Orthodox move for women deacons is 'revitalization' not 'innovation'

DEMOCRATS CHALLENGE 'UNLAWFUL' MOVE

The memo asserted the federal government spent nearly $10 trillion in fiscal year 2024, with more than $3 trillion devoted to financial assistance such as grants and loans. But those figures appeared to include money authorized by Congress but not actually spent — the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated government spending in 2024 at a much lower $6.75 trillion.

Trump's Republican allies have been pushing for dramatic spending cuts, though his vow to spare Social Security and Medicare puts roughly one-third of the budget off-limits. Trump also could not touch government interest payments, which accounted for another 11% of the budget last year, without triggering a default that would rock the world economy.

Democrats immediately challenged the spending freeze as unlawful and dangerous.

In a letter to Vaeth late on Monday, U.S. Senator Patty Murray and U.S. Representative Rose DeLauro, the top Democrats on the congressional appropriation committees, said the order was "breathtaking, unprecedented, and will have devastating consequences across the country."

"We write today to urge you in the strongest possible terms to uphold the law and the Constitution and ensure all federal resources are delivered in accordance with the law,” the Democrats wrote.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said the administration did not have the authority to halt spending that had been approved by Congress and that the order, if implemented, would harm millions of Americans.

"It will mean missed payrolls and rent payments and everything in between: chaos for everything from universities to non-profit charities, state disaster assistance, local law enforcement, aid to the elderly, and food for those in need," Schumer said in a post on X late on Monday.

U.S. Representative Tom Emmer, the No. 3 Republican in the House of Representatives, said Trump was simply following through on his campaign promises.

"You need to understand he was elected to shake up the status quo. That is what he's going to do. It's not going to be business as usual," Emmer told reporters at a Republican policy retreat in Miami.

The U.S. Constitution gives Congress control over spending matters, but Trump said during his campaign that he believes the president has the power to withhold money if he disagrees. His nominee for White House budget director, Russell Vought, who has not yet been confirmed by the Senate, headed a think tank that has argued Congress can authorize a president to spend money but cannot require him to do so.

During his first 2017-2021 term, Trump sought to redirect spending to border enforcement, prompting a standoff with Congress that led to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. He also tried to hold back $400 million in aid to Ukraine to pressure that country to investigate his political rival Joe Biden, which led to Trump's first impeachment.

Pope Francis has formally recognized that five Franciscan missionaries ministering in what is now the U.S. state of Georgia were killed for their faith.

By signing the decree in the sainthood cause of the Georgia martyrs Jan. 27, the pope cleared the way for their beatification, although a date for the ceremony was not announced immediately.

The Spanish Franciscans Pedro de Corpa, Blas Rodríguez de Cuacos, Miguel de Añón, Antonio de Badajoz and Francisco de Veráscola were killed between Sept. 14 and Sept. 17, 1597, after Father de Corpa told a young Indigenous man, Juanillo, who was heir to a Guale chiefdom, that as a baptized Christian he could not take a second wife.

Juanillo and a band of his men killed the priest with a stone hatchet at the Mission of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Tolomato, which is near modern-day Eulonia, Georgia. They then went after the other Franciscan missionaries living and ministering along the Georgia coast.

Recounting the story of the Georgia martyrs on its website, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, said Father de Corpa not only "reprimanded" Juanillo for taking a second wife, but also "told him that he would oppose his succession as village chief if he persisted in his polygamous choice."

Bishop Stephen D. Parkes of Savannah, the diocese that includes the missions where the five friars were martyred, thanked all the people who worked to promote their sainthood cause for more than 40 years.

"May Venerable Friar Pedro de Corpa and Companions intercede for families everywhere, and inspire husbands and wives around the world to live out the sacrament of marriage with love, truth, and fidelity," the bishop wrote in a statement Jan. 27.

The first proof of the five Franciscans' readiness to give their lives for the Lord was their choice "to leave Spain and set out as missionaries to a land and among peoples still partly unknown. The five were aware of the risks and dangers associated with their apostolate also in relation to their safety," the dicastery said.

"Moved by a genuine spirit of love for Christ and service to the church, they accepted to be sent on mission to the North American territory," it said.

Francis signed other decrees Jan. 27 as well, including recognizing:

— The miracle needed for the canonization of Italian Blessed Vincenza Maria Poloni, founder of the Sisters of Mercy of Verona; she lived from 1802-1855.

— The martyrdom of Swiss Marist Brother François Benjamin May, also known as Brother Lycarion, who was shot in Barcelona, Spain, in 1909 during an anarchist rebellion.

— The heroic virtues of Mother Riccarda Beauchamp Hambrough, a longtime assistant to and later successor of St. Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad, who refounded the Bridgettine Sisters; the two hid persecuted Jews, Communists and Poles from the Nazis in Rome during World War II.

— The heroic virtues of Italian Father Quintino Sicuro, a diocesan priest and hermit, who lived 1920-1968.

— The heroic virtues of Italian laywoman Luigia Sinapi, who lived 1916-1978. The Dicastery for the Causes of Saints said that she experienced "numerous supernatural gifts such as precognition of events and situations, bilocation, discernment of spirits and, above all, mystical union with the Lord Jesus, lived in an atmosphere of modesty, humility and service. Many people, including priests, high prelates, politicians and ordinary people came to her for spiritual comfort."