Ink: bookshop.org/p/books/ink-...

I write for the people whose names get mispronounced by AI

Exactly what does Trump imagine is within Pope Leo’s proper purview? | Opinion It’s a circular argument at best: that faith and morals are meant to direct how I should pray and worship, but not how I manage my life outside the walls of the church.

"Conscience isn’t a lane; it is the map that lets us find our way through all the lanes. Pope Leo is reminding us to not leave it behind."

www.inquirer.com/opinion/comm...

Opinion | ‘Easily the Worst President in U.S. History’

"Voters in this country twice elected a president with no ethics, no empathy and no end to his narcissism."

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/o...

Chris Rabb in the Democratic primary for Pa. 3rd Congressional District | Endorsement At a moment when the nation’s fundamental values are under attack in Washington, the pugnacious Rabb is the kind of leader voters in the 3rd District need.

Editorial board: "He also has the fire, passion, and conviction people are looking for in the current political climate."
www.inquirer.com/opinion/edit...

Currently obssesed with watching videos of an older couple in Azerbaijan—harvesting enviably flawless produce, cooking and canning outdoors, and taking care of what has to be the most flower-filled and gorgeous family farm ever—all without narration, just ambient noise. It is utterly mesmerizing.

😂

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The Catechism of the Catholic Church on Just War Doctrine All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war. However, "as long as the danger of war persists and there is no international authority with the necessary competence and power, governments cannot be denied the right of lawful self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed." (CCC, no. no.2308) The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one and the same time: 1 The damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain; 3 There must be serious prospects of success; 2 All other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective; 4 The use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction These are the traditional elements enumerated in what is called the weighs very heavily in evaluating "just war" doctrine. The evaluation of this condition. these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good. (CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, NO. 2309) The Church and human reason both assert the permanent validity of the moral law during armed conflict. "The mere fact that war has regrettably broken out does not mean that everything becomes licit between the warring parties." (CCC, no. 2312) PRAY FOR PEACE.

Bishops doubling down

when is this fool going to burst into flame

Pope James David Vance the First The vice president has decided he’s a more accomplished theologian than Leo XIV.

Vance has now seized the top seat in the Death of Expertise Hall of Fame: He has lectured the pope—the pope, the leader of a billion and a half Catholics—about being too sloppy with theology.

The queen of all vices: Pride.

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

How to elicit pena ajena. Hegseth is unrelentingly cringe.

White House Declines to Offer Congress an Estimate of Iran War Cost

Quelle surprise. 🙄www.nytimes.com/2026/04/16/world/middlee...

Trump Administration Strips Catholic Charities of $11 Million After Attacking Pope Leo XIV In a grave attack on religious liberty, the Miami facility named for the priest who sheltered 14,000 Cuban children during Operation Pedro Pan will shut down in three months.

Christopher Hale: Trump Administration Strips Catholic Charities of $11 Million After Attacking Pope Leo XIV open.substack.com/pub/lettersf...

I'm so sorry to hear this, Joel.

ICE Out legislation echoes Philly’s history as America’s original sanctuary city | Opinion

“On our nation’s 250th birthday, it is worth reflecting on the freedoms we enjoy along with the freedoms that remain unrealized for many of us.” — Domenic Vitiello, professor of city planning and urban studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

Barrera said her husband said the smell of human feces in the toilet caused a fellow detainee to vomit and, in turn, created a chain of people vomiting. She said her husband is asthmatic and has not received medication to treat his condition. The lack of medicine and the stress of the overcrowded holding cell has left him short of breath and teetering on the edge of an asthma attack, Barrera said. ICE did not immediately respond to questions on April 10 about the conditions of the Mesa or Phoenix facilities. After the publication of this article, Barrera told The Arizona Republic her husband was transferred to the ICE facility at San Luis Regional Detention Center at about midnight. The San Luis Regional Detention Center is in Southwestern Arizona and has the capacity to hold 700 people.

This is horrific. A U.S. citizen describes the facility in Arizona that her husband was brought to while he waited to be put on a deportation flight. Dozens of people were crammed into tiny cells, there was a "chain of people vomiting" from filthy toilets, no medical care, and only one meal per day.

It's not just that Vance is a recent convert. He didn't go through the RCIA classes that all other adult converts take to learn about the faith. He shortcut the process with tailor-made private sessions with a Dominican friar.

But he's a quick learner, right, so the pope should listen up.

Vance Says the Pope Should Be More Careful When Talking About Theology

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 The baby Catholic, who only converted to the faith in 2019 and whose gross misunderstanding of a Catholic theological tenet has ALREADY been corrected by TWO popes, presuming to correct Pope Leo's theology? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/14/u...

Whistleblower says Trump officials thought USAID did 'just abortions,' asked for 'Barney-style' slides before gutting agency, per new book Read an exclusive excerpt from Nicholas Enrich's "Into the Wood Chipper"

NEW—I got an exclusive excerpt from a USAID whistleblower's new book that made me gasp multiple times. It details Trump's dismantling of the humanitarian aid agency & his team/DOGE's shocking ignorance to public health.

'Into the Wood Chipper' by Nicholas Enrich is out tomorrow. Read excerpt here:

can & should: the dismantling of USAID was their test case of "can we do illegal things that hurt people far away without being stopped" and every step since then has been testing how much closer the harm can get to the people who support them before they're stopped.

This.

Awww, thank you! 🥹

I think they carry over the "saved by grace alone" into a faith that believes "works" is part of the equation. Thus the accusations of "wokeness" levied against those Catholics focused on the works of mercy and Catholic Social Teaching of the preferential option for the poor.

Sade *must* have a portrait, tucked away in some closet somewhere, aging instead of her. She's always been so fine, but damn, to be in her mid-60s and look like that ...

Delighted to see that the "We Will Rise Again" anthology from editors @drkarenlord.bsky.social, @annaleen.bsky.social and @older.bsky.social is on this finalist list. It contains some truly memorable short stories, essays and interviews — just a great book.

It’s dog whistling. When ever Trump or Republicans and at this point Dems or Leftists

Want to flex power

They find a way of attacking Blackness

Black people, women, or perceived moral authority,

People won’t actually admit

But they mean beyond “DEI”

They are saying the Pope sounds Black

I suspect the Pope sounds "woke" to many Christian conservatives because the US is steeped in prosperity theology, where the point of worship is to deliver health and wealth to believers. Thus, "feed the hungry" and "show mercy for the poor" sounds needlessly political and "woke."

Kids in ICE Detention Up 10x in Trump’s Second Term Advocates warn trauma from detentions will cause kids lifelong damage.

ICE has detained over 6,200 children during President Donald Trump’s second term, according to recently released numbers analyzed by the Marshall Project.

Advocates warn trauma from detentions will cause kids lifelong damage.

Who’s afraid of the big, bad Trump? Not Pope Leo. | Sabrina Vourvoulias After being attacked by President Donald Trump on Truth Social on Sunday, Pope Leo XIV has responded that he will not be silent or stop advocating for peace.

I dropped a new column yesterday, and it kinda fell into the void, so putting it out there again today. www.inquirer.com/opinion/trum...

Who’s afraid of the big, bad Trump? Not Pope Leo. | Sabrina Vourvoulias After being attacked by President Donald Trump on Truth Social on Sunday, Pope Leo XIV has responded that he will not be silent or stop advocating for peace, writes Sabrina Vourvoulias.

Our thin-skinned but always bellicose commander in chief’s screed was seemingly prompted by Pope Leo’s words on Saturday decrying the “delusion of omnipotence” that is fueling conflict across the world.

New column: www.inquirer.com/opinion/trum...