Welcome to Wisdom Wednesday. Issues today include that 22-foot golden statue of President Trump in Florida (“It’s not an idol) and a 29-foot statue of Jesus Christ on the border (it’s a pilgrimage site). Opinions are identified and they may not be the views of the AUSCP. Dig in.
President Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump, before leaving for China, said he would raise the release of Jimmy Lai and Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Lai is the jailed Catholic media tycoon and democracy advocate. From the National Catholic Register.
The South Carolina pastor who prayed over a 22-foot-high golden statue of President Donald Trump last week says it is not an idolatrous golden calf as described in the book of Exodus. From Baptist New Global.
The Trump administration wants to seize Mount Cristo Rey, a pilgrimage site topped by a 29-foot-tall limestone statue of Jesus Christ, to build a border wall. Religion News Service reports on the Catholic push-back.
President Donald Trump “has a better understanding of what the Bible teaches about the role of government than the pope,” Robert Jeffress told Fox News May 9. From Baptist News Global.
Evangelical groups warn Trump’s deportations could leave 1.3M ‘torn apart’ from families, reports Religion News Service. “What might have been an abstract policy decision that’s taking place in Washington now is actually impacting communities,” said Walter Kim, head of the National Association of Evangelicals.
Donald Trump campaigned on vengeance and retribution for enemies, reports Baptist News Global. “But as he weaponizes government to take vengeance on media outlets, nonprofits and Democratic officials, federal courts are calling his bluff.”
Seven-in-ten Americans say President Donald Trump is not too or not at all religious, according to results from a new Pew Research Center survey. That’s up since 2024. At the same time, many Republicans and White evangelical Protestants say Trump stands up for people with religious beliefs like theirs.
The Trump Anti-Christian Bias Task Force filled 560 pages with reports of deliberate discrimination by the Biden administration (and pretty much everyone else), and the Supreme Court ruled that anti-minority bias is gone from our elections and the landmark Voting Rights Act is no longer needed. An article from Religion News Service concludes, “That’s exactly backwards.” Hear the expert opinion of Rev. Thomas L. Bowen, in a podcast from Religion News Service.
Pope Leo XIV
Pope Leo says the main threat to Religion and Science is the denial of objective truth, according to the National Catholic Register. He pointed out that both science and the Church clearly teach that caring for the planet is threatened by the irresponsible exploitation of both people and the natural world.
After one year, nuns see Pope Leo XIV advancing justice in his own way. From National Catholic Reporter. This story appears in the Pope Leo XIV’s First Year feature series.
Papal trip put spotlight on local injustices, joy of Christian faith, pope says. One of the first trips Pope Leo XIV wanted to take after his election was to Africa, which he did this month — traveling to Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.
Pope: Christians and Muslims must work together to ‘revive humanity’
In a meeting with participants in an interfaith colloquium, Pope Leo calls on Christians and Muslims to “revive humanity where it has grown cold” and “transform indifference into solidarity”. From Vatican News.
National Catholic Reporter feature: The future Pope Leo XIV grew up amid a changing Chicago
USCCB News: Pope Leo XIV: A timeline of his first year
That meeting, Marco Rubio and Pope Leo. Jesuit Thomas Reese discussed the meeting on CNN.
LGBTQ matters at the Vatican
Father Brian Gannon argues how the recent synodal report was “intellectually dishonest” because it “departs from Scripture and 2,000 years of Church teaching on human sexuality.” He says, “There are issues that make the report incomplete, erroneous and thus wounding to many Catholics with same-sex attraction who are being so faithful to Church teaching on chastity and marriage.” From the National Catholic Register.
That Vatican synod report, however, criticizes conversion therapy and features gay Catholic testimony. Religion News Service says advocates for LGBTQ+ Catholics expressed surprise to see the Vatican publishing the testimonies of married gay men.
Suicide: law and morality
Virginia has decriminalized suicide. National Catholic Reporter says Some Catholics say this is complicated. While the church’s universal condemnation of suicide is clear, the application of this belief in state laws isn’t always straightforward.
Common concern: future of closed churches
The European Heritage Awards have spotlighted two contrasting models for saving sacred buildings, as Europe confronts a wider question over the future of its increasingly empty churches. From National Catholic Register.
Pilgrimage and travel
Elaborately decorated skeletons in Catholic churches across Bavaria take some visitors by surprise, reports the Associated Press. “While they may seem unfamiliar or even disturbing to some visitors, catacomb saints — or Holy Bodies — can still be found in many Baroque Catholic churches and monasteries across Bavaria.”
In the footsteps of St. Paul: Discovering Malta’s 2,000 Years of unbroken Catholic tradition. One U.K. journalist recounts his visit to the island-nation with ties to the apostle, avoiding storms, shipwrecks and poisonous snakes. From National Catholic Register.
On pilgrimage to Pierre: Tulio Huggins reflects on a trip to the tomb of Venerable Pierre Toussaint, one of the nation’s seven Black Catholics on the road to sainthood, for Black Catholic Messenger. “As Black people navigate historically White spaces, there is always a level of sacrifice. We watch our words and our actions carefully, smiling at microaggressions and patiently enduring ignorance.”
Private rental, Texas dispute
At issue is the private rental of a city water park, Epic Waters, by a group of Muslims who were planning to host their annual Eid al-Adha celebration in a waterpark environment where everyone was dressed modestly. When they invited “Muslims only,” Texas threatened the waterpark with the loss of $530,000 in public safety grants, according to Baptist News Global.
‘Hope is alive’ in Lexington
From the Congo to Kentucky: A Catholic-led after-school program shows hope is alive in Lexington. Philip Manga helps lead an outreach serving mostly African immigrant children with an ethos informed by faith and a harrowing journey to America. From Black Catholic Messenger.
Essays and opinions: the views of the authors
Michael Sean Winters, National Catholic Reporter: Donald Trump presides over national decline.
Union of Catholic Asian News: The scandal of plenty: Hunger in an age of waste Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention on food and waste highlights the moral contradiction of hunger amid modern abundance.
St. Francis in Our Time by William Droel. Pope Leo XIV has declared 2026 as the “Year of St. Francis of Assisi.” From Tomorrow’s American Catholic.
‘Trusting God Through a Year of Trump’s Tariffs.’
A small company, “Be A Heart,” sells Christian-inspired products meant to provide “small reminders of God’s presence” for busy parents and their children. But the administration’s tariffs have thrown a wrench into Christmas planning, raising supplier prices and pumping unpredictability. From Christianity Today.
The story of Taybeh
On the occasion of Nakba Day, Friday, May 15, Pax Christi International warmly invites viewers to a special and timely webinar highlighting the story of Taybeh, the last entirely Christian Palestinian town in the West Bank, and its living witness of faith, resilience, and peace in the midst of ongoing suffering in the Holy Land.
Justice Bulletin Board
Learn facts first in judging Israeli struggle, from Barbara Molinari Quinby.
‘Hopemobile’ to tour the USA
Before Pope Francis passed away, he said he wanted his popemobile to be used after his death to benefit those who are poor or vulnerable. USCCB News reports the custom-built Hyundai vehicle will go on a 13-city tour, covering 3,700 miles from New York to California.
Support Wisdom Wednesday
We hope you have enjoyed this roundup of recent news about faith, politics, and culture. We will return next week with another edition of Wisdom Wednesday.
If you’d like to support our continued work to bring you wisdom each week, please consider making a donation. Your support provides the breath that makes our voice heard in the U.S. and beyond.
The AUSCP is a 501c3 organization and your donation is tax-deductible.