LOOP: Pope Leo's New Year message to the faithful

The LOOP FRIDAY JANUARY 2  POPE LEO'S NEW YEAR MESSAGE  Celebrating his first Holy Mass of 2026 on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, Pope Leo XIV invited the faithful to receive the year ahead as a gift of freedom, mercy, and peace, rooted in the "unarmed and disarming" love revealed in the mystery of the Incarnation.

View in browser FRIDAY, JANUARY 2 Editor's note: Happy New Year! This note is to remind you that today is a first Friday. We hope each of you will join your team at CatholicVote in attending Mass today and every first Friday throughout this year, in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to put our nation in His hands on its 250th anniversary. POPE LEO'S NEW YEAR MESSAGE  Celebrating his first Holy Mass of 2026 on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, Pope Leo XIV invited the faithful to receive the year ahead as a gift of freedom, mercy, and peace, rooted in the "unarmed and disarming" love revealed in the mystery of the Incarnation.  READ HISTORIC DROP IN ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSINGS IN 2025  Officials told Breitbart that the Trump administration oversaw a drastic drop in border crossings in 2025. There was a 93% drop in border crossings in 2025 compared with the previous year, they reported. In addition, no arrested immigrants were released for seven consecutive months, from May to November.  READ COPS DISPUTE DAYCARE CENTER'S STORY OF MISSING FILES  After the administrators of a Somali-run daycare center claimed a burglar had broken into their property and stolen documents that would disprove accusations of fraud, police in Minneapolis disputed the story.  READ IRAN ENTERS ANOTHER DAY OF MASS PROTESTS  Mass protests against the Iranian government have stretched on for nearly a week. Anti-regime groups in Tehran are reporting clashes with authorities, some resulting in deaths.  READ MAYOR MAMDANI INAUGURATED, PROMISES RADICAL AGENDA  New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani vowed to return the city to "the era of big government" in a speech at his inauguration yesterday. "I was elected as a democratic socialist, and I will govern as a democratic socialist," he said. "We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism."  READ POPE LEO CALLS AGAIN FOR PEACE  At the Angelus prayer on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, Pope Leo XIV renewed his call for peace, urging that it extend not only to nations torn by war but also into homes and families who have been hurt by violence and pain.  READ NEW CBS ANCHOR ADMITS MEDIA FAILURES  Tony Dokoupil, who will begin anchoring "CBS Evening News" on Jan. 5, raised eyebrows ahead of his debut, admitting that corporate media has lost much of the public's trust by failing to cover important stories correctly. Dokoupil cited the examples of Russiagate, Hunter Biden's laptop, and COVID lockdowns, saying of himself and other media figures, "we put too much weight in the analysis of academics or elites and not enough on you." Dokoupil was reportedly handpicked by CBS News' new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss.  READ AD: SPIRITUAL WARFARE STARTS HERE  'Defend Us in Battle' is your daily Catholic armor—rooted in the Auxilium Christianorum. This 148-page prayer guide equips you with powerful deliverance prayers, daily disciplines, and spiritual weapons for purity and peace. Stand firm, resist evil, and live clothed in God's protection.  LEARN MORE 10 DATE NIGHT TOPICS  There are plenty of date night activity ideas, but what about conversation topics? It can be hard to stop automatically talking about kids, chores, and to-do lists. So here are a few suggestions from CatholicVote's Refine.  READ CATHOLIC 101  We are made for the purpose of loving God, Who of course, loved us first. But how do we go about loving Him?  READ SAINT OF THE DAY  Today is the feast of Saint Basil the Great, a Doctor of the Church and Church Father who defended the early Church against the heresy of Arianism and strongly supported the Nicene Creed.  READ DAILY PSALM  "All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God." (Psalm 98)  READ DAILY READINGS  Today's Mass readings.  READ BLESSINGS  Have a wonderful and blessed New Year!  SHARE Paid for by CatholicVote Civic Action, a 501(c)(4) organization., PO Box 3310, Carmel, IN 46082 (317) 669-6127 Unsubscribe Manage preferences