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The news Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco announced May 19 that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) should not be admitted to Holy Communion in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, nor should she present herself to receive the Eucharist until she publicly repudiates her support for abortion, ricocheted off church bell towers nationwide.

In the wake of the bombshell leak of the opinion in the Dobbs case May 3, which indicates that Roe v. Wade will be overturned, the furor from pro-abortion activists and politicians continues unabated. Despite the mass hysteria from the abortion activists involved in vandalizing pregnancy centers and churches and their anti-Catholic bigotry, which is cheered on by their violent commentary on social media platforms, the pro-life movement remains resolute in protecting life in the womb and caring for pregnant women in crisis.

Watching the evening news over the weekend and seeing a video of police cruisers parked outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City with a reporter’s voiceover telling viewers they were placed there due to possible violent pro-abortion protests against Catholics attending Masses on Mother’s Day was both chilling and sad.

During a “kneel down” in a football game, a quarterback takes the snap from the center and takes a knee with the sole purpose of running out the remaining time on the clock to ensure a victory for his team. However, for Joseph Kennedy, a former assistant football coach at Bremerton High School, near Seattle, “kneel down” had a very different meaning.

The pro-life movement lost one of its most cherished members April 20 when Vicki Thorn, founder of Project Rachel, died suddenly. A Catholic pro-life pioneer, international speaker, author, and a member of the Pontifical Academy of Life, she was 72.

Our Diocese is in the midst of the Year of the Eucharist, which Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney officially launched on Jan. 9, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The Bishop declared the yearlong celebration to encourage local Catholics to deepen “their appreciation of Jesus — Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity — in the Eucharist.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has organized an ecumenical initiative, “Pray for Dobbs” as the nation awaits a Supreme Court decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organiza­tion case that could lead to Roe v. Wade being overturned. “We’re at this pivotal moment,” Arch­bishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City stressed, regarding the imperative to pray and fast for a positive Supreme Court outcome.

Every year since 1883, the University of Notre Dame has presented the Laetare Medal to a Catholic “whose genius has ennobled the arts and sciences, illustrated the ideals of the Church and enriched the heritage of humanity.” It was conceived as an American counterpart of the Golden Rose, a papal honor that antedates the 11th century and is the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics.

All eyes are on the U.S. Supreme Court as the nation awaits its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which involves a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks. Last week, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the chairmen of eight of its committees joined together “in prayer and expectant hope that states will again be able to protect women and children from the injustice of abortion.”

According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), more than 120 acts of vandalism at Catholic churches or to Catholic symbols, statues, schools, and shrines have occurred since May 2020. That shocking number is continuing to rise unabated with little or no consequences for those who commit these hate crimes. Inci­dents include graffiti sprayed on church walls, Catholic statues beheaded or smashed, gravestones desecrated with swastikas, and arson.

Since Russian forces launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine Feb. 24, daily news reports have shown the horrors of war as innocent men, women, and children are maimed and killed, illustrating Russia’s violent push to take strategic towns at a high cost for civilians.

Just a mere 48 hours before President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address to the nation, the Democrats in the U.S. Senate attempted to shove through a vote on most radical abortion bill in U.S. history, the so-called Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA). Every Republican in the Senate, along with one Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, stood up for life in the womb and voted “no’” to stop this horrific legislation.

Yesterday, on Ash Wednesday, the holy season of Lent, our 40-day journey in which we find ways to enhance our spiritual lives, began. To focus more on our spiritual lives and less on our secular lives, we look for opportunities to keep our focus on what Lent is about and how it can change our lives as we prepare for Holy Week and Easter.

It is extremely rare these days in Wash­ington, D.C. for bipartisanship support for legislation amid all the political infighting. However, there is a ray of hope for a bill that has gained traction among Repub­licans and Democrats alike. Awaiting a final vote in the Senate is the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which seemingly has cleared all hurdles on both sides of the political aisle.

Listening to a violinist recently gave Pope Francis the opportunity to remind the faithful to turn away from our “throwaway culture” and do just the opposite. At the Vatican earlier this month, Pope Francis listened as a violinist played a tune from a famous Italian composer on a multicolored violin made by prisoners using the wood of a shipwrecked migrants’ boat.

As millions of Americans look forward to this weekend’s Super Bowl game matching the Cincinnati Bengals against the Los Angeles Rams, very few know that in Los Angeles, which is host to this year’s Super Bowl, Sheriff Alex Villanueva is warning residents and those traveling there to attend the game that the event is a magnet for human trafficking.

Today, Feb. 3, marks an anniversary that seems long forgotten by our nation, but one that should demand our attention and remembrance every year. On this day in 1943, the U.S.A.T. Dorchester was on its journey from New York to Green­land carrying more than 900 officers, servicemen, civilian workers, and four chaplains of various faiths. The ship was a coastal passenger steamship requisitioned for wartime use as a troop ship. The ship was transiting the Labrador Sea when a German U-boat (U-233) torpedoed it.

Tens of thousands of pro-life advocates marched down Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C., in the 49th annual March for Life, Jan. 21, but our pro­-abortion Catholic President Joe Biden literally slapped every single one of them in the face the next day, on Jan. 22, the infamous anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. In a statement released by the White House, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris pledged to defend a so-called right to abortion.

As the 49th annual March for Life steps off down Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. tomorrow and Marches for Life happen around our Diocese, we are learning that pro-life legislators in several states are calling for laws similar to Texas’ Heartbeat Law. “Bills with language similar or identical to the Texas law have been introduced in Alabama, Florida, Missouri, and Ohio so far this year,” according to The Hill.

The 49th annual national March for Life — with a rally on the National Mall and a march to the Supreme Court on Friday, Jan. 21 — will go on as scheduled this year despite the surge in the omicron variant in the nation’s capital. This year’s theme is “Equality Begins in the Womb.” This year’s march is as important as the first march, which was held Jan. 22, 1974, a year to the day after the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.