College Sports Bill Fight, Pope Leo’s Homecoming, and Our Lady in the Flames - 8/7/26

A bipartisan sports bill could sideline the women it claims to protect. I'm Josh Mercer with your Morning LOOPcast. Conservatives warn a bipartisan college sports bill could override state protections for female athletes unless the Senate fixes it. The Protect College Sports Act's broad preemptive language could actually override state laws keeping men out of women's sports. Catholic Votes' Tom McCluskey says sponsors are throwing women under the bus in order to win Democratic support. ...praised Republican Senators Josh Hawley, Jim Banks, and Tommy Tuberville for opposing the bill.

Pope Leo is returning to the South American country that became his second home. His November 6-17 trip will take him to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, including Chilajo, where he served as bishop for eight years. Leo first arrived in Peru as an Augustinian missionary in 1985, later became a Peruvian citizen, and will now return to the South American country. A statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary was found intact amid the ruins of a home destroyed by the devastating Spokane wildfires. Three fast-moving fires have destroyed at least 700 structures and forced about 65,000 people to evacuate.

Bishop Thomas Daly urged Catholics to pair prayer with action for families who lost everything. The diocese said the image of the undamaged statue speaks without words. It really does. Today is the Feast of St. Cajetan, the lawyer-turned-priest who served the sick and poor and helped reform the clergy. Go to zeal.co for the rest of today's loop, and while you're at it, subscribe to get the loop in your inbox every morning. Again, that's zeal.co.