Famous Exorcist Back On The Job After Being Fired By Cardinal McElroy

Monsignor Stephen Rossetti is back to work full time in his ministry of providing exorcisms in a time when the need for deliverance ministry is in higher demand than ever before.

Summa Contra Gentiles, Book II: LII Difference in Created Intellectual Substances, of Being & What Is

From Contemplating History

Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 7 March 1274), was a Doctor of the Church, Philosopher, Theologian, Jurist, Dominican Friar, and Priest. Known as Doctor Angelicus "Angelic Doctor," and the Doctor Communis "Universal Doctor" his writings serve as a defense and proof of the validity of Christ's authority over all. The Summa contra Gentiles (also known as Liber de veritate catholicae fidei contra errores infidelium, "Book on the truth of the Catholic faith against the errors of the unbelievers"). The Summa contra Gentiles consists of four books. The structure of Saint Thomas's work is designed to proceed from general philosophical arguments for monotheism, to which Muslims and Jews are likely to consent even within their own respective religious traditions, before progressing to the discussion of specifically Christian doctrine.

Book II is dedicated to the Creation (in other words, the physical universe, everything which exists). Whether you are a history enthusiast, a student of religion, or simply curious about the impact of the Roman Catholic Church on the world, this playlist is designed to provide an informative and engaging journey through its captivating past. Subscribe to the Contemplating History channel for more educational content and immerse yourself in the rich tapestry of history.

Magnificent Humanity, Where are You Going?

From St Mary of the Woods Catholic Church

What does Pope Leo XIV actually say about artificial intelligence and why has his first encyclical generated so much discussion? How can understanding what it means to be human help us navigate an increasingly technological world? Join us for this month's episode of Catholicism 101 as we unpack Magnifica Humanitas alongside Quo Vadis, Humanitas – a recent document from the International Theological Commission.  Whether you're looking for a clear summary of these landmark documents or wondering what the Church teaches about AI, this episode offers an accessible introduction to one of the most important conversations of our time. Resources: Magnifica Humanitas (Pope Leo XIV) (https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xi...) Quo Vadis, Humanitas? (International Theological Commission) (https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/co...) Pre-Order The Truth & The Lie: What it Means to be Human in the Age of AI | Dr Christopher West, ThD (Sept. 2026) (https://shop.corproject.com/products/...) Pope Leo XIV’s AI Encyclical Explained (w/ Fr. Gregory Pine) (https://app.ascensionpress.com/explor...) Presentation on Magnifica Humanitas by Fr. Clinton Sensat (https://www.youtube.com/live/c6QMjb5z...) An Examination of Conscience for Using Artificial Intelligence (https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...)

The Holy Rosary

Thursday, the Joyful Mysteries, in Latin with Cardinal Burke.

Six Wives of Henry VIII ~ Who's Your Favourite?

From History Calling

Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr. Six very different women, all with one thing in common: they all married Henry VIII.

“Evolution and Christian Belief,” John Paul Libanati, BA (Vanderbilt University)

From The Society of Catholic Scientists 

The Blessed Who Died Rather Than Give Up His Rosary

Bld Ceferino, also known as El Pelé (the Strong One), was a Franciscan Tertiary who was martyred during the Spanish Civil War.

From Aleteia

By Meg Hunter-Kilmer

Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla seemed like just another old man devoted to prayer ... but he ended up a martyr.

Towards the end of his life, Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla (1861-1936) probably looked like a thousand other old men praying the Rosary after daily Mass. But his path to holiness wasn’t typical, nor was his pursuit of virtue. When he was shot for praying that same Rosary, nobody who knew him was surprised that in the end he had given his life for God.

The very fact that Ceferino’s holiness was taken for granted is remarkable given his ethnicity; Malla was Romani (a people often pejoratively referred to as Gypsies) and grew up in a world that looked down on him for his origin and lifestyle. Rather than become embittered or abandon his people, Ceferino embraced the Roma way of life and acted as a bridge between Kalos (his particular tribe) and Spaniards.

Ceferino was raised in a poor, wandering family of basket-weavers who moved from village to village in Spain and southern France. Though he was baptized as an infant, accounts of Ceferino’s youth tell us little about his faith life. The fact that he prayed in Catalan indicates that he likely learned his prayers when living in Catalonia as a child, but his marriage outside the Church at 18 could indicate that his religious formation wasn’t terribly strong.

He may not have known his faith, but Ceferino strove nevertheless for goodness. After he and his wife Teresa were married in a traditional Roma ceremony, Ceferino became a horse trader, a profession known for its dishonesty. But Ceferino, though he was talented and successful, refused to deceive. His natural virtue made him a good businessman, despite the fact that he had no formal schooling and was entirely illiterate, and his generosity and willingness to risk himself for others made him many friends. Once the former mayor of Barbastro, the city in which Ceferino and his wife eventually settled, began coughing up blood in the public square. Fearful of tuberculosis, those around him fled, but Ceferino, known as El Pelé (“the strong one” or “the brave one”), helped the man home. His grateful family gave El Pelé a large sum of money, which he used to make quite a fortune as a horse trader.

As the years went by, Ceferino went from good to holy. Thirty-two years after his tribal marriage to Teresa, the couple finally celebrated the sacrament of marriage in the Church. Soon El Pelé was a daily Communicant, praying the Rosary daily and acting as a peacemaker between Kalos and Spaniards. Though he and his wife were unable to have children, they adopted Teresa’s niece Pepita, and Ceferino was a marvelous father and later a grandfather who delighted in his grandchildren.

Ceferino was once accused of selling stolen horses but was able to present documents clearing his name. When he was acquitted, his lawyer proclaimed, “El Pelé is not a thief, he is Saint Ceferino, patron of Gypsies." Ceferino walked on his knees to the cathedral to give thanks, but there were no jeers or rolled eyes; the people of Barbastro knew that El Pelé was something special.

In 1922 Ceferino’s wife died, but he didn’t allow his sorrow to push him from God. He became a Third Order Franciscan and a member of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, so generous that despite his great fortune he became quite poor later in life, “ruined” by his refusal to allow others, particularly poor Roma, to go without. Though he was illiterate, he knew the faith well and became a catechist, telling stories of Jesus to captivated children before giving them a piece of chocolate and sending them on their way. He wore elegant clothes and loved dancing, village fairs, and Roma feasts. All in all, he was a kind and generous old man much like many kind and generous old men in every parish in the world.

But Ceferino was also a Catholic living in Spain during the Spanish Civil War at a time when anti-Catholic sentiment was enshrined in law. One day he saw a priest being arrested and called for the soldiers to stop. They turned on him, asking if he had a weapon. “Only this,” El Pelé answered, holding up his rosary. He was beaten for it and dragged to jail.

In prison, he prayed the Rosary faithfully, antagonizing his anti-Catholic captors. He was advised by an anarchist that if he stopped praying so obviously his life might be saved. His daughter visited, begging him to give up his rosary. But for El Pelé to do so, he felt, would be to deny his faith. And so the dignified grandfather was executed and thrown in a mass grave. Sixty years later, he became the first of the Romani ever to be beatified.

On May 4, his feast day, let’s ask his intercession for the strengthening of marriage, for adoptive parents, and for the Romani people.

Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla, pray for us!

The Vatican Has Proven It Really Does Not Care About Traditional Catholics

Medieval Builders Knew Something About Hearths We Forgot

From Medieval Wisdom

Stop wasting heat with your fireplace efficiency. Learn why your open hearth loses 90 per cent of its heat up the chimney. Most homeowners assume a burning fire is warming their home, but the reality is quite different. This video breaks down fireplace efficiency and explains why open hearths often deliver as little as 10 to 15 percent of their heat into your living space. If you want to understand how your heating system actually performs, this breakdown is for you. We examine why the vast majority of heat escapes through the chimney flue, vanishing into the sky. You will learn the mechanics behind why an open hearth can sometimes even pull warm air out of your house, effectively lowering the net heat in your room to near zero. Understanding these chimney draft issues is essential for any homeowner trying to manage their energy bills.

Traditional Catholic Morning Prayers in English | August

Traditional Catholic morning prayers to help start your day in a godly way! The month of August is dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I hope these prayers increase your devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary this month and draw you closer to her Divine Son, Jesus Christ. Begin each day with morning prayer! This video is a compilation of many traditional evening prayers Catholics say, and should not be considered a replacement for those who have an obligation to pray the Divine Office evening prayers.

Why the Church of England Still Won't Talk About This Exorcism

From Totus Catholica

In March of 1974, The Exorcist opened in British cinemas, and within weeks people were knocking on parish doors across England asking to have demons cast out, doors belonging to a church that had banned exorcism for 365 years. The ban had been lifted only five years earlier. There was no licensed exorcist, no authorized rite, and no canon governing the practice. Seven months later, two ministers spent an entire night trying to cast forty demons out of a man named Michael Taylor. When the sun came up they said three remained. Ninety minutes after they sent him home, his wife Christine was dead. The safeguards had already been written down in 1614, in a Latin ritual that told the exorcist to rule out illness first, and Scripture had told this story even earlier: seven sons of a priest named Sceva tried an exorcism by formula in Acts 19 and were overpowered and stripped. In the Book of Tobit, it is the angel Raphael who binds the demon, never the man himself, because authority over evil spirits was never a personal power to wield. Two years after Christine Taylor's death, a Catholic bishop in Germany followed every rule on paper for Anneliese Michel, and she died anyway, because permission was never the safeguard. Continuing medical care was. This is the story of what the Church actually requires before it will ever let anyone attempt what The Exorcist made look easy. In this video: • Why the Church of England went 365 years without granting a single exorcism license • The all-night ritual that ended with Christine Taylor's death, and the five Church of England rules written because of it • The exact Canon (1172) and Catechism paragraph (1673) that say "physician first" • What Acts 19 and the Book of Tobit already taught about who actually holds authority over demons • Why a bishop's signed permission did not save Anneliese Michel, and what actually would have ⏱ CHAPTERS 0:00 The Exorcist (1974) and a Real-Life Death 0:33 365 Years Without a Licensed Exorcist 2:22 The All-Night Exorcism at Ossett 6:52 Archbishop Coggan's Five Rules (1975) 7:46 Canon 1172 and CCC 1673: Physician First 8:34 Acts 19: The Sons of Sceva 11:04 Anneliese Michel: When the Rule Was Followed 📖 SCRIPTURE REFERENCED • Acts 19: seven sons of a Jewish priest named Sceva attempt an exorcism by a formula they had overheard, and are overpowered, stripped, and wounded. • Luke 10:20: Christ warns the seventy-two, when they rejoice that spirits submit to them, to rejoice instead that their names are written in heaven. • Tobit: Tobias burns the fish's liver and heart, but it is the angel Raphael who binds the demon Asmodeus. The man obeys, the angel acts. ⛪ FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS & THE CATECHISM • Origen (3rd century), Against Celsus: Christians drive out demons "not by elaborate formulas or ritual expertise, but by the name of Jesus." • CCC 1673: before an exorcism, it is important to ascertain that one is dealing with the presence of the evil one and not an illness, since treating an illness, especially a psychological one, is the concern of medical science, physician first, not the priest. 📜 SOURCES & FURTHER READING • Canon 1172 (Code of Canon Law): no one may perform an exorcism without special and express permission from the local bishop, granted only to a priest of piety, knowledge, prudence, and integrity of life. • The Roman Ritual (1614): tells the exorcist to rule out illness first, and forbids treating a spirit's name and number as information to be gathered. • Archbishop Donald Coggan's five guidelines (Church of England General Synod, July 1975): medical collaboration, prayer and sacrament, minimum publicity, episcopal authorization, continuing pastoral care. • Historian Francis Young, the only full history of Anglican exorcism: "repealing a ban does not create a practice." • Church of England Canon 72 (1604 to 1969): banned exorcism without a bishop's license, and no license was ever granted in those 365 years. • Anneliese Michel (Bavaria, 1976): her bishop authorized 67 exorcisms over 10 months for a woman with diagnosed temporal lobe epilepsy and psychosis; she died of malnutrition, and both priests and her parents were convicted of negligent homicide in 1978. 🔗 EXPLORE MORE 🌍 Website: https://totuscatholica.org/ Rosary Guide: https://totuscatholica.org/rosary ✉️ Contact: https://totuscatholica.org/contact 🔍 Examination of Conscience: https://catholicexaminationofconscien... 📚 Free eBooks: https://buymeacoffee.com/totuscatholi... 👥 Become a Totus Insider: https://buymeacoffee.com/totuscatholi...

The Shocking Martyrdom of Seminarians in Spain

During the Spanish Civil War, the Reds targeted Catholics. So far, just the Beatified Martyrs have reached a total of 1649.

From Aleteia

By Kathleen N. Hattrup

On August 12 and 13, the Church celebrates the holiness of 51 martyrs, mostly seminarians, who were killed during the Spanish Civil War in the small town of Barbastro.

On July 20, 1936, shortly after the Spanish Civil War began, a group of anarchists stormed a Claretian community in Barbastro and imprisoned 51 missionaries; they would be persecuted, humiliated, and then martyred for their faith.

Barbastro had quickly become a center of the bloody war, despite being a rather small town. The rebels imprisoned the Benedictines from a nearby monastery, and the Piarists who ran a local school. In fact, the school itself was made the prison, given that the small town had no place to suddenly house so many "prisoners."

Barbastro was the diocese that suffered the greatest percentage of clergy martyrdoms in the War;  a total of 18 Benedictines, 9 Piarists, 51 Claretians, 13 canons of the Cathedral, 114 diocesan priests, 5 diocesan seminarians, and a bishop were martyred.

The anarchists arrested the group of Claretians on July 20 and held them captive until they were shot over the course of a few days; "arrested" though there was no charge of a crime. The majority of them were in their early 20's, having arrived in Barbastro just some weeks before for their last academic year of seminary.

During their long ordeal, the Claretians had one incredible consolation: During their round-up, one of the brothers had gone to rescue the Eucharist from the tabernacle, fearing the rebels would profane it. He hid the Hosts under his cassock; they were later hidden in the supply cabinet for the physics classes in the school. During the distribution of the daily meal, a brother was able to hide a Host in each sandwich to be given to his brothers. Thus, despite their almost month-long imprisonment, they were able to have Communion many times.

The three superiors were shot on August 2; the rest were executed on August 12, 13, 15, and 18, 1936. Part of their torture was mock executions: They would be lined up by the firing squad, and then not shot -- part of the attempts to make them give up their faith and vocation.

All of them were beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 25, 1992. Two Argentinian brothers were spared thanks to the work of their embassy, and another brother escaped death because the anarchists refused to believe he was a religious. It is thanks to these survivors that many of the details of the torture and death of the victims is well documented.

You can read many of their last letters, written on chocolate wrappers, handkerchiefs, and other scraps, here.

Catholic Star Wars: The SSPX Excommunication as You’ve Never Seen It

From The Remnant TV

If George Lucas had written the SSPX controversy, this might have been Episode VII. The Empire. The Rebels. Excommunications. Liturgical lightsabers. A Death Star that looks suspiciously like St. Peter's… Remnant columnist Arthur Hallett-West's devastating new parody skewers the latest SSPX controversy with exactly the kind of sardonic wit traditional Catholics will appreciate. You may laugh or you may cry—but you will certainly recognize the uncomfortable truth beneath the dark humor. History may well cover what happened in Econe on July 1, 2026, under the subhead: The Catholics Strike Back.

The Life of St Hippolytus of Rome

From The Golden Legend of Blessed Jacobus Voragine, translated by William Caxton in 1483.

HERE FOLLOWETH OF ST. HYPPOLITUS, MARTYR

Hyppolitus buried the body of St. Laurence, and after, he came into his house, and gave the peace to his servants and to his chamberers, and communed them with the sacrament of the altar, which Justin the priest had sacred. And the table was covered, but ere he took any meat, the knights came and haled him away, and brought him to the emperor.

The Martyrdom of St. Hippolytus and All His Household

And when Decius the emperor saw him, he smiling said to him: Art thou now made an enchanter, which hast borne away the body of Laurence?

And Hyppolitus said: That have I done, not as an enchanter, but as a Christian man.

Then Decius, being replenished with great fury, commanded that he should be despoiled of his habit that he ware as a Christian man, and that his mouth should be beaten with stones.

To whom Hyppolitus said: Thou hast not despoiled me but rather clothed.

To whom Decius said: How is it that thou art now so foolish, that art not ashamed of thy nakedness? Now therefore make thou sacrifice, and thou shalt live, or else thou shalt perish with Laurence.

To whom Hyppolitus said: I would I might be made the example of St. Laurence, whom thou presumest to name with thy foul mouth and pollute.

Then Decius made him to be beaten with staves, and all to-rent with combs of iron. And he confessed with a clear voice that he was Christian. And when he had despised these torments, he did him to be clothed with the vesture of a knight that he tofore used, in exhorting him to receive his amity and his first chivalry.

And Hyppolitus said: I am the knight of Jesu Christ.

And then Decius, replenished with great wrath, delivered him to Valerian the provost, that he should take all his faculties, and slay him by divers torments.

And then he found that all the meiny of Hyppolitus' house were Christian, and all were brought tofore him, and when he would have constrained them to do sacrifice, one named Concordia, nurse of Hyppolitus, answered for them all: We had liefer die with our Lord chastely than live sinfully.

And then Decius, being present, commanded that she should be beaten with plummets of lead unto the time that she gave over her spirit, and Hyppolitus said: Lord, I thank thee that thou hast sent my nurse tofore the sight of thy saints.

And after that Valerian did do lead Hyppolitus with his meiny to the gate Tyburtine, and Hyppolitus comforted them all and said: Brethren, dread ye not, for ye and I have one only God.

And then Valerian commanded that all they should be beheaded before Hyppolitus, and then he made Hyppolitus to be bound by the feet unto the necks of wild horses, and made him to be drawn among thorns, briars, and rocks, till he rendered and gave to God his spirit. He died about the year of our Lord two hundred and sixty-six. And then Justin the priest took the bodies of them, and buried them by the body of St. Laurence.

But he could not find the body of St. Concordia, for it was cast into a privy.

A knight, that was named Porphyry, weened that the blessed Concordia had gold and precious stones in her clothes, and came to a man named Irenæus, which was secretly a Christian man, and said to him: Keep my counsel secret, and draw Concordia out of the privy, for I trow that there be in her vestments gold and precious stones.

And he said: Show to me the place where she lieth and I shall keep thy counsel, and shall tell to thee what I shall find. And then he drew her out of the privy chamber, and found nothing, and then the knight fled away anon.

And Irenæus called to him a Christian man named Abundinus, and bare the body to St. Justin, and he took it devoutly and buried it by the body of St. Hyppolitus with the others. And when Valerian heard hereof he did do take Irenæus and Abundinus, and threw them all quick into the privy; and Justin took out their bodies and buried them with the other.

The Deaths of Valerian and Decius and the Subsequent Conversions

And after these things done, Decius and Valerian ascended into a golden chariot for to go and torment Christian men, and Decius was ravished of a devil and cried: O Hyppolitus thou hast bounden me with sharp chains and leadest me away.

And Valerian cried also: O Laurence, thou drawest me with fiery chains.

And the same hour Valerian died; and Decius returned home and died the third day, tormented of the devil, and cried: Laurence, cease thou a little, I conjure thee to cease thy torments, and so died.

And when Tryphonia his wife, which was much cruel, saw this thing, she left all and took Cyrilla her daughter, and went to St. Justin and did do baptize her with many others. And that other day after, that as Tryphonia prayed, she gave up her spirit and died, and Justin the priest buried her body by St. Hyppolitus.

And forty-seven knights hearing that the queen and her daughter were become Christian, came with their wives to Justin the priest for to receive baptism.

Claudius the emperor, when Cyrilla would not do sacrifice, did do cut her throat, and did do behead the other knights. And the bodies were borne with the others into the field Veranus and there buried.

(And it is to be noted here expressly that Claudius succeeded Decius, which martyred St. Laurence and St. Hyppolitus, but he succeeded not Decius the emperor, for after the chronicles, Volusianus succeeded Decius, and Gallianus succeeded Volusianus, and Claudius succeeded Gallianus, so it behoveth that Gallianus had two names, that is to wit, Gallianus and Decius, and so saith Vincent in his chronicle and Godfrey in his book. Gallianus called one unto his help that was named Decius, whom he made Cæsar, but not emperor, so saith Richard in his chronicle.)

St. Ambrose’s Remarks on Hippolytus

Of this martyr, saith Ambrose in his preface: The blessed martyr Hyppolitus considered that Jesu Christ was very duke, and he would be his knight, and had liefer be his knight than duke of knights, and he pursued not St. Laurence which was put under his keeping, but followed him, so that in suffering martyrdom he left the law of the tyrant, and came and possessed the treasure of very riches, which is the glory of the king perdurable and perpetual.

The Carter Who Cursed

There was a carter named Peter which yoked his oxen in the cart in the feast of Mary Magdalene, and followed his oxen and began to curse them, and anon the oxen and the cart were smitten with thunder. And that same Peter which had so cursed was tormented of cruel torments, for fire took him so that he burnt the sinews and the flesh from his thigh, and the bone appeared, and that the thigh and leg fell off. Then he went to a church of our Lady and hid his leg in a hole of the church, and prayed our Lady with tears devoutly for his deliverance.

And on a night the blessed Virgin with St. Hyppolitus came tofore him in a vision, and she prayed to Hyppolitus that he would re-establish Peter in his first health, and anon St. Hyppolitus took his leg in the hole, and took and set it in his place, like as one grafteth in a tree.

And he felt so much pain in that vision that he awoke and cried so loud that he awoke all the meiny. And they arose and took light, and saw that Peter had two legs and two thighs, but they had supposed that it had been illusion, and they touched yet and yet eft, and saw that he had verily his members, and then they awoke him and demanded of him how it happed.

And he weened that they had mocked him. And when he saw it, he was all abashed, yet nevertheless the new thigh was softer than the old, and he might not well sustain his body therewith. And because this miracle should be published, he halted a whole year, and then the blessed Virgin appeared to him and said to St. Hyppolitus that he should perform that which appertained to that cure, and then he awoke and felt himself all whole.

And then he entered into a recluage. To whom the devil appeared oft-time in the likeness of a woman naked, and joined to him naked, and the more he defended him the more the devil approached near, in tempting him shamefully, and when he had been shamefully travailed of her, he took the stole off a priest's neck and girt him with it, and anon the devil departed and left lying there a stinking and rotten carrion. And so great stench issued that there was none that saw it but said that it was the body of some dead woman which the devil had taken.

Catholic Bishop Condemns Prayer Ban for Military Events in Canada

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms begins: Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law.

From LifeSiteNews

By Calvin Freiburger

The Canadian Armed Forces issued new rules in July that ban chaplains from invoking God or using ‘religious specific language’ at public military gatherings.

Bishop Scott McCaig of the Catholic Military Ordinariate of Canada is speaking out against a new Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) policy banning prayer and invoking God at military events, condemning it as a form of religious coercion.

On July 29, the CAF issued a new guidance on “spiritual reflections in military settings,” defined as “inclusive public addresses” that foster “meaning, purpose, and spiritual well-being.” They are not to “use religious specific language, including references to God, etc.,” but rather “reflect upon lessons learned, beliefs, values, and experiences to inspire gratitude, remembrance, hope, and integrity,” grounded in “respect for freedom of conscience and religious expression, while upholding the dignity and value of diverse spiritual traditions.” It contains exceptions for funerals, voluntary religious gatherings, private counseling, and indigenous practices. 

The Epoch Times reports that Bishop McCaig, who oversees Catholic ministry within the military, issued a stirring rebuke of the new rules on August 10.

“For a great many people, chaplains and members alike, one cannot separate ‘meaning, purpose, and spiritual well being’ from ‘God, etc.’ Yet they are required by this instruction to do precisely that,” he wrote. “They are required to do so despite it being contrary to sincerely held beliefs and the conviction of conscience. Is this not precisely the kind of coercion that the Charter is meant to protect us from?”

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms affirms that “everyone” has “fundamental freedoms” of “conscience and religion”; “thought, belief, opinion and expression”; “peaceful assembly”; and “association,” all of which are imperiled by restrictions on religious gathering and expression.

“This instruction is based on a false premise: simply because some belief systems do not profess the existence of God, or some other divine source, does not make them neutral,” Bishop McCaig continued. “There is no such thing as reflections on meaning, purpose and spiritual well being without philosophical and religious presuppositions. It is not the place of the government to adjudicate between them. That is the opposite of state neutrality.”

This is far from the first attempt to suppress religious expression within Canada’s armed forces.

LifeSiteNews reported last September that the CAF issued to chaplains a directive ahead of last year’s Remembrance Day to “avoid SFT-specific (Spiritual / Faith Tradition) words, actions and symbols, including metaphysical references,” in their prayers at holiday events.

In 2024, the CAF banned prayer at all Remembrance Day celebrations, prompting outcry from citizens, military members, and political figures. In 2023, the CAF issued a directive placing harsh restrictions on public prayer, though it was rescinded after public and military backlash.