The LOOP

The Thursday Loop - October 23, 2025

POLL: GOP BLAMED FOR SHUTDOWN BUT TRUMP APPROVAL UP

Half of Americans blame the Republican Party for the ongoing government shutdown, yet President Donald Trump’s approval rating edged up last week, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

EMBATTLED VIRGINIA DEM JAY JONES TOUTS CATHOLICISM

Facing dismal polling odds two weeks after the publication of his murderous texts from 2022, Democratic Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones met with pastors yesterday and touted his self-proclaimed status as a Catholic.

GENOCIDE IN NIGERIA? 2 US MISSIONARIES TESTIFY

Two American missionaries are raising alarm over what they describe as a systematic, government-enabled genocide of Christians in Nigeria. “They separate Christian and Muslim men and women first. They kill the Christian men and tell the Muslim men that they must either join them or die, and they kill all the ones who don’t join them and sell the women into sex slavery.”

ALIGN YOUR CATHOLIC VALUES WITH YOUR FINANCIAL GOALS

Want a mutual fund that respects your pro-life, pro-family beliefs? All seven Ave Maria Funds share your Catholic values. They don’t invest in companies that support abortion, pornography, or embryonic stem cell research, or make corporate contributions to Planned Parenthood. about Ave Maria, the nation’s largest Catholic mutual fund family.

CHICAGO ARCHBISHOP: 'THE CHURCH STANDS WITH IMMIGRANTS'

Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, issued an Oct. 21 statement against ongoing crackdowns on illegal immigration under the Trump administration, denouncing those actions as attacks on “the soul of our city.”

AMERICAN PUBLIC GETTING RELIGION?

New levels of Americans say that religion is gaining influence in society, and the majority of adults say that religion has a positive influence on American culture, a recent Pew Research Center report discovered. Here are the numbers.

ANALYSIS: CATHOLICISM AND IMMIGRATION

Catholic writer Francis Maier recently examined how Catholics can apply their beliefs to immigration issues. "In serving the needs and championing the rights of new immigrants, church leaders have often been seen as downplaying or ignoring the just concerns of their own people,” Maier wrote in part. “And most of their people are not reactionary nativists or right-wing bigots but ordinary men and women, often with families, worried — rightly — about crime, the financial stability of their public institutions, and social cohesion.”

CALLING ALL PRO-LIFERS!

Support pro-life and pro-family causes just by using your phone.

US BISHOPS TO LIVESTREAM UPCOMING ASSEMBLY SESSIONS

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops announced yesterday that public sessions for its 2025 Fall Plenary Assembly will be livestreamed Nov. 11 and 12. One of the first items on the agenda will be the election of the next USCCB president and vice president. The bishops will also elect chairmen for six USCCB committees.

CATHOLIC SCHOOL DISMISSES TEACHER WHO MADE FALSE ICE ALERT

A teacher at a Catholic high school in Waukesha, Wisconsin, was dismissed from his job after publicly warning against what he said were undercover ICE agents in photo posts online. The men were in fact employees of a local emergency management firm, local outlets reported.

IS THERE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE FOR GOD?

Does science prove God's existence? The authors of a recently translated book argue that scientific fields — from cosmology and physics to biology and chemistry — offer mounting evidence for belief both in immaterial reality and a creator God.

CATHOLIC 101

Taking ownership of our bodies can lead us to nurture and steward them as temples of the Holy Spirit, and protect ourselves from others who would violate our bodies. But it's worth remembering that, in a very real sense, our bodies are not our own, and so must be cherished and strengthened in order to make them more perfect gifts.

SAINT OF THE DAY

Today the Church honors Saint John of Capistrano (1386-1456). A highly educated and accomplished man, John was the governor of a major city by the age of 26. When he was later thrown in prison by a hostile noble family, he discerned his call to the priesthood and joined the Franciscan order. At the age of 70, he helped lead a successful effort to defend the Catholic Kingdom of Hungary from invasion by the Ottoman Turks.

DAILY PSALM

"Blessed are they who hope in the Lord." (Psalm 40)

DAILY READINGS

Today's Mass readings.

STEALING HEAVEN

In the 1930s the public was shocked and scandalized by the late conversion to Catholicism of the savage murderer and mobster Dutch Schultz. his riveting story here, and let it remind you that it is never too late for mercy.