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FRIDAY, JULY 17

VANCE: GOP RISKS DRIVING YOUNG PEOPLE TO SOCIALISM Vice President JD Vance warned Republicans that merely denouncing socialism is not enough: Young Americans need a real path to ownership, economic security, and the American dream. After decades of offshoring and Wall Street buying “every asset of modern life,” he called for a more Christian economic alternative. READ

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS ANNOUNCE PLAN TO UNDO AMERICA The Democratic Socialists of America’s 2026 agenda calls for a government takeover of major industries, voting rights for noncitizens, taxpayer-funded abortion and “gender-transition” procedures, and a new constitution replacing the House and Senate with a single federal legislature. READ

TRUMP DECLASSIFIES INTEL CLAIMING CHINA STOLE 220 MILLION VOTER FILES In an address to the nation last night, President Trump announced the declassification of intelligence he says reveals that Chinese intelligence services carried out the "largest compromise of election data in history," acquiring 220 million U.S. voter files, and that U.S. officials suppressed that information from him and Congress while insisting elections were secure. READ

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MOMS WHO REVERSED ABORTION PILLS TESTIFY IN CALIFORNIA TRIAL Mothers who changed their minds after taking mifepristone are testifying for the pro-life groups that helped save their babies through abortion-pill reversal. California Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta is seeking nearly $20 million from the nonprofits for promoting the progesterone treatment. READ

TRUMP HONORS CATHOLIC SAINT AS ‘TOWERING ITALIAN AMERICAN HERO’ President Donald Trump marked St. Frances Xavier Cabrini’s birthday by praising the first canonized American citizen as a woman of “boundless faith and limitless charity” whose devotion to Christ, immigrants, and struggling families embodied the best of America. READ

INDIANA ENDS RACE- AND SEX-BASED CONTRACTING PREFERENCES Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Braun ordered the state to end race- and sex-based preferences in government contracting after Attorney General Todd Rokita deemed the program unconstitutional. Braun said Indiana will replace it with a system focused on “Merit, Excellence, and Innovation.” READ

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NPR HONORS SISTER WHO DEFENDED TEEN STROKE PATIENT NPR named Sister Maura Smith an “Unsung Hero” after a former student recalled how the Catholic high school principal confronted hospital staff who dismissed her stroke as drug use, then stayed beside her in the ICU praying the Rosary. “She showed up, she spoke up and she stayed,” the woman said. READ

ATLANTA ARCHBISHOP WARNS CATHOLICS AWAY FROM SSPX LITURGIES Archbishop Gregory Hartmayer urged Catholics to avoid SSPX liturgies and activities that could express support for schism, stating that the society’s clergy do not minister in full communion with Rome. His pastoral letter follows the SSPX’s illicit July 1 episcopal consecrations. READ

BLESSED STANLEY ROTHER DOCUMENTARY COMING TO THEATERS A new documentary tells the story of Blessed Stanley Rother, the Oklahoma farm boy who became a missionary priest in Guatemala and returned to his endangered flock because “the shepherd cannot run.” American Martyr: The Stanley Rother Story opens nationwide in August. READ

CATHOLIC 101 Turn ordinary routines into moments of prayer by pairing them with Scripture. These seven approachable psalms can anchor your heart to God during morning coffee, a commute, housework, folding laundry, and bedtime. READ

SAINT OF THE DAY Today the Church remembers the 16 Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne, who renewed their vows and went singing to the guillotine during the French Revolution, offering their lives for peace in France and fidelity to Christ. READ

DAILY PSALM "You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.” (Isaiah 38) READ

DAILY READINGS Today's Mass readings. READ

MORNING LOOPcast Need to catch up on the day's biggest stories? Join Josh Mercer every weekday for a fast-paced news brief covering politics, culture, and world events through a Catholic lens. WATCH