News Notes
By William Jerry
U.S. Cardinals Urge White House To Pursue ‘Genuinely Moral’ Foreign Policy:
Three U.S.-based Catholic cardinals issued a joint statement urging a fundamental reexamination of American foreign policy, rejecting war as a tool for narrow national interests and calling for military action to be used only as a last resort in extreme circumstances. Cardinals Blase Cupich of Chicago, Robert McElroy of Washington, D.C., and Joseph Tobin of Newark framed their appeal within the moral vision articulated by Pope Leo XIV in his Jan. 9 address to the diplomatic corps.
The cardinals said recent global developments — including events in Venezuela, Ukraine, and discussion of U.S. intentions toward Greenland — have intensified debate over the moral foundations of U.S. engagement abroad. They argued that America’s traditional moral role in defending human life, dignity, and religious liberty is now under serious scrutiny. In their Jan. 19 statement, they called for a foreign policy that prioritizes respect for human life, religious freedom, national self-determination, and the promotion of human dignity, particularly through economic and humanitarian assistance rather than force.
They warned that national sovereignty has become increasingly fragile amid growing global conflicts and that political polarization has distorted discussions of peace and national interest. According to the cardinals, the United States is experiencing its most profound moral debate on foreign policy since the end of the Cold War, with peace increasingly framed in partisan terms that encourage division and destructive outcomes.
The statement highlights Pope Leo XIV’s concern over the weakening of multilateral institutions and a growing global “zeal for war.” The pope cautioned that peace is no longer pursued as a moral good rooted in justice and God’s order, but instead is often sought through military dominance and coercion. The cardinals affirmed his teaching that the right to life is the foundational human right upon which all others depend.
Pope Leo XIV Meets FSSP Leaders Amid Visitation, ‘Traditionis Custodes’ Fallout:
Pope Leo XIV met privately on Jan. 19 with leaders of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), a society of apostolic life dedicated to the traditional Roman rite, in what the fraternity described as a cordial half-hour audience at the Apostolic Palace. The meeting included the fraternity’s superior general, Father John Berg, a Minneapolis native, and Father Josef Bisig, a co-founder of the FSSP and its first superior general, who currently serves as rector of Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, Texas.
Founded in 1988, the FSSP was established by priests who separated from Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s Society of St. Pius X in order to remain fully under the authority of the Roman pontiff while preserving the older liturgical form of the Latin rite. In a statement issued Jan. 20, the fraternity said the audience allowed its leaders to present the history, mission, and apostolic works of the community, which has served the faithful for nearly four decades. The meeting also provided an opportunity to address misunderstandings and practical difficulties the fraternity faces in certain regions and to respond to questions from the pope.
The audience occurred at a sensitive moment for the FSSP and for traditional Latin-rite communities more broadly, following Pope Francis’ 2021 motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, which imposed significant restrictions on the celebration of the traditional liturgy. As a result of these changes, the FSSP is currently undergoing an apostolic visitation initiated in late 2024. The visitation is part of a wider process affecting communities formerly overseen by the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, which are now under the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
Both the fraternity and the dicastery have emphasized that the visitation is not punitive but a standard exercise of oversight intended to better understand the community’s life and mission and to offer support where needed. The FSSP previously underwent a similar visitation in 2014. While Pope Francis granted the fraternity certain exemptions from Traditionis Custodes in a 2022 decree following a private audience, the community nevertheless experienced increased scrutiny and tighter structural oversight compared to the period under Pope Benedict XVI.
Against this backdrop, Pope Leo XIV’s meeting with FSSP leadership is seen as significant, marking his first personal outreach to a major traditional community. It follows other signs of what observers describe as a policy of pragmatic leniency, including allowing Cardinal Raymond Burke to celebrate a pontifical Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica and granting selective exemptions to traditional communities. While not reversing prior liturgical reforms, the pope appears willing to listen and respond pastorally.
The FSSP, a growing community with hundreds of priests and seminarians worldwide, reported that Pope Leo XIV imparted his blessing to all its members. The fraternity expressed gratitude for the meeting and invited the faithful to continue praying as it prepares to renew its consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Feb. 11.
Catholic Quarterback Fernando Mendoza Gives Glory To God After Winning National Championship:
After leading the Indiana Hoosiers to their first-ever national championship in college football, quarterback Fernando Mendoza used the historic moment to publicly credit God, his faith, and those around him rather than himself. A devout Catholic, the 22-year-old repeatedly emphasized that his deepening relationship with God was central to both his personal growth and his success on the field. In pregame interviews, Mendoza said this season marked the strongest faith of his life, describing it as a core part of his identity and a platform to praise Jesus Christ. Acknowledging his imperfections, he stated that only Christ is perfect, underscoring his humility and gratitude.
Mendoza spoke warmly of the Catholic priests at Indiana University, crediting them with providing spiritual guidance through Mass, Confession, and personal counsel. He said he owed much of what he accomplished during the season to God and expressed his gratitude by bringing his Heisman Trophy to his campus parish on Christmas Eve. Sharing the trophy with the priests, he explained, was a way to honor the mentors who had helped shape him spiritually.
On the field, Mendoza’s story captured the imagination of fans nationwide. A former two-star recruit, he delivered what many called “the play of a lifetime” by scrambling for a dramatic, national-championship-winning touchdown on fourth down in his hometown against his hometown team. Broadcasters and analysts described the moment as almost too cinematic to be believable, predicting the image of his airborne touchdown would endure for generations.
The emotional climax came after the game when Mendoza shared a tearful embrace with his wheelchair-bound mother, who is battling multiple sclerosis. According to his Heisman biography, Mendoza’s faith permeates his daily life: he prays the Rosary weekly, listens to online Mass before games, and avoids hype music to remain spiritually grounded. Together, his faith, family, and improbable athletic journey combined to create one of the most memorable stories in college football history.
North Dakota Ag Stops Group That’s Illegally Trafficking Abortion Drugs:
(LifeNews) — Last Friday, in an aggressive but totally justified action, North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley “issued a Cease & Desist Order against Prairie Abortion Fund, a North Dakota nonprofit corporation located in Fargo, who is actively promoting and facilitating the unlawful sale of abortion pills in North Dakota.
What specifically are they alleged to be doing?
Prairie Abortion Fund violated the North Dakota Consumer Fraud Law, N.D.C.C. ch. 51-15, by promoting and facilitating the unlawful sale of counterfeit, unapproved, untested, misbranded, or misrepresented products, the unlawful sale of products without a required prescription, and the unlawful sale and unsupervised use of products required to be administered under the supervision of a physician.
Wrigley further alleges that “Our BCI [Bureau of Criminal Investigation] was able to purchase abortion pills from websites promoted by Prairie Abortion Fund without providing any health information and without providing any verification of identity or age.”
Consequently, “These actions pose a significant health risk to pregnant women and facilitate the violation of North Dakota’s healthcare requirements, in part, by taking doctors out of the equation,” Wrigley said, adding “As a North Dakota nonprofit corporation, by referring and actively linking to websites that unlawfully sells products, Prairie Abortion Fund lends credibility and trustworthiness to unlawful websites that otherwise would look much more suspicious.”
What does the Cease & Desist Order require? That “Prairie Abortion Fund immediately cease and desist promoting, linking, or referring individuals to organizations or websites that are engaged in unlawful acts or practices.”
Australia Euthanizes Disabled Patient After Denying Him Disability Support:
(LifeNews) — Wesley Smith I really do try to write about other issues. But the awfulness keeps on coming.
Yesterday, I called attention to the Canadian bioethicist who claimed that lethal jabs are no different than hip replacements. Today, I came across an awful story out of Australia in which Tony Lewis, age 71 and experiencing Motor Neurone Disease — what we call ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease — has asked for euthanasia because he was denied sufficient financial support for his disability. From the Hello Care report:
A Queensland man with Motor Neurone Disease has chosen to access voluntary assisted dying after being denied support through the National Disability Insurance Scheme because of his age, reigniting concerns about Australia’s two-tier approach to disability and aged care.
Tony Lewis is 71. Diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease last year, he falls outside the eligibility criteria for the NDIS, which excludes people diagnosed after the age of 65. Instead, he must rely on the aged care system, where funding levels and response times are widely acknowledged as inadequate for fast progressing neurological conditions.
Lewis wants to go on living but believes his financial situation makes that impossible.
Mr Lewis currently receives funding that covers only a small number of basic services each week. The reality of his care needs far exceeds what is funded. Most of his daily support is provided by his wife, Gill, who has a nursing background and has taken on the role of primary carer…
Faced with the prospect of further decline without adequate support, Mr Lewis has chosen to begin the voluntary assisted dying process. He has been clear that the decision is not driven by a lack of will to live, but by the absence of appropriate care options that would allow him to remain at home with dignity.
Yeah, just like a hip replacement! This same kind of abandonment has happened in Canada, too. But euthanasia? Never a problem of access! Is it any wonder that disability rights activists oppose hastened death?
We keep hearing the magic word, “choice,” in this debate. Sometimes that word has as much meaning as it does for cattle being herded into slaughterhouse chutes.
