The LOOP
The Friday Loop - August 29, 2025
FBI: MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING WAS ANTI-CATHOLIC TERRORISM FBI
Director Kash Patel announced yesterday that the gunman behind the deadly shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis left a manifesto and other evidence showing the attack "was an act of domestic terrorism motivated by a hate-filled ideology.” Here are the details.
RFK: HHS TO PROBE IF PSYCHIATRIC DRUGS CONTRIBUTE TO SHOOTINGS
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. yesterday said the National Institutes of Health is investigating potential links between psychiatric drugs taken during “gender transitions” and violence.
VANCE DEFENDS PRAYER AFTER TRAGEDY
Some Democratic officials and commentators dismissed public calls for prayer in the wake of the shooting in Minneapolis. Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic, responded: “We pray because our hearts are broken. We pray because we know God listens. We pray because we know that God works in mysterious ways, and can inspire us to further action."
JEWISH ORG ACCUSED OF ENDORSING ATTACKS ON CHRISTIANS IN GAZA
A prominent DC-based Jewish policy group this week wrote on X that unarmed Christians in Gaza are "part of the battle," adding: "If they are looking for martyrdom, well…” Critics accused the organization of endorsing the killing of Christians in Gaza, who recently announced that, despite Israeli plans to escalate military attacks, they are choosing to stay and care for the elderly, sick, and wounded who cannot be moved.
HHS ORDERS STATES TO SCRUB 'GENDER IDEOLOGY' OR LOSE FUNDS
The Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday ordered Washington, D.C., 40 states, and five territories to strip all references to “gender ideology” from a federally funded sexual health education program. Otherwise, they will lose millions of dollars in funding.
RFK DEFENDS CDC SHAKEUP, POINTING TO PRO-ABORTION IDEOLOGY
Health Secretary Kennedy yesterday defended a major shakeup at the CDC that critics of the Trump administration had decried. The agency "is in trouble, and we need to fix it — and we are fixing it — and it may be that some people should not be working there anymore," Kennedy said. He also called out that the CDC's current website lists abortion under its “Ten Great Public Health Achievements” of the 20th century.
POPE TELLS POLITICIANS NOT TO SEPARATE PERSONAL BELIEFS FROM POLICY
“There is not on one side the politician, and on the other the Christian,” Pope Leo told a group of politicians yesterday. “Rather, there is the politician who, under the gaze of God and of his conscience, lives out his commitments and his responsibilities in a Christian manner.”
Advertisement
LOOP EXCLUSIVE: 60 DAYS OF HOME TITLE PROTECTION FOR $1
LOOPers, did you know a criminal can steal your home with just a forged signature? Protect your home, equity, and future with this exclusive LOOP offer: 60 days of Home Title Lock’s TripleLock® Protection — 24/7 monitoring, urgent fraud alerts, and up to $1M in title restoration — for only $1. Don’t wait until it’s too late.
OHIO BISHOP REFLECTS ON LATIN MASS AND FAITH JOURNEY
Bishop Earl Fernandes of the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, opened up about his upbringing as an Indian Catholic living in America, his devotion to the Latin Mass, and more in an interview with Catholic World Report this week.
BISHOPS RALLY AGAINST ANTI-CHRISTIAN VIOLENCE IN INDIA
Catholic bishops in India joined thousands of Christians to peacefully protest a surge in anti-Christian attacks in the country — from church vandalism and physical assaults on clergy to the arrest of two Catholic nuns in late July.
BONUS NEWS
Here are the stories we couldn’t fit in today’s LOOP: • Report: Fathers are suing over the abortions of their children. • Texas took a step closer to allowing high-dollar lawsuits over abortion pill shipments. • Canadian financial officials recommend canceling pro-life orgs' charitable status.
MERRIMENT FROM ANOTHER WORLD
The Jackie Gleason show was a major hit of the midcentury. One of the popular recurring sketches featured Joe the Bartender and “Crazy Guggenheim.” Dopey facial expressions, goofy laughs, and joke after joke, people loved it. They didn’t need to use any snark, off-color humor, or politics. And both actors were Catholic. Here’s the influence being Catholic has on humor and pure merriment.
CATHOLIC 101
It can be frustrating when, after years of practice, we find in ourselves the same faults that nagged at us when we first set out to improve our spiritual lives. How do we respond to that kind of self-reflection?
SAINT OF THE DAY
Today the Church marks the beheading of Saint John the Baptist. The great saint and forerunner of Christ was beheaded at the request of King Herod's niece, whose dancing had pleased the king so much that he thoughtlessly offered her any gift she asked. She asked for the head of St. John on a platter.
DAILY PSALM
"Rejoice in the Lord, you just!" (Psalm 97)
DAILY READINGS
Today's Mass readings.
THE DEEP
Gay marriage has been legal in America for nine years now, and many kids have been raised with two moms or two dads. Where are these kids now? On this episode of, Erika looks not to narrative, but to facts to uncover the truth about same-sex parenting.