LOOP: Virginia Gov.-elect taps FBI agent behind anti-Catholic memo

The LOOP TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9 SPANBERGER TAPS FBI AGENT BEHIND ANTI-CATHOLIC MEMO  Virginia Democratic Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger has nominated Stanley Meador to serve as Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security. Meador is the agent behind the FBI's controversial 2023 memo targeting traditional Catholics. CatholicVote Political Director Logan Church decried the move, saying it "tells every Catholic in America that violating our civil liberties isn't a problem, it's a pathway to advancement."

View in browser TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9 SPANBERGER TAPS FBI AGENT BEHIND ANTI-CATHOLIC MEMO  Virginia Democratic Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger has nominated Stanley Meador to serve as Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security. Meador is the agent behind the FBI's controversial 2023 memo targeting traditional Catholics. CatholicVote Political Director Logan Church decried the move, saying it "tells every Catholic in America that violating our civil liberties isn't a problem, it's a pathway to advancement."  READ PRESIDENT TRUMP MARKS MARIAN SOLEMNITY  President Donald Trump yesterday made a statement in honor of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, offering a reflection on the profound impact Our Lady has had on the United States throughout the nation's history.  READ US LAWMAKERS VISIT NIGERIA, CONFRONT PERSECUTION  A U.S. Congressional delegation completed a multi-day visit to Nigeria, where Catholic Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., pressed government officials to take stronger action against extremist violence that has devastated Christian communities across the country. "I came to Nigeria in the name of the Lord and on behalf of the American people," Moore stated.  READ 100 KIDNAPPED NIGERIAN STUDENTS HAVE RETURNED SO FAR  About 100 of the students who were victims of the Nov. 21 mass abduction at St. Mary's Catholic School in Niger State have safely returned home, the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, confirmed yesterday. The whereabouts of more than 160 other victims remain unknown.  READ  TRUMP DEMANDS CBS APOLOGIZE FOR MTG INTERVIEW  Trump demanded a "complete and total apology" from CBS' "60 Minutes" and correspondent Lesley Stahl Dec. 8 after the program aired an interview in which Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., accused him of betraying the MAGA movement and fueling death threats against her family. Greene also revealed in the interview that many Republicans had spoken ill of Trump behind closed doors until his reelection.  READ OP-ED: POPE LEO'S TAKE ON NETFLIX BUYING WARNER BROs?  "Sometimes I wonder what the first American Pope thinks about current events from his home country," writes Felix Miller for CatholicVote. "In the case of Netflix acquiring Warner Brothers, he may have actually given us some hints."  READ TRUMP TO SIGN ORDERS PROTECTING AI DEVELOPERS  Trump yesterday said he plans to sign an executive order that would federalize Artificial Intelligence (AI) regulation, blocking attempts to regulate AI at the state level. "You can't expect a company to get 50 Approvals every time they want to do something," he said.  READ AD: SURPRISING CHRISTMAS BEST-SELLER: FAMILY FUN FOR AGES 8-108  "My 12-year old laughs & quizzes us. Grandpa knows the most." Patrick Madrid's latest book InQUIZition is the gift for fun-fact kids and hard-to-buy folks. (Priests, deacons — homily material!) Nearly 200 fascinating, often funny Q&A about doctrine, saints, pop culture, the Bible, even sports (with thorough in-depth answers). Christmas sale now at HolyHeroes.com.  GET IT NOW   BOSTON ARCHDIOCESE DENOUNCES ANTI-ICE NATIVITY  The Archdiocese of Boston is calling for the removal of a nativity display at St. Susanna Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, describing the scene as a violation of the Church's norms for sacred objects. The usual figures of Mary, Joseph, and the Christ Child are missing from the outdoor nativity display at the parish, replaced by a sign reading "ICE was here."  READ VATICAN MARKS CHINA'S RECOGNITION OF BISHOP AMID TENSIONS  The Holy See Press Office issued a statement over the weekend about China's civil recognition of Xinxiang emeritus Bishop Giuseppe Zhang Weizhu. The bishop has reportedly been persecuted for years over his refusal to join the Chinese Communist Party's religious arm, the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.  READ NOT TO BE MISSED...  Here are the stories we couldn't fit in today's LOOP: Seventeen pro-life demonstrators were arrested Friday during a peaceful blockade at a Planned Parenthood center in Memphis, Tennessee.  READ Study: Women can continue to experience emotional distress decades after abortions.  READ An Illinois diocese has reactivated the long-dormant Sheen Foundation Advisory Board to help promote Ven. Fulton Sheen's legacy.  READ LOOK FOR BEAUTY THIS ADVENT  We often "sprint" towards Christmas during Advent, warns Jeff Minick. "Yet these stressful weeks of commotion and rush are also intended as the season of waiting and anticipation, and offer a golden opportunity to pause and practice the apprehension of beauty..."  READ CATHOLIC 101  The connection between yesterday's Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and today's feast of St. Juan Diego runs deep. Here's why Mary's apparition to an ordinary layman in the 1500s led to the pope naming Our Lady of Guadalupe as Patroness of the Americas in 1946.  READ SAINT OF THE DAY  Today the Church celebrates St. Juan Diego, who was raised in the Aztec religion but converted to Catholicism. While hurrying to Mass in December 1531, Juan was stopped by a vision of the Blessed Virgin. To convince the local bishop of her existence, Mary granted Juan miraculous roses and the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe seared into his tilma. Thousands of natives converted to Catholicism as a result.  READ DAILY PSALM  "The Lord our God comes with power." (Isaiah 40)  READ DAILY READINGS  Today's Mass readings.  READ DEVOTION  "As I distributed Holy Communion at Sunday evening Mass at the IU Newman Center," writes Fr. Patrick Hyde, OP, "it hit me: The joy we experienced winning the Big Ten is but a sample, a simulacrum, of the joy, everlasting & unshakable joy, Jesus offers to us in the Eucharist, in the Church, & as His disciple."  SHARE Paid for by CatholicVote Civic Action, a 501(c)(4) organization., PO Box 3310, Carmel, IN 46082 (317) 669-6127 Unsubscribe Manage preferences