MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5

SENATE BORDER BILL WOULD INCREASE MIGRATION The Senate on Sunday evening released a bill that seeks to address the immigration crisis by legalizing much of the massive inflow of illegal migrants into the United States. An attached appropriations bill provides billions of dollars for registering, releasing, transporting, and housing migrants. READ

FBI DELETED INFO ON ANTI-CATHOLIC MEMO According to a group of 16 Republican senators, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) deleted records pertaining to its anti-Catholic memo after former agent and whistleblower Kyle Seraphin leaked it a year ago. “Now we know that information related to the Richmond memo wasn’t provided to Congress because the FBI deleted the records as soon as the incident became public,” the senators wrote in a Wednesday letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray. READ

GOVERNORS HOLD BORDER BRIEFING IN TEXAS More than half of the 25 governors who have declared they stand with Texas in its confrontation of the Biden administration joined Republican Gov. Greg Abbott at a public briefing in Eagle Pass, Texas Sunday. “Fifteen Governors are on the ground to show our support,” said New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu. “We stand with Texas on the front lines protecting the safety and welfare of our citizens.” READ

PRO-LIFER READY TO FIGHT BACK Paul Vaughn, one of six pro-lifers facing over a decade in prison over a peaceful protest, said he is now ready to face off with the Biden administration. He was only slightly involved in pro-life activism before, he said, but now that the Biden Department of Justice has targeted him, “I’m ready to go head-to-head with these people.” READ

TRUCKER CONVOY RALLIES IN TEXAS Hundreds of trucks from Tennessee, Maryland, New York, Missouri, Ohio, New Mexico, and many other states arrived Friday night and Saturday in Quemado, Texas. In a peaceful rally, the Take Our Border Back Convoy called on the Biden administration to “follow the law” and secure the southern border. READ

REST IN PEACE Mike Gill, an accomplished Republican professional who served as chief operating officer of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission during the Trump administration, died on Saturday after being shot during a vicious carjacking spree in Washington, D.C., the previous Monday. READ

BIDEN TAPS ‘CATHOLIC SPRING’ ARCHITECT FOR NEW ROLE President Joe Biden last week replaced Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry with John Podesta. A self-proclaimed Catholic, Podesta once admitted in a leaked email that he had been involved in “creating” Catholic front groups for the purpose of undermining the teachings of the Church and getting Catholics to reject what one of his colleagues called its “middle ages dictatorship.” READ

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VATICAN RELEASES NEW DOCUMENT ON LITURGY AND SACRAMENTS The Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) released a note on Saturday on discerning the validity of the sacraments. The new document signed by Pope Francis and DDF Prefect Cardinal Victor Fernández is titled “Gestis Verbisque,” or “Deeds and Words.” READ

VATICAN INVITES 300 PARISH PRIESTS TO SYNODAL ‘LISTENING SESSION’ The Vatican announced on Saturday that Synod on Synodality organizers are inviting 300 parish priests to come to Rome for a meeting of “listening, prayer, and discernment” that will help shape the next synod assembly discussions. The Vatican asked local bishops to select participants with “significant experience in the perspective of a synodal Church.” READ

A FORGOTTEN VIRTUE In the body of Catholic moral teaching, there are well-known groups of virtues, for example, the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity, and the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude. But there is another category of virtues often forgotten: the intellectual virtues of understanding, science, wisdom, art, and prudence. Among these, here is the key virtue needed in our era of gender theory. READ

CATHOLIC 101 The Lord tells us that in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven you have to be “born again of water and the Spirit.” How amazing to think that God chooses us to be not only His creations, but His children through the Sacrament of Baptism. READ

SAINT OF THE DAY St. Agatha was born and raised in Sicily. While not many details are known about her life, we know she was born to a wealthy family and refused all offers of marriage. One of the men was enraged at her refusal and turned her in for being a Christian. She was tortured and martyred for her faith. READ