Brendan LaFave excelled academically but felt disconnected due to technology, stating, 'It just did a number on me. It caused a subtle depression.' His experience during COVID further exacerbated his feelings of isolation.
Gore's book lays out claims the organisation is at the heart of a conspiracy involving child grooming, human trafficking, and psychological and emotional control, with former members saying the group used private confessions as leverage against members and drugged those under its sway.
The law says consent cannot truly be given in those circumstances due to the power imbalance, and it also applies to a professor and a student, or a boss and an employee, or a therapist and a client.
On Ash Wednesday, 2026, two Roman Catholic priests and a religious sister entered an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, to celebrate Mass with detainees inside. It might seem like a simple, routine event: a religious service to mark the start of Lent. But the Mass represented a legal win for the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership, based in Chicago.
I have told the clergy of the Episcopal diocese of New Hampshire that we may be entering into that same witness, Hirschfeld said. And I've asked them to get their affairs in order, to make sure they have their wills written, because it may be that now is no longer the time for statements, but for us with our bodies, to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable.
Catch up quick: President Trump created the White House Faith Office by executive order on Feb. 7, 2025, placing it within the Domestic Policy Council and moving it into the White House complex. The move was designed to signal a "direct line" between people of faith and the executive branch. Unlike the versions under prior administrations, which were often situated in agencies or outside the immediate West Wing orbit, this office is central to Trump's "religious freedom" agenda.
Matthew Marrero witnessed the emotional detainment inside of 26 Federal Plaza on Nov. 24. The pair had been attending what they thought would be a joyous Green Card appointment that would cement their life together; instead, it turned into a nightmare when the Marreros were separated by ICE, and Allan was transferred from facility to facility. After months of fighting for his husband's freedom, Matthew Marrero flew to the Magnolia State on Jan. 27 for Allan's bond hearing.
There are some things that defy explanation. When the loathsome House Speaker Mike Johnson recently took it upon himself to explain the Bible to Pope Leo XIV, the Bishop of Rome, the spiritual leader of over a billion Catholics, and a person who has truly earned his Jesus stripes, it just confirmed what a sanctimonious idiot Johnson is. This bizarre Bible babble from one of the most unholy people on Earth went beyond being absurd because the very idea that the narcissistic Johnson really thought he knew more about the Bible than the humble Leo is ... well, inexplicable.
Cardinal Blase Cupich, 76, is one of the leading voices of the progressive sector of the U.S. Catholic Church at a time when the conservative arm, emboldened by the Donald Trump administration, is rapidly gaining ground in a heavily politicized country. Except he doesn't see himself in that way, nor the church. I always try to be faithful to what the doctrine of the Church is on social issues, and that is my guide.
