Wow!
Pope Leo XIV is absolutely furious at Donald Trump and his despicable regime. Pope Leo XIV has formally rejected any involvement by himself and the Vatican in Trump's so-called Board of Peace, which Pope Leo XIV has labeled a colonialist operation saying, no, thank you, I don't want to be anywhere near that. In addition, the Vatican has now confirmed that Pope Leo XIV officially rejected the invite to show up at America's 250th day celebration on July 4th back in May when J.D. Van showed up to the Vatican and presented a formal invitation to Pope Leo the 14th. He rejected it to J.D. Vance's face. And this past week, the Vatican leaked out that Pope Leo the 14th said absolutely no way I'm not going. He put the invitation, you know, aside and just said, I'm not going to be doing that. In fact, this week we we learned what Pope Leo XIV is doing. Hot tip to Christopher Hale, who does a great job on a substack and elsewhere reporting on the Vatican and what's happening in the Catholic Church, and especially as it asserts itself against Donald Trump and its regime. But Pope Leo XIV has announced that he will be spending the July 4th day on the island of Lampedusa, a migrant gateway in the Mediterranean.
This is sending a powerful message because this Remote Island, it's kind of ground zero in what people consider the European migration issues. And he's saying that I'm gonna be spending my time with migrants and individuals there, and showing that, you know, we are one world and we are one people. And he said, also announced as well, that there will be no plans to show up at all in the United States in 2026. I mean, he previously appeared in Chicago via, you know, at the baseball stadium there, but did not actually attend. And he has his Cardinal Cupich over there. And one of the developments that has been happening as well, and Pope Leo the 14th has been rallying the Cardinals and the bishops and the clergy in general to fight back against Trump and his regime. Remember, Donald Trump has they were planning on banding Ash Wednesday services. They have tried to ban religious rights or any type of religious services at the detention centers. You have the detention center Broadview in the Chicago area, for example, had prohibited any type of Catholic priests or any religious clergy at all from showing up there. There had to be a lawsuit that was filed recently in federal court in Chicago where a federal judge said, hey, there's a free exercise clause in the Constitution, and there's also a free speech clause in the Constitution, and the government is infringing upon the rights of the migrants who are being detained in these concentration camps in the United States from receiving any type of visits from religious leaders, from religious leaders being there and supporting them at all, and an emergency order was made to allow on Ash Wednesday for there to be ceremonies outside of the Broadview
facility. And at first it seemed like the Trump regime was not going to follow the court orders. But then ultimately the court orders were followed. And here's how it's being reported by Christopher Hale. In his Ash Wednesday homily, Pope Leo XIV warned that the world is ablaze not just with war, but with the collapse of law, ecology, and sacred, the the Pope argued lent a time not not just for penance, but for rebuilding. He called for faithful not to be rigid and complacent, but also open to moving and changing. This is reporting from Christopher Herron right before Ash Wednesday. It appeared there's a chance that the Trump Vance White House was going to defy a federal court order to allow Pope Leo's top ally, Chicago Cardinal Cupich and Catholic clergy to enter the Chicago area ICE facility for Ash Wednesday Mass. This would be a historic confrontation between the American government and the Catholic Church. And again, this also comes on a week where we learn from the Epstein files how Steve Bannon was working with Jeffrey Epstein in order to try to take down Pope Francis. And we know that Steve Bannon was also trying to take down Pope Leo the 14th.
We've seen him on Pierce Morgan and other shows when he was Cardinal Prevost. Before he became the pope, you had Bannon and Bannon's crew also trying to take down Pope Leo the 14th before he became Pope Leo the 14th. I want to go through some receipts with you right here as well.
So first I want to show you over here earlier this past week where
Caroline Levitt accused Pope Leo the 14th
of being a, quote, partisan, political and
controversial individual because Pope Leo the 14th
through His spokespeople said that the Vatican, the Pope will not join the Board of Peace. They called it a pay to play colonialist operation. Here's what Caroline Levitt had to say. Let's play this clip right here. The Vatican announced earlier today that they would not be joining the Board of Peace initiatives over concerns that it could potentially compete with the United Nations over handling crisis conflicts. What's the White House's response? Yeah, look, we saw that. I think it's deeply unfortunate. I don't think that peace should be partisan or political or controversial. And of course, the administration wants all those who were invited to join the Board of Peace to join because again,
the Board of Peace is overseeing the reconstruction of a territory that has been plagued with violence, with bloodshed, with poverty for far too long. And this president has a very bold and ambitious plan and vision to rebuild and reconstruct Gaza, which is well underway because of the Board of Peace. This is a legitimate organization where there are tens of member countries from around the world, and we think that's an unfortunate decision. We give up comfort every day. Don't let style be another reason. Mac Weldon's ACE collection makes it effortless to look put together while feeling truly comfortable. Their new Ace line, inspired by their best selling sweatpants, combines everyday comfort with long lasting and confident looks. Upgrade your collection for the new year with new bomber jackets, half zips, sweats, crewnecks, and more at MackWeldon.com and get 20% off your first order of $125 or more with code MIDAS. The Ace Collection by Mack Weldon has been my go-to. The materials are super comfortable and the fit and style, it really gives me that extra confidence boost as I'm wearing them. Mac Weldon truly blows away the competition in my opinion. Mac Weldon balances classic pieces with updated details to keep you looking sharp.
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televised interview last year, told Dolan the statement was out of line and not true, according to the Cardinal. In the same interview, Dolan condemned the Trump Vance administration's decision to conduct immigration raids near churches, calling the practice harassment and a profound violation of religious liberty. Here's where Cardinal Dolan accused the Trump Vance of targeting, harassing and going into Catholic parishes. And again, this is an extraordinary statement coming from Cardinal Dolan right here. Here, play this clip. Franklin Graham, who's not a Catholic, and I were very worried when I started going into churches and harassing churches. So we had here in the Archdiocese of New York that ICE would show up on Sunday mass just in trucks
and cars and the people wouldn't come. That was happening? That was happening here. So I called Reverend Graham and I said, we need to bring up to
the religious freedom that this is a violation of religious freedom. People have the right to worship on the Sabbath. The federal government cannot impede that or harass it. They are. Franklin Graham wisely said, let's go, let's bring it to the attention of ICE and we did. And the director here in New York said, thanks for bringing that to my attention. And over here, Cardinal Dolan talks about how J.D. Vance admitted that he lied when he
claimed Catholic bishops were pro-immigrant because they wanted to make money. Here, play this clip right here. You bet. I would sometimes say, oh, can't agree with you there. He and I had a little tête-à-tête, you probably know, when he suggested that bishops in the United States were pro-immigrant because we were making money, which I said was not only untrue, it was scurrilous, and he apologized. All right, he says that was out of line and that's not true. Now, just to show you the video back from May, this was the exchange right here, and again, Christopher Hale's got it all. He's on top of this coverage of J.D. Vance when he handed Pope Leo the 14th the invitation to attend Trump's 250th celebration, You can see how disinterested Pope Leo the 14th looked right here when
he received this invitation. He just kind of put it aside. And now we know that Leo the 14th rejected showing up and instead he's not going to be there.
He's going to be at that small
Mediterranean migrant gateway, Lampadusa is where he'll
be on that day.
And this comes just days after Leo
publicly rebuffed Trump's invitation to join the Board of Peace. Here, let's play this clip right here. Good morning.
Good morning.
How are you?
Good.
So good to see you.
Welcome.
Yeah, a couple of things.
First of all, this is a letter
from the president, the First Lady inviting you to come to your many things to do. But I wanted to make sure I
gave you a letter at some point.
Of course.
Of course. So this, of course, is Chicago Bears jury.
Jersey.
Good choice.
With your name.
And hopefully he just tried to sign it with a pattern, but they, they
got a little nervous.
Oh, I see.
Yeah.
So I guess that's.
There's our kid right there. Okay. You can probably imagine in the United States, people are extremely excited about this.
About you.
About your.
Okay.
Yeah.
Very nice.
The individual bronze sculpture.
The piece is a fragile flower.
And then we can be partners. That's right.
Which Pope Francis did not live in and I may live in. Okay.
Totally designed.
But that's wonderful. Which is right upstairs from here. Thank you for you.
And then this is just a letter explaining the school. I see. Real. And there's one of these for secretaries. Okay. Wonderful. Goodbye. Thank you.
And we'll pray for you. Thank you for being here for the celebration. Yes. I'm sure we will meet again and be in contact. Okay. Fantastic. Thank you. Very nice to meet you. Now, just to show you what it ended up looking like Ash Wednesday in Illinois, watch as you'll see here, Chicago Archbishop Cupich
It was led by Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich. He celebrated Mass then led a procession to the Broadview Detention Center. The site gained attention during the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Operation Midway Blitz aimed at arresting illegal immigrants with criminal records. Joining us now is Father Leandro Fossa
from Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Melrose Park, Illinois. Father, you attended the Mass and procession. Can you tell us more about the turnout and the overall feeling?
Yes, I attended the Madison procession. It was in my parish. I'm the pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Meroz Park. Cardinal decided to be with us because we wanted to do a mass in procession in front of the Scalabrini Center and support our families who are being affected by this immigration rates. Here's what Steve Bannon previously said when he was trying to undermine Pope Leo the 14th. Let's play this clip. I do think one of the dark horses, and I think unfortunately he's one of the most progressive is Cardinal Prevost. I don't think he's getting enough play. He is certainly on the short list as being, and I think it's pretty shocking given the contempt they hold the American church. The American church gives so much money, they're afraid it has too much power. So they've never really wanted to have an American Pope. My understanding is Prevost is one of the ones closest to Francis ideologically. He's also had tremendous experience in Latin America. And so he's one of the ones on the short list. I'm a big believer that Cardinal Sarah from Africa would be a perfect selection right now for this moment in the church.
But I will tell everybody, this is
anybody's game right now between Parolin, one of the traditionalists, you have no earthly idea how this is going to turn out. That's why I think this time, this run-up is so important. It's interesting that it's ironic, it's going to take place, it's going to kick off, I think, on the either the
day of or the day before the 80th anniversary of victory in Europe. So it's very symbolic of what's coming together here in the first part of May. And here's Pope Leo the 14th statement on the world becoming a much more dangerous place as a result of what the Trump regime has been engaged in and other authoritarians have been engaged in. It's a very powerful speech right here. You'll play this clip. In our time, the weakness of multilateralism is a particular cause for concern at the international level. A diplomacy that promotes dialog and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force by either individuals or groups of allies. War is back in vogue.
And the zeal for war is spreading. The principle established after the Second World War which prohibited nations from using force
to violate the borders of others has been completely undermined. Peace is no longer sought as a gift and a desirable good in itself, or in the pursuit of the establishment of the ordered universe willed by God, with a more perfect form of justice among men and women.
MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Pope Leo XIV rejecting Trump and JD Vance in front of the entire world.
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