Michael Jaycox (he, him)

Around 100,000 march in Budapest Pride event in defiance of Hungary's ban Marchers gambled with potential police intervention and fines to participate in the annual Budapest Pride, which was outlawed by a law passed by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's right-wing governing part...

Just a reminder that we still need to show the fascists that we are human, and we’re not going away. Pride isn’t just a party! It’s for liberation:
www.npr.org/2025/06/28/n...

'DA POPE!' Leo XIV's Chicago roots unleash spate of holy humor A Chicago-born cardinal walks into a conclave. The rest of the joke tells itself. In the breathless day since Pope Leo XIV’s election as the first American pontiff, the memes, doctored images and tong...

OMG, Chicago, you never change. Habemus Papam! apnews.com/article/pope...

I am immensely grateful that, at least for the time being, my university president and provost see inherent value in the disciplines of theology, religious studies, and philosophy. Grateful that market logic, while operative here, is not everywhere dominant.

I wonder if Barron knows how utterly transparent he is. Like, he is the king of telling on himself.

I am honestly wondering whether the cruelty itself is the point (he’s trying to kill people), or whether he primarily wants to cast doubt on the safety and efficacy of all vaccines while foreseeing that people will die. In any case, the motivation hardly matters if the result is the same. 11/

… needlessly die if this new policy goes forward. We must oppose this with every fiber of our being. This is a true public health emergency that is going to be created by a lawless and unethical HHS for absolutely no reason. 10/10

… looking at the very real possibility that you will not be able to obtain an effective COVID-19 or influenza vaccine this upcoming fall and winter if you live in the United States. This means that many, many more patients, particularly elderly patients and persons with chronic conditions, will… 9/

It’s completely bonkers. Many viruses that cause respiratory disease mutate so quickly, so it would be completely unreasonable to subject a yearly vaccine update for a vaccine already known to be safe and effective to the same clinical trial standard as a new treatment for a novel disease. We are 8/

…testing a new drug treatment can take years. Seasonal (yearly) updates to standard vaccines for respiratory diseases (COVID-19, influenza, etc.) currently do not have to go through all the phases. The new HHS policy would potentially change all of that. That means no effective seasonal vaccines. 7/

…you’re confirming safety and testing effectiveness. In phase 3, you are confirming effectiveness with a larger group of people, and only after a successful phase 3 clinical trial can you even apply for the new treatment to be FDA-approved and marketed to the general public. These phases for… 6/

…regulations, but this practice has been broadly condemned as unethical, and these companies have been roundly criticized in medical journals and in the press. Second, clinical trials in the US, whether placebo-controlled or not, have four phases. In phase 1, you’re testing safety. In phase 2… 5/

…reviewing research protocols, and international ethical codes on which there is broad consensus. It has happened in the past that pharmaceutical companies have attempted to conduct placebo-controlled clinical trials in jurisdictions outside of the United States in order to avoid these… 4/

…treatment for the same disease, then the standard of care is that point of comparison and must be given to the control group rather than a placebo. Every time. No exceptions. In addition to this being an ethical standard, this procedure conforms with current FDA regulations, IRB procedures for… 3/

First, it is well-established that placebo-controlled clinical trial is ethically justifiable only when there is no known safe and effective treatment for the disease. If there is a known safe and effective treatment (standard of care), and if you want a point of comparison to test a new… 2/

Kennedy Issues Demands for Vaccine Approvals That Could Affect Fall Covid Boosters The agency suggested that clinical trials in humans may be required for updated Covid shots, raising questions about whether they will be available in the fall.

Let me please take a second to explain why this is a very bad policy, and to add something as a bioethicist that most of the media coverage has not talked about yet: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/u... 1/

I mean, I knew that Graham was a spineless coward with no moral principles, but I didn’t know that he also was this…dumb? This goes beyond simple sycophantic behavior.

The church needs women cardinals Commentary: It was only in 1917 that the "new" Code of Canon Law decreed that cardinals had to be ordained, but the sacrament of orders does not bestow any particular competence. If Pope Francis is lo...

A more detailed and fully-elaborated argument: www.ncronline.org/opinion/gues...

…and be appointed by the pope. Therefore, a cardinal could be a non-ordained (lay) Catholic as well as a female, though historically I am not sure that we have ever had a female cardinal. So, current canonical requirements aside, there is no good theological reason why women cannot be cardinals. 2/2

The eve of the papal conclave is as good a time as any to point out that it was only fairly recently (1917) that a cardinal in the Catholic Church was required to be ordained and therefore also male. Prior to this point, cardinals only needed to be active in the sacramental life of the church… 1/

Well done, good and faithful servant.

I love Luke’s version of the resurrection proclamation n because, among other reasons, it reminds men that they should BELIEVE WOMEN

Oh yeah, I get it! Just between you, me, and your Bluesky followers, I think maybe that F’s analysis of confession tries to make claims beyond what his evidence and analytical framework can actually deliver. His claims need supplementation by theologians like you!

During the reading of the passion according to Luke at mass tonight, when the reader portraying the soldier said of the recently-crucified Jesus, “Surely this man was innocent,” in my mind I heard, “Sorry, administrative error.”

Yay! Congratulations!

I think it’s mostly because of a difference in methodology when you compare EV with the rest of the Catholic social tradition. It doesn’t operate in the same thought world and does not really reference the broader CST tradition very much. There are some thematic similarities, though, as you note.

Opinion | Black Americans Are Not Surprised Many Black Americans are not surprised by the way Trump is running roughshod over the rule of law, because they have seen it happen throughout American history.

Greer: “As the ‘I didn’t think he would do this’ chorus continues to grow, I can’t help but think what many really mean is, ‘I didn’t think he would do this to people like me.’” www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/o...

*seminarians

This is pretty devastating, not only for the hospital system itself but also for all the patients who have benefited from their pastoral care over the years. Also, where are all of the seminaries in the Boston area going to send seminars for CPE now?

Every unjust social hierarchy from the modern period onward (race, gender, class, sexuality, ability, etc.) relies for its justification on the idea that the categorization of humanity into two or more groups is based on differences that are natural, biological, genetic, and/or intended by God.

Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.

The most serious Nazi shit in this extremely Nazi shit executive order may be the idea, just slipped in there, that one of the "divisive narratives that distort our shared history" is that "race is not a biological reality but a social construct." www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...