The LOOP
The Monday Loop - February 24, 2025
UPDATE ON POPE FRANCIS' HEALTH
The Vatican stated this morning that Pope Francis “had a restful tenth night” in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. His condition remains “critical,” however, and the Vatican reported Sunday that he continues to present a complex “clinical situation,” including signs of early “renal insufficiency,” requiring that “the prognosis remain guarded.”
DOGE ASKS ALL FEDERAL WORKERS WHAT THEY DO AT WORK
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sent all federal employees an email requesting they each give an account of what they accomplished last week. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,” stated DOGE chief Elon Musk.
YALE STUDY FINDS LASTING HEALTH DEFECTS FROM COVID SHOTS
Yale researchers have uncovered a shocking new syndrome linked to mRNA COVID-19 shots, raising questions about the once widely-mandated vaccine’s long-term effects. The condition was tied to a compromised immune system and the reactivation of the dormant Epstein-Barr Virus, the most common cause of mononucleosis (“mono”).
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JERUSALEM OFFICIALS POISED TO SEIZE CHRISTIAN PROPERTY
Catholic and Orthodox Church leaders in Jerusalem this week spoke out in opposition to the Municipality of Jerusalem’s foreclosure order against the Orthodox Armenian Patriarchate. The foreclosure would enable the municipality to seize and auction Christian property, which the patriarchate has owned for centuries.
SPOTLIGHT: FIRST PAKISTANI CANDIDATE FOR SAINTHOOD
Nearly a decade after his heroic sacrifice, Akash Bashir — the first native-born Pakistani to be considered for sainthood — remains relatively unknown in his homeland, despite efforts by Church leaders and religious communities to promote his legacy.
NEW FBI DIRECTOR PATEL ALSO TO RUN ATF “FBI
Director Kash Patel will be tapped to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF),” FOX News reports. “The news comes a day after Patel was sworn in as the ninth FBI director in a narrow Senate vote.”
SO MUCH NEWS
Here are the stories we couldn’t fit in today’s LOOP: • Attorney General Bondi: Epstein files are “sitting on my desk.” • MSNBC canceled Joy Reid’s show, giving Jen Psaki more airtime. • The German right made big gains in a significant election.
PRAYER
Let us continue to keep Pope Francis in our prayers.
DEM ADVISOR ACCUSES PARTY OF UNDERMINING BIDEN AFTER DEBATE
A senior advisor to President Joe Biden recently said the Democratic Party “melted down” after the former president’s infamously poor performance at the June 27, 2024 presidential debate against Trump. “Lots of people have terrible debates. Usually, the party doesn’t lose its mind, but that’s what happened here.”
MURDERED PRIEST’S LAST WORDS: ‘I KNEEL ONLY BEFORE GOD’
New details about the heroic death of a priest in Myanmar have emerged, revealing that some of his last words were, “I kneel only before God.”
SPIRITUAL ELECTRIC SHOCK G.K
Chesterton in his book “Orthodoxy” assumes that he and his readers shared the “desirability of an active and imaginative life, picturesque and full of poetical curiosity.” Could he make such an assumption now? But Christian Lingner shows how Chesterton’s work, and our continued interest in him, acts as a spiritual shock therapy that awakens us again and again out of our modern comfort and boredom.
CATHOLIC 101
If you’re a business leader, the National Catholic Bioethics Center has a new resource for you: 24/7 expert advice on ethical matters. How do you know if you’re paying a just wage? What benefits should you be offering your employees? What if you or a loved one need to make medical decisions with very little time to consider the ethical implications? Here’s how you can tap into this resource.
SAINT OF THE DAY
Not much is known about St. Victorinus. Along with the entire local Church, he was exiled from his homeland in Greece at the command of Emperor Numerian. Although he thought himself safe in Egypt, Victorinus was captured and imprisoned there under Governor Sabinus. He and his companions were brutally tortured and finally martyred in the year 284.
DAILY PSALM
“The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.” (Psalm 93:1)
DAILY READINGS
Today's Mass readings.
HISTORY
The problem of sending children to a Catholic school while having to pay taxes to support public schools isn’t new. It was an issue in 19th-century America too. In 1873, Fr. Patrick McSweeney cleverly concocted the perfect solution to the dilemma.