Letters to the Editor: Readers have mixed feelings about what it means to have an American pope
Ted Rosenblatt, Hancock Park
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To the editor: Many readers will applaud Arellano's opinion piece. It is indeed inspirational. But, as often happens with these inspirational pieces, the writer gets carried away in places. For example, he gushes that the U.S. remains 'the greatest country on Earth."
Oh, really? Does military-economic hegemony add up to the greatest? The U.S. is a great nation and offers opportunity to many immigrants. But when factors like healthcare satisfaction and infant mortality are considered, we don't rate so highly.
Juan Bernal, Santa Ana
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To the editor: Arellano, rather than merely express his elation over the election of Pope Leo XIV as the first American pope, manipulates the occasion to submit another polemic against President Trump.
Realistically, Robert Francis Prevost's election as Pope Leo has nothing to do with his charitable virtues and 'peace of the risen Christ.' It has everything to do with political motivations. The Catholic Church has always been immersed in politics, which have constantly been its guiding light.
Giuseppe Mirelli, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Thank you for your beautiful article about our new pope. For months, the citizens of America have lived in darkness experiencing the vindictive hatred the president has for the poor, underprivileged and foreign born.
As we see on Easter Vigil, the light of Christ resurrected eliminates the darkness. I finally have hope for my country.
Joan Andersen, Apple Valley
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To the editor: In his column about the newly elected pope, Arellano writes, 'I'm not sure how many of us — Catholic or not — will heed Pope Leo's invitation to embrace peace and reflect on what we can do to better us all.' I have a question for Arellano: Will he also heed the pope's teachings on abortion, homosexuality, traditional marriage and gender ideology? I'd be willing to bet my mortgage that he won't.
Sam Chaidez, Mission Hills
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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Associated Press
39 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Pope Leo XIV resumes the tradition of taking a summer vacation. But he's got plenty of homework
VATICAN CITY (AP) — In his very first sermon as pontiff, Pope Leo XIV told the cardinals who elected him that anyone who exercises authority in the Catholic Church must 'make oneself small,' so that only Christ remains. In word and deed since, Leo has seemed intent on almost disappearing into the role. The shy Augustinian missionary has eschewed the headline-grabbing protagonism of past pontiffs in favor a less showy and more reserved way of being pope. Leo will disappear further this weekend when he begins a six-week vacation in his first break since his historic election May 8. Leo is resuming the papal tradition of escaping the Roman heat for the relatively cooler climes of Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer retreat on Lake Alban, south of Rome. People who know and work with Leo expect he will use these weeks away from the public eye and the daily grind of Vatican audiences to get his head around the most pressing problems facing the church. He's a methodical, hard-working and well-prepared manager, they say, who wants to read entire reports, not just the executive summaries, before making decisions. Here is a look at Leo's summer homework, the outstanding dossiers he may be studying from now until Aug. 17 in between dips in the pool, walks in the gardens and occasional Masses, prayers and visits in town. Big nominations After his election, Leo reappointed all Vatican prefects until further notice, so the Holy See machinery is still working with the old guard in place. But a few major appointments await, most importantly to fill his old job as prefect of the office that vets bishop nominations. Leo also has to decide who will be his No. 2, the Vatican secretary of state. That job, the equivalent of a prime minister, is still held by Francis' pick, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who was himself an unsuccessful contender in the conclave that elected Leo pope. Even before he gets his people in place, Leo has to get a handle on one of the most pressing problems facing the Holy See: Its troubled finances. The Vatican is running a structural deficit of around 50 million to 60 million euros ($59-71 million) and has a 1 billion euro ($1.18 billion) shortfall in its pension fund. The Rupnik problem There are plenty of high-profile clergy sex cases that festered during Francis' pontificate that are now are on Leo's desk. History's first American pope will be watched closely to see how he handles them, since he cannot claim ignorance about abuse or its dynamics, given the devastation the scandals have wrought in the United States. Leo has already said it's 'urgent' to create a culture of prevention in the church that shows no tolerance for any form of abuse, be it abuse of authority or spiritual or sexual abuse. On that score, there is no case more pressing than that of the Rev. Marko Rupnik, a famous mosaic artist who was belatedly thrown out of the Jesuits after its superiors determined he sexually, psychologically and spiritually abused two dozen adult women and nuns. Even though the case didn't involve minors, it became a toxic problem for Francis because of suggestions Rupnik received favorable treatment at the Vatican under the Jesuit pope. Nearly two years after Francis caved into pressure to reopen the Rupnik file, the Vatican has finally found external canon lawyers to hear the case, the head of the Vatican's doctrine office, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, told reporters last week. As recently as March, Fernandez had said he was having trouble finding any willing candidates. Now that Francis is dead, the case may be less politically delicate, even as the priest's supporters maintain his innocence. The Becciu case Another legal headache facing Leo is what to do about Cardinal Angelo Becciu and the Vatican's 'trial of the century,' which is heading into the appeals phase in September. The city-state's criminal tribunal in 2023 convicted Becciu and eight other people of a variety of financial crimes stemming from the Holy See's bungled 350 million euro ($412 million) investment in a London property. But the trial was itself problematic, with defense claims that basic defense rights weren't respected since Francis intervened on several occasions in favor of prosecutors. In the months since the verdicts were handed down, there have been new revelations that Vatican gendarmes and prosecutors were apparently in regular touch with a woman who was coaching the star witness into testifying against Becciu. The once-powerful cardinal has denounced the contacts as evidence that his conviction was orchestrated from the start, from the top. Leo, a canon lawyer, may want to steer clear of the whole thing to try to give the tribunal the impression of being independent. But Leo will ultimately have to decide what to do with Becciu, who recused himself from the conclave but remains a cardinal with a very unclear status. The Latin Mass issue Leo has said his priority as pope is unity and reconciliation in the church. Many conservatives and traditionalists hope that means he will work to heal the liturgical divisions that spread during Francis' 12-year papacy, especially in the U.S., over the old Latin Mass. Francis in 2021 restricted access for ordinary Catholics to the ancient liturgy, arguing that its spread was creating divisions in the church. In doing so, Francis reversed his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who in 2007 had relaxed restrictions on its celebration. Cardinal Raymond Burke, a figurehead of the conservative and traditionalist camp, told a recent conference on the Latin Mass that he had spoken to Leo about the need to 'put an end to the present persecution of the faithful' who want to worship according to the old rite. 'It it is my hope that he will as soon as it is possible take up the study of this question and try to restore the situation as it was' under Benedict's reform, Burke said. AI and travel priorities Leo has also identified artificial intelligence as a pressing issue facing humanity, suggesting a document of some sort might be in the works. Also under study is when he will start traveling, and where. Leo has a standing invitation to undertake Francis' last, unfulfilled foreign commitment: Marking the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea, Christianity's first ecumenical council, with a visit to Turkey. Leo has already said a visit is in the works, possibly in late November. Beyond that, Leo has received plenty of invitations: Vice President JD Vance extended a Trump invitation to visit the U.S., but Leo demurred and offered a noncommittal 'at some point.' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited him to visit Kyiv, but the Vatican under Francis had refused a papal visit there unless one could also be arranged to Moscow. Leo's old diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, meanwhile, is waiting for their bishop to come home, and then there's Argentina, which never got a papal visit from the first-ever Argentine pope. A town awaits The residents of Castel Gandolfo, meanwhile, are aching for a pope to return. Francis had decided not to use the retreat and instead spent his 12 papal summers at home, in the Vatican. The town has recovered from the economic hit of pope-free summers, after Francis instead opened the papal palace and gardens to the public as a museum year-round. But townsfolks cannot wait for Leo to take up residence and enjoy the town's gorgeous lake views and quiet starry nights. It's the perfect place for a pope to rest, read, write and think in private, they say. 'Remember, many encyclicals were written here,' noted the Rev. Tadeusz Rozmus, the town's parish priest. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
Some Social Security Recipients Will See Wage Garnishment in Just Weeks
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. In roughly 20 days, some Social Security recipients could experience wage garnishment as a higher Social Security claw back rate returns. Roughly 2 million Americans owed money to the Social Security Administration due to overpayments in 2023, according to KFF and Cox Media group. Starting July 24, the higher wage garnishments will go into effect until the full overpayment has been resolved. Why It Matters President Donald Trump has implemented a wide range of changes to the Social Security Administration (SSA). In addition to ending the use of paper checks by October, Trump also appointed former Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano as the new SSA commissioner. The Department of Government Efficiency also instructed the agency to cut 7,000 SSA jobs. For beneficiaries who have been mistakenly overpaid, losing Social Security benefits could have severe consequences on their ability to pay for basic necessities. Roughly 21 percent of married couples and 45 percent of single recipients rely on Social Security for 90 percent or more of their income, according to SSA estimates. A sign is seen outside a US Social Security Administration building, November 5, 2020, in Burbank, California. A sign is seen outside a US Social Security Administration building, November 5, 2020, in Burbank, California. VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images What To Know In some circumstances, the SSA overpays Social Security recipients due to either miscalculations on their part or the recipient failing to update their earnings information. In March, the SSA said it would be bringing back its 100 percent claw back rate for Social Security recipients who were mistakenly overpaid by the government. During Joe Biden's presidency, that rate was set at 10 percent to allow seniors more breathing room to pay for their basic necessities. However, the SSA updated that garnishment rate to 50 percent in April. "When we determine an individual receiving Title II benefits is overpaid, we send them a notice requesting a full and immediate refund and inform them of their right to request reconsideration or a waiver of recovery," the SSA said in April. "We usually provide 90 days for the individual to request a lower rate of withholding, a reconsideration, or waiver." The 90-day period from the SSA's statement on April 25 ends July 24, meaning more than a million recipients could see their payments impacted. However, those who have been overpaid can file for an overpayment waiver. Form SSA-632BK asks for forgiveness for the overpayment if it was not your fault and it would create financial hardship. To get this approved, you'll need proof that repaying the money would create a significant hardship. Beneficiaries can also file Form SSA-561 to appeal the claim you were overpaid. Newsweek reached out to the SSA for comment via email. What People Are Saying Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast, told Newsweek: "Most recipients don't realize they've been overpaid until they receive a letter from the SSA. Without regularly reviewing your earnings history and benefit statements, overpayments can go unnoticed. Even if the error wasn't your fault, you're still responsible for repayment—unless you appeal, request a waiver, or set up a payment plan within the 90-day period." What Happens Next The loss of income could be dire for many Social Security recipients who rely on the benefits for most if not all of their income. A recent report from Gallup found 86 percent rely on Social Security as a "major" or "minor" income source. "The consequences can be significant, especially for retirees living on a fixed income. With inflation still elevated, a 50 percent reduction in benefits could severely impact housing, food, and healthcare," Thompson said. "For many, Social Security is their only source of income—making these garnishments potentially devastating."
Hamilton Spectator
2 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
What if killing Canada's digital services tax is just the beginning for Donald Trump?
OTTAWA—Call it a prudent climbdown, a show of weakness, or an unavoidable concession. There are several ways to look at Prime Minister Mark Carney's 11th-hour decision to cancel the federal government's Digital Services Tax last weekend. But what if it's also a tangible example of exactly what Carney warned would happen? The Liberal leader won a minority government on April 28 with a pitch that no one was better placed than himself to protect Canada from Donald Trump. The U.S. president has mused about using 'economic force' to annex Canada. As if taunting or teasing this country, he questions why it exists, and keeps floating the prospect of it becoming the '51st state' of the U.S. Two days before the election, Carney spelled out how he understood all of this. 'The U.S. is trying to put economic pressure on us to gain major concessions, to the extreme of a level of integration of our countries that would impinge our sovereignty,' Carney said that day in King City, north of Toronto. Carney, in his final campaign conference, ruled out any prospect the U.S. would use military Flash forward to last week. There was Trump, posting on social media that Canada's incoming Digital Services Tax — a policy that would force American tech giants and other firms, including Canadian ones, to pay up — was nothing short of a 'blatant attack' on the United States. Trump declared he had cut off all negotiations to resolve the trade war that started earlier this year with his wave of tariffs on Canadian goods. In other words, Canada's most important commercial and military partner, the destination for 76 per cent of all exports last year , was willing to ditch talks and dictate terms that could jeopardize thousands of jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars in economic activity. All over a domestic policy the Americans didn't like. Barely 48 hours later, shortly before midnight on a Sunday, the government announced the tax was dead. Not only would Canada not implement the policy as planned, it would repeal the 2024 law that created it. Is this Trump using economic pressure to force Canada's hand? 'It is exactly that,' said Lawrence Herman, a veteran trade lawyer and special counsel with the firm, Cassidy Levy Kent. 'It's an example of, on a particular issue, how much pressure can be brought to bear to force Canada to abandon not only a policy, but a law that has been in force for 18 months.' In Herman's view, the decision looks like a 'significant retreat' by the government, which shows 'how dependent we are on a reasonable relationship' with Canada's largest trading partner. Other policies that Trump has complained about, such as the supply management system for dairy and poultry, could be next, he said. Pete Hoekstra, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, told the CBC this week that he has a 'strong belief' Canada could water down that system by changing a law designed to protect it if that becomes part of a new trade deal. 'It's not a particularly good start to this so-called new economic and security relationship,' Herman said. He was referring to Carney's stated goal of talks that are now continuing under an agreement struck at the Group of 7 summit in the Alberta Rockies last month to strive for a deal to redefine the relationship by July 21. Others have been harsher in their judgment. Lloyd Axworthy, a former Liberal foreign affairs minister, posted online that Carney was acquiescing to Trump in a way that contradicts his 'elbows up' mantra on the campaign trail. 'Forget any dreams of a more sovereign, self-directed Canada. We're doubling down on the corporate cosiness and U.S. dependency that's defined our last half-century,' he wrote on Substack. Axworthy did not respond to an interview request Thursday. For Jean Charest, a former Quebec premier who sits on the government's Canada-U.S. advisory council, the situation illustrates the 'chaos' of dealing with Trump, whose administration is grappling with trade talks and tariffs threats against most countries on the planet. This meant that Carney's government was operating 'in a world of very bad choices,' Charest said. Deciding to scrap the Digital Services Tax, in that context, was 'certainly a legitimate choice,' he said. 'We are not in an ordinary world of negotiations,' Charest added. 'It would be nice to think, 'You give, I give ... we compromise.' It doesn't work that way with Donald Trump, and we're making our way through this by trying to protect essentially what's the most important for us in the short term, and that's a negotiation that has some legs.' Charest noted that there was opposition inside Canada to the Digital Services Tax, which would have applied back to 2022 with a three per cent tax on Canadian revenues from digital services companies with more than $1.1 billion in global earnings and $20 million inside Canada. The U.S. also pushed back against the policy when Joe Biden was in power. David Pierce, vice-president of government relations with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said his business lobby group felt the Digital Services Tax should be paused. He also said it would have been wrong to proceed with it after the U.S. dropped a controversial provision from Trump's major budget bill last week: the so-called 'revenge tax' that would have hit the U.S. assets of foreign businesses and individuals. That decision came as the G7 agreed to exempt American firms from a co-ordinated effort to ensure corporations pay a minimum tax, which was 'absolutely a win' for the U.S. Even so, Pierce said Canada likely had no choice but to drop the policy, given Trump's exploitation of Canada's 'weakness' — its major economic reliance on trade with the U.S. 'We just hope that this now paves the way for a good renewed deal,' said Pierce. The ultimate goal of the federal government in that deal, at least publicly, has been to return to the terms of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which Trump signed in 2018 during his first term, after disparaging North American free trade as unfair to his country. That would mean lifting the rounds of tariffs Trump has imposed since the winter, with import duties tied to concerns about drugs and migration over the border, and others that Trump slapped on Canadian autos, steel and aluminum in a bid to promote those sectors in the U.S. Canada has responded with countertariffs on its own that the government says hit more than $80 billion worth of American imports to Canada. Canada's lead trade negotiator with the Trump administration, Ambassador Kirsten Hillman, was not available for an interview this week, the embassy in Washington told the Star. Charest, however, said he believes it is possible that Canada could accept some level of tariffs in a July 21 deal, so long as they have no material effect. Such 'zero-effect' tariffs could only kick in at levels of trade that Canada doesn't or likely won't achieve, for example. Yet there's a question of how much any deal can be relied upon, so long as Trump is in the White House, unilaterally imposing tariffs that Canada views as 'illegal' violations of the 2018 trade deal. 'Trump is arguing about supply management and the (Digital Services Tax), but it's the U.S. that is in flagrant breach of its trade obligations. It's abandoned the CUSMA, virtually behaving as if it did not exist and the U.S. signature has no meaning,' Herman said. 'So we are in a world where rules and the rules-based system, and the stability that that treaty was supposed to provide, have gone by the board.' That means, at least for now, the Carney government is operating in a world where Canada's foremost ally, the colossus to the south, will use economic force to get what it wants.
