The LOOP
The Friday Loop - September 26, 2025
TRUMP SIGNS 3 SWEEPING ORDERS
President Donald Trump signed an executive order yesterday on the long-anticipated deal to keep TikTok operating in the U.S., followed by directives on capital punishment in Washington, D.C., and on launching a federal crackdown on domestic terrorism.
CATHOLICVOTE VICE PRESIDENT: HOW TO WIN CULTURE
Speaking at a symposium on the freedom of speech yesterday, CatholicVote Vice President Joshua Mercer warned that conservatives risk “winning the argument but losing the culture” unless they change how they fight censorship and defend truth. Here are the six "rules of engagement” all conservatives should adopt to reclaim lost ground.
NEWLY PROPOSED COIN MAY HONOR CHARLIE KIRK
Republican lawmakers have proposed minting 400,000 silver dollar coins to honor Charlie Kirk, featuring his likeness, full name, and the inscription, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” If approved, Kirk would become the youngest person ever depicted on U.S. currency.
JAMES COMEY INDICTED ON TWO CHARGES
Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted yesterday on alleged false statements within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch and obstruction of congressional proceeding. Trump reacted swiftly, saying Comey "has been so bad for our Country, for so long, and is now at the beginning of being held responsible for his crimes against our Nation.”
LAWMAKERS SEEK TO PROTECT KIDS FROM 'GENDER' SURGERIES
Republican lawmakers introduced the “Chloe Cole Act,” a measure to ban “gender transition” procedures for minors. CatholicVote President Kelsey Reinhardt said the bill helps protect children suffering from gender confusion and ends "the perverse incentives for hospitals and gender clinics to make money off of mutilating children."
CATHOLIC APOSTOLATE CELEBRATES 45 YEARS OF FAITHFUL MISSION
Courage International today celebrates 45 years of carrying out its mission to help Catholics with same-sex attraction pursue holiness through chastity, prayer, and positive witness. The ministry serves Catholics in more than 15 countries.
MOTHER CHALLENGES SCHOOL DISTRICT OVER BOY IN GIRLS' LOCKER ROOM
A mother filed a federal civil rights complaint this week against a Virginia school district, alleging administrators allowed a male student with facial hair to repeatedly enter the girls’ locker room at her daughter’s high school and watch girls change.
CATHOLICVOTE IS HIRING!
CatholicVote is looking to fill a fully remote News Writer position with a candidate located in the Western U.S., Alaska, or Hawaii! Do you or does someone you know have what it takes? Please take a look at the details and share this great opportunity with your contacts.
BELOVED LOYOLA SISTER RETIRES AT 106
Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, a Catholic religious sister known across the country for her role as team chaplain to Loyola University Chicago’s men’s basketball team, has officially retired at the age of 106. Sr. Jean joined Loyola’s ministry in 1991 and spent over three decades in campus service.
BISHOPS' PROTESTS AGAINST DURBIN AWARD CONTINUE TO GROW
Two more bishops are now on record publicly opposing Cardinal Blase Cupich’s decision to honor Sen. Dick Durbin with a lifetime achievement award: Bishop Carl Kemme of Wichita, Kansas, and Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth, Texas, added their objections yesterday.
NOT TO BE MISSED
Here are the stories we couldn’t fit in today’s LOOP: • In a time of isolation, this youth minister is challenging young people to meet their neighbors. • US bishops stand with Christians facing violent attacks in Africa. • Pope Leo XIV encourages exorcists to walk with those suffering from evil.
NIGHTLY RITUAL, MARRIED OR NOT
Do we have control over our dreams? Not completely, to be sure, but we can have some influence over them. Thomas Aquinas said “those things which have occupied a man’s thoughts and affections while awake recur to his imagination while asleep.” So here is a great nightly ritual for married couples and single people to give yourself better dreams!
CATHOLIC 101
When reading the famous descriptions of a good wife in Proverbs 31 and Sirach 26, a young man might think, "Wow, how do I get one of those?" He thinks he simply needs to go out and look for such a woman until he finds one. But this misses a critical role of the man himself: to provide the conditions in which a woman can become this sort of wife. Here's what that means.
SAINT OF THE DAY
Today the Church honors Saints Cosmas and Damian, twins born to Christian parents in Arabia in the third century. They endured brutal tortures under Diocletian but miraculously survived until they were martyred by beheading.
DAILY PSALM
"Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God." (Psalm 43)
DAILY READINGS
Today's Mass readings.
THE DEEP
Jimmy Kimmel is back on air after his suspension for calling Charlie Kirk’s killer part of the “MAGA gang.” Initially, Kirk's death united conservatives, but the Kimmel fight split them. Was it free speech, or did the FCC pressure cross the line? In this episode of, Erika breaks down what the Right keeps getting wrong when facing opponents and lays out six rules for a stronger strategy.