John Janaro's Blog, page 14

U.S. Leaders Humiliate Ukraine’s President on Live TV

February 28, 2025. A day that will live in infamy.

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance gaslighted, scolded, berated, and insulted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and then kicked him out of the White House because he refused to sign an agreement ceding partial profits from rare earth minerals to the United States, and giving control of the rebuilding of Ukraine’s war-shattered infrastructure to the U.S. government (who would, of course, give U.S. construction companies this lucrative work). The U.S. also refused to provide the security guarantees that Ukraine repeatedly asked for.

Instead, Trump accused Ukraine of starting the war (how? by being invaded?), and of “not really wanting peace,” because it is unwilling to accept what will amount to a surrender, or to abandon its people who live in the illegally-occupied territories.

On these matters I cannot remain silent any longer. The video-display abruptly begun by Vance and taken up by Trump was a deplorable instance of bullying, blaming the victim, and heaping up disrespect upon a world leader the likes of which I have never seen publicly presented from the White House.

It almost looked like an effort to manufacture a pretext for turning away from alliance with Zelenskyy in his nation’s fight against the neo-Stalinist Vladimir Putin’s aggressive efforts to eliminate Ukraine’s very existence and identity. It seemed to provide a pretext for a rapidly developing despotic U.S. government to align with Putin’s autocratic expansionism.

Will the U.S. participate (overtly or covertly) in the new despotic world order that Russia and China wish to build? We’ll have to see how this unfolds.

In any case their public verbal abuse against a world leader fighting to save the freedom and independence of his nation was juvenile, cowardly, and shameful. It was entirely dishonorable! It was one of the lowest moments in the history of the United States of America.

I have covered Ukraine extensively on this blog during the past three years, and have explained the sources of the deep solidarity I feel called to extend to these brave people. I have explained the special circumstances of the Ukrainian Greek (Byzantine) Catholic Church in full communion with Rome. You must, therefore, realize how the behavior of my own government makes me weep.

My own country—once the “leader of the Free World”—has become an embarrassment, and worse than that, an agent of chaos in a very dangerous moment in world history. I fear more than ever that war will soon be upon us all, using forces of destruction beyond anything we can imagine.

Dear Jesus, save us! We are weak and sinful We need you. I need you, in new ways, so that all the suffering of these people and the treachery that dehumanizes them will not break my heart into a thousand pieces of sorrow.

Pope Francis: Coming to Terms With Trauma and Pain

Pope Francis suffered another setback of bronchial spasms today in his battle with pneumonia, though he has been stabilized again as of February 28th evening. This great Pope is suffering in his advanced age after nearly a dozen years of leading the Church through very difficult times. He has borne the burdens of this ministry with a particular awareness and charity for the poor and persecuted peoples of the world. 

Now, at a moment of terrible rumblings of worldly powers and further threats to those who are already oppressed, exhausted, and deserving of human solidarity, Pope Francis accompanies the poor with what might be the last breaths of the final days of his life (though we pray otherwise).

This morning, I came across a text from a talk Pope Francis gave last year. The excerpts quoted below seem worth citing today. No matter what we face today, or may face in days to come, we must never lose hope in Christ:

"In suffering, God’s first answer is not a discourse or a theory, but it is to walk with us, to stay next to us. Jesus lets Himself be touched by our pain; He travels the same road as us and does not leave us alone, but rather frees us from the burden that oppresses us by carrying it for us and with us...

"Pain, especially when it is so agonizing and without explanation, needs only to cling to the thread of a prayer that cries out to God, day and night, that sometimes expresses itself in the absence of words, that does not attempt to resolve the drama but, on the contrary, inhabits questions that always recur: 'Why, Lord? Why did it happen to me? Why did you not intervene? Where are you, while humanity suffers and my heart mourns an unfathomable loss?' 

"Brothers and sisters, these questions, which burn within, trouble the heart; at the same time, though, if we set out, with such courage and also with hardship as you do, it is precisely these same pained questions that open up glimmers of light, that give the strength to keep going. Indeed, there is nothing worse than silencing pain, suppressing suffering, removing trauma without coming to terms with it, as our world often induces us to do, in haste and in a daze. The question that one lifts up to God as a cry is, instead, salutary. It is prayer. Although it forces us to dig into a painful memory and to mourn the loss, at the same time it becomes the first step of invocation and opens one up to receive the consolation and inner peace that the Lord does not fail to give.

"Jesus who walks with you, Jesus who enters your home and lets Himself be touched by pain and death, Jesus who takes you by the hand to lift you up again. He wants to dry your tears and He wants to reassure you: death does not have the last word. The Lord does not leave us without consolation."

~Pope Francis, March 2, 2024

Warmer and Brighter

February is finally bringing out a few warm bright moments in its final week:

Three Years of Courage and Suffering in Ukraine

Today marks three years since Putin's Russia began its full-scale genocidal invasion of Ukraine. We stand with this long-suffering nation in prayer and penance, and with the determination that the leaders of our nation and the nations of the world will not be deceived by the lies of Russian propaganda.

May the Lord grant a just, secure, and lasting peace for the people of Ukraine. Saint Michael, patron of Kyiv, protect all those who dwell in this beautiful land and pray for the conversion of their enemies. Jesus, through Mary, have mercy on us all.

In the written text of yesterday’s Angelus address that Pope Francis released (in lieu of the usual live presentation which his ongoing hospitalization prevented), the Holy Father noted “the third anniversary of the large-scale war against Ukraine: a painful and shameful occasion for the whole of humanity! As I reiterate my closeness to the suffering Ukrainian people, I invite you to remember the victims of all armed conflicts, and to pray for the gift of peace in Palestine, Israel and throughout the Middle East, Myanmar, Kivu [in D.R.C.], and Sudan.”

Praying For Our Beloved Pope Francis

We continue to pray for Pope Francis as he struggles with pneumonia in the hospital this past week.

May the Lord comfort him, and bring him healing and sustenance in the continued profound witness of his Petrine ministry, according to the wisdom and mercy of Divine Providence. 

I'm grateful for this courageous Pope, who continues to shepherd and accompany my life with his great teachings, his love for Christ, and the passion and endurance of his determination to bring the tenderness of God's love to every human person — without regard to the challenges to his own health and old age. Now, he witnesses through his suffering, recognizing the way it connects him through Christ to all the suffering people of the world. In these most difficult moments, Pope Francis's hope for eternal life strengthens my own poor hope, and helps me remember the loving presence of Christ in the midst of my own pain, suffering, and frustration.

Luigi Giussani: “Teacher of Reality”

The Servant of God Luigi Giussani, whom Saint John Paul II honored as a “teacher of humanity,” was called home to God 20 years ago today. Father Giussani became a teacher of my humanity 35 years ago, and his witness to Jesus Christ as the One who unites human persons and makes us free (Communion and Liberation) continues to nourish my memory and build up my desire for eternal fulfillment and my hope in Christ’s mercy and love.

What Father Giussani gave me has remained a focus for my life, a vocational commitment, and also the source of a suffering that I have been willing to endure, and — slowly, increasingly, to my own surprise — even embrace.

In an era of so much celebrity worship and personality cult (where multitudes cheer as false and self-anointed “messiahs” promise them “greatness” as they grasp for power), Father Giussani was something remarkable: he was the real deal.

He was a devoted and faithful priest of the ancient church in Milan, and (in a surprising and compelling way) he was a man — a man who lived every aspect of his life with a passion for the meaning of things, and a man who dedicated all his efforts and energies to the glory of Jesus Christ as God’s answer to the mysterious searchings of human reason and longings of the human heart.

Father Giussani didn’t propose his own greatness, or competence, or ability to “fix” all our problems. He was a humble man. He proposed Jesus Christ. He taught the truth.

And I remember the man, the teacher, speaking with such ardor and conviction in the years when he was still full of physical vitality, giving his lectures surrounded by a pile of dog-eared books on the desk and a bottle of mineral water.

He taught us about the fulfillment of reason in the encounter with the Mystery who became flesh, who defines history, who stays with us and awakens in our hearts the adherence of faith, hope, and love. He said things like these words:

"This is the ultimate embrace of the Mystery, against which man–even the most distant, the most perverse or the most obscured, the most in the dark–cannot oppose anything, can make no objection. He can abandon it, but in so doing he abandons himself and his own good. The Mystery as mercy remains the last word even on all the awful possibilities of history.

"For this reason existence expresses itself, as ultimate ideal, in begging. The real protagonist of history is the beggar: Christ who begs for man’s heart, and man’s heart that begs for Christ."

~ Luigi Giussani

The Design of His Heart

"The Lord brings to nought the plans of nations;He foils the designs of peoples.But the plan of the Lord stands forever;the design of his heart, through all generations"(Psalm 33:10-12).

Ukraine Catholic Primate: “Without Justice, Peace is Impossible”

Poor Ukraine. Martyred Ukraine. So much destruction. 

Genocide by forced starvation in the 1930s. Ongoing attempted genocide in the 2020s. So much suffering, but also amazing courage, and heroic perseverance of Ukrainians in defending themselves. 

They also defend the peoples behind them — the European nations that struggle to preserve the remnants of a civil society with the rule of law (even as that society crumbles through the loss of its soul). For the past three years, the “democracies” have given Ukraine that which the democracies value most: money. Some have also been further moved and inspired, and have given various forms of constructive human support. Some realize that the invasion that afflicts Ukraine today may well pour over them tomorrow. They fear anything that smacks of appeasement. Others still have pricks of conscience over their specific promise (as signatories of the December 1994 Budapest Memorandum) to guarantee Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders in exchange for Ukraine’s voluntary nuclear disarmament. Thus, Ukraine has felt some measure of “international support” since the beginning of Russia’s full scale invasion. But with the sudden turn of events in 2025, Ukraine finds itself tossed into an even more obscure limbo.

Peace is being “talked about.” But who are the true friends of Ukraine?

I don’t trust current Czar and former KGB agent Vladimir Putin. That goes without saying. He is a war criminal. His rogue regime ought not to be “legitimized” by his being invited to participate in what seem to be “negotiations” that do not involve Ukraine. Putin’s only role in securing a just peace is to cease his barbarous aggression against Ukraine. 

I certainly don’t trust the new oligarchs who have recently taken over the United States, but I didn’t trust the previous U.S. oligarchy either. Still, the new oligarchs — whether through rashness, ineptitude, or greed — appear ready to sit at table with Putin and carve up Ukraine for dinner. I hope that I’m wrong about this. I continue to pray for miracles of grace, but I don’t trust these men. Nor do I trust the current feckless European leadership. It does not appear that any of the agents of the corrupt West are prepared to risk their own investments in the status quo in order to secure the geopolitical space necessary for the emergence of Ukraine as a free nation that seeks more profound bonds for its own internal unity — or, to put it more precisely, communion.

I trust the man pictured above. He places his trust in God and in the Gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ. He experiences this conflict in its true context, and he knows that Ukrainian unity and solidarity in these recent years has brought closer together all those who seek God with sincerity of heart, and — more particularly — it has brought about an unprecedented fraternal collaboration of Ukrainian Byzantine Catholics and Ukrainian Orthodox Christians. Focused on the plight of their people, Catholics and Orthodox have drawn closer than they have been since the thousand-year-old breach between Western and Eastern Christians. Multitudes all over the world have participated in this closeness through the spiritual solidarity of their hearts and whatever gestures of assistance they can give. Common suffering, common prayer, and common charity are beginning a process of healing that is vital to the heart of the Church as a witness to Christ’s presence in the world.

Let us join them in their prayer for a just peace for Ukraine. And let us not lose hope for the resilience of this experience of unity, which can outlast the machinations of earthly powers — whether they be the ambitions and pretenses of a Muscovite Would-Be Emperor or the “deal-making” arrogance of a “(false) Prosperity-Gospel” Americanist Plutocrat and his minions (although it’s not clear whether or not the minions are in control right now).

Here are some words from the man I trust, His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Primate of the Ukrainian “Greek” (i.e. Byzantine) Catholic Church in full communion with Rome and the Successor of St Peter. He spoke in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at an Ecumenical gathering of Ukrainian Catholic, Roman Catholic, and Ukrainian Orthodox bishops, who met to pray for peace in Ukraine on February 16.

"We stand because millions of people around the world — like you — pray [for] and support us. They believe that for God there is good and truth, and evil, lies, and death will never have the last word. We are alive because we are not alone! Thank you for being with us!

"We want peace. Every Ukrainian longs for peace, for nights without air raids, mornings without explosions, days without deaths and nights without fear. But a ceasefire is not peace, but a political agreement that cannot bring justice. A ceasefire that leaves people suffering under occupation is rather a cruel mockery. Without justice, peace is impossible — it is an illusion and an empty promise."

Shiver

“February Made Me Shiver” (2025).

Weather keeps changing, day by day. Brittle like glass bones. Cutting tendon and skin. Sharp.

Pope Francis to U.S. Bishops on the Human Dignity of Migrants

Pope Francis has published a letter dated February 10 and addressed to the Bishops of the United States of America. It is clearly intended for a general readership, addressing not only immediate pastoral concerns but also reaffirming recent teachings or the ordinary magisterium of the Church as well as indicating and clarifying perennial points of Catholic Social Doctrine. 

This letter emphasizes that the inviolable dignity of every human person must be at the center of any just immigration policy. Its purpose is not only to strengthen the U.S. Bishops or Catholic Christians. It is to help form the consciences of all the people of the United States regarding human truths that everyone desperately needs to discover and remember.

I am reproducing the letter in full, as presented in English translation on the official Vatican website (see HERE), with minor adjustment of endnotes to in-text brackets). This is for the pedagogical purpose of encouraging people to read the text, and for my own reference in the record of this personal blog. Full endnotes and links are accessible on the Vatican website.

Of particular note is his invocation of Our Lady of Guadalupe as protector of those “who live in fear or pain due to migration and/or deportation,” and as the bringer of peace and reconciliation to peoples. We can entrust with confidence all our concerns regarding the problems of “America”—North, Central, and South—to our Merciful Mother and her singular presence and intervention (beginning in 1531) at Tepeyac Hill, near Mexico City, at the center of this pan-hemispheric continent, for the healing of all the peoples who dwell upon “this land.”

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LETTER OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS TO THE BISHOPS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA [source here]

Dear Brothers in the Episcopate,

I am writing today to address a few words to you in these delicate moments that you are living as Pastors of the People of God who walk together in the United States of America.

1. The journey from slavery to freedom that the People of Israel traveled, as narrated in the Book of Exodus, invites us to look at the reality of our time, so clearly marked by the phenomenon of migration, as a decisive moment in history to reaffirm not only our faith in a God who is always close, incarnate, migrant and refugee, but also the infinite and transcendent dignity of every human person. [See DDF Declaration Dignitas Infinita (2024), 1]

2. These words with which I begin are not an artificial construct. Even a cursory examination of the Church’s social doctrine emphatically shows that Jesus Christ is the true Emmanuel (cf. Mt 1:23); he did not live apart from the difficult experience of being expelled from his own land because of an imminent risk to his life, and from the experience of having to take refuge in a society and a culture foreign to his own. The Son of God, in becoming man, also chose to live the drama of immigration. I like to recall, among other things, the words with which Pope Pius XII began his Apostolic Constitution on the Care of Migrants, which is considered the “Magna Carta” of the Church’s thinking on migration:

“The family of Nazareth in exile, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, emigrants in Egypt and refugees there to escape the wrath of an ungodly king, are the model, the example and the consolation of emigrants and pilgrims of every age and country, of all refugees of every condition who, beset by persecution or necessity, are forced to leave their homeland, beloved family and dear friends for foreign lands.” [Pius XII, Apostolic Constitution Exsul Familia (1952), 1]

3. Likewise, Jesus Christ, loving everyone with a universal love, educates us in the permanent recognition of the dignity of every human being, without exception. In fact, when we speak of “infinite and transcendent dignity,” we wish to emphasize that the most decisive value possessed by the human person surpasses and sustains every other juridical consideration that can be made to regulate life in society. Thus, all the Christian faithful and people of good will are called upon to consider the legitimacy of norms and public policies in the light of the dignity of the person and his or her fundamental rights, not vice versa.

4. I have followed closely the major crisis that is taking place in the United States with the initiation of a program of mass deportations. The rightly formed conscience cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality. At the same time, one must recognize the right of a nation to defend itself and keep communities safe from those who have committed violent or serious crimes while in the country or prior to arrival. That said, the act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness.

5. This is not a minor issue: an authentic rule of law is verified precisely in the dignified treatment that all people deserve, especially the poorest and most marginalized. The true common good is promoted when society and government, with creativity and strict respect for the rights of all — as I have affirmed on numerous occasions — welcomes, protects, promotes and integrates the most fragile, unprotected and vulnerable. This does not impede the development of a policy that regulates orderly and legal migration. However, this development cannot come about through the privilege of some and the sacrifice of others. What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly.

6. Christians know very well that it is only by affirming the infinite dignity of all that our own identity as persons and as communities reaches its maturity. Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups. In other words: the human person is not a mere individual, relatively expansive, with some philanthropic feelings! The human person is a subject with dignity who, through the constitutive relationship with all, especially with the poorest, can gradually mature in his identity and vocation. The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the “Good Samaritan” (cf. Luke 10:25-37), that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception. [See encyclical Fratelli Tutti (2020), 3]

7. But worrying about personal, community or national identity, apart from these considerations, easily introduces an ideological criterion that distorts social life and imposes the will of the strongest as the criterion of truth.

8. I recognize your valuable efforts, dear brother bishops of the United States, as you work closely with migrants and refugees, proclaiming Jesus Christ and promoting fundamental human rights. God will richly reward all that you do for the protection and defense of those who are considered less valuable, less important or less human!

9. I exhort all the faithful of the Catholic Church, and all men and women of good will, not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters. With charity and clarity we are all called to live in solidarity and fraternity, to build bridges that bring us ever closer together, to avoid walls of ignominy and to learn to give our lives as Jesus Christ gave his for the salvation of all.

10. Let us ask Our Lady of Guadalupe to protect individuals and families who live in fear or pain due to migration and/or deportation. May the “Virgen morena”, who knew how to reconcile peoples when they were at enmity, grant us all to meet again as brothers and sisters, within her embrace, and thus take a step forward in the construction of a society that is more fraternal, inclusive and respectful of the dignity of all.

Fraternally,

Francis

From the Vatican, 10 February 2025