Marcus Mescher

“They should have just complied!” They did and they got killed anyway. “They should have just obeyed the law.” They were and they got killed anyway. “They should have come here legally!” They did and they got killed anyway.

His name was Joan Sebastian Guerrero. He was only 26-years-old when Trump's Gestapo ICE Nazis shot him dead in his car. Guerrero's 3-year-old daughter — who was wearing Bluey pajamas and a small backpack — was right there and stood crying in the street during the gunfire. His wife was also present and fell to her knees next to their daughter, letting out what neighbors described as an "agonizing howl". Not surprisingly, ICE were not wearing body cameras. Since Trump launched 'Operation 1938 Germany' in January 2025, at least nine people have been killed in public shootings by ICE — and more than 50 people have died in detention

Elon Musk’s cuts to U.S.A.I.D. led to some 700,000 deaths, according to Atul Gawande, a former leading administrator at the agency. Gawande, backed by recent academic studies, believes that the death toll will likely reach seven figures. The policy is not only immeasurably cruel, he argues; it is also stupid, badly undermining what remains of American soft power and prestige. Gawande explains the human cost of DOGE’s war on U.S.A.I.D.: newyorkermag.visitlink.me/H5AQWr

The Initiative welcomes its 2026-27 fellows: Bob Bordone, Cecilia Flores, Jean Welch Hill, David Jimenez, Sr. Mūmbi Kīgūtha, CPPS, Marcus Mescher, Santiago Ramos, and Renée Darline Roden Read more about the fellows and the announcement here: catholicsocialthought.georgetown.edu/subtopics/2026… @bobbordone @jeanwelchhill @David_E_Jimenez @marcusmescher @xsantiagoramos

Humanity, created by God in all its grandeur, is today facing a pivotal choice: either to construct a new Tower of Babel or to build the city in which God and humanity dwell together. In Jesus Christ, this humanity in its grandeur becomes the Way, the Truth and the Life, opening the path for each of us to grow toward fullness. #MagnificaHumanitas vatican.va/content/leo-xi…

Hundreds of Catholic Leaders Express Support for Pope After Criticism from Trump @DylanCorbett23 @dan_misleh @Chris___Kerr @SBentleyva @KrisanneVMurphy @jlewDistrict @marcusmescher @jordandenari @bugideas @DetArchbishop @ArchbpCThompson @ABJohnCWester millennialjournal.com/2026/05/22/hun…

The Trump administration is rolling out a new narrative about its aid program: Aid continues! More effective than ever! Trade over aid! And it's nonsense. Trump and Musk destroyed a program that was saving a life once every 10 seconds on average. This has been Trump's most lethal policy, and now he's doubling down by withholding vaccines from poor countries -- like a $3 vaccine against malaria, and a $4 vaccine against cervical cancer. Some 600,000 will die just from that. "Trade over aid" sounds fine, but what it means in practice is that if Zambia doesn't agree to sell copper and cobalt to American companies, we'll withhold lifesaving aid from Zambian villagers. Here's my column on the hollowness of Trump's attempt to dress up his destruction of humanitarian aid, after a year to assess results: nytimes.com/2026/05/09/opi…

Happy Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. To honor him, advocate for the rights of workers, unions and labor, all part of Catholic social teaching. Image: Ade Bethune.

The demanding witness of Dan Berrigan in a world at war americamagazine.org/faithinfocus/2…

1st station: "Every person in authority will have to answer to God for the way they exercise their power." Jesus says, "whatever you do to another human being, especially to the small & vulnerable, you do unto me. And it is to me that you will one day give an account."

#PopeLeoXIV: Jesus “revealed the gentle face of God, who always rejects violence. Rather than saving Himself, He allowed Himself to be nailed to the cross, embracing every cross borne in every time and place throughout human history.” vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2…

Gaza: 96% of children say they feel death is imminent. After more than two years of war & relentless violence, young Palestinians face a deepening mental health emergency. Girls are at particular risk, including a rise in child marriage, @UNFPA reports. news.un.org/en/story/2026/…

“The only ones that need to be worried right now are Iranians that think they're gonna live.” -Pete Hegseth There is no version of Christianity that can defend this. Rebuke it, in the name of Jesus… the Prince of Peace.

I encourage you to read my statement, “A Call to Conscience” archchicago.org/en/statement/-…

Lord have mercy on us, sinners

I wake up to Trump and Israel bombing Iran… hitting a girls elementary school, and now 53 little girls are dead. That should be the headline, because that’s the reality. Grown men start a pointless war, while little girls pay the price.

This PSA is being released today by survivors of Epstein’s child rape trafficking in anticipation of Ghislaine Maxwell’s closed-door deposition before the House Oversight Committee Monday and AG Bondi testifying in front of the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday:

Racist caricatures have always circulated in American life. What makes this a crisis is that it came from the presidency—the office that symbolically represents the entire nation. 1/

Righteous anger—expelling the filth and corruption without harming anyone and getting killed for it.

It’s heartbreaking to see Renee Good and Alex Pretti — who model such compassion, courage, and solidarity — executed in the street by federal agents. And then for officials in the White House to lie to the American people only heaps more evil upon evil. nytimes.com/2026/01/25/opi…