BADGER STATE REJECTS ‘ZUCKERBUCKS’;FEDS SUE UTAH FOR TRANS ‘DISCRIMINATION’;IOWA STRENGTHENS RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS;PRO-LIFE NURSES ISSUE WARNING; COURT CASE ON A RELIGIOUS SCHOOL

 

THURSDAY, APRIL 4 BADGER STATE REJECTS ‘ZUCKERBUCKS’  Wisconsin voters approved an election-related amendment to their state constitution that bans the use of private money for administering elections. The Republican-backed amendments were proposed after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg spent millions of dollars in the 2020 elections – with most of the money in Wisconsin going to the state's five largest cities, which are dominated by Democratic voters.  READ FEDS SUE UTAH FOR TRANS ‘DISCRIMINATION’  The Justice Department announced that it is filing a lawsuit against the state of Utah for allegedly discriminating against a male inmate who demanded gender transition treatment and “appropriate accommodations” from the Utah Department of Corrections.  READ IOWA STRENGTHENS RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS  Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed an act on April 2 that prohibits government action from “substantially burdening” or infringing on Iowans’ religious freedom rights without sufficient reason. Reynolds noted that a federal religious freedom law was passed almost unanimously three decades ago. “Since then, religious rights have increasingly come under attack. Today, Iowa enacts a law to protect these unalienable rights—just as twenty-six other states have done—upholding the ideals that are the very foundation of our country.”  READ PRO-LIFE NURSES ISSUE WARNING  The National Association of Pro-life Nurses recently joined the plaintiffs in the critical Supreme Court case challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s removal of safeguards for the chemical abortion pill mifepristone. “Nurses are front-line witnesses to the devastating impact of chemical abortion drugs,” Kane told CatholicVote in an email interview. “We see the women arriving in emergency rooms, hemorrhaging and suffering from life-threatening infections.”  READ LIBERAL CALLS FOR SOTOMAYOR TO RESIGN  In a surprising move, left-wing MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan called on liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor to resign from the Supreme Court so that she could be replaced while the White House and Senate are both controlled by the Democratic Party. “Why would you want to repeat history? Why take the risk? You have a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate, and you have a justice who is about to turn 70,” he said.  READ COURT CASE ON A RELIGIOUS SCHOOL The first-ever Catholic charter school this week presented its defense of its state-financed position before the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Education in the school is rooted in the Catholic tradition, and students would be required to attend Mass. Supporters of the school say that the state cannot exclude Catholic organizations from this public benefit program because it is religious. READ MARRIED COUPLES THRIVE  A recent Gallup poll found that married Americans are “thriving” at rates higher than divorced, cohabiting or unmarried Americans. Gallup collected data from 2009 to 2023 from ages 25 to 50, and found a 16% difference in “thriving” rates of married versus unmarried Americans. “Married people may possess long-term personality traits and characteristics that tend to make life better for themselves and their intimate relationships,” Gallup reported, noting that this does not necessarily explain the trends fully.  READ LOOPcast  Cafeteria Catholics, Tammy Peterson enters the Church, Christian Visibility Day, and Scotland does their best Monty Python impression.  LISTEN 663 NEW CATHOLICS IN BALTIMORE  The Archdiocese of Baltimore received a staggering 663 catechumens into the Church this Easter, a significant rise from 437 the previous year. Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori said: “Let those of us who have been Catholic Christians our whole life long rejoice, rejoice as new members are incorporated into the Body of Christ, rejoice as we are renewed in our own baptism, rejoice as we promise anew to life as children of the light, rejoice as we share the banquet of Christ’s sacrifice with the newly initiate.”  READ EWTN SPECIAL ON DIVINE MERCY  To celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday on April 7, EWTN will host a preview show featuring testimonies and talks from famous athletes and personalities who live their Catholic faith seriously, as well as livestreamed Mass celebrated by Archbishop Timothy Broglio. Included in the lineup will be a talk by Jim Wahlberg, actor Mark Wahlberg’s brother, called “A Boston Street Kid’s Story of Addiction and Redemption.”  READ ZONE OF INTEREST: FORGIVENESS  A kindly father plays with his five children in their sunny backyard. He kisses them goodnight. They laugh around the dinner table. They wrestle playfully on the living room floor. On the other side of their garden walls, this same father organizes the extermination of thousands of Jews and Poles at Auschwitz. A new film, The Zone of Interest, examines the life of this father and monster, Rudolph Höss. But the end of his story is not covered by the film, and it has to do with an almost unfathomable forgiveness.  READ CATHOLIC 101  “Imitation is the sincerest form of praise.” And for Catholics, that means looking to the saints as helpers on the way to Heaven. Imitation of their lives seems like a safe practice as we strive to grow in holiness. But, it begs the questions: Why designate certain people with the title ‘saint’? And why should we pray to them and venerate them?  READ SAINT OF THE DAY  St. Isidore of Seville was born in Spain around the year 560. Isidore was heavily influenced by his brother, St. Leander, and eventually joined his brother’s mission of converting the Visigoths. Isidore then became Archbishop of Seville after his brother’s death and worked to prevent heresies. Isidore also compiled the first Catholic encyclopedia, improved the education of clergy, and served the poor. St. Isidore was named a Doctor of the Church after his death.  READ DAILY PSALM  “O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:2)  READ DAILY READINGS  Today's Mass readings  READ BEAUTY  Barcelona’s colossal Basilica the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) is finally set to finish after its infamously drawn out construction period of over 140 years. The final renovations on the Chapel of the Assumption and the tower of Jesus Christ will be complete by 2026.  READ Share with friends to win cool stuff! Have friends who'd love the Loop, too? 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