The LOOP
The Thursday Loop - July 30, 2026
TRUMP ‘RESPECTS’ BIDEN PARDON OF FAUCI
President Donald Trump said he respects former President Joe Biden’s sweeping pardon of Dr. Anthony Fauci, while suggesting the autopen authorization could still face a challenge. Trump made the remarks after watching Fauci’s explosive Senate hearing, as Sen. Rand Paul scheduled an Aug. 5 contempt vote and Florida opened a separate state investigation against the former health official.
TRUMP ADMIN BANS DANGEROUS GAIN-OF-FUNCTION FUNDING
The Trump administration issued a government-wide policy ending federal support for the highest-risk biological research in the U.S. and abroad. The new framework adds independent review, restrictions on foreign research, and enforceable penalties.
RECORDS REVEAL 170 HEAD-TRAUMA CASES AMONG US TROOPS
Newly released records document more than 400 casualty incidents during the Iran war’s opening phase, including at least 170 head-trauma cases and 17 life-threatening incidents. The details put the Pentagon’s early claims of mostly "minor" wounds sustained in the Iran war under scrutiny.
GROCERY PRICES JUMP 33% IN BIGGEST SURGE IN 50 YEARS
Grocery prices in U.S. cities have climbed 33% since the beginning of 2019, the largest increase in half a century. Beef prices alone are up 79%. The USDA expects the overall cost of food to rise another 3.1% this year.
APALACHEE HIGH SCHOOL KILLER GETS LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE
A Georgia judge sentenced Colt Gray to life without parole for murdering two students and two teachers and injuring nine others at Apalachee High School. Rejecting arguments that the 16-year-old could be rehabilitated, Judge Nicholas Primm found “permanent incorrigibility” and called the carefully planned massacre “deliberate, contemplated evil.”
STANLEY CUP CHAMP PUTS CATHOLIC FAITH AT HEART OF WEDDING
Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Brandon Bussi and his college sweetheart, Mary Raclawski, celebrated their July 17 wedding with a Catholic Nuptial Mass at St. Paul Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The couple said the Sacrament of Matrimony was their “biggest priority.”
NYC RENT CONTROL’S BIGGEST BREAKS GO TO WEALTHY TENANTS
New York’s highest-earning rent-stabilized tenants save the most: $1,000 per month for the top income quartile and $1,300 for the top 10%, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rent freeze preserves a system whose biggest dollar breaks go to those who already hold the right leases.
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BROOKLYN PARISHIONER CELEBRATES 110 YEARS OF FAITH AND CHARITY
Judith Mends, the oldest parishioner at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Brooklyn, celebrated her 110th birthday surrounded by family, friends, parishioners, and three priests who offered a special blessing. Known for collecting books and feeding those in need, Mends summed up the faith sustaining her long life: “The Lord is my light and my salvation.”
RALEIGH DIOCESE GIVES $167,000 TO HOLY LAND CHRISTIANS
The Diocese of Raleigh contributed more than $167,000 to the Pontifical Good Friday Collection, supporting Christian communities, holy sites, schools, and social services in the Holy Land. Franciscan Father John Puodziunas thanked Bishop Luis Rafael Zarama, saying the gift arrived amid great difficulty and answered a pressing need for “hope and solidarity.”
‘HEIDI’ BRINGS FAMILIES A BREATH OF FRESH MOUNTAIN AIR
Johanna Spyri’s 1880 classic follows a young orphan whose joy, kindness, prayer, and trust in God’s providence transform the people around her in the Swiss Alps. The 1000 Good Books Project explains why Heidi’s human-scale delights offer families a restorative answer to today’s loud, frantic, overstimulating children’s entertainment.
CATHOLIC 101
Msgr. Charles Pope cuts through life’s complications with three plain words: move, breathe, and trust. He connects physical movement, healthy breathing, and confidence in God’s providence, offering a simple rule for strengthening the body, quieting anxiety, and growing in grateful spiritual trust.
SAINT OF THE DAY
Today the Church honors St. Peter Chrysologus, the “Golden-Worded” bishop and Doctor of the Church whose brief, Scripture-rich homilies defended Christ’s full humanity and divinity and helped ordinary believers remain steadfast in the truth.
DAILY PSALM
"Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.” (Psalm 146)
DAILY READINGS
Today's Mass readings.
NEW EPISODE
Fauci pleads the Fifth in explosive Senate hearing. Meanwhile, we break down Zohran Mamdani’s taxpayer-funded grocery store plan and what the latest polling says about the 2026 political landscape. And finally, Gen X Bishops are on the rise. All this and more on the LOOPcast! WATCH ON ZEALE
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