THE CHURCHES ARE open now in the Archdiocese of Detroit for “public Mass,” but Catholics have not been set free. The rules for being permitted to kneel at Calvary are in perfect accord with the rules of the state. Check-ins. Reservations. Social Distancing. Face covering. Every hollow one of them.

The archbishop has bowed to the governor. By order of a Prince of the Church, a successor of the Apostles, the priests must obey, the people must comply. The Mask must be worn.

TRANSLATIONS:
Portuguese

Introduction by Michael J. Matt: As I write these words, reports are circulating that as many as one million protesters are expected to descend on our nation’s capital this weekend. The radical leftist mayor of Washington, Muriel Bowser, has set the stage for a showdown with the White House by having city workers paint a two-block-long “Black Lives Matter” down the street leading to the White House. She’s also kicked National Guardsmen out of D.C. hotels and sent them home. And this comes on the heels of Washington’s Archbishop Wilton Gregory throwing a verbal brick at the president for daring to pray at the National Shrine in the wake of violence that left over 60 Secret Service agents injured, monuments defaced and churches in flame, saying “I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles…”

New from Remnant TV...

Steve Mosher speaks at the Catholic Identity Conference

The president of the Population Research Institute, Steven Mosher, discusses everything Catholics need to know about Communist China, the Church in China, the persecution of the Church and the Vatican's secret agreement with Beijing.

In light of increasing tensions between the U.S. and China, Americans have many questions. What will the secret Vatican agreement mean for the underground Church in China? Who will appoint Catholic bishops in China--the Communist government or the Vatican? How will this impact Washington's relations with Beijing? What happens next?

“I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree...  [Saint Pope John Paul II] certainly would not condone the use of tear gas and other deterrents to silence, scatter or intimidate them for a photo opportunity in front of a place of worship and peace.” 

- Archbishop of Washington, Wilton D. Gregory, on President Trump’s visit to the National Shrine in the wake of violent protests which left 50 Secret Service agents wounded and the historic St. John’s Church (within stone’s throw of the White House) in flames
_____________

Grace and Peace are always with you, in Jesus Christ, our only Lord. Although I am no longer among you in Washington D.C. as Apostolic Nuncio, I feel particularly united to all of you in this time of so grave moral and physical trials with which you are afflicted, and I wish to send you the sentiments of my deepest affection in Christ.

New from RTV...

With gratitude to the Bishops of Minnesota, Father John Echert--The Parking Lot Priest--celebrated the first major public Mass inside of his church since the pandemic lockdown was initiated.

We're presenting this short video by way of encouragement to Catholics nationwide not to give up but to continue to pressure the bishops all across the country to do the right thing and comply with President Trump's adamant call for the churches to open up right now.

New From Remnant TV...

As the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis descend into a state of emergency, Michael Matt discusses the root cause of this Godless madness--the total rejection of His moral law. The vile tragedy of George Floyd's murder is herein set in the context of the international lockdown which left millions (including Mr. Floyd) unemployed, desperate and addicted.

Plus, as professional leftist agitators descend upon our city and make a mockery of the tragedy that happened here, the liberal Democrat mayor of the city is decrying the violence and loss of respect for life and property. This is the same guy, by the way, who designated March 10 as "Abortion Providers Appreciation Day" here in Minneapolis.

PART II
(Read Part I here)

Behind their feigned concern for containing the virus, stopping the spread, saving lives, lies another paradigm, a lethal distortion of all that is true and good.

IT IS MAY, Mary’s month, the month of flowers. Violets poke through the grass, and the tulips are in bloom. A ribbon of bright daffodils—planted in preparation for a golf tournament that will not happen this year--line Woodward Avenue at the border of Palmer Woods.  I think of Wordsworth’s poem as I pass by them.

There is a virus stalking us now, but that virus does not stalk alone.

The Second Battle of the Aisne, 1917...  In one week, thirty thousand French soldiers were killed.

The Battle of Iwo Jima, 1945...  over twenty thousand American casualties.

These men sacrificed themselves with courage. Knowing what was in store, the soldiers still formed lines and advanced.

Fast forward to 2020. People are losing their hold on reality over a novel coronavirus. Where has our courage gone?

Photo illustration by Lincoln Agnew

Cloth masks, narrow plastic shields, and six feet of separation to stop an airborne virus. Limiting exposure to the largely nonlethal virus when immunity is necessary to function and no vaccine exists. An apparent belief that avoiding the virus will remove it from the environment. All this is obviously insane.

"In America we need more prayer, not less!" 
Donald Trump, May 22, 2020

At today's press conference moments ago, Donald Trump lowered the boom: 

Today I identify houses of worship and synagogues and mosques as essential places that provide essential services.

Some governors have deemed liquor stores and abortion clinics as essential, but have left out churches and other houses of worship. It’s not right.

So I’m correcting this injustice and calling houses of worship essential!

Prolife Democrats?

UP UNTIL RECENTLY, those who opposed the slaughter of the unborn in their mothers’ wombs held a monopoly on the pro-life philosophy. For years, pro-abortion Democrats have been grappling with the ghoulish reality that in order to win elections, they must defend the inalienable “right” to terminate the lives the most vulnerable people in the world: unborn babies. The more squeamish among them didn’t exactly cotton to this, for the obvious reason that it rather handily transformed them into bedfellows of monsters. And so they waged war over vocabulary, insisting that they are not “pro-abortion” but rather “pro-choice,” not “pro-death” but “pro reproductive rights”.

Anything, but that which best conveyed the bloody truth of the matter.