HOUSE ADDS PRO-LIFE PROTECTIONS TO AIDS RELIEF BILL In a blow to the Biden administration;HOUSE PASSES THREE APPROPRIATIONS BILLS

 

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 HOUSE ADDS PRO-LIFE PROTECTIONS TO AIDS RELIEF BILL  In a blow to the Biden administration, the House has voted to reauthorize the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) with an amendment preventing funding for abortions overseas. Rep. Chris Smith, R-NJ, criticized the administration for attempting to “hijack” PEPFAR “to empower pro-abortion international non-governmental organizations, deviating from its life-affirming work.”  READ HOUSE PASSES THREE APPROPRIATIONS BILLS  House lawmakers narrowly passed three appropriations bills Thursday to fund the State Department and foreign operations, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Homeland Security through fiscal year 2024. Republicans still must vote on a measure to temporarily avert a government shutdown.  READ DALLAS BISHOP ENDORSES TEXAS SCHOOL CHOICE EFFORT  “The Catholic Church teaches that as the primary educators of their children, parents have the right and responsibility to determine the best educational environment for their children,” said Bishop Edward J. Burns of the Diocese of Dallas. “That is why the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops supports Governor Abbott’s push to empower all parents with parental choice.”  READ BIPARTISAN OUTCRY AGAINST FORCED LABOR IN SOLAR INDUSTRY  A bipartisan group of House lawmakers wrote a letter urging the Biden administration to respect a law banning the importation of solar panels made in China by “forced labor.” The Friday letter urged the administration to ensure full enforcement of the 2021 Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, especially as it pertains to the billion-dollar solar industry. China produces about 80% of the world’s solar panels.  READ BURCH ON THE BORDER CRISIS  “Many priests, bishops, and even the pope publicly ripped Trump for wanting to ‘build the wall’ and step up enforcement against cartels and those exploiting our laws” at the border, writes CatholicVote President Brian Burch. “Today the humanitarian cost of illegal immigration makes Trump look like a saint.”  READ OCTOBER HEROES & ZEROES  They came from the heights of political power, the princely offices of the Church itself, and even your local Catholic high school. You deserve to know exactly where our Catholic leaders stand. Here are your Heroes & Zeroes of the month!  READ FEDERAL COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF LAWS PROTECTING KIDS  The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld recently passed laws in Kentucky and Tennessee protecting children from so-called “gender-affirming care.” In the majority opinion, Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton observed that gender dysphoria is “a relatively new diagnosis with ever-shifting approaches to care over the last decade or two.”  READ REJECTED BIDEN NOMINEE STILL GOT POSITION  Four months after her Senate confirmation failed, “green” activist lawyer and Biden nominee Ann Carlson is still collecting a federal government check as the “acting” head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Sens. Ted Cruz, R-TX, and Cynthia Lummis, R-WY, have introduced a bill that aims to put a stop to this.  READ CATHOLICVOTE SIGNS BRIEF DEFENDING DONOR PRIVACY  CatholicVote signed onto an amicus curiae brief for the ongoing case Buckeye Institute v. IRS, supporting the privacy rights of nonprofit organizations and their donors. The Advancing American Freedom (AAF) Foundation led the brief. The IRS’s “demand” for “501(c)(3) organizations to disclose their donors for IRS surveillance” is “both invasive and unjustified,” AAF stated Wednesday.  READ QUOTE OF THE WEEK  “A fundamental problem with Washington D.C. is that all of the good people that serve in Congress are almost always the ones who do maybe three terms, and then leave. The sociopaths that you hate are the people who refuse to give up power until they die, even reaching 90 years old and spending it getting wheeled around D.C. to be told how to vote while having no idea what's going on.” -Greg Price  READ LOOPCAST  Late-night special: what went down at the GOP debate? Did Trump turn things around for the strikers? Sen. Menendez trades favors with Egypt for gold bars and cars, and a NYC pizza festival draws coal-fired reporting from WaPo. Check out this week's episode!  WATCH EVANGELICAL DISCOVERS SAINTS  Here is the story of a woman who converted from Evangelical Christianity to Catholicism. But she just couldn’t get on board with the concept of the saints – especially the concept of praying to them. She found ways to skirt around it for a while, until finally, it made sense. Here’s how she found a way to embrace them.  READ APPLE DESSERTS  It’s apple season! If you want to enjoy the classic autumn experience of apple-picking but don’t know what to do with bags and bags of apples, we have your problem solved. Here are the best apple desserts from Taste of Home. Try apple dumplings, German apple cake, maple and cream apple pie, and plenty more.  READ BATTLE FOR THE BODY  In the midst of our generation’s crisis of culture and faith, where should the Church focus her teaching? Looking back through history, we can see that different eras wrestled with different topics. The 5th century: Christology; the Reformation era: sacraments and salvation. So what about our time? Carl Trueman makes the case that our time is about the battle for the body.  READ ADDICTION & THE ROAD TO HOLINESS Saints seem like first-class, A+, elite models of the ideal Christian life. Nope. Saints were sinners. Saints were saved by the mercy of God, not by their own merits. And saints were people who just kept fighting the good fight until the end. There is nothing they didn’t struggle with. Here are three saints who were consumed by addiction but eventually overcame it: one to drugs, one to alcohol, and one to sex.  READ EDIFY EBOOK  Roe v. Wade may be history, but the fight to end abortion continues! Check out EDIFY's FREE ebook covering all things pro-life. Together, we can end abortion.  CLICK CATHOLIC 101  Can you believe it? Tomorrow is October! Here’s an overview of the month including important feast days, the Church’s prayer intentions, and even the recipe of the month.  READ SAINT OF THE DAY  St. Jerome is a Doctor of the Church and known for his language skills, his rumored abrasive personality, and his austere lifestyle. His translation of the Hebrew Bible into Latin is known as the Vulgate and has become the authoritative version for all subsequent Catholic translations. St. Jerome is also known as the patron saint of difficult people. READ SATURDAY’S PSALM  “The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.” (Jeremiah 31:10)  READ SATURDAY’S READINGS  Saturday's Mass readings.  READ SUNDAY’S PSALM  “Remember your mercies, O Lord.” (Psalm 25:6)  READ SUNDAY’S READINGS  Sunday's Mass readings.  READ ANSWER TO THE TRIVIA  Western Roman Emperor Constantine I and Emperor Licinius met in Mediolanum (modern-day Milan) to change policies regarding Christians. The agreement, known as the Edict of Milan, was issued in February 313. Christianity gained legal status and a reprieve from persecution. Sixty-seven years later, Christianity became the state church of the Roman Empire with the Edict of Thessalonica in 380. HAVE A TIP?  Send us your news for the Weekend LOOP.  EMAIL ARTWORK  This image, called Francesco St. Jerome, is a work of art on copper from the late 16th century.  SHARE The LOOP is a publication of the CatholicVote Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization. The LOOP is organized, funded, and published by faithful Catholic laity. We do not claim to speak for any individual bishop or the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. CATHOLICVOTE | PO Box 3310 | Carmel, IN 46082 | (317) 669-6127