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The latest report from the pro-abortion Guttmacher organization indicates what many pro-lifers have feared for Virginia since the Dobbs decision in 2022.  Abortion promoters are using the lack of protective pro-life laws and the virtually unregulated practice of abortion in the first two trimesters of pregnancy to turn the Commonwealth into a destination for abortions.

According to the report the number of abortions in Virginia has increased by 4,300 and assumes that that number includes many women who may have traveled here from out of state.

The state has seen six new abortion facilities open or go into development since 2022 bringing the total number to 23.

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Virginia removed the majority of protective laws for unborn children and their mothers in 2020 opening a door to the dangerously unregulated situation we find ourselves in today. The current laws allow non-doctors to perform abortions or prescribe abortion chemicals and no office visit is required. Online prescriptions mean that a women receiving these drugs may not even be pregnant.

“The new numbers suggest a deeply alarming trend and the threatened unlimited abortion amendment that has already passed once in the General Assembly will mean that Virginia will only see more unborn children lose their lives and mothers put at risk from unscrupulous abortion promoters,” said Olivia Gans Turner, president of VSHL.

Virginia’s elections this year will allow concerned people to halt the threat of the abortion amendment, the so called Right to Reproductive Freedom Act, and send a message that Virginians do not want our home to become an abortion destination. [For more on the Right to Reproductive Freedom Act, see The 2025 General Assembly Comes to a Close and the Pro-life Movement Faces the Facts – Virginia Society for Human Life.]

The post Virginia Sees Abortions Increase Significantly as More Babies are Killed appeared first on LifeNews.com.

This article was published by National Review Online on April 22, 2025.

Wesley Smith
By Wesley J Smith

New Jersey has started an admirable program to prevent suicide. From the NJ.com story:

The modern, liberal, secular world does not like to hear such reminders.  When a pope dies, the press will, predictably, praise his personal kindness and concern for the poor and marginalized.  In part, this is merely politeness of the kind appropriate when any person dies.  But it also seems to be what is emphasized in commentary on who a pope’s successor ought to be.  The liberal, secular world’s idea of a good pope is essentially a social worker with the personality of Mr. Rogers.  It is impatient with the idea that the main reason the papacy exists is to preserve the doctrine handed down to us by the Apostles, and to unite the faithful around that doctrine. 

This is, of course, in part because the modern world is hostile to many of the specifics of that doctrine.  But in part it is because liberal, secular modernity is founded on the idea that religious doctrine of any kind is a matter of subjective and idiosyncratic opinion that has only private significance.  The modern world cannot fathom how such mere opinion (as it sees it) could still seriously be thought the central concern of an office with the public visibility and influence of the papacy.  Hence it focuses its attention on the philanthropic activities of popes, which it finds more understandable and useful.

But the world’s priorities are not, and never should be, the Church’s.  She must always keep before her mind Christ’s Great Commission:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20)

And popes must always keep before their minds Christ’s words to St. Peter:

Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren. (Luke 22:31-32)

Christ’s command is to convert the world to his teaching, the deposit of faith.  Peter’s commission is to preserve that faith and confirm his brethren in it.  Naturally, that is not because doctrine is an end in itself.  As the Church’s Code of Canon Law famously emphasizes, the salvation of souls is her supreme law.  But the point is precisely that sound doctrine is the necessary prerequisite of the salvation of souls.  Christ’s commission was not “Go therefore and advance social justice in all nations.”  He did not say to Peter “I have prayed for you, that you may reach out to the marginalized.”  That is not because social justice and reaching out to the marginalized are not important.  It is because unless you get doctrine right, you are not going to understand what true social justice amounts to, and you are not going to know what you should be doing for the marginalized once you’ve reached out to them.

The priority of doctrine makes perfect sense when one properly understands the nature of the will and of the actions that flow from it.  As Pope Leo XIII taught, following St. Thomas Aquinas:

The will cannot proceed to act until it is enlightened by the knowledge possessed by the intellect.  In other words, the good wished by the will is necessarily good in so far as it is known by the intellect; and this the more, because in all voluntary acts choice is subsequent to a judgment upon the truth of the good presented, declaring to which good preference should be given.  No sensible man can doubt that judgment is an act of reason, not of the will.  The end, or object, both of the rational will and of its liberty is that good only which is in conformity with reason.  (Libertas 5)

Action follows from the will, and the will pursues what the intellect judges to be good.  Hence we cannot will rightly, and our actions will not reliably be good in their effects, unless the intellect’s judgements are correct.  Modern people are used to thinking in clichés to the effect that what matters is not what you believe, but rather doing the right thing and having a good will.  But the reality is that if what you believe is false, your will cannot be aimed at what is actually good (even if you are not culpable for the fact), and what you do will not be the right thing except by accident.  Hence sound doctrine is crucial to willing and acting rightly.

This makes it intelligible why, though schism is a very grave sin, Aquinas teaches that heresy is even worse (Summa Theologiae II-II.39.2).  Catholics must remain in communion with the pope, but precisely because the pope’s job is to preserve sound doctrine.  It’s not that we must avoid heresy so that we will avoid schism; rather, the point of avoiding schism is to avoid heresy. 

It also makes it intelligible why papal infallibility concerns only doctrine, and not a pope’s personal moral character.  The Church does not say that a pope cannot do bad things, or that he cannot have a bad will.  It claims only that, when he formally defines a matter of doctrine ex cathedra, in a manner intended to be absolutely final and definitive, he will not err.

It is no surprise, then, that the duty of popes to preserve the deposit of faith has been repeatedly emphasized in Catholic tradition.  Here are several examples:

The first condition of salvation is to keep the norm of the true faith and in no way to deviate from the established doctrine of the Fathers.  For it is impossible that the words of Our Lord Jesus Christ who said, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church,” should not be verified.  (Formula of Pope St. Hormisdas)

For the Holy Spirit was promised to the successors of Peter not so that they might, by his revelation, make known some new doctrine, but that, by his assistance, they might religiously guard and faithfully expound the revelation or deposit of faith transmitted by the apostles.  (First Vatican Council, Session 4, Chapter 4)

The living teaching office of the Church… is not above the word of God, but serves it, teaching only what has been handed on, listening to it devoutly, guarding it scrupulously and explaining it faithfully in accord with a divine commission and with the help of the Holy Spirit.  (Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum, Chapter II)

The mission of Peter and his successors is to establish and authoritatively confirm what the Church has received and believed from the beginning, what the apostles taught, what Sacred Scripture and Christian Tradition have determined as the object of faith and the Christian norm of life.  (Pope St. John Paul II, Catechesis of March 10, 1993)

The Pope is not an absolute monarch whose thoughts and desires are law.  On the contrary: the Pope's ministry is a guarantee of obedience to Christ and to his Word.  He must not proclaim his own ideas, but rather constantly bind himself and the Church to obedience to God's Word, in the face of every attempt to adapt it or water it down, and every form of opportunism…  In his important decisions, he is bound to the great community of faith of all times, to the binding interpretations that have developed throughout the Church's pilgrimage.  Thus, his power is not being above, but at the service of, the Word of God.  It is incumbent upon him to ensure that this Word continues to be present in its greatness and to resound in its purity, so that it is not torn to pieces by continuous changes in usage.  (Pope Benedict XVI, Homily for the Mass of Possession of the Chair of the Bishop of Rome, May 7, 2005)

This last statement, from Benedict XVI, is especially eloquent.  And it reminds us that true humility in a pope entails a steadfast refusal to ignore or dilute or obfuscate the Church’s traditional teaching in any way, not even when others may delude themselves that doing so would be merciful or pastoral or better in line with the signs of the times.

May the cardinals take such reminders to heart as they deliberate.  May they elect a man willing to live by, and indeed if necessary even die for, these noble words from the tradition.  St. Peter, pray for us.

When Pope Francis first became head of the Church, I did some research on him.

I learned that, as a Cardinal in Argentina, he was quoted as saying, “Defend the unborn against abortion even if they persecute you, calumniate you, set traps for you, take you to court or kill you.”

Strong words from a man who valued the sacredness of life from the moment of conception to the instant of natural death. The late Holy Father was a champion of the marginalized—and no one is more marginalized in our society than the unborn child.

The pontiff also preached a “revolution of tenderness” which the pro-life movement lives out each day. Through its outreach to pregnant women in difficult circumstances, the movement offers mothers the hope and strength they need to carry on amidst trying times.

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I also had a personal connection to Pope Francis. At a time when I was particularly worried and distraught, I sent him a letter asking for prayers. A Vatican representative responded by sending me a papal prayer card and a letter assuring me of the Holy Father’s prayers. I had the mementos framed and the display now hangs in my office—a constant reminder of Pope Francis’ kindness to me.

People around the world are grieving the loss of this Pope with a pastor’s heart. Let us pray that his successor will be equally devoted to defending the most defenseless among us.

LifeNews.com Note: Maria Gallagher is the Legislative Director and Political Action Committee Director for the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation and she has written and reported for various broadcast and print media outlets, including National Public Radio, CBS Radio, and AP Radio.

The post Pope Francis: “Defend the Unborn Against Abortion” appeared first on LifeNews.com.

Gov. Kelly Armstrong has signed the North Dakota Med Ed bill to protect pregnant women’s lives from abortion misinformation. Sponsored by Susan B. Anthony National Pro-Life Women’s Caucus members Rep. Karen Rohr and Sen. Janne Myrdal, the bill establishes materials to educate medical professionals on the ability and necessity of providing emergency care to pregnant women under North Dakota’s pro-life law. HB 1511 requires OB-GYNs to review the materials on the medical and legal parameters of North Dakota law before performing an abortion.

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North Dakota is among the first states to pass a Med Ed bill to end the confusion caused by the abortion lobby through direct education to doctors. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed the first Med Ed bill into law in 2024 and this year Kentucky passed a law dispelling that women can’t get medical care under the state pro-life law. Other states have taken similar steps administratively, including Texas and Florida.

Sue Liebel, state affairs director for SBA Pro-Life America, celebrated the victory for North Dakota moms:

“We thank Gov. Armstrong for making North Dakota among the first states to protect women’s lives with a Med Ed law. Regardless of political affiliation or whether someone is pro-life or pro-choice, North Dakotans of all philosophies can celebrate that moms will be better protected through direct education to our doctors on their ability to exercise reasonable medical judgment in all situations.

“Though every state with a pro-life law allows pregnant women to receive emergency care, the abortion industry has sown confusion on this fact to justify their position of abortion without limits. With many in the media refusing to fact-check this obvious lie, other states should look to North Dakota in combatting dangerous abortion misinformation.”

North Dakota is one of 22 states with a pro-life law protecting life at 12 weeks or sooner. North Dakota’s pro-life law is not currently in effect due to litigation.

The post North Dakota Governor Signs Bill Confirming Abortion ban Doesn’t Deny Women Emergency Care appeared first on LifeNews.com.

On April 29, House Speaker Mike Johnson is slated to join SBA Pro-Life America as keynote speaker at the group’s Pro-Life America Gala.

The pro-life movement is coming together for a historic evening to celebrate the movement and renew the fight for every baby and every mom. Additional speakers include SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser, U.S. Senators Tim Sheehy, Bernie Moreno, Steve Daines, and Lindsey Graham.

“We are delighted Speaker Mike Johnson, a dear friend and longtime pro-life champion, will join us as our keynote guest. Speaker Johnson has boldly fought for life as an activist, litigator, state legislator, and now as a leader in Congress,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. “From consistently standing up against Biden’s radical pro-abortion agenda to advocating for moms and babies, Speaker Johnson leads the pro-life majority in the House to serve moms and families and protect children in the womb.”

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Johnson commented:

“I am grateful to join Marjorie and all my friends at SBA Pro-Life America who are leading the charge in advocating for unborn children and their mothers. I look forward to celebrating all that our movement has accomplished as we reflect on and renew our commitment to building a culture of life. At the heart of the American political experiment is the right to life, and Congressional Republicans are committed to the preservation of this fundamental principle.”

Previous SBA gala speakers include President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Marco Rubio, Nikki Haley and Mike Huckabee, among others.

The post Speaker Mike Johnson Will Keynote Major Pro-Life Event appeared first on LifeNews.com.

Happy Easter Tuesday!

GRADUAL Ps. 117:24; Ps. 106:2
This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it. Let those who have been redeemed by the Lord now speak, those whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy and gathered together from all lands. Alleluia, alleluia! The Lord is risen from the sepulchre, who for us hung upon a tree.

Christ is truly risen! Best week of the year, folks. Church law dictates that there is no mourning for anything or anyone during the Octave. Every day of the Octave is a first class feast that cannot be trumped. Don’t shoot the messenger. Party must continue.

Pray for eyes to be opened. Mine, yours, your loved ones’. He is the opener of eyes, on His schedule. The fruit of the fourth sorrowful mystery is patience. This is primarily patience with yourself, so as not to become frustrated as you stumble along the uneven path toward sanctity. But it is also patience with others, and even patience with God. Think about it. Think about how patient He is with us, but how we demand immediate results from Him. Abandon yourself to the Divine Providence… the inventor of time is Himself the Timekeeper.

Yesterday’s Gospel had us on the road to Emmaus, on the very first Easter Monday. After their miraculous encounter with Christ as He consecrated the first post-resurrection Eucharist, the disciples immediately set out back to Jerusalem. Having traveled all day to Emmaus, they traveled all night back. So today’s Gospel is the immediate continuation of yesterday’s, taking place on the very first Easter Tuesday. As they are all gathered together, Jesus pops in for some fish. Because even though they had left everything behind in order to follow him, and had received more teaching directly from God than anyone else, “they yet believed not.”

They yet believed not.

Meditate on how this dynamic is at play in your life today. Happy Easter!

“By blood-sealed covenant, by prophetic utterances and figures, and by prescriptions for sacrificial worship, God tried to prepare His people to expect a Redeemer who would have to bleed and die. But they wanted only a glorious conqueror with a universal and endless reign. Even when Jesus appeared to the Eleven, who had received two and one-half years of special training and instruction, He found them confused and wondering. As a doctrine, Christ crucified is central to Christian life. In practice, is there not much insistence on a comfortable Christ, a Christ without wounds?“

https://tridentine-mass.blogspot.com/2022/04/easter-tuesday.html

GOSPEL Luke 24:36-47.
At that time, Now, whilst they were speaking these things, Jesus stood in the midst of them and saith to them: “Peace be to you. It is I: Fear not.” But they being troubled and frightened, supposed that they saw a spirit. And he said to them: “Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? See my hands and feet, that it is I myself. Handle, and see: for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see me to have.” And when he had said this, he shewed them his hands and feet. But while they yet believed not and wondered for joy, he said: “Have you here any thing to eat?” And they offered him a piece of a broiled fish and a honeycomb. And when he had eaten before them, taking the remains, he gave to them. And he said to them: “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the psalms, concerning me.” Then he opened their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures. And he said to them: “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise again from the dead, the third day: And that penance and remission of sins should be preached in his name, unto all nations.”

A century ago, on April 22, 1925, a suburb of Paris witnessed the passing of André Caplet, a composer and conductor whose unique artistry distinguished him from his contemporaries. As the French poet and Germanist Maurice Boucher († 1977) astutely observed, Caplet “resembled none of his contemporaries and […] represented in his own way and in his own place an art that was always wide-awake and…

Source

CNN in a recent article has reported that:

The United States could end its efforts on ending the Ukrainian conflict within “days” if there are no signs of progress, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Friday. 

‘If it is not possible to end the war in Ukraine, we need to move on,’ he told reporters before departing Paris, where he had held high-level talks with European and Ukrainian officials. ‘We need to determine very quickly now, and I’m talking about a matter of days, whether or not this is doable,’ he said. 

This is framed as if the US is serving as some sort of mediator between Russia and Ukraine. In reality, the US is one of two primary parties to the conflict – the other being Russia, with whom this war was provoked.

A US War on Russia Since the Cold War Ended… 

The US had since the end of the Cold War invested billions of dollars in political interference within Ukraine, including regime change operations attempted in 2004 and successful regime change finally taking place in 2014. From 2014 onward, Ukraine was transformed into a military proxy of the United States aimed specifically to threaten the Russian Federation, just as a politically captured Georgia in 2003 was used to attack Russian peacekeeping forces in 2008.

The growing security threat this posed to Moscow precipitated the launching of Russia’s February 2022 Special Military Operation (SMO) and the subsequent fighting that has continued ever since.

A series of articles from the Western media itself has revealed over recent years the degree to which the US had not only politically captured Ukraine, but also institutionally captured its military and intelligence agencies, reconfiguring them to operate as armed extensions of the US along Ukraine’s border with Russia, and even across it within Russia itself.

Among these admissions is the New York Times’ February 2024 article titled, “The Spy War: How the C.I.A. Secretly Helps Ukraine Fight Putin,” which admits to, “a C.I.A.-supported network of spy bases constructed in the past eight years that includes 12 secret locations along the Russian border.” 

The article would also admit:

Around 2016, the C.I.A. began training an elite Ukrainian commando force — known as Unit 2245 — which captured Russian drones and communications gear so that C.I.A. technicians could reverse-engineer them and crack Moscow’s encryption systems. (One officer in the unit was Kyrylo Budanov, now the general leading Ukraine’s military intelligence.) 

And the C.I.A. also helped train a new generation of Ukrainian spies who operated inside Russia, across Europe, and in Cuba and other places where the Russians have a large presence.

While the New York Times tries to insist the CIA did not help Ukrainians conduct offensive lethal operations, it later admits CIA-trained Unit 2245 not only conducted lethal operations, but did so within Russian territory, claiming:

At the time, the future head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, General Budanov, was a rising star in Unit 2245. He was known for daring operations behind enemy lines and had deep ties to the C.I.A. The agency had trained him and also taken the extraordinary step of sending him for rehabilitation to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland after he was shot in the right arm during fighting in the Donbas. 

Disguised in Russian uniforms, then-Lt. Col. Budanov led commandos across a narrow gulf in inflatable speedboats, landing at night in Crimea. 

But an elite Russian commando unit was waiting for them. The Ukrainians fought back, killing several Russian fighters, including the son of a general, before retreating to the shoreline, plunging into the sea and swimming for hours to Ukrainian-controlled territory.

In other words, the US was training, equipping, arming, and directing deadly operations out of Ukraine into Russian-held territory before Russia launched its 2022 SMO.

The same article admitted that these CIA officers deployed to and overseeing operations in Ukraine began playing a central role after Russia launched its SMO in 2022.

The NYT would admit:

Within weeks, the C.I.A. had returned to Kyiv, and the agency sent in scores of new officers to help the Ukrainians. A senior U.S. official said of the C.I.A.’s sizable presence, “Are they pulling triggers? No. Are they helping with targeting? Absolutely.” 

Some of the C.I.A. officers were deployed to Ukrainian bases. They reviewed lists of potential Russian targets that the Ukrainians were preparing to strike, comparing the information that the Ukrainians had with U.S. intelligence to ensure that it was accurate.

Subsequent articles by the New York Times would expand upon just how deeply involved the US has been in the fighting – making the war for all intents and purposes an American war fought through the Ukrainians.

Washington’s War on Russia 

A March 2025 New York Times article titled, “The Partnership: The Secret History of the War in Ukraine,” would explain that not only has the US provided tens of billions of US dollars worth of military equipment, weapons, and ammunition, including, “a half-billion rounds of small-arms ammunition and grenades, 10,000 Javelin antiarmor weapons, 3,000 Stinger antiaircraft systems, 272 howitzers, 76 tanks, 40 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, 20 Mi-17 helicopters and three Patriot air defense batteries,” but that the US military itself has been (and still is) playing a central role in picking and striking at targets on both sides of the Ukrainian-Russian border.

It admitted that it was US intelligence used to carry out many of Ukraine’s most successful attacks on Russian military headquarters including at the Crimean port of Sevastopol which had been under Russian control even before the 2014 US overthrow of Ukraine and Crimea’s subsequent reunification with Russia.

Much of Washington’s control over the conflict was coordinated through a mission command center established in Wiesbaden, Germany. While many of Ukraine’s military operations were attributed to Ukrainian planning, the New York Times has since revealed it was instead overseen by the US and other NATO members through Wiesbaden.

The article would explain:

Side by side in Wiesbaden’s mission command center, American and Ukrainian officers planned Kyiv’s counteroffensives. A vast American intelligence-collection effort both guided big-picture battle strategy and funneled precise targeting information down to Ukrainian soldiers in the field.
One European intelligence chief recalled being taken aback to learn how deeply enmeshed his N.A.T.O. counterparts had become in Ukrainian operations. “They are part of the kill chain now,” he said.

The New York Times also admitted:

Military and C.I.A. officers in Wiesbaden helped plan and support a campaign of Ukrainian strikes in Russian-annexed Crimea. Finally, the military and then the C.I.A. received the green light to enable pinpoint strikes deep inside Russia itself.

The article admits that Western military officers – not Ukrainians – made the final decision regarding what targets would be hit and how.

This included the use of US-provided M777 howitzers and the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system.

The New York Times admitted:

Wiesbaden would oversee each HIMARS strike. [US] General Donahue and his aides would review the Ukrainians’ target lists and advise them on positioning their launchers and timing their strikes. The Ukrainians were supposed to only use coordinates the Americans provided. To fire a warhead, HIMARS operators needed a special electronic key card, which the Americans could deactivate anytime.

Every large-scale Ukrainian operation, including the 2022 Kherson and Kharkov offensives as well as the failed 2023 offensive, were planned, organized, and directed by US military officers from Wiesbaden. This also included the creation of new Ukrainian brigades, the New York Times admits was overseen by US Lieutenant General Antonio Aguto Jr.

It is also revealed that it wasn’t Ukraine who asked for longer range weapons like the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), it was US generals.

The New York Times admits:

Generals Cavoli and Aguto recommended the next quantum leap, giving the Ukrainians Army Tactical Missile Systems — missiles, known as ATACMS, that can travel up to 190 miles — to make it harder for Russian forces in Crimea to help defend Melitopol.

It was also revealed that Ukrainian commanders realized the US-planned and directed 2023 offensive was doomed during its earliest phase, yet US commanders demanded Ukraine “press on.” 

Various options were formulated to try to salvage the failed offensive, with the New York Times attributing its failure to a number of factors, including infighting among Ukrainian commanders and even tension between Ukrainian commanders and their US handlers. In reality, the offensive failed because of the realities of material limitations on Western military industrial production and their inability to fight the type of war of attrition Russia had prepared for years in advance and imposed on them.

Toward the end of the New York Times article, it admitted that, “the coalition simply couldn’t provide all the equipment for a major counteroffensive. Nor could the Ukrainians build an army big enough to mount one.”

Various operations were described throughout the article including US-British attempts to destroy the Kerch Bridge connecting Crimea to the rest of Russia, which all ended in failure.

While the article attempts to blame the gradual draw down of US support for Ukraine on the election of President Donald Trump and his desire for “peace,” it is clear the US simply exhausted the means to continue waging a proxy war against a Russian military much better able to replace its losses than Ukraine and its Western sponsors.

The New York Times essentially admits this was a US war waged against Russia, simply using Ukraine as intermediaries.

Every major military operation down to specific targets to be struck and which US-European-made and provided weapon system to use to strike it with was made by American – not Ukrainian generals.

Playing “Mediator” While Seeking to Freeze a Failed Proxy War 

Today, the US government is attempting to play the role of a frustrated mediator trying to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia, when in reality this was always a war between the US and Russia.

In reality, current US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, in a February 12, 2025 speech, discussed “European and non-European troops” being sent into Ukraine as a “security guarantee” which would in practice either freeze the conflict or precipitate direct hostilities between Russia and Europe.

Secretary Hegseth also instructed Europe the next steps regarding Ukraine would be “donating more ammunition and equipment” to Ukraine, as well as “expanding your defense industrial base.”

What Secretary Hegseth actually laid out was a directive not toward peace in Ukraine, but to once again freeze the conflict as the US and Europe did during the Minsk agreements, during which the US and Europe could expand their own military industrial bases to match or exceed Russian production and rearm and reorganize Ukrainian forces to resume hostilities again in the future when factors lean in Washington’s favor, not Moscow’s.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s predictable boredom with peace talks with Russia signals the US’ readiness to transfer responsibility for its proxy war fully onto Europe as it pivots toward a much more dangerous confrontation with Russia’s ally to the east – China.

The Trump administration and the Biden administration before it never had any intention of addressing the actual cause of the conflict in Ukraine – NATO’s expansion up to and all along Russia’s borders with every intention of inevitably absorbing Russia itself. Because of this, genuine peace was never possible regardless of the Trump administration’s public rhetoric and empty gestures toward Russia.

While the Trump administration has paid lip service to NATO expansion, its only decision regarding NATO specifically has been to demand NATO members more than double funding for NATO.

Russia, for its part, has left the door open for honest negotiations and has provided the United States ample exit ramps from both an unwinnable proxy war and indefinite confrontation with Russia into the future. The US is obviously not interested. Russia had, throughout “peace talks” with the US, continued its war of attrition against Ukrainian forces, continuing the process the New York Times describes as the central contributing factor for the proxy war’s current failure.

The real question that remains is whether or not Russia can continue this process at a faster and more effective rate than the US and Europe can continue “donating more ammunition and equipment” to Ukraine while attempting to expand their “defense industrial bases.” Only time will tell for sure.

As Syria has demonstrated, a proxy war the US has lost one moment can be frozen, revisited, and eventually won if it is able to overextend designated adversaries like Russia and Iran for long enough and extensively enough elsewhere. The US has already embarked upon armed conflict with Yemen and is threatening war with Iran – forcing Russia to once again make difficult decisions regarding where it invests finite military resources versus the seemingly infinite US capacity to create instability and conflict wordwide.

The survival and success of multipolarism depends on the multipolar world cooperating against US attempts to reassert American primacy – not only through direct and proxy war, but also through economic coercion and political interference – and to understand that a US war on Russia in Ukraine or a proxy war waged against Syria in the Middle East – is, in fact, a war against the rise of multipolarism altogether and the promise of peace and prosperity it offers.

Reprinted with permission from New Eastern Outlook.

ROME – Following the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday, the Vatican has announced that his funeral will be held Saturday morning in Rome at St. Peter’s Basilica, before his coffin is transferred to a different location, per his special request, for his entombment.

The pope died Monday at 7:35am local time after experiencing a cerebral stroke that subsequently led to a coma, and cardiocirculatory failure.

His death came as a shock to many, given that he had made an appearance for Easter Sunday, giving his traditional noontime Urbi et Orbi blessing and taking his first ride in the popemobile to greet and bless faithful and pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square.

On Tuesday the Vatican announced that on Wednesday, April 23, at 9a.m. local time, Francis’s coffin will be transferred from the chapel inside the Vatican’s Saint Martha guesthouse, where he resided for the past 12 years, to St. Peter’s Basilica after a brief prayer by the papal Camerlegno, Cardinal Kevin Farrell.

Once inside the basilica, Farrell as Camerlegno, who governs the church during the sede vecante until a new pope is elected, will preside over the Liturgy of the Word, after which visits to the pope’s body will begin for his official lying in state.

Pope Francis’s funeral will be held Saturday, April 26, at 10a.m. local time, in St. Peter’s Square, and it will be presided over by Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals.

In addition to flocks of faithful from around the world, his funeral Mass is expected to be attended by various dignitaries and heads of state from around the world. It is unclear if United States President Donald Trump will attend the Mass.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance had a private meeting with the pope Sunday, less than 24 hours before his death, and is believed to be the last official appointment the pope had prior to his stroke and subsequent passing.

After Pope Francis’s funeral Mass, his coffin will be transferred to the Roman Basilica of Saint Mary Major, his favorite of the Roman basilicas which he visited before and after every international trip to pray in front of the famed Maria, Salus Populi Romani (Mary, health of the Roman people) icon, and where he said he wants to be buried.

In his last testament, Francis said he wished to be buried in a tomb prepared in the Pauline Chapel of the basilica, where the Salus Populi Romani icon is housed, without extravagant décor, and with the simple inscription of his papal name in Latin, Franciscus.

“I have always entrusted my life and episcopal ministry to the Mother of Our Lord, Mary Most Holy. For this reason, I ask that my mortal remains rest awaiting the day of resurrection in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major,” he said in the testament.

Francis voiced his desire that “my last earthly journey conclude precisely in this ancient Marian sanctuary, where I went to pray at the beginning and end of every apostolic journey to confidently entrust my intentions to the Immaculate Mother and to thank her for her docile and maternal care,” he said.

A rosary will be said for Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square Tuesday night at 7:30p.m. local time, led by Re.

Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen

(The late Pope Francis’ body lies in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta | VATICAN MEDIA Divisione Foto)

The post Funeral for Pope Francis to be held on Saturday morning in Rome first appeared on Catholic Herald.

The post Funeral for Pope Francis to be held on Saturday morning in Rome appeared first on Catholic Herald.

Dear Readers, the illegal oppression to which the “democratic” state of Germany, an offspring of Nazi tyranny, is subjecting Dr. Reiner Fuellmich, is identical to the illegal persecution of Julian Assange by the UK and US governments.

What Western peoples do not know, and do not want to know, is that they no longer live in democracies.  They live in tyrannies in which they have no reliable rights.  The orchestrated “Covid pandemic” perfectly demonstrated that civil liberty is totally dead in the Western World.

US President Donald Trump, a courageous man unlike the cowards of our time, has challenged the corrupt American and European Establishment.  He has undertaken to renew the principles and values that made the Western World great.  But has he the power?  It remains to be seen, and I support him.

However, it took Americans too long to realize and to acknowledge their peril.  Trump has been handed the challenge after the rot of every American value and principle has been institutionalized, set in stone, for so long that the institutionalized government is against him, the judiciary is against him, the Democrat Party and the RINO Republicans are against him,  the law and journalism schools are against him, the universities, the print, TV and NPR media are against him. The Establishment’s opposition to Trump expresses their opposition to democracy.

Only the dispossessed majority are for Trump, and they have no power.  The Democrats have proven that it is easy to steal the vote from them, to arrest them as insurrectionists, to seize their children from them, and to have them fired from their jobs because they gave voice to unapproved statements. The Biden regime had succeeded, and carried corporate America with it, in having a government in which there were no white heterosexual gentile males in senior positions and in which promotions of white heterosexual males in the military were put on hold in order to advance DEI.  The blatant discrimination against white heterosexual males was a violation of the 14th Amendment and the 1964 Civil Rights Act.  And the judiciary did nothing about it.  But the judiciary is active in preventing the deportation of illegals who have no right to be in the US.

Considering the extraordinary powers arrayed against Trump only violence can prevail over the powerful anti-American Establishment.  The American people do not understand this, and so Trump hasn’t the power to prevail.

When the Democrats return to power, Americans will experience tyranny not seen since Stalin. Like Cicero, who did his best to save Rome, Trump and his supporters will be hunted down and destroyed. All white heterosexuals will be suppressed, reduced to second class citizenship, and regarded as an unreliable element always under government surveillance. We will be put on terrorist watch lists and designated a terrorist group.  Already some years ago the Secretary of Homeland Security, a Nazi term, said that the focus had changed from the war on terror to “domestic terrorism” by which was meant white gentile heterosexuals who are pro-family, pro-life, and Christian.  Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton gave traditional Americans their term of demonization when she declared them to be the “Trump deplorables.”

Already, the tyrannical government of Germany, an alleged “democracy,” has exceeded in its treatment of  Dr. Reiner Fuellmich the invidious attacks by the US and UK governments on Julian Assange.

When truth cannot be spoken and truth-tellers are imprisoned, freedom is totally dead.  This is the situation today throughout the Western World.  Can Trump really resurrect the West from the dead?

The persecution of Dr. Reiner Fuellmich: the biggest judicial scandal ever seen in Germany

by Seba Terribilini and Cynthia Salatino

April 17, 2025

Dr. Reiner Fuellmich is known and respected internationally for his work as a consumer defense lawyer and for having won major lawsuits against corporate giants such as Volkswagen, Kühne & Nagel, and Deutsche Bank. He was one of the first persons who recognized that the COVID measures constituted crimes against humanity and decided, together with three other lawyers, to create the Corona Investigative Committee, whose aim was to shed light on the actions of governments, public institutions, and the medical community in the context of the so- called “pandemic”.

Thanks to his brilliant investigative work and after having consulted more than 150 scientists and experts around the world in all fields, as well as numerous whistleblowers (from Pfizer, WHO, CDC, UN), he was able to collect an abundance of evidence of what he calls “the biggest crime ever perpetrated against humanity.”

He was ready to take action.

However, the German secret services, in cooperation with Göttingen public prosecutor Simon Phillip John and Fuellmich’s accusers, had already decided to construct a case against Fuellmich, aimed at stopping him.

He is accused of having embezzled 700,000 euro but, in truth, he did not. The imminent threat of seizure of the Corona Investigative Committee’s bank accounts by the German government during the fallout of the COVID pandemic, along with the risk of no longer being able to use the funds raised by private donations to carry out their investigative work, Reiner Fuellmich and Viviane Fischer took steps to protect those funds. They purchased 1 million euros worth of gold (current value: 1.8 million euros) and each took out personal loans (700.000 euros to Reiner Fuellmich, and 100.000 euros to Viviane Fischer). Their loan agreements were documented in written, signed contracts.

When the defense demonstrated the erroneousness of the original accusation which asserted that Fuellmich had no authority to take a personal loan without the other committee member’s consent, the judge had to invent a new accusation in order to justify Fuellmich’s continued imprisonment. The judge thus declared that that the loans were “fake”.

What is interesting is that the previous Göttingen lead prosecutor Reinicke, who had been asked by the secret services to open an investigation on Fuellmich, had clearly stated that there were no grounds upon which to investigate him, and archived the case in June 2022. Merely two and a half months later, a young, inexperienced prosecutor by the name of Simon Phillip John was transferred from Hanover to Göttingen and given the task to do the dirty work that Reinicke had previously deemed unjustified.

Judge Carsten Schindler, as well as prosecutor John are, without any shadow of a doubt, following someone else’s instructions.

Dr. Reiner Fuellmich has been unlawfully held in pre-trial detention in the German maximum-security prison in Rosdorf for 18 months. This, despite the fact that the maximum term for pre-trial detention in Germany is 6 months. This, after his having been lured under false pretenses, subsequently abducted in Mexico, and then deported to Germany –without an international arrest warrant NOR a formal extradition order– where he was then arrested and imprisoned.

The circumstances of his illegal arrest and subsequent mistreatment in prison are very concerning.

From June 2024 until December 2024, Reiner Fuellmich was placed in solitary confinement. The official reason was that he was providing fellow inmates with legal advice. Fuellmich was also subjected to various forms of abuse, in clear violation of his human rights: physical and psychological mistreatment including prolonged solitary confinement, deprived of sunlight, deprived of outdoor physical activity, deprived of sleep, forced to choose between taking a shower or having his one-hour outdoors, and even prohibited from calling his lawyers. Aside from their brief (and monitored) telephone calls on Skype, he has not seen his wife since his arrest.

He is only permitted three hours per month of visits and telephone calls.

On top of that, he has been denied adequate medical care, including simple access to vitamins.

Moreover, Reiner was not allowed to visit his dying mother nor attend her funeral.

Both the inhumane prison conditions as well as the manner in which his trial is being conducted raise serious doubts about the level of respect for fundamental rights in the German judicial system.

From June 10, 2024 to this day, Reiner Fuellmich, after being body-searched, is brought to the court and back to prison in shackles and handcuffs, escorted by armed security officers in armored vehicles, as if he were a serial killer!

He is being denied a fair trial, in that any motions presented by his defense lawyers are rejected without explanation. As of July 2024, Judge Schindler ordered that the defense motions and arguments, instead of being read aloud to the court, were from then on to be presented in writing only, thus impeding court observers from understanding and properly documenting the proceedings. These same court spectators have been subject to threats, as have Fuellmich’s defense lawyers.

In addition to not permitting defense witnesses to take the stand, Judge Schindler steadfastly refuses to allow the person who actually pocketed the funds to testify in court.

This “kangaroo court” proceeding” is now in its final phase. As we write this, the defense lawyers have completed their closing statements, and Fuellmich has begun to make his final, closing statement before the court, which, in order to silence him, interrupted and admonished him at least 12 times. It is feared that the court may impose upon Fuellmich a time limit for the presentation of his final defense statement, as they did to his defense lawyers, forcing them shorten their closing statements.

In the course of 51 hearings, what we have witnessed is nothing less than an egregious case of obstruction of justice –a criminal offense in Germany– which confirms the intent of the German secret services as stated in their dossier on Reiner Fuellmich. This dossier was presented to the court by one of Fuellmich’s defense lawyers. It specified that Fuellmich was to be stopped “at all costs”; that “it is necessary to prepare a criminal case against Fuellmich, [including the] collaboration of prosecutors and suitable third parties”; and recommending “the recruitment and involvement of trusted persons amongst Fuellmich’s closest circle.”

It was also their stated objective to convict Fuellmich; that “the possibility of [him] obtaining a politically exposed position must be prevented by any means”. This dossier, provided by a whistleblower, demonstrates that Reiner Fuellmich was already under special surveillance as far back as 2021.

That said, it is beyond a shadow of a doubt that Reiner Fuellmich had to be stopped in order to prevent him from continuing his precious investigational work exposing the truth regarding the “pandemic” as well as the so-called “vaccines”.

Fuellmich is clearly a political prisoner, punished for having spoken the truth. His case demands the attention of international human rights organizations, as well as the indignation of worldwide public opinion.

Pre-trial detention must never be used as an instrument to defer, suppress, or completely substitute the justice system in the form of a legitimized punishment without a sentence.

Justice, free speech, and respect for fundamental human rights are the pillars of a democratic state, not only for but especially for those individuals who raise uncomfortable questions and have the courage to speak up.