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L'Orient-Le Jour
21-07-2025
- Politics
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Breaking the cycle of hatred in the Middle East
I joined the L'Orient-Le Jour's newsroom a little over 11 years ago. With a few exceptions – brief enchanted interludes we wanted to believe in — I feel that I've written ever since only about crises, wars, massacres and bloody struggles for power and survival, whether on a local, national or regional scale. The actors, contexts and stakes vary, but the dynamics of hatred and violence remain largely the same. The atrocities committed in Sweida echo those carried out by the Assad regime, by the Islamic State (IS), by Syrian Arab proxies against the Kurds, by the Iranian axis, by Saudi Arabia in Yemen, by Israel and by so many others. They are part of a continuum of wars in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Sudan and Palestine. From non-state groups to regional powers, each in its own way, for its own reasons, convinces itself that the only solution lies in the expulsion, disappearance or even extermination of the other. If the story I'm trying to understand and tell already feels like a succession of infernal cycles, interrupted only by brief moments of illusion, how must my colleagues feel, those who have been commenting on and enduring the region's torment for decades now? How can one not think of the horrors of the Lebanese 1975-90 Civil War while following the tragedy in Sweida? How can we convince ourselves that we are not doomed to the worst? A simple look back through the archives or history books is enough to grasp the immense paradox that marks the coverage of current events, both Lebanese and regional: Everything can change overnight, owing to the structural fragility of the actors involved; yet, nothing ever truly changes. Since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the history of the Middle East has been in constant motion, without ever managing to reinvent itself. The region is indeed grappling with a series of issues it has been unable to resolve. First, it has yet to evolve beyond being a battleground for rival powers — a dynamic that has only been reinforced in recent years by the retreat of the one country that truly dominated the Middle East: the United States. Jordan against Egypt, Egypt against Saudi Arabia, Syria against Iraq, Iraq against Iran, Iran against Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia against Turkey — and Israel, in most cases. The Palestinian question is the second major issue that has long shaped the Middle East. It is unique in that it intersects with all the region's other ailments. While it sometimes seems to push them into the background, it amplifies the effects of each of them. The third element is arguably the question of Islamism. Whether Sunni or Shiite, whether dressed in the garb of Brotherhood ideology, Salafism, jihadism or Khomeinism, political Islam has left its mark on the region's modern history — within the societies themselves, as a political tool in service of a cause or an axis, and in the Middle East's relations with the rest of the world. The fourth and final element is perhaps the most underestimated and yet the most important. It is the absence, since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, of a political, economic and social model capable of ensuring effective governance while offering space for freedom and preserving the political, communal, ethnic and linguistic pluralism that is the lifeblood of this region. Pan-Arabism was authoritarian and rigid. Islamism, in all its forms, is reactionary and intolerant. The supposedly secular Baathist regimes delivered the worst in terms of repression and the manipulation of sectarianism. The Lebanese model, despite its flaws and fragility, its ungovernability and its real or latent wars, remains the only one to have managed to preserve both freedoms and pluralism. But it has become so dysfunctional within the confines of our small country that it would be senseless to try to replicate it on a regional scale. After more than a century of failures, we must absolutely invent a new model, one that can neutralize identity-based issues without denying them. One that allows us, in the words of Samir Frangieh in his timely and remarkable essay 'Voyage au bout de la violence,' to 'leave our communal prisons without necessarily shedding our communal affiliations.' This new form of citizenship should be able to transcend our identities without seeking to erase or replace them. It cannot, however, be imposed by decree. It must be nurtured through state institutions, through political debate, which, unlike the proposed model's structure, must be strictly secular, and through a more equitable distribution of wealth. One could argue that all of this is utopian as long as geopolitical issues remain unresolved. But one could also respond, without denying the absolute necessity of stabilizing the region, that by focusing too much on geopolitical factors, we have largely overlooked the internal dynamics of societies. Yet these dynamics have shaped geopolitics at least as much as they have been shaped by it. The two battles are, in fact, inseparable and must be fought simultaneously. But it seems — though this is open to debate — that we may have more leverage over one than we have over the other.
The Sun
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
I died but came back to deliver the secret truth about life on earth – here's what heaven really looks like
BLINKING her eyes open, Nicole Meeuws was surrounded by looks of relief. Officially pronounced dead for two minutes, her loved ones were terrified that they'd never see Nicole again. 7 However, she admits that she no longer fears death after experiencing what she believes was the afterlife. Nicole claims she was greeted by blue-skinned beings, similar to Avatar, after passing over to 'the other side' who revealed life is actually an illusion. Nicole recalls being 'pulled' from her body and entering a tunnel of light. She recalls no time, fear, or existing. However, she says her "physical form" was left lying lifeless on a hospital bed after she suffered complications while she was going through baby loss. The 49-year-old, who was officially pronounced dead for two minutes, says she was then greeted by 'blue-skinned' beings with human faces. While she didn't understand their language, they made her feel at home and gave her the message telepathically that life is actually an illusion – and we only start living when we die. The artist told The Sun: 'I felt more known than I had ever felt in my life; I didn't want to leave. 'I understood this place, this feeling, and I truly believe it was the original home which we all came from. 'I learned that death is not an end, it's a return to our actual lives.' Nicole was in hospital after sadly losing her baby and was rushed in for emergency surgery. First ever recording of the moment someone dies reveals what our last thoughts might be After complications, though, she started to fall in and out of consciousness, before everything shifted. She recalls: 'I found myself passing through a tunnel of blue and white light, not a beam, but a corridor that felt alive. 'It didn't feel frightening; it felt like I was being called home. 'The light had a temperature, a tone, almost like music made of water. 'As I emerged, I entered an immense glowing space. 'The colours were not of this world, they were luminous tones of sliver, soft violets, deep radiant blues – and they didn't strain the eyes. 'The chamber was vast, larger than any earthly structure, and everything pulsed gently like a heartbeat. 'And then I saw them. 7 7 7 'Two towering beings seated on marble-like thrones, shimmering with energy. 'Their eyes were large and indigo, filled with kindness and recognition. 'They looked human, but had gentle gills on their cheeks. 'I remember seeing their fish-like tails, rather than legs, covered in scales. 'They were both male and female intertwined and didn't speak in words – but I understood everything they had to tell me.' Nicole, from Greece, says they told her that she was never meant to have children and that her gift, instead, was to teach people about 'the other side'. After what she says felt like a lifetime, but was only a few minutes, she was 'zapped' back into her physical body. Her husband, Christos, 65, a specialised doctor, tried to speak to her, but she could only reply in a high-pitched tone and an 'unfamiliar' language that she had never learned. She explains: 'It sounded like dolphin clicks. 'It continued for minutes, which left everyone around us stunned. 'But I couldn't stop it – it was coming through me, not from me. 'My senses were heightened and I could hear emotion in people's voices as colour. 'I returned completely different; almost reborn.' Nicole, who hasn't had any near-death experiences since, says she often has visions of the blue beings who greeted her on the other side. She believes they are from the Apkallu interdimensional tribe which are non-alien creatures – otherwise referred to as Demigods – that are said to have given civilisation to mankind. Her mission? To spread the message that 'love is stronger than death'. She added: 'Love will always win; it's where we came from. 'We're all one big family, regardless of boundaries, cultures, religion and politics. 'Everything that exists came from the same spark. 'The more we hold onto fear, hate and lies, the easier it is to control humanity. 'To create heaven on Earth, we must spend each day spreading love. 'I'm no longer afraid of death because I know what's waiting for me on the other side. 'It was a beginning, not an end.' 7 LIFE AFTER DEATH A WOMAN claims to have gone to heaven and met God as she slipped in a coma following a horrifying near-death experience. Mariandree Cárdenas was working from home one day when she felt her throat start to close up and began choking. Her hands began twitching and she felt like her face was "falling asleep". Mariandree realised she could no longer speak. She managed to text her mother and brother for help, who rushed over and found her unconscious. The 24-year-old - who was diagnosed with severe asthma as a child - was taken to hospital, where doctors were forced to intubate her and later place her in a coma. As her body lay unconscious in her hospital bed, Mariandree claimed her mind was far from quiet. "I couldn't hear almost anything anymore and my body no longer responded," Mariandree, a graphic designer, told What's The Jam. "The last thing I heard was a nurse or doctor say the phrase 'she left us'. "And in the blink of an eye I stopped being on Earth and appeared somewhere else."
Express Tribune
13-07-2025
- Health
- Express Tribune
K-P spending plan long on promises
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has presented a Rs363 billion education budget for the upcoming fiscal year, marking an 11 per cent increase from last year. Critics, however, have argued that the budget is high on claims and low on credibility. Despite a barrage of promises, from school renovations to new colleges and expanded health coverage, opposition parties have dismissed the budget as a "paper exercise" detached from the dire on-ground realities of a province grappling with economic mismanagement, institutional decay, and widespread corruption. The government's education plan boasts allocations for classroom repairs in 32,500 schools, provision of teaching materials, and extracurricular activities for over 5.9 million students. It also includes Rs1.59 billion for hiring female teachers in girls' community schools, Rs8.54 billion for free textbooks, and Rs855 million for restoring ten historic schools. Additionally, it promises to enroll half of the province's out-of-school children and address teacher shortages through a Rs1 billion allocation to parent-teacher councils. Higher education spending has been increased to Rs50 billion, while Rs2.77 billion has been set aside to convert public colleges into centers of applied sciences and Rs3.5 billion for five new colleges. The budget for public universities has jumped from Rs3 billion to Rs10 billion, alongside a Rs1.24 billion top-up in the scholarship endowment fund. In the health sector, the government has raised the Sehat Card Plus budget from Rs28 billion to Rs35 billion, and earmarked Rs6 billion for extending health coverage to the merged districts. New projects include neonatal care centers in five districts, satellite cardiology units in Mardan and Bannu, and a nursing college in Chitral. Funds have also been set aside for health facility upgrades in Orakzai and Kurram. However, the opposition has branded the budget a farce, with PPP MPA Ahmed Karim Kundi calling it "laughable" and accusing the government of manipulating figures to create the illusion of a Rs157 billion surplus. "They present a Rs416 billion budget but cannot even spend Rs100 billion effectively. The Sehat Card program, touted as a flagship initiative, disproportionately benefits the rich, with 80 per cent of users coming from wealthier segments of society. Public hospitals are in shambles, no new basic health units have been built, and health indicators are declining," he said. Critics also pointed to a crumbling education sector. Over 500,000 children remain out of school, and while the government announces new projects each year, implementation remains minimal. Universities face a crippling financial crisis, with the government reportedly selling off institutional land to manage expenses. Opposition lawmaker from the Awami National Party Nisar Baz accused the PTI-led provincial government of reducing education and health to mere slogans, while failing to build even a single major hospital or university in the last 15 years. "Security conditions in some districts are so poor that teachers can't even reach their schools," claimed an MPA from the ANP. Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association K-P Chapter President Professor Dr Dilnawaz Khan revealed that they were demanding Rs50 billion fund from the provincial government. "Only Rs10 billion has been announced for universities, which is insufficient. The federal government will allocate Rs65 billion for higher education, even though after the 18th amendment it is the responsibility of the provincial government. Universities in K-P are facing a financial loss of Rs20 billion," said Dr Khan. Leader of the opposition, Dr Ibad Khan was more scathing in his assessment, claiming that the budget reflected a governance model built on corruption. "The only thing this government is serious about is looting public funds. From the Chief Minister to his ministers, corruption runs deep," lambasted Dr Ibad, while accusing the ruling party of betraying public trust by using promises of better education and health to win votes while delivering only stagnation and administrative failure.
The Diplomat
03-07-2025
- Politics
- The Diplomat
Online Dissent in China Doesn't Mean Xi Jinping Is on His Way Out
Don't be fooled by viral posts. The CCP allows and even encourages certain forms of online dissent – all part of its digital authoritarianism. Lately, a wave of speculation has emerged in Western media asking whether Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping is losing his grip. Faced with rising youth unemployment, elite disaffection, and a deteriorating administrative apparatus, it's tempting to believe the Chinese leader is on the way out. But this narrative, while seductive, fundamentally misreads the evolving architecture of digital authoritarianism in China. What looks like volatility is often a carefully staged illusion. For those unfamiliar with China's digital ecology, a surge in online dissent might be taken as a sign of insecurity. But through the lens of inter-network society, this is precisely how power is maintained. Rather than crumbling, Xi Jinping's regime has grown more sophisticated – tightening its control through new instruments of emotional manipulation and algorithmic governance. The internet is not a battlefield between free voices and censors, but a state-engineered matrix of inter-subjectivity – a shared sense of what can be thought, felt, and done. The CCP doesn't just control what is seen; it shapes how people feel about what they see, and how they believe others feel too. Kevin J. O'Brien's 1996 theory of 'rightful resistance' still resonates – but the CCP has built pathways to reroute it. The result is a feedback loop: digital advocacy exists not to contest power, but to strengthen the state's claim to moral authority. By allowing selective grievances to surface, the party presents itself as receptive. But the moment grievances become systemic or principle-based, they are erased. A striking example came on June 24 with the viral case of the 'Guangxi Girl.' A video posted on Douyin (Chinese TikTok), and widely reshared, showed a young woman from Guangxi province being abruptly seized and taken away in an ambulance. Her cries – 'I have hepatitis B!' – triggered a wave of online speculation that she was being forcibly hospitalized or worse. The comments discuss poverty, health, and public distrust – all sensitive topics for the CCP. In Xi's China, online discussion of cases like Guangxi Girl's is allowed – until the focus shifts from interest to rights. The existence of such online content shows not the fragility of Xi's rule, but its sophistication. The debate was allowed, even as official media labeled the story 'fake news' and proclaimed that the original poster of the video had been punished. Viral protest in China is not a sign of regime collapse; it is part of a calculated cycle. Each act of censorship teaches not just what not to say, but what it means to remain safe, loyal, and visible in the CCP's omnipresent gaze. We should resist projecting Western models of political turnover onto China's Leninist party-state. Xi hasn't just solidified his role; he has transformed the CCP's internal logic. Through ideological campaigns and loyalty purges, he's reshaped the CCP into a machine of 'centralized unity' – capable of absorbing dissent by converting it into reinforcement of the very power structure it critiques. This is not the brittle dictatorship of the past, but a resilient digital Leviathan, adaptable and emotionally literate. It's part of a sophisticated choreography that allows temporary outbursts of grievance, only to reassert party control through a spectacle of rescue or reprimand. The CCP no longer simply silences dissent; it manages, choreographs and deploys performance, visibility, and emotional modulation to reinforce its own legitimacy. What really unfolds is an inter-network society, a digitally mediated governance regime in which state and society are deliberately interwoven. Citizens are invited to participate, but only within scripts set by the party. China's digital infrastructure has been weaponized not just to censor, but to shape how people feel about what they see. Through algorithmic modulation, emotional scripting, and selective visibility, the party governs not only speech but inter-subjectivity itself. The digital sphere in China scripts, simulates, and absorbs dissent, and its advocacy becomes a feedback loop, reinforcing the party's paternalistic frame rather than contesting its power. Xi's consolidation of power extends far beyond his 2018 abolition of presidential term limits. His ongoing anti-corruption campaign neutralizes rivals while presenting the party as self-correcting. His shift from 'zero-COVID' to zero dissent integrated public health infrastructure into ideological control. Every international flashpoint – from Taiwan to the South China Sea – becomes a catalyst for nationalism and a reaffirmation of Xi's authority. This is why it is misleading to view viral protests as proof of regime weakness. The 'Guanxi Girl' case and others like it do not signify cracks in the system. They show how deeply the CCP has embedded itself in the emotional logic of digital life. A key strategy in this matrix is the CCP's calculated distinction between public interest advocacy and public rights advocacy. My research examines how the CCP strategically differentiates between interest-based advocacy under party guidance and rights-based advocacy. The former – in the form of local corruption exposés, environmental complaints, or rural poverty stories – is permitted, even encouraged, when it reinforces the CCP's role as paternal protector. Rights-based advocacy is different. It is inherited as the traditional practice of 'remonstrance for Dao,' which empowers the public to call for justice, constitutionalism, or structural reform. Citizens are allowed to speak, but emotional expression is only permitted when it reinforces the CCP's paternal image. Structural critique is punished. This distinction defines the CCP's ideological survival strategy, which is central to how the CCP controls meaning in a digitally mediated society. By allowing selective public grievances to surface, the regime co-opts discontent. But by cracking down on those who invoke rights or systemic change, it prevents the emergence of an alternative inter-subjective consensus. The goal is not total censorship, but emotional channeling: to let the people feel angry, as long as they feel that the state feels their anger too. The CCP steers public interest-based advocacy under guidance that legitimizes the party's role as both the cause of grievances and their remedy. Central to this process is Xi's concept of a 'public opinion struggle,' which revives and intensifies Jiang Zemin-era media control, embedding the CCP's power as the programmer and switcher of public discourse. The result is mass internalization of party ideology. Between 2008 and 2022, CCP membership swelled from 75.9 million to 96 million, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Party identity has become embedded in social mobility, status, and emotional allegiance. Xi's neologism-laden political doctrine isn't merely propaganda – it acts as code, programming discourse across platforms. Borrowing from Manuel Castells' network theory, Xi has become both the 'programmer' and 'switcher' of China's emotional and ideological infrastructure. Yes, China faces a legitimacy crisis. State capacity is declining, birth rates are falling, and trust is eroding. But these crises are absorbed through dynamic repression – an intentional balance of visibility and vulnerability, proximity and purge, spotlight and suppression. The viral discussion of the 'Guangxi Girl' is not evidence of political fragility but rather an extension of the CCP's evolving digital governance strategy. These moments of protest are tolerated, choreographed, and ultimately absorbed into the party's emotional and ideological feedback loop. The future of resistance lies in whether collective, political, structural rights-based advocacy can escape the scripted boundaries of interest-based appeals under CCP supervision. Until China's inter-network society is truly decolonized from state-directed norms of emotion and participation, viral dissent will remain a mirror that reflects party power – not a window to its downfall. China's digital public sphere is not disentangled from the party's ideological machinery and curatorial hand yet. So no, Xi Jinping isn't on his way out, or about to fall. His power will not dissipate; the CCP's grip will not loosen, it will continue to adapt and metastasize. Xi is firmly embedded at the core of a system that has redefined how authoritarianism operates in the information age – through a blend of surveillance, sentiment management, and strategic solidarity. He is the architect of a digital regime that doesn't just govern people; it governs how they feel about being governed. And as long as that emotional terrain of the inter-network society remains programmed and colonized by state-directed norms, the revolution will remain captured.
Boston Globe
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Catholic bishops try to rally opposition to Trump's immigration agenda
Advertisement The image in Los Angeles and elsewhere of ICE agents seizing people in Costco parking lots and car washes 'rips the illusion that's being portrayed, that this is an effort which is focused on those who have committed significant crimes,' said Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of Washington, in an interview from Rome. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'The realities are becoming more ominous,' he said. 'It is becoming clearer that this is a wholesale, indiscriminate deportation effort aimed at all those who came to the country without papers.' McElroy, who has frequently spoken against Trump's immigration policies, was named the archbishop of Washington as one of Francis' final major actions in the United States, reflecting the Vatican's desire to counter the Trump administration's immigration agenda. Immigration arrests are rising sharply, and ICE has a goal of apprehending 3,000 people a day. Advertisement 'A very large number of Catholic bishops, and religious leaders in general, are outraged by the steps which the administration is taking to expel mostly hardworking, good people from the United States,' McElroy said. Trump campaigned on aggressive immigration tactics, and polls before his inauguration captured broad support among Americans for deportations. Since then, Americans have 'mixed to negative views' of the administration's immigration actions, according to an early June survey by the Pew Research Center. The Trump administration has said the aggressive immigration tactics are necessary to protect public safety because some illegal immigrants are violent criminals. Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism six years ago, articulated his personal views in an interview last month, saying that immigration 'at the levels and at the pace that we've seen over the last few years' was destructive to the common good. 'I really do think that social solidarity is destroyed when you have too much migration too quickly,' he added. 'That's not because I hate the migrants or I'm motivated by grievance. That's because I'm trying to preserve something in my own country where we are a unified nation.' It is not clear how much influence the bishops will have on the issue. In Congress, there has been little debate between the two chambers over the immigration portion of the policy bill. The bishops expressing concern stand in opposition to the voices of key Catholics in executive leadership, including Vance. 'We as a church unfortunately don't have the kind of megaphone that the administration does,' said Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas. 'It's a real challenge to reach even Catholics, especially when maybe one out of five who identify as Catholic make it to Mass on Sunday.' Advertisement Leo, an American and Peruvian citizen, has from the beginning of his papacy called for the need to respect the dignity of every person, 'citizens and immigrants alike.' After his election in May, his brother John Prevost said Leo was 'not happy with what's going on with immigration. I know that for a fact.' But so far the new pope has not directly weighed in publicly on Trump's deportation campaign. On Thursday, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, implored Congress to 'make drastic changes' to Trump's domestic policy bill, despite its anti-abortion provisions. He wrote that the bill failed to protect families including 'by promoting an enforcement-only approach to immigration and eroding access to legal protections.' Leading Catholic prelates including McElroy and Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, went even further in an interfaith letter to Senate leadership Thursday night, strongly urging them to vote against the bill entirely. In their letter they claimed that the bill, which calls for billions of dollars to bolster ICE, would spur immigration raids, harm hardworking families and fund a border wall that would heighten peril for migrants. 'Its passage would be a moral failure for American society as a whole,' the letter states. The letter was organized by Archbishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico, who attended an ecumenical protest against the bill last week. 'This draconian, heavy-handed, mean-spirited way that the country is dealing with immigrants today, it is not fair, it is not humane, it is not moral,' he said. 'It's something we have to really be earnest about, and do everything we can within the law to make our voices heard.' Advertisement Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Mexico, has long supported immigration reform and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, a program that shields from deportation people who were brought into the United States as children and did not have citizenship or legal residency. But as the recent raids were executed in Los Angeles, his criticism of the Trump administration became more direct. 'This is not policy, it is punishment, and it can only result in cruel and arbitrary outcomes,' he wrote in a recent column. In an interview, he pointed to the example of Bishop Michael M. Pham of San Diego, the first bishop named by Leo in the United States. Pham, who fled to America from Vietnam as a child, recently went to a courthouse to support migrants waiting for hearings. 'We may have to do that,' Gomez said. More than a third of the Catholic church in the United States is Hispanic. In recent weeks, priests have increasingly reported that families are not leaving their homes to come to Mass because they are afraid. Still, many Catholics support Trump. The president increased his share of Catholic voters in 2024, receiving the majority of their support unlike in 2020, and his support from Hispanic Catholic voters also grew, to 41% from 31%, according to a new analysis from the Pew Research Center. Progressive and moderate Christians have expressed concern over Trump's immigration plans for years, particularly fearing the consequences of his reelection. At his inaugural prayer service, Episcopal Bishop Mariann E. Budde pleaded with the president to 'have mercy' on vulnerable people, particularly immigrants and children who were afraid. Trump lashed out, and a Republican member of Congress called for her deportation. Advertisement At a private retreat in San Diego this month, bishops discussed the crisis at length over meals. 'No person of goodwill can remain silent,' Broglio, the bishops' conference president, said in an opening reflection that was made public for churches, to reach immigrant families. 'Count on the commitment of all of us to stand with you in this challenging hour.' Bishops still oppose abortion, in alignment with church teaching. But immigration 'has become more and more a serious situation' that must be addressed, said Seitz, who chairs the bishops' committee on migration. In his area, auxiliary bishops and religious sisters in El Paso have been showing up at immigration court to stand alongside migrants who are appearing at required hearings. Some of the migrants have been seized by ICE agents. McElroy and several other top prelates have had private conversations with senior members of the Trump administration on this issue this month. They are also working with their priests to address pastoral needs on the ground. Not all priests are in lockstep about how far to take their response, but McElroy said that significant numbers of them feel they need to take strong action. In East Los Angeles, Father Brendan Busse, pastor of Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights, rushed to the scene after a call that ICE vehicles had rammed a car, deployed tear gas and hauled out a man, leaving his wife and two babies in the back seat. He said he sensed that some Catholics believe their political allegiance comes before the values of their faith. Advertisement 'My body is tired, my emotions are all over the place,' he said. 'But I have to say, my spirit is strong, I think, in part because there's a kind of moral clarity in moments like this.'
