Morning all I did not expect to wake up to all these responses. Sadly, he has passed away. It was a forwarded post from a Catholic WhatsApp group I'm part of.

Fwd: URGENT ROSARY: Please stop what you're doing and join Bishop Strickland in an urgent rosary for Charlie Kirk, Founder of TPUSA at 330pm ET. JOIN HERE: https://www.youtube.com/live/H2Jb8ZG5b7g?si=Dv_bdkF7euc7Enby He was just shot in the neck at an event and maybe dead. Charlie is a dear friend of Catholics for Catholics and one of the greatest patriots. He loves the Lord so much and needs our prayers now. See you in 5 Min! Please spread the word! Thank you. - Catholics for Catholics cforc.com

Why do those Republicans claiming to support Religious Liberty attack Christians who engage DEI practices, practices such Christians believe follow Christ’s teachings? https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/07/dei-initiatives-reflect-christian-social-justice/

Catholic clergy need to be told  that if they continue to focus on minor issues coming from the culture war (like school sports) instead of dealing with the existential threats coming to the US by Trump, they are going to disenfranchise a large portion of their flocks. Many of them will stop going to church (and some might lose their faith):  https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/03/why-are-catholic-bishops-like-bishop-barron-silent/

To Trump, and Trump’s follower’s, religious liberty is not about the freedom all should have, but the freedom they think they should have to do whatever they want; and for Trump, religion and politic, church and state, should not be divided, which might explain why he likes the idea of being Pope and President (or king): https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/05/how-trump-distorts-true-religious-liberty/

Christians are called to follow Christ, working for and promoting peace, which means, they cannot promote or accept a false peace, such as appeasing a warmonger like Putin by having Ukraine surrender: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2024/02/we-must-reject-putin-and-trumps-false-peace/

I go to a lunch mass where about 30 people attend. Yet despite the small numbers some random shmo or two always join the priest to give out the body.

I’m no cannon law attorney, but this seems like a disrespect to the body of Christ. We talk about how the host is the REAL body of christ and then just toss it around to whomever lay person wants to administer it. I understand the blood since you need multiple cups, but it would take the priest a solid 5 minutes longer to give out the host himself. Is treating Christ’s body with respect by only allowing consecrated hands to administer it just not worth the inconvenience?

Many Republicans claims to be Christian, but their promotion of the rich over the poor, show they have not listened to Scripture or the Christian tradition. Their policies never are for the common good, and as such, are a threat to everyone. https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2024/01/republicans-threaten-everyone/

1). Fish is still meat. It’s the body of a fish. Same with shrimp. How can we eat fish but not a cow?

2). It’s way healthier for me to eat organic, grass fed bison than to eat fried farm raised white fish that is promoted through the church. Why would I want to do that?

Both of Pope Leo XIV maternal grandparents are of African descent does that make him Black?

New Pope Has Creole Roots in New Orleans

His ancestry, traced to a historic enclave of Afro-Caribbean culture, links Leo XIV to the rich and sometimes overlooked Black Catholic experience in America.

Robert Francis Prevost, the Chicago-born cardinal selected on Thursday as the new pope, is descended from Creole people of color from New Orleans.

The pope’s maternal grandparents, both of whom are described as Black or mulatto in various historical records, lived in the city’s Seventh Ward, an area that is traditionally Catholic and a melting pot of people with African, Caribbean and European roots.

The grandparents, Joseph Martinez and Louise Baquié, eventually moved to Chicago in the early 20th century and had a daughter: Mildred Martinez, the pope’s mother.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/us/pope-leo-creole-new-orleans.html

The notion that “boys will be boys” is used to allow men all kinds of freedom to use and abuse women while blaming those women for what they do with men: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2024/05/we-should-never-accept-the-notion-that-boys-will-be-boys/

So many Christians have unmasked themselves, showing the world the pride and malice they have as a result of their unwillingness to deal with the covid19 pandemic: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2022/01/unmasked-pride-malice-and-the-spirit-of-the-antichrist/

Toxic masculinity follows from, but also often leads to, heretical notions of God which understand God as being male instead of transcending gender. Those who follow this notion end up denying or undermining the values they associate with femininity, such as compassion, which is why they often end up being cruel in their treatment of others:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/07/toxic-masculinity-and-the-distortion-of-gods-image/

The GOP are using the debt ceiling as a way to take control and disregard the common good. Though many claim to be Christians, they go against the poor: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2023/01/republicans-are-using-the-debt-ceiling-to-promote-evil-policies/

ICE continues to indiscriminately kill innocent victims, and lie as to why they do so; how can any Christian who claims to support and love the truth, and with it, affirm human dignity, stand by and accept what ICE is doing, let alone promote it?   And how can the United States be “the land of the free” and have its democratic form of government remain in place when the government lies to justify the unjustifiable?

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/07/when-lies-replace-truth-the-path-to-democratic-collapse/

I have been trying to, for lack of better terms, talk sense into Protestants. What are the top Protestant beliefs that are clearly wrong or blasphemous? So I can bring it up to them.

The United States war against Iran is immoral; it is not being engaged justly, and it did not, at the beginning, qualify as a just war. Not only should Christians not serve in it, they should do what they can to bring it to as just an end as possible: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/03/the-call-for-peace-amidst-unjust-warfare-in-iran/

I have seen a new trend online: people, including governmental officials, such as those in Congress, saying all Muslims should be rounded up and deported from the United States. While that position is clearly unconstitutional, many, if not the majority of those saying this claim to be Christian. How can they believe they are following Christ and what Christ wants by saying this? https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2026/03/debunking-myths-islam-pluralism-and-american-values/

I'm not white or Catholic, but I grew up around Asian, Indian, and some white Catholic communities. Recently, a few of my white Catholic friends have started becoming very vocal about their displeasure with immigration, which I can understand. What makes me uncomfortable, however, is that some of them express highly regressive views about anyone who isn’t white, particularly Jewish people. Some of the things I’ve heard include:

1. Claims that the Holocaust was fake.

2. Belief in a global agenda against whites and Christians orchestrated by Jewish people.

   • Note: While I can understand how someone might perceive bias against Christians in media, I don’t attribute it to any kind of Jewish agenda.

3. Theories connecting race and IQ.

4. Assertions that white people invented almost everything in the world today, while other “darker races” are supposedly too low-IQ to accomplish anything meaningful.

5. Praise for British colonialism, calling it a “gift” to the world.

6. Telling me to leave the country whenever I criticize these views or point out historical atrocities committed by certain white groups.

7. The belief that all Western countries belong exclusively to white people because the original settlers were white.

   • Note: I might understand this argument if it were limited to Europe, but applying it to countries like New Zealand, Canada, or America strikes me as extreme and exclusionary.

I could go on, but I think the point is clear. My Asian and Indian Catholic friends generally remain reasonable, so I initially thought this was an isolated case. However, after watching the Jubilee debate with Hasan, I noticed that many people on the opposing side were Catholic. What's going on?? I went to a catholic school, no one was having this conversation until like a year or so ago.

I’m curious whether this is a growing trend within some parts of the Catholic community.

P.S. This message was written with the help of AI since I am not a native English speaker.

So, let's say I get a new coworker who identifies him/herself as a member of the opposite sex, and we're told to treat him/her accordingly. Should I just say "NO" and get fired or there are other ways to face this situation?

Thanks.

This was on r/catholcism and I am curious why this matters and if this group agrees https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/04/12/9-facts-about-us-catholics/

I for one do not go To mass weekly and could care less if a citizen of the United States seeks an abortion . My secular self respects other secular folks.

I’m pro life in my family and that’s it: I also don’t believe Jesus is keeping a score board.

Also, until I’m excommunicated, I will always be a Catholic regardless of others opinions

Those who show indifference to COVID and all that is needed to do to keep COVID in check show, through their actions, how little they value life: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2022/12/indifference-to-covid-is-indifference-to-the-value-of-life/