Yep.

Piracy, obviously.

Catholics in Chicago react to Trump and Vance's comments on Pope Leo Chicago Catholics are reacting to the very public spat last week between President Trump and Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV. The pontiff has been critical of the war in Iran.

I'm grateful to have been briefly on @npr.org Weekend Edition earlier.

But Amy Fitzgerald said it better than me--"I'm a Southsider. You don't threaten a Southsider, and you definitely don't threaten the Pope."

Let us add for clarity--the Pope is a Southsider. Amen.

www.npr.org/2026/04/19/n...

Astounding, I mean.

But ... is it?

He did.

And the gates of hell shall not prevail against his partisan commitments.

Some of the best writing I am reading regularly is in Opera Magazine. Really. It is a treat every month.

Pope Leo XIV channels Cardinal Bernardin's teachings to stand against Iran war Watching the pope rebuke President Donald Trump over the war, a reader recalls lessons about Bernardin. Also, expand mail-in ballot drop-off sites, and "Me Too" hits home for Latinas.

This CTU student has said it better than I have said it.

"What we are watching is not a personal feud between a pope from Chicago and a president from Queens. It is a collision between two answers to the same question: What does power owe to human life?"

chicago.suntimes.com/letters-to-t...

The Tradinistas on Elon's X have really come for Leo today. It's good.

I have worried his conciliating nature would help them roll him and we'd be back for another round of what we got after they rolled Benedict to get Summorum.

I think they've helped Leo now to treat them like what they are.

It's salutary how Hannity, Taylor Marshall, others have set themselves agnst Leo, delegitimizing him. Now lines are drawn, and it only took a year.

Leo has avoided enflaming these types. Now I think there's no avoiding they need to be called what they are--an opposition agnst his Petrine office.

It seems to me the issue never spoken about here is how Roberts and the originalist wing sought to transform the judic into an energetic branch. The mismatch btwn speeds of exec and judic is constitutionally intentional and original. They've made a rewrite of fundamental constitutional architecture.

Boo

Also—their editorial process is more labor intensive than any other platform I've been on. A lot of work to try to still sound like myself by the end. The most work I ever did for public facing writing. And, $0.

It is not.

And it's a big part of why I don't write for them anymore.

Scoop: U.S. considers $20 billion cash-for-uranium deal with Iran The U.S. and Iran are negotiating over a three-page plan with some very sensitive elements.

So to be clear—

We tore up Obama's nuclear deal that released $400M in Iranian assets so we could have a destructive war that strangled the global economy and squandered US intl credibility so we could have Trump's nuclear deal that releases $20B in Iranian assets?

www.axios.com/2026/04/17/i...

I want to say this this way—

Trump has helped Pope Leo achieve something remarkable and important very early in his papacy. Leo shows us a Church we remember and hoped we would see again, one that lights the way toward peace & justice for all peoples rather than always saying, 'Go away.'

Chicago weighs in on Trump admin’s criticism of Pope Leo XIV President Donald Trump’s argument with Pope Leo XIV continues as Trump criticizes Leo over his statements on the U.S. war on Iran.

Hear me here.

www.wbez.org/say-more-wit...

Gosh, whose supporters would do such a thing?

I'll be going live on @wbez.org Say More in about 30min to talk about Pope Leo and Trump. Tune in if you can.

Imagine no inflation
It's easy if you try
Blindfolded shopping
Just listen to this guy

Imagine all the people
Ignoring all the pain
Yoo hoo oooh

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope one day you'll join us
While we fly too near to the sun

Truly remarkable how many people have told the Pope, in some way or another, to "shut up and dribble." Or corrected him on the Bible, despite their thin education on theology. Or told him to stay out of US affairs, despite him being a US citizen. The hubris is amazing.

U.S. Bishops’ Chairman on Doctrine Issues Clarification on Just War Theory “When Pope Leo XIV speaks as supreme pastor of the universal Church, he is not merely offering opinions on theology, he is preaching the Gospel and exercis...

“When Pope Leo XIV speaks as supreme pastor of the universal Church, he is not merely offering opinions on theology, he is preaching the Gospel and exercising his ministry as the Vicar of Christ.”

www.usccb.org/news/2026/us...

As I never tire of pointing out—

~3500 Iranians have been killed.
Statistically 1%-1.5% of the human race is pregnant at any given moment.

That's 35-52 military abortions.

Make it make sense.

The weirdest thing of all, and he said it more than once.

Trump saying the Pope being weak on crime is a great example of how vacuous crime discourse is

The effort to paint Leo as a political hack made by Catholics clinging to Trump after last night will work for some, but it's actually very weak tea that exposes a lot of vulnerability. The AI apotheosis and attacks on the Pope will gnaw quietly even at MAGA Catholics.

Trump's grip has slipped.

It seems clear he will keep both feet planted in Trump's Admin

x.com/BishopBarron...

"I’m sorry to hear that but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today.”

Trump can't touch the Pope. A pope from Chicago won't be bullied, and any successor of Peter is on a mission Donald Trump can't possibly comprehend.

Poor Don. Sad.

Will Cardinal Dolan and Bishop Barron resign from President Trump's religious freedom commission over the President's attacks on Pope Leo—attacks which seem a lot like attacks on Catholic faith?

A script written by a committee made up of people who had seen and had not seen any of the earlier films, with had-seen in the minority.