The LOOP
The Saturday Loop - May 10, 2025
TRUMP SUGGESTS UPPING TAXES FOR WEALTHY TO RELIEVE MIDDLE CLASS
President Donald Trump is reviving a proposal to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans as part of what he’s calling a “big beautiful bill” to expand tax relief for the middle class. Under the proposal, the top income tax rate would rise from 37% to the pre-2017 level of 39.6% for individuals earning over $2.5 million or $5 million for joint filers.
TRUMP MOVES ED MARTIN INTO IMPORTANT DOJ ROLES
Trump announced Thursday that Ed Martin will assume multiple senior roles at the Department of Justice (DOJ), just days after Senate opposition derailed his nomination for US attorney in D.C. Martin, a Catholic, will serve as Director of the DOJ’s new Weaponization Working Group, Associate Deputy Attorney General, and US Pardon Attorneyda
GAS, GROCERY PRICES DROPPING
The prices of gas, groceries, electronics, and air travel are dropping, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). CNBC reported this week that between March 2024 and March 2025, one of the most deflated categories of goods tracked by the CPI was gas, down almost 10%.
FORMER JUSTICE SOUTER DEAD AT 85
Retired Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter, a Republican appointee who unexpectedly became a consistent liberal vote on the Court, died Thursday at age 85 in his New Hampshire home. Chief Justice John Roberts praised Souter’s tenure in a Friday statement, saying the late justice "will be greatly missed.”
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LEADERS TACKLE 'CULTURE OF DEATH' AT HEARTBEAT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCER
More than 1,600 leaders, medical professionals, and advocates from 44 states and more than 20 countries gathered in Birmingham, Alabama, last week for Heartbeat International’s annual conference, the largest of its kind in the world. There, participants worked to develop wide-ranging "strategies for countering a worldwide culture of death," Churck Donovan reported for Washington Stand.
CATHOLIC LAWMAKER PRAISES NEW POPE'S PRO-LIFE STATEMENTS
Rep. Chris Smith, R-NJ, issued a statement upon the election of Pope Leo XIV, praising the new pontiff for his record of defending life. “Catholics — and people of good will around the world — look to the papacy for moral leadership and clarity,” Smith wrote, “and we are encouraged by Pope Leo’s call for peace, his example of faith and humility and his focus on charity and upholding the dignity of the vulnerable and the poor.”
SO MUCH NEWS
Here are the stories we couldn’t fit it today’s LOOP: • A Catholic teen died after being injured during a lacrosse game. • Barbara Bush will be honored with a postal stamp. • The Archdiocese for the Military Services has a new auxiliary bishop.
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WHY ARE YOUNG PEOPLE FLOCKING TO THE CHURCH?
Amid rising numbers of Catholic converts, a Catholic professor at Word on Fire and Loyola Marymount University wrote that the Church is becoming increasingly attractive to young people around the world because it is real and cannot be digitized.
FORMER HEALTH OFFICIAL: NO TO ABORTION TOURISM IN EUROPE
A feminist-backed initiative in the European Union that seeks to legalize “abortion tourism” is actually a highly illegal operation to undermine EU treaties and national legislation of individual countries, a former Minister and European Commissioner for Health recently wrote in a commentary article for the European Conservative.
LOOPCAST
Everything you need to know about our newly elected leader, Pope Leo XIV! The gang gives their Papal wish list, how we should approach a Pope's Twitter history, and what this moment means for the Church. A Bob from Chicago is now the Pope. What a time to be alive.
CATHOLIC 101
With the election of Pope Leo XIV, a professed Augustinian, now is a good time to refamiliarize yourself with the works of Saint Augustine. Here is a quick look back at one of the most influential thinkers in Western history.
SAINT OF THE DAY
The Catholic Church today remembers Saint Damien of Molokai. The Belgian priest sacrificed his life and health to become a spiritual father to the victims of leprosy quarantined on a Hawaiian island.
SATURDAY'S PSALM
"How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good he has done for me?" (Psalm 116:12)
SATURDAY'S READINGS
Saturday's Mass readings.
SUNDAY’S PSALM
“We are his people, the sheep of his flock" (Psalm 100: 1-2, 3, 5)
SUNDAY’S READINGS
Sunday's Mass readings.
THE FIRST AMERICAN CARDINAL
When Cardinal John McCloskey became America’s first cardinal in April of 1875, one could say it was just another addition to his track record of early starts. From entering minor seminary at 11 years old, to becoming a coadjutor bishop at 34, the enterprising but gentle American prelate was known for his tireless contributions to building a flourishing Church in his young homeland.