Mary Rice Hasson

Kate O'Beirne Senior Fellow and Director, Person and Identity Project at The Ethics and Public Policy Center. Attorney.

[Mark Lambert @sitsio]

It is so encouraging to hear this from the Holy Father, really it is nothing other than what we would expect to hear from the Pope. But what will he do now about those in the episcopacy who seem so eager to sing a different tune? It's time for action!

[Laura Hanford @LauraBHanford]

🚨I was honored to discuss with @JanJekielek these horrifying cases across the US and the Yaeli Martinez Child Protection Act that would prevent them. Premiere at 9pm. Ohio is taking up a similar state bill, the Affirming Families First Act. @SenEricSchmitt @RepMaryMiller @clickforohio ⬇️

[Mark Lambert @sitsio]

Christian mercy does not mean pretending that evil has not been committed. It means believing that even those who have committed terrible wrongs are not beyond the possibility of redemption.

During his visit yesterday to the federal penitentiary in Buenos Aires, Pope Leo XIV offered a particularly profound reflection on this distinction. Addressing the prisoners, he spoke frankly about the destructive consequences of sin, violence, corruption and the suffering inflicted upon others. He acknowledged the sleepless nights of those separated from their families, but also invited them to reflect upon the people they themselves might have hurt.

He in no way attempted to sentimentalise wrongdoing or to suggest that compassion requires us to overlook personal responsibility, instead, Pope Leo insisted that the recognition of our failures and limitations can become the beginning of genuine conversion.

This is a distinction our culture increasingly struggles to maintain, we tend to oscillate between two equally inadequate responses to human wrongdoing: a punitive instinct that sees the offender as irredeemably defined by his worst actions, and a sentimental compassion that risks explaining away those actions by appealing to suffering, disadvantage or difficult circumstances.

Christianity rejects both.

The dignity of the human person is neither forfeited through sin nor established by moral achievement. Yet precisely because human beings possess reason, freedom and moral responsibility, their actions matter. Forgiveness does not make evil good, repentance does not erase the suffering of victims, and mercy cannot be detached from justice.

What Christian mercy offers is something more demanding than either condemnation or indulgence: the possibility of transformation through grace. The sinner must confront the truth about his actions, but he must also be permitted to believe that his future need not be imprisoned by his past.

Leo reminded his listeners that Christ Himself identified with the prisoner in Matthew 25, and that visiting those in prison is a work of mercy. He also challenged prison authorities to foster genuine rehabilitation and reintegration, recognising that punishment alone cannot exhaust society's moral obligations towards those it incarcerates.

There is a wider lesson here, particularly for a society increasingly inclined to measure human worth by independence, achievement or usefulness. The prisoner, like the disabled person, the elderly patient or the unborn child, possesses a dignity that does not depend upon what he can contribute or how others judge him.

The Christian understanding of mercy is not that wrongdoing has no consequences, but that no human being should be reduced entirely to his wrongdoing.

A society that abandons justice becomes cruel to victims. A society that abandons mercy becomes incapable of believing in redemption. The Gospel demands that we hold both together.

[Mark Lambert @sitsio]

Pope Leo XIV has returned to Peru, not simply as the head of the Catholic Church, but as a man returning to the country that helped form him as a priest, missionary and bishop. There is something particularly revealing about what he chose to say to its political leaders.

Addressing Peru's civil authorities in Lima yesterday, Pope Leo spoke affectionately of the country as his other homeland, acknowledging how profoundly its people had shaped his life and vocation. But his address was much more than a sentimental homecoming, he offered a serious reflection on the moral responsibilities of government, reminding those entrusted with public authority that behind administrative procedures, official documents and statistical categories are real human beings whose lives are affected by their decisions. It's a deceptively simple observation, but one with enormous implications. Modern government increasingly operates through abstractions: economic indicators, demographic projections, budgets, performance targets and administrative processes. Such instruments are necessary, but they become dangerous when they obscure the human persons they are supposed to serve.

A government may congratulate itself on the efficiency of its institutions while remaining remarkably indifferent to the suffering of the people who must live with their decisions. Catholic social teaching begins somewhere quite different. The human person is not an instrument of the state, an economic resource or a statistical unit. Political authority exists to serve the common good, and the common good cannot be separated from the dignity of the individual persons who constitute society.

What makes Leo's intervention especially interesting is his own experience. Having spent years ministering among ordinary Peruvians, he understands that political decisions are not merely theoretical exercises. Their consequences are experienced in homes, schools, hospitals and communities, often by people with very little influence over those who govern them.

This is also why the Church's concern for the poor cannot be reduced to political slogans or abstract commitments to social justice. It demands an encounter with actual human beings, an attentiveness to their circumstances and a willingness to recognise obligations towards them.

The real measure of political authority is not simply whether institutions function efficiently, but whether they serve the dignity and flourishing of the people entrusted to their care. Pope Leo's words deserve attention far beyond Peru. At a time when political argument is increasingly dominated by competing ideologies and impersonal calculations, he has reminded us of a fundamental Christian truth: the purpose of government is not to manage populations, but to serve persons.

[Buzz Patterson @BuzzPatterson]

Another 737-800 post. I loved this jet! This is a basic approach, not even low-vis.

[Courage Internacional @CourageEspanol]

«Cristo nos ama como somos, pero su amor es demasiado grande para dejarnos prisioneros del pecado, de aquello que nos destruye. El fuego que Él vino a traer tiene fuerza para romper nuestras ataduras y devolvernos la libertad para amar. Hay heridas que sanar, faltas que reconocer y, cuando sea posible, males que reparar. ¡Déjense transformar por Cristo! No tengan miedo de acercarse al sacramento de la Reconciliación. ¡Cuánto bien hace saber que nuestros pecados pueden ser perdonados! Recen, lean el Evangelio, acérquense a la Eucaristía. Allí nos espera Aquel que entregó su vida por nosotros». —Papa León XIV

[Sammy @NeuroSGS]

Interesting new paper: Lee et al. (2026) examine sex differences in human subcortical anatomy across three independent cohorts (N = 2,886), using measures of regional volume and regional shape.

The authors report robust, and most importantly, replicable sex differences in regional shape (not volume), with distinct patterns of male- & female-biased anatomy within the same structures. For example, male-biased differences were observed in the anterior hippocampus and medial amygdala, whereas female-biased differences were observed in the posterior hippocampus and basolateral amygdala.

These patterns were already evident in a separate prepubertal cohort (9 years), suggesting that adult sex differences in sub-cortical shape are not due to puberty:

https://t.co/1EjgMSuN4K

[Joshua Charles🇻🇦 @JoshuaTCharles]

“There is no age at which conversion is unnecessary.”

Pope Leo XIV

[Clay Travis @ClayTravis]

The Washington Post is attacking Marco Rubio for attending his son’s college football games on US government planes. For security reasons Rubio must travel on these planes. So his only option is don’t go to his son’s games or use government planes. This is a nasty, unfair attack.

[Travis Morrell, MD MPH @MorrellMDmph]

No, Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, a teen girl who loses her breasts in underage body modification can NOT just “go and get them” later.

A physician’s experience:

[Jan Jekielek @JanJekielek]

A Maryland family brought their suicidal teenage son to Children’s National Hospital in DC for help.

Instead of treating him and sending him home, the hospital refused to release him.

Hospital staff told the parents they could only get him back if they stopped teaching their Christian beliefs about biological sex.

He was later placed with the hospital’s transgender chaplain.

The family never got him back.

And the parents had no recourse.

Parents are being investigated by Child Protective Services across the United States for raising gender-confused children according to their biological sex.

The Yaeli Martinez Child Protection act, a newly proposed piece of federal legislation, would prevent such tragedies.

@LauraBHanford @Heritage

[Michael Carbonara @MCarbonaraFL]

🚨 AMAZING: Gov. Ron DeSantis has paid off 54% of ALL the debt Florida ever racked up, and cut the budget 4 years STRAIGHT.

That is how you run a state. PROUD to be a Floridian!

[Kimberly Hermann @kimmiehermann]

The left is obsessed with transing our kids.

It’s not only sick, but it’s part of the bigger effort to destroy faith and family.

But rest assured, truth will win. It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to require more lawsuits. But we will keep boys and men out of girls and women’s bathrooms and sports.

@slf_liberty @Moms4Liberty

[Independent Women @IWF]

🚨 Christian couples lost their foster care license after refusing to compromise their religious beliefs about gender identity.

Brian & Kaity Wuoti witnessed firsthand how the opioid crisis was leaving vulnerable children without stable homes. Already parents themselves, they opened their hearts & home to children in need.

But during a license renewal, Vermont officials questioned whether they would affirm a foster child's gender identity.

The Wuotis explained that they would love & care for any child, but would not compromise their sincerely held religious beliefs.

Their license was not renewed.

Another Christian couple, Bryan & Rebecca Gantt, faced a similar situation.

Both families fought back, arguing that Vermont was violating their First Amendment rights.

After a legal battle, Vermont adopted a new policy in February 2026 allowing foster parents to maintain their religious beliefs without automatically losing their licenses.

Now, these families are sharing their story of faith, perseverance, & their fight to continue fostering children in need.

READ MORE: https://t.co/KF22olyQDx

[Kristin M. Collier, MD @HSRdirector]

“Let no one be found among you….who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens….or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord.”

Deuteronomy 18:10-12

[Catholic Sat @CatholicSat]

In Peru, Pope Leo XIV defends the family, defends marriage as the union between one man and one woman, defends the rights of the unborn, and denounces gender ideology.

[Mike Fragoso @mike_frags]

I, for one, will not be scolded about Trump by the guy who suicide bombed Rubio in 2016 and then endorsed the guy. He should take his seats and observe.

[Tim Carney @TPCarney]

Maybe powerful men, particularly married men, should put guardrails around how they socialize with women colleagues.

[Andy Ngo @MrAndyNgo]

Over 42 percent of the study sample of teens who were put on medical transition didn’t respond to the follow-up. This “97 percent”approval finding has low validity and the reporting on it is extremely misleading.

A majority of teens who transition may be still satisfied a few years on, but the evidence in the research is usually of poor quality. And yet, it’s cited as proof without caveats and repeated by lying media until it’s treated as conventional wisdom.

[Mary Rice Hasson @maryricehasson]

Love this

[Mary Katharine Ham @mkhammer]

This morning, there was no school for the big kids, and all my kids were up early. I poured a cup of coffee. We have a reno project going on so the house is discombobulated and everyone’s routine is a little off. I was talking with the big girls at the bottom of the stairs when the littles emerged from their room.

I looked up to see their little heads silhouetted at the top of the stairs by the hallway light. “Mom, can you check my lip?” Our 5-yr-old had busted it yesterday by running smack into a railing, being currently in the unfortunate stage of life and height where standard installment measurements of counters and such are hazardous to the face.

I walked up and sat at the top of the stairs with my coffee, still in sweatpants. The big girls joined on the steps in front of me. Her lip looked a little rough. I told her to chew on the opposite side of her mouth today to avoid chomping it. “If I chomp it, it will get bigger and grow way, way high to the sky??” “Yes, and it will hurt.”

She nodded and went back to pretending to be a cheetah, as is her wont. My little boy curled up on my lap. We had a discussion about ticks, as we had seen one on him yesterday (super late in the season!). “But Dad got it?” “Yep, we got it.” It wasn’t there long enough to be dangerous but we talked about the problems they can cause, including the meat allergy one. They were all four aghast. “A tick that makes you vegan?!” We joked about how Dad is probably immune to ticks at this point bc of all his time as a dog handler.

We chatted about the logistics of the big girls’ Invisaligns. I remarked, as I do at least once a week, how responsible they are about them and how much we appreciate it. Not one tray lost in this family in two years of treatment combined. I’m amazed. It couldn’t be me!

This conversation was punctuated by the littles exclaiming, “I’m so ‘cited for Halloween,” as they had found some recently stored-away Halloween decorations and aren’t clear on calendars yet.

We talked about trying to see a community theater production of Elf their friend is part of, and how both girls would like to do more plays if possible.

My oldest walked downstairs to let the dog in from his morning constitutional. My second walked downstairs, as she announced she wanted to make breakfast for her siblings. The littles roared theatrically and went to play Cheetah and Lion in their room.

I sat at the top of the stairs thinking of all the times I’ve seen all of their little silhouettes here, all the times I’ve carried them up, spotted them as they crawled, or seen them waiting for us at the bottom when we get up in the mornings.

It’s nothing at all. Just a cup of coffee, a conversation about braces and bugs and busted lips. But it is everything. A mundane miracle. Just thought I’d write it down to remember it.