellen Kessler were German singers and performers who were famous in Europe, especially in Italy, in the 1960s. The twin sisters decided to die together by assisted suicide at their home near Munich on Monday.

Alexandra Linder, the pro life association’s chairwoman, said: “There is widespread media coverage of this, with many praising the ‘self-determination’ of choosing the time and manner of death oneself rather than waiting for death and perhaps suffering.”

This is “dangerous,” Linder emphasized, because it could cause “people in suicidal situations” to “to kill themselves or have themselves killed. This so-called Werther effect was sadly evident in the suicide of soccer player Robert Enke: After his suicide became known, the number of suicides rose sharply. The media should take much more responsibility when reporting on such incidents.”

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The European Parliament and the United Nations have officially condemned the practice of surrogacy following reports of human rights violations against women and babies.

Experts gathered on Nov. 19 for a meeting at the European Parliament that included U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls Reem Alsalem and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International’s Carmen Correas, who discussed the harms of surrogacy on women and children, according to an ADF press release.

The event, “Surrogacy: An Ethical and Political Challenge for Europe,” followed the release of a landmark report by Alsalem that highlighted widespread human rights violations globally as a result of surrogacy. The event also came after a resolution that stated the EU “condemns the practice of surrogacy … [and] calls on the [EU] Commission to take measures to support ending this phenomenon.”

Italian European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Party Member of the EU Parliament Paolo Inselvini said at the event it has become clear that “a determined European front exists, committed to stopping reproductive exploitation across the globe.” He further emphasized the EU’s commitment to “abandon all ambiguity” and designate surrogacy as “a universal crime.”

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Hail Mary,
Full of Grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of our death.
Amen

Berserk said:

This thread will sequentially discuss the biblical underpinnings of these 10 Catholic distinctives:
(1) Holy Water
(2) Holy Relics
(3) Prayer to Saints

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Noting in OT or NT for that

Berserk said:

(4) Catholic Mariology

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Not in the Bible.
Christ was confronted with it and responded "on the contrary"

Berserk said:

(5) Priestly Confession and Absolution

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Not a role specific to any office or person in the NT

Berserk said:

(6) Infant Baptism

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Not in the NT at all ( or OT)

Berserk said:

(7) Transubstantiation/ Real Presence

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"in remembrance of me" not "I am killed each time you do this"

Berserk said:

(8) Purgatory

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Not in the Bible at all ... not even in the Apocrypha

Berserk said:

(9) Catholic Doctrine of Justification

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Not sure what you mean by that

Berserk said:

(10) Catholic View of Scripture and Tradition

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Mark 7:7-13 is Christ's response to that

JimR-OCDS said:

So, cops shouldn't stop a mentally ill person from causing harm or destruction?

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Do you honestly think that is what I'm endorsing? Come on. I can't drag you along.

I'm saying that there ARE people who can do lower level interventions MUCH BETTER THAN COPS. Cops require a lot of training and descalation truly, is not a strong point. It, infact, is a skill set that can run counter to the legal freedoms that cops have. If cops "Get lazy" the first thing to do is de-escalation.

Social workers AND psychologists can do SOME things better than cops: Don't you agree with that?

YES cops will be needed. YES cops still should have the ability to be lethal. YES there are times when cops are mandatory.

A new report reveals that significant numbers of Anglican clergy have converted to Catholicism in the United Kingdom since 1992.

The report, “Convert Clergy in the Catholic Church in Britain,” released Nov. 20, shows that approximately 700 clergy and religious of the Church of England, Church in Wales, and Scottish Episcopal Church have been received into the Catholic Church since 1992. The number includes 16 former Anglican bishops. This equates to approximately a third of all Catholic priests ordained in England and Wales during this period.

Speaking to CNA, co-author Stephen Bullivant, professor of theology and the sociology of religion at St. Mary’s Catholic University, London, said he was “really quite surprised” by the high numbers, “especially the [convert] ordinations as a proportion of all ordinations.”

“The numbers,” Bullivant added, “are much larger than most people would imagine. It was a much bigger phenomenon than a lot of people thought.”

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Justice Department is investigating handling of Adam Schiff [and Tish James] mortgage fraud probe led by Ed Martin and Bill Pulte​

The Justice Department is investigating whether people impersonated federal agents in mortgage fraud probes of prominent Democrats, a development that could complicate efforts to prosecute political enemies of President Donald Trump, people briefed on the matter told CNN.

The subpoena Bish received demanded she give to the prosecutors in Maryland any communications she had with “any person or persons claiming to be” working under the Federal Housing Finance Director Bill Pulte, the Justice Department official Ed Martin, or others “claiming to be acting at the direction or request” of them or their offices, according to the subpoena reviewed by CNN.

Bish, who previously ran for office in California, has publicly said she had information to share about Schiff related to his mortgages. She told CNN on Thursday that when she came to the Greenbelt courthouse, she believed she was going to provide grand jury testimony on Schiff and mortgage fraud, but ... Investigators focused their questions on two people whom Bish said reached out to her for information on Schiff.

rambot said:

Oh!! I LOOOOVE this.
I'll take a picture tomorrow.

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ARRRRG! I FORGOT! Ok. Well it doesn't matter anyways cause when I wake up it's completely dark. Tomorrow (saturday) when I can sleep in a bit, I can actually get a morning shot.

Not quite as impressive as some here though...that's for sure.

A Missouri man has been sentenced to more than 15 years in prison for kidnapping his girlfriend and trying to force her to get an abortion.

Kevin L. Smith, a 42-year-old resident of St. Peters, was recently sentenced to 15 years and eight months after admitting to kidnapping his girlfriend at gunpoint and driving her to Fairview Heights, Illinois, in his pursuit to terminate the pregnancy.

In addition to the 188 months in prison, Smith will also be required to undergo three years of supervised release, according to a press statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Illinois.

“It is not easy to shock law enforcement officials because we have pretty much seen it all — but then someone like Kevin Smith comes along,” said U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft in the statement.

He added, “It is difficult to find words adequate to describe someone who would kidnap his pregnant girlfriend to force her to have an abortion at gunpoint and then continue to threaten her from jail. This vile crime terrorized the victim and threatened the life of her unborn child. Smith deserves every minute of that prison sentence.”

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More than 50% of American women under the age of 50 who don't have children say they have no desire to become mothers, as the nation’s fertility rate has reached an all-time low, according to the 2025 American Family Survey.

The annual study, conducted by the Wheatley Institute and the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University, and the Deseret News, was conducted between Aug. 6-18.

This past summer, federal data showed that the fertility rate in the U.S. had dropped to an all-time low in 2024 to less than 1.6 children per woman. That rate is below the estimated 2.1 births per woman needed to maintain a stable population. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics also show that America’s general fertility rate — the number of births per 1,000 females ages 15–44 — declined by 22% between 2007–2024. From 2007–2023, the number of births fell 16%. Age-specific birth rates declined for females in age groups 15–34, remained unchanged for women ages 35–39, and increased for women ages 40–44.

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Richard T said:

This phenomenon, commonly referred to as “dummymandering,”

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That, of course, would be an even funnier outcome to this whole thing. Given the blue tilt in the few 2025 elections, something similar in 2026 could easily result in that happening. But for now, the courts have given us the less funny end to the saga.

REVERSE! REVERSE!

An Ohio doctor has had his medical license temporarily suspended after he allegedly used his wife’s information to order abortion drugs for his pregnant girlfriend, who claims he pinned her down in an attempt to force her to ingest the crushed pills as she fought to free herself from his grip.

The State Medical Board of Ohio has summarily suspended the medical license of Dr. Hassan-James Abbas, according to a Nov. 5 notice the board shared with The Christian Post. Abbas, a surgical resident at the University of Toledo, has since been placed on administrative leave.

According to the notice, Abbas began “a romantic and sexual relationship” with his girlfriend, also identified as "Patient 1," around the time he separated from his wife in October 2024. After dating for a few months, she told Abbas on Dec. 7, 2024, that she was pregnant.

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Radioactive isotopes ordinarily lose mass.

VTCDR

SabbathBlessings said:

All mistranslations, for example Acts 10 is speaking of Gentiles what God literally told him the vision was about Col2:16 is referring to sacrifices and offerings what God said He would put an end to Dan9:27- Heb10:1-10 Heb9:10-15 etc. I would go through each one of these with you, but your mind is made up. God spoke His final authority Isa66:17 guess we can agree to disagree and this will get sorted out soon enough.

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No, they are not mistranslations. They say exactly what the scripture say. All foods are clean. Just these two scriptures proves it.

“because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thereby He declared all foods clean.)”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭7‬:‭19‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

Peter was hungry and saw what used to be unclean animals and crawling creatures and the Lord told him that they had been cleansed and were fine to eat.

“But he became hungry and wanted to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; and he *saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, and on it were all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the sky. A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.” Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.””
‭‭Acts‬ ‭10‬:‭10‬-‭15‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

Your argument is with God.

Fantine said:

Apparently they found one study to.counteract 26 ones finding no connection.

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It's not even that. IIRC, for one class of vaccines (DTAP) the matter hasn't been studied with enough statistics to make any conclusion.

(Wakefield's fraudulent study was about MMR, so that's the one vaccine that's been studied in great detail.)

Nevertheless, we have no reason to believe DTAP is associated with autism. Worse, that webpage is clearly intended to cause distrust of vaccines in general, when its major claim is only true of DTAP.

Tucker Carlson has found himself at the center of controversy once again. This time for two reasons: his recent interview with Nick Fuentes, a figure widely known for antisemitic and white-nationalist rhetoric, and his claim of having experienced a demonic attack shortly after what he described as a profound encounter with God.

The backlash has been fierce, and not only from the secular press. Many on the political right who once condemned “cancel culture” now seem eager to cancel Carlson. The same voices that demanded nuance and mercy for others now appear quick to condemn one of their own.

Let’s start with the Fuentes interview. Carlson gave Fuentes nearly two hours on his program, describing him as “talented” and “engaged,” and calling some of his ideas “not crazy.” He did not explicitly agree with Fuentes’ antisemitic views, but neither did he firmly challenge them. It was, at best, a lapse in discernment – a moment when generosity of conversation became a platform for poison.

Nick Fuentes’ ideology is insufferable. His antisemitism is real and destructive. Christians must be clear: such views are incompatible with the Gospel of Christ and are subject to God’s judgment. Yet acknowledging the wrongness of Fuentes’ words does not require the destruction of Tucker Carlson. Correction is not the same as condemnation.

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essentialsaltes said:

Vance pleads for ‘patience’ on the economy in sharp departure from Trump’s rhetoric​

Vance during his remarks conceded that Americans remained unhappy over the affordability issues that have weighed on those approval ratings, such as the price of groceries. At one point, he went as far as to undercut one of Trump’s key barometers of economic success — a decline in the price of eggs since January — by admitting that the food staple is still too expensive for many people.

“We get it and we hear you, and we know that there’s a lot of work to do,” Vance said during a Breitbart News event. “As much progress as we’ve made, it’s going to take a little time for Americans to feel that.”

At a US-Saudi Investment Forum a day earlier, Trump dismissed the focus on affordability, calling it a “new word” that Democrats have latched on to since he took office.

“The only thing that we’re going up in is our stock market, [not recently] okay, we’re bringing prices down,” Trump said, despite the rise in the cost of key products like beef and coffee that economists have blamed at least in part on the administration’s tariffs. “But they came up with a new word that they’re using: affordability.”

The president in speeches and social media posts since Democrats’ electoral victories earlier this month has also called affordability concerns a “con job,”

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Vance seeing his chances of being elected in ‘28 starting to slip away while he’s attached to this train wreck.

Former Harvard University President Larry Summers announced Wednesday that he will step away from teaching duties and key leadership roles at the institution, just days after newly-released emails revealed his correspondence with the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Summers, 70, who also served as U.S. Treasury Secretary under former President Bill Clinton from 1999 to 2001, issued a statement Monday expressing profound remorse. “I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein,” he told The Harvard Crimson.

His email exchanges with Epstein — which spanned at least seven years, up to July 5, 2019, the day before Epstein was arrested on federal sex-trafficking charges — included Summers seeking Epstein’s advice on pursuing a romantic relationship with a woman he described as a "mentee." In one email, Epstein referred to himself as Summers’ “wing man,” according to the Crimson.

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"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to he conformed to the image of his Son" (Romans 8:29).

We may not understand predestination, and the scholars may argue about it, but it is very plain what God had in mind—our conformity to the image of His Son. In other words, He would have us to be like Jesus.

We are all accepted in Him when we believe and are saints as to position, but the working out of all this in our daily lives is sometimes a slow process. We are stubborn and often "conformed to this world” instead.

It is possible to be a well-instructed fundamentalist who has progressed in Bible study, attended a lot of meetings, and learned “all the answers,” and yet not be much like Jesus. Some of us are not much more like Him than we were ten years ago.

We boast that we are not babes but mature Christians because we can take strong meat in Bible teaching; but are we not still babes if our progress has not been “in Christ,” knowing Him better and becoming more like Him?

A mature Christian is one who has grown up in Bible Christlikeness, not merely graduated in Bible courses.

Vance Havner