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Popes who have served the Catholic Church for the past 100 years: Champions of truth, faith and love
Pope Francis, 88, was recently diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia, and as concerned Catholics around the world pray for the Holy Father, the Vatican revealed last week that he will remain hospitalized for treatment.
The popes of the last 100 years have seen their fair share of political divides and controversy, from pontiffs breaking centuries-old practices to backlash over the Vatican’s response to Hilter’s regime to the teachings of God’s love and grace and traveling the world to reach the sick and lonely;
Pope Benedict XVI (2005-2013)
Before Pope Francis was elected by the College of Cardinals in 2013, Pope Benedict XVI, born Joseph Ratzinger, led the Catholic Church from 2005-2013.
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Pope John Paul II, Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI (Getty Images)
Ratzinger was born in Bavaria, Germany. Upon witnessing horrific acts during the Nazi regime, he desired to commit to the church at a young age. Ratzinger and his family experienced abuse and punishment at the hands of the Nazi Party. Despite his resolute disdain for the regime, at 14 years old he was required by law to join the Hitler Youth, a paramilitary organization.
During his enrollment in the seminary, Ratzinger was drafted into World War II, putting his theological teachings on hold. He was captured and held as a prisoner of war by Americans for several months. Upon his release, he left the military and was ordained in 1951 alongside his brother.
Ratzinger was elected pope in 2005 and, during his papacy he preached a message of God’s eternal love, encouraged Catholics to remain faithful to God, and implored the presence of love, joy and truth in life.
Citing health concerns, Benedict, in 2013, was the first pontiff to resign the papacy in 600 years.
He died at 95 years old in 2022.
POPE FRANCIS WILL REMAIN IN HOSPITAL, VATICAN SAYS
Pope Francis met former Pope Benedict XVI to exchange Christmas greetings in 2013, the year Benedict XVI resigned as pope. (Maurix/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images))
Pope John Paul II (1978-2005)
Pope John Paul II, born Karol Wojtyła, was elected pope on Oct. 16, 1978. He was the first Polish pontiff.
Wojtyła took the regnal name after his predecessor, Pope John Paul I, who passed away only a month into his reign as the sovereign of Vatican City.
Wojtyła’s election by the College of Cardinals marked the first time a non-Italian would serve as pope in over 400 years. At 58 years old, Wojtyła was one of the youngest popes in history.
Wojtyla studied theology in Rome and served as the archbishop of Krakow. Through his 26-year pontificate, John Paul II traveled to 129 countries, becoming the most traveled pope in history.
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Pope John Paul II was the first Polish pope in history. (Chuck Fishman/Getty Images)
During his papacy, John Paul II preached service, the responsibility for peace and the protection of life. In 1981, a lone gunman, Mehmet Ali Ağca, attempted to assassinate the pope in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. He was struck twice while riding in an open car and seriously wounded. He was rushed to Gemelli Hospital in Rome and treated for his injuries.
John Paul II later visited Ağca in prison and forgave the shooter in person.
In 2005, John Paul died in his apartment in the Vatican at 84 years old. He was canonized as a saint in 2014.
Pope John Paul I (1978-1978)
Pope John Paul I, born Albino Luciani, was elected as pope on Aug. 26, 1978. His reign as the sovereign of Vatican City was brief, as he died 33 days later.
He was ordained in 1935, appointed bishop in 1958 and created archbishop of Venice in 1969. He is often referred to as «the Smiling Pope.»
Pope Paul VI (1963-1978)
Pope Paul VI was born Giovanni Battista Montini in Brescia, Italy. He was elected as pontiff in 1963 after being appointed archbishop of Milan.
During his papacy, Montini concluded three sessions of the Second Vatican Council, a significant renewal of the Catholic Church. The official documents marked a milestone in the church and condemned antisemitism.
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Pope John Paul II was shot at by Mehmet Ali Ağca in 1981. He visited his would-be assassin in Rebibbia Jail, Rome. (Getty Images)
Montini traveled to the Holy Land in the Middle East, India, Uganda, the Philippines and parts of the United States during his reign.
In 2018, Pope Paul VI was canonized as a saint. He was recognized as a strong leader, and his efforts to build stronger bonds among other religions are cited as just one of the reasons for his canonization.
Pope Paul VI died in 1978 at 80 years old.
Pope John XXIII (1958-1963)
Pope John XXIII, born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, was born into a family of 13 children in Sotto il Monte, Italy.
In 1892, Roncalli entered the seminary. He was ordained in 1904, and was named a cardinal and the patriarch of Venice in 1953.
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Funerals of past popes take place at Vatican City’s St. Peter’s, where many are interred. (AP)
As pontiff, Roncalli convened the Second Vatican Council, which modernized the Catholic Church by renewing liturgy and theology and developing better relationships with other religions.
Pope John XXIII died of cancer in 1963 and was canonized as a saint along with John Paul II in 2014.
Pope Pius XII (1939-1958)
Pope Pius XII, born Eugenio Pacelli, was an Italian cardinal before being elected pope on his 63rd birthday in 1939.
Pope Pius XI named Pacelli a cardinal after a one-day conclave among the College of Cardinals in 1929.
Pacelli was pope during World War II and through the Holocaust. Correspondence from Vatican archives shows Pacelli received word of the atrocities happening against Jewish people in Germany, and he often received pleas to help Jews.
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Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died at 95 years old. His funeral took place in St. Peter’s Square and around 50,000 people were in attendance. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Pope Pius XII has been intensely criticized for what has been called his lack of support for Jews during World War II, but the Vatican has remained steadfast in his defense.
Pius XII died in 1958 at 82 years old.
Pope Pius XI (1922-1939)
Pope Pius XI, born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was ordained a priest in 1879. He was named a cardinal and archbishop of Milan in 1921 by Pope Benedict XV and elected pope in 1922.
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Benito Mussolini, the Italian dictator, came to power in 1922. The Lateran Treaty signed by Mussolini and the papacy acknowledged papal sovereignty over the Vatican City, making the state a neutral territory and the pope politically independent.
Pius XI died in 1939 at 81 years old.
Trump goes after Schumer: Tell him ‘GO TO HELL’
Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy joins ‘America Reports’ to discuss the President Donald Trump accusing Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer of extortion after asking for $1B unfrozen in exchange for nominee confirmations.
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Senate Republicans faced a choice recently: Remain in session and confirm more of President Trump’s nominees, or finally abandon Washington for the vaunted August recess.
Senators hung around – a little while – knocking out some of the President’s nominees for administration positions. But not all. That drew the ire of some conservatives, Trump loyalists and President Donald Trump himself.
Trump seethed at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for requiring the Senate to run lengthy parliamentary traps and incinerate valuable floor time to confirm even non-controversial nominees. The President finally unloaded on the New York Democrat in a digital coup de grace, telling him to «GO TO HELL!»
It’s notable that Trump has not yet met with Schumer or House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., during his second term. But then again, this is a two-way street. And Democrats remember multiple tumultuous meetings with Mr. Trump during the last time he was in office. It culminated in verbal grappling between the President and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, and ended with Democrats abandoning the meeting after only a few moments.
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So, it’s far from certain any such meeting would yield anything remotely productive.
But back to the «August recess.»
First, it’s important to establish that members of the House and Senate are not on «summer vacation.» Sure, there are always some breaks to visit with family and friends. Lawmakers are people, too. But truly, this is not a «break.» Lawmakers are always «on.» Not everything they do is centered around Washington. Any congressman or senator worth their salt will tell you that spending time back in their home states or districts is just as important – if not more so – than what goes down on Capitol Hill. Meeting with constituents. Visiting businesses. Conducting town hall meetings. Stopping by local coffee bars. Breaking bread at diners. Chatting up the local press corps.
Members also use this longer respite for political travel and fact-finding missions overseas. These «CODELS» – short for «Congressional Delegation» – are a critical function for lawmakers to build bridges with foreign leaders and make their marks on how the U.S. approaches the rest of the globe. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., have recently led groups on trips to Israel. At least one other major trip is booked for later this month.
So, the «August recess» is not inherently a «bad» thing. It’s an essential part of the job and probably one of the biggest misnomers in American politics.
Still, many Americans simply dismiss August as a «vacation» for House members and senators, and it is a challenging optic for Congress.
Which brings us back to the tension between staying in session to get «something» done and returning home.
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It’s clear the Senate could have stayed in session to plow through more of President Trump’s nominees. Schumer and other Democrats simply weren’t going to relent and allow Republicans to confirm a slate of nominees «en bloc.» That’s where the Senate greenlights a large slate of nominees all at once and approves them either by unanimous consent or via voice vote. The Senate confirms the nominees all at once. The House certainly could have stayed in session to hammer out a few spending bills ahead of the deadline to fund the government by October 1.
But here’s a stark reality – especially for the Senate:
Lawmakers and staff desperately needed a break.
Period. Full stop.
Since May, the Senate in particular has conducted multiple overnight, round-the-clock and weekend sessions. Not just a few. The Senate voted deep into the night or overnight on the Big, Beautiful Bill. Then the Senate was back for late-night sessions confirming nominees.
Yes. This is the people’s business. But the floor staff and support teams were exhausted. Senate leaders were mindful of that. And that’s to say nothing of the lawmakers themselves.
It’s anecdotal, but lawmakers probably needed a break from one another, too. That makes them happier – and probably more productive when they return to Washington.
But this still doesn’t solve the political dilemma facing Republican senators with a substantial core of their party demanding they remain moored in Washington to grind out nominees.
And it may not satisfy President Trump, either.
There’s lots of Senate talk now about «changing the rules» to accelerate the confirmation of nominees.
One thing is for sure: the Senate won’t change the «rules» to expedite the confirmation process. The Senate boasts 44 standing rules. It takes 67 votes to break a filibuster on an actual rules change. But what Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., could do is back the Senate into a special parliamentary posture where he can initiate a new «precedent» to confirm different types of nominees. That’s a maneuver that late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., executed to confirm some of former President Obama’s nominees. The same with former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to confirm Supreme Court nominees.
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«New precedents» in the Senate require some complicated parliamentary wrangling. But only a simple majority is necessary to make good on this gambit for nominees. So, it’s easier and much more plausible than «changing the rules.»
To the lay person, a new «precedent» doesn’t sound important. But there’s a reason why the Senate only has 44 standing rules and a voluminous book of precedents. You can accomplish a lot in the Senate if you’re able to concoct a new precedent.
And note that it’s not just Republicans who want to change the way the Senate does things for some lower-tier, non-controversial nominees. Some Senate Democrats have expressed interest in changes, too.
President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have strongly over the confirmation of a number of Trump’s nominees for various administration positions. (Getty Images)
There are only so many minutes and so many hours. Time is just as valuable to Democrats as it is to Republicans.
Everyone on Capitol Hill knows that more long nights and overnight sessions await lawmakers in September and the fall as the Senate attempts to confirm additional nominees.
That’s to say nothing of avoiding a government shutdown in October.
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This is why Senate Republicans elected to stick around for a bit recently – and then call it a day. Or a month.
After all, there is only so much time available in August.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned of a concerted effort in the United States and beyond to «break down» the bond between Christians and Jews.
Speaking at an event last month in Jerusalem attended by Pastor Paula White-Cain, spiritual advisor to President Donald Trump and head of the White House Office of Faith and Anti-Semitism, Netanyahu stated, the «partnership that promotes Judeo-Christian values, that protects Israel’s Christians as nowhere else in the Middle East. That truth is being reversed,»
«As part of this campaign,» he continued, Israel is now being portrayed as a threat to Christians.»
Netanyahu said that Israel is home to a thriving Christian community — unique in a region where Christians often face persecution. He pointed to Nazareth as a place where Christian life is visible and open, contrasting it with Bethlehem, where the Christian population declined sharply — from 80% to under 20% — after Israel withdrew, and the Palestinian Authority assumed control, leading to reduced protections for the community.
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Pastor Paula White-Cain, spiritual advisor to President Donald Trump and head of the White House Office of Faith and Antisemitism (sitting next to Sara Netanyahu) meets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara at Daystar’s «Together As One» event in Jerusalem, as part of a visit organized by Niv Jacobi, President of The Meaning Channel. (Felipe Volokita, The Meaning Channel.)
Pastor John Hagee, the influential Founder and Chairman of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), said fringe online agitators and politicians are motivated by two distinct impulses in their attacks on Israel.
«The true narcissists, regardless of politics, will pursue relevance through antisemitic contrarianism if they perceive themselves to be slipping from the world’s stage. Tragically, trafficking in antisemitism is one of the shortest paths to infamy,» he told Fox News Digital.
«For the true Jew-haters, Christian Zionism has been correctly perceived as the bulwark against the rise of American antisemitism. As Israel’s Minister for Strategic Affairs [Ron Dermer] has pointed out, Christian Zionism is the backbone of American support for Israel.
«Those who hate Israel and want to see it destroyed understand that the Jewish-Christian alliance prevents them from achieving their terrible aims; it’s logical then that they would seek to drive a wedge between Jews and Christians. Our relationship is a direct and unequivocal refutation of their evil ideology and aims,» he said.
Hagee also warned that anti-Israel narratives are being amplified online and through the mainstream media «to the exclusive benefit of Palestinian terrorists.»
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During his speech, Netanyahu focused on some in the voices in the media. «So, Israel, the guardian of Christianity in the Middle East, is presented on American television by purchased influencers. It’s presented as the enemy of Christianity. What folly, what lies. What a travesty of truth,» he said.
«We must fight for our common values, we must stand up for the truth. And by standing up for the truth, you stand up with Israel, and you stand with the Jewish people against this abomination of falsehoods,» he concluded.
Netanyahu’s comments came against the backdrop of recent allegations that extremist settlers had targeted a historic church in the West Bank, and the IDF had deliberately targeted a church in Gaza.
Jesus the King Church in Nazareth, Israel (Photo: Pastor Saleem Shalash.)
In mid-July, the Council of Patriarchs and Heads of Churches of Jerusalem claimed that «radical Israelis» had intentionally set a fire near the Church of Saint George in Taybeh. However, Israel Police later confirmed that the ancient church ruins were undamaged and that the fire, of unknown origin, was confined to a nearby open area.
Separately, the IDF confirmed that a July 17 mortar strike on the Holy Family Church in Gaza was the result of an «unintentional deviation of munitions.» An investigation found that the church had been accidentally hit during operational activity in Gaza City. The military said it facilitated humanitarian aid deliveries to the church and coordinated a visit by clergy from the Greek and Latin Patriarchates.
Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem and a former evangelical advisor to President Donald Trump, pointed to the billions of dollars invested by anti-Israel actors to influence young minds on American campuses.
Thousands of evangelical Christian pilgrims pray during a prayer gathering on the Dead Sea shore in Ein Gedi on September 20, 2013, in the Judean Desert, during their annual visit to Israel to mark the Jewish holiday of Sukkot (Tabernacles) and to express solidarity with Israel. Some five thousand Christian pilgrims from around the world arrived for a week-long visit to Israel, in an annual show of solidarity with the Jewish state. (Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images)
EVANGELICAL LEADERS PRAISE TRUMP’S CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL AMID WAR WITH IRAN
«The bottom line on this narrative is that there’s a belief system that Israel’s existence is illegitimate. They don’t say this about any other country in the world, no matter how bloody its origins. This belief system gets Jews killed. Anti-Zionism is antisemitism,» he said.
«My message to Bible-believing Christians is to teach a biblical worldview that Israel is the Bible land. The church in Germany was evangelical Protestant. They aligned with the Nazi party, had swastikas on its altars, and believed that God sent the chancellor.
«This happened because they rejected a biblical worldview and bought into what is called ‘replacement theology.’ That’s the reason why I have developed a significant curriculum to teach the church and its leaders,» Evans noted.
David Parsons, Senior Vice President and Spokesman of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), told Fox News Digital that Christian support for Israel — rooted in decades, if not centuries, of history—has grown to unprecedented levels, though it is being heavily tested amid the war against Hamas in Gaza.
«It predates Trump and Netanyahu, it will be there after those leaders are gone,» he said.
Students at Columbia University participate in an anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian protest. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
«We have to pass the baton to a new generation, and this is where the challenge is coming, as a lot of the young Christians aren’t buying into the same rationale as their parents to support Israel, which a lot of it was based on certain prophetic scenarios and prophecy charts about Israel’s role,» he continued.
«We see it as God being faithful to his covenant promises to the patriarch Abraham 4,000 years ago. If God is faithful to what he promised Jewish people millennia ago, then he will be faithful to what he’s promised us under the new covenant,» he said.
Parsons noted that bringing young Christians to experience Israel firsthand helps cultivate that connection.
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«A lot of the young evangelical supporters of Israel are not in some of these elite universities where they’re being poisoned against Israel, and so we have hope,» he said.
«When you see the amazing things that Israel has done — the pager operation [against Hezbollah], how they defeated Iran in 12 days — if you’re a young person, you have to be impressed with Israel’s creativity and ingenuity,» he continued. «Eventually, once we get a resolution of the Gaza situation, there will be a whole new generation of Christians that are curious enough to come and check it out.»
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