Here is my selection of the most relevant Catholic Arena articles from 2024. It started as a “TOP 10” but it was much easier to select one article from each month.
These are personal choices—they are not necessarily the most serious article, nor the ‘most news-worthy.’ I selected them (mostly) as they resonate with a positive message. Hopefully, they have resonated with other good Catholics in the trenches during 2024!
Enjoy!
January
What better way to start 2024, than with a surprise confirmation into the Catholic faith?! (To be exact the confirmation occurred on December 31st, but CA reported it on January 4th!)
Shia LaBeouf played Padre Pio in the 2022 biopic of the Saint. His involvement with the part and contact with the Capuchin Franciscan friars at Old Mission Santa Inés drew him to Catholicism!
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JUST DO IT, SHIA!!
February
February brought some serious issues including—again—the alleged pervert, artist & Jesuit priest Marco Rupnik; Irish attacks on St Brigid; attacks on Armenian Catholics and the arson of a priest’s house.
Perhaps the most remarkable topic for me was how the Holy Rosary converted Tammy Peterson. She believes that through praying the Rosary, God cured her cancer!
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March
March was also a dark month with Satanists stealing consecrated hosts; children being stabbed in Germany; an Irish priest attacked by thugs and a review of the recommendations for Assisted Suicide in the UK.
In the middle of all of this, Ireland’s then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (“Prime Minister”) compared St Patrick to illegal immigrants into Ireland.
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It was even funnier when Varadkar had to resign just 1 week later! …Karma is such a biatch!!
April
April had an odd mixture ranging from Israel’s retaliation against Iran and the Scottish Assisted Suicide Bill which includes 16 & 17 year olds (as “adult” in Scotland) to the deranged issue of Dublin Airport cancelling the 75 year-old tradition of a priest blessing their planes. (Cancelled, you know… “for security reasons!!”)
My top pick is how St. John Paul II’s mother ignored her gynaecologist’s advice to have an abortion due to incorrectly suspecting a health issue.
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…goes to show how the future of Ireland is being aborted right now.
May
May brought a heavy mixture with the father of aborted baby Clementine grieving her death; reviews of women living under Sharia Law and Liz Carr’s TV commentary on Assisted Suicide “Better Off Dead.”
Some of the lighter articles included an idiot Jesuit claiming that St. John Henry Newman and Pope Benedict XVI were gay…Go Jesuits! Then, witch Bambi Thug—Ireland’s representative to the Eurovision song contest—had a tantrum about her losing despite that being absolutely no surprise to everyone else in the world!
My choice for May is the speech given by American athlete, Harrison Butker.
Butker is Catholic and he gave a commencement address at a Catholic Liberal Arts College: Benedictine College in Kansas. The college’s mission: “is as a Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts, residential college is the education of men and women within a community of faith and scholarship” and Butker spoke about his Catholic views of masculinity, marriage and motherhood.
Naturally, every Libtard then called for Butker’s head, including—politely—the Benedictine Sisters!
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June
June was another mixed bag with reports of arson of Catholic churches/buildings in Ireland, Canada and France; the suppression of the Latin Mass in Australia and skyrocketing abortions in Ireland. There were glimmers of hope with a report of how Catholic priests were involved in D-Day and a Canadian priest’s last words on stage being “Thank-you, Lord!”
The prize goes to Dave, a Catholic who kicked theological butt in the middle of a grocery store!
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GO DAVE!!
July
July was jam packed!
There were political articles on Kamala Harris, Catholic J.D.Vance and Trump. There were references to major Church issues including the 400,000 people who have left the German Catholic church; the excommunication of Vigano and approval of the canonization of Carlo Acutis. Two dreadful sculptures were destroyed, including the labouring Virgin Mary in Linz Cathedral.
On a lighter note the New York Times declared that Christian Values are “un-American.” It would have been taken seriously if the NYT knew anything about values!
A strong runner-up was the woke fiasco of the opening ceremony at the Paris Olympic Games. The final choice is bitter-sweet. It was about the post-mortem legal success of the Thirumalesh family to overturn the judgment barring them from saying Sudiksha’s name in public and to the media.
Sudiksha died 2023 of a “cardiac arrest” while her NHS doctors were trying to have her life support removed against her wishes and those of her the family. The lower court had declared Sudiksha mentally incompetent because she disagreed with her doctors’ advice to stop life-saving treatment.
So, the courts in Britain believe citizens are mentally incompetent for wanting to LIVE! [The editor will not print what I have to say about these “doctors” & “Judges.”]
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August
The news did not stop during the summer holidays.
There was ongoing electioneering in the USA. Cardinal Cupich got flak for giving the invocation at the Democratic National Convention! Yet another priest got stabbed and Anglicans went full bat-shit WOKE!! I reviewed Bill 7 on Assisted Suicide and the Olympic rules which allowed genetic males (XY) with normal male testosterone levels and fully-developed male musculoskeletal systems, to fight in WOMEN’S boxing.
On the happier side there was a report on Msgr. Hugh O'Flaherty—The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican—who put his life in jeopardy to save Jews during WWII. Even better was the new evidence showing that the Shroud of Turin is—in all probability—from the era of Jesus Christ!
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September
September’s choice is my 2-part article about the ongoing external (part I) and internal (part II) attacks on the Church and Christianity. We need to recognize that ‘open war is upon us, whether we would risk it or not.’
There was a final hopeful message from Jesus: “Believe in Me!”
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October
Cruising into Autumn brought the introduction of the Assisted Suicide Bill in the UK with political games from Kim Leadbeater MP and Israel retaliated to Iran. I reviewed how to fulfill your Sunday Obligation by finding an English mass in Rome; there were some articles on the Synod, the “new sins” and at the surprisingly beautiful Penitential Service in Rome.
The Holy Father announced that the Synod document would be released immediately (…not quite!)
As an economic migrant to Canada, the choice for the month came down to the “Sin against Migrants” which discusses the duty to be Christian towards actual refugees, balanced with the complex issue of safety & security in the receiving country.
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“Uncontrolled mass migration is a disaster.”
November
November was both a fun and a stressful month.
The Leadbeater Bill was eventually released and passed the Second Reading in the British parliament; Iran attacked Israel directly and very advanced missiles were fired both into Russia and Ukraine. To top it all the International Criminal Court put out a warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, PM of Israel.
The Synod document was released and I was absolutely stymied even by the first section. It was completely opaque on the meaning of Synodality and how to be synodal.
Obviously, the best part of the month was my pilgrimage/holiday to the Vatican and the many restaurants in Rome! A highlight for me was posting a couple of video’s to 𝕏—one from St. Peter’s Square at the end of the Wednesday General Papal Audience!
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December
This month has been a hodge-podge with Hunter Biden being pardoned by Daddy; Nancy Pelosi appealed to Rome about Archbishop Cordileone barring her from Communion; the Vatican’s financial strain; the value of life, and discussions about Netflix “Mary” and the new release, “Conclave.”
If any of us need inspiration finishing 2024, we should look to how Syrian Christians are celebrating Christmas!
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2025 is upon us: please say a prayer for a peaceful New Year.
Dr. Kevin Hay
You can follow Kevin on 𝕏 (Twitter) @ kevinhay77