Mark Joseph Williams

As a clerical abuse survivor, I am able - humbly - to comment on your implication that this newly appointed prelate is part of what McCarrick and others in the Church shamefully demonstrated. There is absolutely nothing that would justify this characterization. In fact, both Pope Francis and now Pope Leo have both shown extraordinary compassion to victims / survivors and their unabashed commitment to healing. Any bishop selected and /or elevated during their respective papacies, I have no doubt, will accompany those wounded in the Church on the synodal road. 🙏

@MarkJWilliams23 @ctrlamb Leaving aside your TDS, has this new bishop ever condemned sexual abuse and child trafficking or is he just the latest generation of McCarrickism in America?

One of the surest ways a pope can influence the church and its engagement in politics is through the appointment of bishops. Pope Leo XIV’s latest pick: an El Salvador–born advocate for immigrants as bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia. The choice reinforces the pope’s message on immigration: that new arrivals, when welcomed and integrated, can strengthen their new home. It’s part of a broader pattern with three of Pope Leo’s first four US bishop appointments born outside the country. My latest for @CNN: edition.cnn.com/2026/05/04/wor…

Marco Rubio, a Catholic, has sold his soul to Donald Trump. "Little Marco" - as Trump called him in mocking him - has bent the knee to the most cruel man to ever occupy the Oval. When Rubio meets Pope Leo, he ought to look deep within and ask himself what his faith truly means. Does he really believe that our war with Iran is a "just war" ? ... does he really believe the mass deportations of fellow immigrants are justified ? ... does he really believe Trump's attacking Leo on Truth Social and posting an image of himself as Jesus Christ were the actions of a sane, well balanced man? Mr. Rubio ...listen closely to our Holy Father during your meeting. You will learn a thing or two. ✝️

Donald Trump renewed his attack on Pope Leo XIV, falsely claiming the first American pope wants Iran to have nuclear weapons and accusing him of endangering Catholics. The smear came the same day Trump's own ambassador denied any rift with the Vatican — and forty-eight hours before Marco Rubio's audience with Leo in Rome. thelettersfromleo.com/p/endangering-…

NEW: Marco Rubio says that Donald Trump didn’t falsely accuse Pope Leo XIV of wanting Iran to have a nuclear weapon and “harming Catholics.” He’s wrong. Here are the receipts.

My father was a nuclear veteran during his tour of duty in the Korean War. In the Nevada desert, he witnessed 28 nuclear tests. 1951. The exposure to the ionizing radiation took his life 17 years later from acute leukemia. 1968. He was 40. I was 12. Pope Leo is absolutely right. Just war is indeed a very complex problem and ever since Hiroshima and Nagasaki the world must never use nuclear weapons again. For that matter, we must find pathways to peace which Leo has been preaching since his first words on the loggia as our new pontiff a year ago: Peace be with you. At this fraught hour, America's fight with Iran must end. This is not a just war. We were not threatened and the purported nuclear weapon that Iran could build is inconclusive according to reputable intelligence experts. For now, dialogue - however difficult - is paramount. My father never spoke about his tour of duty. A true patriot. He sacrificed his life for us today - that nuclear weapons can never again be used. Never.

⁦@Pontifex⁩: “To talk about just war today, itʼs a very complex problem. You have to analyze it on many levels, but ever since the entrance into the nuclear age, the whole concept of war has to be reevaluated.” ewtnnews.com/vatican/pope-l…

As a Catholic, Marco Rubio needs to look deep within. He has sold his soul to Donald Trump. "Little Marco", as Trump called him, has bent the knee to cruelty. During his upcoming meeting with Pope Leo he needs to listen and witness what true faith in Jesus Christ is. Rubio may have ambitions to become 48 in the Oval. If he has any hope for this, there will come a time sooner than later in my humble opinion for him to break with Trump and demonstrate what character means.

Pope Leo was questioned about Trump’s latest attack while leaving Castel Gandolfo, Leo’s response: “I do not believe that Rubio is coming on Thursday to discuss what happened today—or because of what happened today. The mission of the Church is to preach the Gospel, to preach peace. If anyone wishes to criticize me for proclaiming the Gospel, let them do so truthfully. For years, the Church has spoken out against all nuclear weapons; therefore, there is absolutely no doubt on that front. Consequently, I simply hope to be heard for the sake of the value of God's words."

@hans_zollner Fifth Sunday of Easter ..." I am the way, and the truth, and the life ... " Many blessings this Sunday in Him, our Lord, Redeemer 🙏

Blessed Sunday - buona domenica - feliz domingo - bon dimanche - einen gesegneten Sonntag - bom domingo do Senhor - blagoslovljena nedelja Chiesa Parrocchiale di San Nicolò Bardolino VR

Listen to Senator (Rev) Rafael Warnock, and learn how it was gutted. And for that matter any other Black brother and sister who have faced racism in our land for generations. 1965 landmark Voting Rights Act was an extraordinary achievement to right the wrongs of our horrid slavery past. This Supreme Court just turned back the clock for the next generation. Shameful.

@MarkJWilliams23 @ChristopherHale How was it gutted?

NEW: Pope Leo XIV appoints the youngest bishop in the United States. Robert Boxie III, 46, is a new auxiliary bishop of Washington. Boxie has been outspoken against the White House’s attacks against racial diversity. “It’s really frustrating — especially this moment that we’re living in. The attacks on ‘DEI’ — I don’t even know what that means anymore. It’s a term that’s been hijacked. It means a lot of things to a lot of different people.” “I think at its core, it’s what America is all about. We are a diverse nation with people from all over the world. Diversity is a good thing. Diversity is of God.” “And the fact that it’s been turned into something negative — or something that should be avoided or not talked about — just flies in the face of who we are as Americans.” “So much of our history has been exclusive, especially when it comes to race. And it’s just un-American; it’s un-Christian; it’s anti-Catholic.”

In the wake of the Supreme Court, made up of a majority of Catholics, choosing to gut the Voting Rights Act of 1965, in effect damaging the extraordinary legacy of MLK, this appointment by Pope Leo sends the right message: that diversity is right in and out of the Church for all brothers and sisters are loved. The Supreme Court decision on its face is blatantly racist and an affront to African Americans across our Republic. We are better than their decision and what they chose to do under the guise of being constitutional ignored the extraordinary history of Black struggle. Pope Leo is sending a strong message to Trump and his native America with this prelate appointment of Fr. Boxie. We shall overcome. 🙏

Fr Robert Boxie III has been named an Auxiliary Bishop of Washington, marking the first appointment of a new African-American Catholic prelate in nearly a decade. The Howard University chaplain, 45, is set to become the nation's youngest Catholic bishop. blackcatholicmessenger.org/fr-robert-boxi…

As a clerical abuse survivor, sexual sin, violation is arguably the greatest breach of trust in the Church. The wounds last a lifetime but healing does come with encounter, with those who model Christ, in the sacramental grace of the Eucharist. Never downplay the trauma; listen to the voices of victims / survivors in and out of the pews.

@histcatholiques There is no "buried question". Catholic Church has never considered sexual sin to be the most grave kind of sin. It has always been taught that, eg, a mortal sin of pride or envy is a worse sin than a mortal sexual sin.

Pope Leo XIV just turnPope Leo XIV just turned the issue of the hierarchy of sin into a major conservation. He quietly reopened one of Catholicism's most buried questions: how did sexual sin come to sit at the top of this moral hierarchy. And here of course history matters 1/10🧵

Humbly, my favorite feast day : ) "And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body; and they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked." Mark 14:51 By all accounts this young man was Mark who witnessed our Lord and who eventually penned the first Gospel around 70 AD. Thank God for this storyteller in the life of the Church.

Today is the Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist. Holy Mary, you were the first Christian evangelist. Your song of praise, the Magnificat, proclaims to the whole world the greatness of God and his boundless love for us.

Sadly, this man - Cesar Chavez - who died this day on April 23 in 1993, and the world knew as a staunch advocate for the poor, especially farmworkers in the rural West Coast fields of U.S. and was admired by many including RFK and Dorothy Day, was also a sexual predator as we learned just a few months ago from extraordinary reporting by The New York Times. As a clerical abuse survivor, I know the complexity of sexuality and how power over others oftentimes silences victims for decades, sometimes forever to the grave. In this Epstein era, we are reminded that truth eventually comes. As it is said in my program of recovery: "More will be revealed." And as Pope Francis penned in his autobiography, "Hope", released soon before his passing a year ago, "Covering up adds shame to shame." 🙏

What is so disheartening to me about Catholics who support Trump if you truly dig deep is that the majority cannot articulate a redeeming quality about the man. Whether you are so called conservative or progressive Catholic pilgrims of faith, it boggles my mind to equate Trump with living a life of the Beatitudes. If you truly study his entire life, he is a man so contrary to the Gospel. Truth matters and history will not treat this man well. And Catholic voters who have hung their hat on Trump will one day realize that there is only one God, Lord, Redeemer, Father, Son, Holy Spirit and it ain't Donald Trump. Period. Full stop.

This is somewhat horrifying, but telling. The Trump voters featured in this focus group pretty much all seemed prepared to throw Pope Leo overboard in favor of the orange man. Similar to my experience on the TRT World panel with Bill Donahue last week. youtu.be/9k4VOBfdCso?si…

Mother of Perpetual Help, we turn to you when we are in trouble. Walk with us, Loving Mother, as we continue our synodal journey, traveling in your Son’s footsteps by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The tyrants you boldly spoke about while addressing the people of Cameroon falls unquestionably at the doorstep of Russia and Vladimir Putin. His full scale unprovoked attack on Ukraine four years ago continues to wreak such pain and horror for our Ukrainian brothers and sisters. Putin, the strongman, is one of those tyrants. The Russian people, too, suffer from such dictatorial control. We learned that sadly with the passing of Alexander Nalvany a few years ago, likely from assassination, a man who sought peace and truth.

I am deeply saddened by the recent escalation of attacks against Ukraine, which continue to afflict civilians. I express my solidarity with those who are suffering and assure all the Ukrainian people of my prayers. I renew my appeal for weapons to fall silent and for the path of dialogue to be pursued.

@hans_zollner @iadcpug @UniGregoriana Bravo to Fr. Dr. Richard ✝️ You are carrying the essential message of Safeguarding in and beyond our Church.

The first student of the @iadcpug who defended his dissertation and now teaches at our Institute. @UniGregoriana

As a clerical abuse survivor, I applaud Bishop Mark O'Connell for taking the high road despite the financial hit to the Diocese of Albany. He is a prelate with courage to put survivors first and is modeling what the Church must continue to do along the synodal road to accompany victims / survivors ... the truly wounded by those in the Church. And + O'Connell calling out, in so many words, his predecessors' atrocious mishandling of the sexual abuse scandal is so right. As Pope Francis penned in his autobiography, "Hope", released just before his passing: "Covering up adds shame to shame." Francis was spot on. Albany and so many other places here in the U.S. and across the global Church must never stop listening to the voices of their own who experienced the trauma of sexual abuse, like me, in the pews.

Read Bishop Mark’s “Letter to the Faithful” after the news that the Diocese of Albany will pay $148 million to survivors of abuse by clergy and others. evangelist.org/news/2026/mar/… @RCDALife @RCDAmultimedia @NYSCatholicConf @OSVNews

To believe that Donald Trump didn't know he was posting himself as Jesus Christ is laughable. Trump is the consummate showman with sick narcissistic patterns and is far from dumb. He is extraordinarily calculating - the essence of a psychiatrically diagnosed narcissist. He knew exactly what he was doing. His theology is Him, hook, line and sinker and he posted that image to stir the pot believing his base sees him as the Messiah, even if he can't quote one piece of scripture by heart. I suggest he read The Sermon on the Mount and keep that section of the Bible on his nightstand - if he ever sleeps! Tweeting in the middle of the night about our Lord, Redeemer as himself was indeed blasphemous, more than dumb. And he is no match for Pope Leo nor is the recent convert to Catholicism, JD Vance. Leo is rooted in Augustine spiritually and is a man for all people everywhere; he will not be baited by Trump's lunacy nor Vance's rudimentary faith (I suggest engaging in much more spiritual direction over time on your Catholic journey and stop bowing to Trump ... remember, you once called him, "America's Hitler" ) ... Leo believes in community not self-aggrandizement ...and is already showing and modeling for us, across all faith traditions, throughout the globe, the Beatitudes in action as his authentic voice covers the world stage: Blessed are the peacemakers ✝️... Amen !

Critics rushed to call the AI meme depicting Trump as Jesus sacrilege. But the more likely explanation is simpler—and says more about online outrage than theology, writes Allie Beth Stuckey. thefp.com/p/trumps-jesus…

After reading your book, with the implied mystery, the question really early on of what will, in fact, be the north star of Pope Leo 's papacy (like Francis's clear narrative of a poor Church for the poor), we are seeing I believe before our eyes and listening with our ears what Leo will be and is about: peace. He said after the Conclave on the loggia: "Peace be with you" ... and now on the world stage, he is clearly, deeply concerned and moved by the violence in our midst by the likes of Trump and others. I am a year younger than Leo; as teenagers in the United States we were shaped by the wrongness of the Vietnam War and its aftermath, the backlash on the streets of the U.S., the civil rights era, etc.... a country in Asia - while still Communist - (as you point out in your book) is nonetheless growing more and more in its Catholic faith. As Leo articulates his disdain for "tyrant" leadership today in Cameroon, and taking in the beyond the pale recent cruelty of Trump by attacking Leo, the downfall of Viktor Orban in Hungary, and more, the world appears to be shifting albeit slowly but at the end of the day, Leo appears to be finding his authentic voice about what his papacy must be about at this hour: peace in our world. With AI, nuclear proliferation, increasing conflicts in Iran, Gaza, Ukraine, Lebanon, Darfur, Sudan and elsewhere, the Vicar of Christ is the world's pastor across all faith traditions and "Blessed are the peacemakers" ... I believe, just might be the title of his first encyclical. Leo's message of peace would resonate for the entire world. As his spiritual mentor St. Augustine penned: "Live well and the times will be good. We are the times."

Pope Leo warned that the world is being ravaged by “tyrants” in a strong address at a peace meeting in Bamenda, #Cameroon. His remarks had a global resonance: cnn.com/2026/04/16/afr…

JD Vance called Trump not that long ago, "America's Hitler." Has his ongoing journey as a Catholic soften his take on the most cruel Commander in Chief our Republic has ever known? Does he really believe that Trump's AI image depicting himself as Jesus Christ was a joke? I wonder what the pillow talk is between him and his wife, Usha, an Indian American - woman of color. I believe Mr. Vance is barking up the wrong tree to take on Pope Leo re Augustine and Just War Theory and anything else re the Roman Catholic doctrine. He ought to read over and over The Sermon on the Mount and do some serious soul searching about what Christ taught and modeled for us. BTW, these latest comments came at a Turning Point event with barely a seat taken up in the auditorium. Not even this young GOP inspired group bothered to show up.

JD Vance has said the pope needs to be “careful” when he talks about theology. And the Vice-President added Leo XIV needs to consider “Just War” teaching. It’s a striking criticism of the first Augustinian pope given the primary architect of Just War teaching is St Augustine.