Gary Gately, The Catholic Observer

Award-winning journo. Written for NYT, Boston Globe, WaPo, Guardian, BaltSun, NCR, America, many others. Editor, founder, The Catholic Observer.

[Gary Gately, The Catholic Observer @garymgately01]

Exclusive: @JDVance welcomes @Pontifex's input amid @POTUS's feud with pontiff https://t.co/jGamepBPX6 via @usatoday

@ChristopherHale
@Catholic4Harris
#MAGA #JDVance #DonaldTrump #PopeLeo #CatholicChurch

[Gary Gately, The Catholic Observer @garymgately01]

@BishopBarron Congrats on the family's newest little miracle!

[Gary Gately, The Catholic Observer @garymgately01]

@catholickelsey You on right in this pic? Know year?

[Gary Gately, The Catholic Observer @garymgately01]

Exclusive: Vance welcomes Pope Leo's input amid Trump's feud with pontiff https://t.co/jGamepBPX6 via @usatoday

[Gary Gately, The Catholic Observer @garymgately01]

@MassimoFaggioli Right down the road from my hometown of Baltimore. Hoping to meet you after you move, @MassimoFaggioli!

[Gary Gately, The Catholic Observer @garymgately01]

A thank you.... and good news: Yes, I have pneumonia, but, thank God, tests revealed no tumor or blood clot in my lungs.
Thanks so much to those who sent hopes and prayers for my speedy recovery. Meanwhile, I'm catching up on the news, sharing some stories worth reading and hoping to return to writing Catholic Observer stories regularly soon.
@ironworker1 @MikeOLoughlin @brianroewe @camillobarone97

#Catholics #Catholic #PopeLeo #MarcoRubio #Iranwar #DonaldTrump #Vatican #HolySee #JDVance #AnthonyFaiola #StefanoPitrelli #WashingtonPost #Africa #Cameroon #Algeria #Angola #EquatorialGuinea #Betaprison #ICEdeaths #ICEmurders #immigration #EveliMenjivarAyala #DanRodricks #VotingRightsAct #CivilRightsAct #SupermeCourt #racism #EliseAnnAllen #Crux #DennyAdanGonzalez #NationalCatholicReporter #CamilloBarone #BrianRoewe #ReligionNewsAssociation #PopeFrancis #LaudatoSi #ExcellenceinReligionReportingContest

[Gary Gately, The Catholic Observer @garymgately01]

My apologies to Catholic Observer readers for not posting much of late. I’ve been struggling with some of the worst health issues of my life, and today, an X-ray revealed what appears to be pneumonia, which did not show up on X-rays at the ER a few weeks ago, when I was diagnosed with chronic bronchitis. The doctor told me today to return to the hospital immediately and said they should do CT scans of my lungs.

I would greatly appreciate your prayers, and I’m so very grateful to those of you who read The Catholic Observer, and I hope and pray I’m back to posting regularly soon.

As always, I’d love to hear from you. If you spot an error or have suggestions, news tips or interest in pitching a reported article or submitting a first-person piece, please email me at [email protected].

Thanks again for reading The Catholic Observer.

With kind regards, Gary Gately

[Shane Schaetzel †☧ @ShaneSchaetzel]

The ongoing desecration of Christian holy sites by the IDF is an embarrassment to the Netanyahu regime, which he knows he must try to rectify to maintain American support. That said, I am pleased with the attempted restitution, for which credit should be given. Still, the problem remains. Many Israelis are openly hostile toward Christians. This shows up periodically in the IDF, as well as Israeli settlers in the West Bank, and religious Jews in Jerusalem. The problem must be recognized and resolved. Only the Israeli government can do it. Small efforts like the replacement of the crucifix are baby steps in the right direction, but it’s going to take a lot more than that!

[Gary Gately, The Catholic Observer @garymgately01]

UPDATED: #SCOTUS Agrees to Hear #Catholic Preschools' Challenge to #Colorado Law Excluding Them from State-Funded Program Over #LGBTQ Admission Policies

The Supreme Court agreed Monday to take up a challenge to a Colorado law that excludes Catholic preschools from a state-funded program because they refuse to admit #LGBTQchildren and children with LGBTQ parents.

Two #Denver-area parishes argue that the law violates the #FirstAmendment by discriminating against them over faith-based admissions policies that adhere to Catholic teachings on #sexualorientation and #genderidentity.
...

Nicholas Reaves, senior counsel at #Becket, the religious liberty law firm representing the Catholic plaintiffs, welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case.

“Colorado promised free preschool for all, then slammed the door on families who chose a religious education for their children,” Reaves said. “The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that states cannot exclude families from government benefits because of their faith. We’re confident the Court will say the same thing here and put a stop to Colorado’s no-Catholics-need-apply rules.”....

The #Trumpadministration, which has continually sought to roll back #LGBTQrights, filed a Supreme Court brief backing the Catholic preschools, arguing that letting the “deeply problematic” lower court rulings in favor of the state stand would force the schools to “forgo state subsidies if they want to prefer families who follow Catholic teachings on” gender identity and sexual orientation.” The brief cited Supreme Court’s 2022 Carson v. Makin and 2017 Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia decisions, in which the court ruled that religious schools cannot be denied public funds solely because of their religious beliefs or practices....

But LGBTQ advocates urged the Supreme Court to uphold the lower court decisions in favor of the state, calling the challenge to the law unconstitutional discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

“To give public dollars to preschools that openly treat students with LGBTQ parents differently is state-backed discrimination and has no place in Colorado or everywhere else,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group.

“All students deserve to be accepted at school and treated equally regardless of their or their family members’ sexual orientation or gender identity. Colorado’s policy is sound and responsible, but this case is part of a dangerous, escalating path that takes aim at LGBTQ children, parents, and entire family units. This must stop.”

Read the full updated Catholic Observer story:
https://t.co/nTveaEJZ0g

#SupremeCourt #lgbtq #transgender #lgbtqrights #bullying #suicide @gayrights #trevorproject #HumanRightsWatch #CatholicChurch

[Gary Gately, The Catholic Observer @garymgately01]

Words of wisdom from Jesuit priest, journalist and author Father James Martin....

[James Martin, SJ @JamesMartinSJ]

Pope Leo XIV, Donald Trump and JD Vance. Fear not!

[Gary Gately, The Catholic Observer @garymgately01]

YOUR VOICE MATTERS.
Please consider contacting congressional lawmakers, the Trump administration and Catholic leaders to express your opposition to the unjust, unholy, immoral war in Iran and to express your support for @Pontifex.
Contact congressional lawmakers:
Write to or call your Senate and House lawmakers. You can find their contact info at https://t.co/wf3XXr1liE.
Join more than 20,000 others who have signed this petition from @ChristopherHale's Catholic newsletter Letters from Leo urging members of Congress to end the Iran war: https://t.co/iJoDHKsJVZ
Email @POTUS Donald J. Trump ([email protected]) and @VP JD Vance ([email protected])
Contact the White House (form: https://t.co/Os5Iq7jhsz).
Contact the State Department (form: https://t.co/WTaqFyTUKy) and the Defense Department (form: https://t.co/kCYbEFzprq)
Contact the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Send feedback to the @USCCB (form: https://t.co/yGbcpMul7P ).
Email the Office of the USCCB president, Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul S. Coakley (@ArchbishopOKC): [email protected].
Email the USCCB Justice and Peace Offices: Michael O’Rourke, director, Domestic Justice: [email protected], Christopher Ljungquist, director, International Justice): [email protected].
Contact Catholic leaders who have vocally opposed the Iran war:
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services: [email protected]
Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Blase J. Cupich (@BCardinalCupich): [email protected]
Washington Archbishop Cardinal Robert W. McElroy: [email protected]
Newark Archbishop Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin (@CardinalJ): [email protected] or through contact form (https://t.co/f3RloqGf83)

[Gary Gately, The Catholic Observer @garymgately01]

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "President Trump, I’m afraid, has met his match in Pope Leo. Not by chance, the name Leo means 'lion,' and this lion is not going to back down.” -- Father Anthony Figueiredo, a theologian who serves as director of international affairs for the Diocese of Assisi, Italy, in @CBSNews interview.

https://t.co/TzcXPVGXdM

[Gary Gately, The Catholic Observer @garymgately01]

Father Anthony Figueiredo, a theologian who serves as director of international affairs for the Diocese of Assisi, Italy, had a warning for Trump: “The Church does have a voice on moral issues, and it is not going to back down. President Trump, I’m afraid, has met his match in Pope Leo. Not by chance, the name Leo means lion, and this lion is not going to back down.”
https://t.co/TzcXPVGXdM

[Gary Gately, The Catholic Observer @garymgately01]

UPDATED: #PresidentTrump launched a fresh attack on #PopeLeo XIV on Tuesday, saying the pontiff should refrain from weighing in on the #IranWar‌ “because he has no idea what is going on” in the Islamic Republic.

In a telephone interview with the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera, Trump also turned on Italian Prime Minister #GiorgiaMeloni for siding with Leo in the pope’s feud with the president.

Speaking of the first U.S.-born pope, Trump said: “He doesn’t understand and shouldn’t be talking about war, because he has no idea what’s going on. He doesn’t understand that 42,000 protesters were killed in Iran last month.”

Trump has drawn fierce global criticism among #Catholic and other #Christian leaders and political figures across the ideological spectrum over his rambling Sunday night social media post calling Pope Leo “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy” and “Weak on Nuclear Weapons.”

And in a public rebuke of one of the U.S.’s closest European allies, Trump claimed in the interview that Meloni “doesn’t care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if she had the chance.”

“I am shocked by her behavior,” Trump said. “I thought she was brave, I was wrong. She doesn’t want to help us through NATO, she doesn’t want to help us get rid of the nuclear weapon. She is very different from what I thought.”

His criticism of Meloni, the only #European to attend his inauguration last year, came in response to her telling reporters Monday: “I find President Trump’s words towards the Holy Father unacceptable. The pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal for him to call for peace and to condemn every form of war.”

Trump said he has not spoken “in a long time” to Meloni, who in March blocked U.S. warplanes from using an American air base in Sicily to attack Iran and on Tuesday suspended a military cooperation pact with Israel.

The president has refused to apologize for attacking Pope Leo, while Catholic Vice President #JDVance urged the pontiff to “stick to matters of morality” and let the president dictate American public policy.

On Monday, Trump told #CBSNews correspondent Norah O’Donnell in a telephone interview that Pope Leo is “wrong on the issues.”

“I don’t think he should be getting into politics. I think he probably learned that from this,” Trump said.

Hours earlier, Leo pushed back against Trump’s Sunday night attack.

“I have no fear, neither of the Trump administration, nor of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, and that’s what I believe I am called here to do,” Leo told reporters Monday on a flight to Algeria at the beginning of a 10-day, four-nation tour of Africa.

On Tuesday, the leader of the 1.4 billion-member #CatholicChurch repeated his message of peace in Annaba, Algeria, where St. Augustine lived, prayed and ministered to his flock as a bishop for 34 years.

“God’s heart is torn apart by wars, violence, injustice and lies,” Leo, a member of the Augustinian order, told a group of nuns and elderly people at a care home run by the Little Sisters of the Poor. “But our Father’s heart is not with the wicked, the arrogant or the proud. God’s heart is with the little ones, with the humble, and with them he builds up his Kingdom of love and peace day by day, just as you are striving to do here in your daily service, in your friendship and life together.”

Trump confirmed that his incendiary post came soon after he watched a “60 Minutes” interview Sunday with three prominent American cardinals highlighting Pope Leo’s criticisms of the Iran war and mass deportations.

Later Monday, Trump repeated his refusal to apologize for the post, telling reporters outside the Oval Office: “Pope Leo said things that are wrong. He was very much against what I’m doing with regard to Iran, and you could not have a nuclear Iran, Pope Leo would not be happy with the end result….

“He went public,” Trump said. “I’m just responding to Pope Leo. There’s nothing to apologize for. He’s wrong.”

Trump told O’Donnell he was surprised by the backlash over his posting Sunday night of a since-deleted, AI-generated image that appeared to depict him as Jesus, drawing rare criticism even from evangelical Christians and conservative Catholics, many of whom called the image blasphemous.

The image, Trump insisted, was meant to depict him as a doctor, not Jesus.

“I viewed that as a picture of me being a doctor in fixing,” he said. “You had the Red Cross right there, you had, you know, medical people surrounding me. And I was like the doctor, you know, as a little fun playing the doctor and making people better. So that’s what it was viewed as. That’s what most people thought.”

Trump said he took down the photo because he “didn’t want to have anybody be confused,” adding, “People were confused.”

Meanwhile, Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, offered Pope Leo advice when asked in a Fox News interview Monday if he agreed with Trump’s attack on the pope.

The vice president told #FoxNews’ Bret Baier: “In some cases, it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of what’s going on in the Catholic Church and let the president of the #UnitedStates stick to dictating #American public policy.”

To which Jesuit priest, journalist and author Father @JamesMartinSJ responded on X: “In other words, exactly what Pope Leo is doing: speaking out on matters of morality, like war and peace, and care for the poor, the hungry and the migrant. These are fundamentally moral matters.”

Vance went on to call the conflict between the pope and the president a “natural thing,” adding: “I’m sure it will happen in the future and it’s not that big of a deal that it happened in the past.”

Asked about Trump’s claim that the Pope was “catering to the Radical Left,” Vance said that Trump has the “prerogative” to set the country’s immigration policy.

​“He has to look out for the interests of the United States of America,” Vance said.​

Vance, the highest-ranking Catholic in the federal government, who is about to publish a book about his 2019 conversion to the faith, also defended Trump’s posting of the image that appeared to depict him as Jesus. That drew rare criticism even from evangelical Christians and conservative Catholics, many of whom called the image blasphemous.

“I think the president was posting a joke and, of course, he took it down because he recognized that a lot of people werenʼt understanding his humor in that case,” said Vance, who has clashed with the Vatican and U.S. bishops repeatedly. “I think the president of the United States likes to mix it up on social media, and I actually think thatʼs one of the good things about this president is that he is not filtered.”

Father Anthony Figueiredo, a theologian who serves as director of international affairs for the Diocese of Assisi, Italy, was not amused.

“Vice President Vance called it a joke,” Father Figueiredo told CBS News Tuesday. “It’s a very sick joke, and jokes sometimes have deep consequences. I am personally offended by someone who depicts themselves as Jesus…. It really is a sad day for the American presidency when we sink to such levels. I saw so many responses noting that this is literal blasphemy.”

Figueiredo had a warning for Trump: “The Church does have a voice on moral issues, and it is not going to back down. President Trump, I’m afraid, has met his match in Pope Leo. Not by chance, the name Leo means lion, and this lion is not going to back down.”

Read the full updated story in The Catholic Observer: https://t.co/KuZ3AFaFVe

[Gary Gately, The Catholic Observer @garymgately01]

@ChristopherHale "Light for All"
-- Slogan, the newspaper that used to be The Baltimore Sun