Remembering
James Robison

You are viewing a page from our archive site. To browse the latest Christian TV content on The Stream, click here.

The Affogato: Pope’s New Bishop Demands Priests Stand “In Solidarity” with Illegal Aliens. So Let Them Renounce Their U.S. Citizenship

Plus, Day 10 of Where in the World is John Zmirak?

By John Zmirak Published on June 16, 2025

I’m writing from the island of Rhodes, in Greece, which once stood as a stronghold against the foreign invasion of Christendom by the marauding, conquering Turks. (But don’t worry, I’ll be somewhere else by the time you read this! Let the games continue for another day or two.) Later this week I’ll give my reflections on what it was like to visit the tragic remnants of Constantinople contained by modern Istanbul.) But the influx of pushy foreigners who don’t respect the laws and system of a venerable nation is much on my mind, as I watch the riots staged by native Leftist thugs and shameless illegal aliens in cities across my own beloved homeland.

And I’m shamed, though not surprised, to see my own church siding with the lawless, violent mob. MSN reports:

The first U.S. bishop appointed by Pope Leo XIV has called for priests, deacons and parish leaders to accompany migrants to court and stand in solidarity with them.

Rev. Michael Pham, who was named bishop of San Diego, California, by Pope Leo in May, wrote a letter about the action on Wednesday, along with Rev. Felipe Pulido and Rev. Ramón Bejarano, both appointed by the previous pontiff, Pope Francis.

“On the morning of June 20th, which is International Refugee Day, a group of priests and faith leaders are planning to visit the federal court building to stand in solidarity with migrants who are making their court appearances,” they wrote.

In a piece of bitter irony, it turns out that Pham himself is a refugee from South Vietnam, which was undermined by Marxist radicals of the sort now hurling bricks at American cops. His nation fell into chaos and tyranny so his parents had to flee. He knows better. He’s without excuse.

Now I hate being at odds with the leaders of my church, who stand as heirs (however unworthy) to the apostles. So I have an idea for creative synergy that would allow priests and bishops like Pham to indeed “stand in solidarity” with illegal aliens.

They should renounce their U.S. citizenship, and insist on being deported along with the illegal aliens. They should march up to ICE agents and turn themselves in, then troop along in handcuffs with those being repatriated to Honduras, China, or Syria. Since none of those nations would take them, those priests would then be genuine refugees (not economic migrants repeating words from a Soros-penned script). That would be what it really means to “stand in solidarity.”

But of course none of them will do that. Instead they will take full advantage of their status as U.S. citizens in a tax-exempt organization that receives hundreds of millions of federal dollars each year to process immigrants to help frustrate the enforcement of just, bipartisan, democratically enacted immigration laws.

I wish there were a way to strip any American who favors open borders of citizenship and deport them along with the rest. Oh well. We live in a fallen world, and justice must often wait for the next life rather than be done here in this one. But here’s one reform that could help: The U.S. Department of Justice should look into stripping the Vatican of its undeserved immunity from civil lawsuits for the sex abuse and human trafficking of immigrants that U.S. bishops enabled. Let churchmen pay the price for lawlessness instead of simply virtue-signaling over it, like Pharisees blowing trumpets as they cast their alms at beggars.

Assassin Kills Two Lawmakers in Minnesota

As the Left keeps stoking division with incendiary rhetoric and attacks on police, the potential for a cycle of violence and counter-violence increases. The details are far from clear, and some of those we have heard might well be false flags, but so far this is what we know about the latest instance of political violence in America, according to the ABC News affiliate KSTP. This took place near Minneapolis early Saturday morning:

The man who authorities say impersonated a police officer and shot two state lawmakers north of the Twin Cities is believed to be 57-year-old Vance Boelter, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Authorities say House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were both shot and killed at their home in Brooklyn Park around 3:35 a.m. About an hour and a half beforehand, Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were shot at their residence in Champlin.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS obtained documents that show Boelter was twice appointed to the nonpartisan Governor’s Workforce Development Board, first in 2016 under former Gov. Mark Dayton and again in 2019 under Gov. Tim Walz. …

Law enforcement sources told ABC News dozens of Minnesota Democrats were on a target list written by the alleged gunman. Walz, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, U.S. Sen. Tina Smith and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison were all on the list.

A source close to the investigation told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS the list included up to 70 names and targeted progressive leaders, elected officials and supporters of abortion rights.

Investigators also recovered a stack of flyers that said “No Kings” — a possible reference to anti-Donald Trump protests planned nationwide on Saturday.

Both state representatives had just voted in favor of a budget that stripped illegal aliens of state medical benefits. It’s still unclear what happened here, but Walz was quick to take to the airwaves to decry it as an act of “politically motivated” violence. Pray for the victims and their families, for the truth to be revealed, and for civil peace in our country.

Breaching the Capitol Has Consequences … Right?

CNN reports (h/t Gateway Pundit):

A group of approximately 75 protesters were demonstrating peacefully at the Supreme Court, just across the street from the US Capitol, according to a statement from the Capitol Police. As the group was leaving the area, officers began establishing a perimeter of bike racks to keep the protesters away from the Capitol.

“A few people pushed the bike rack down and illegally crossed the police line while running towards the Rotunda Steps,” the Capitol Police said. “Our officers immediately blocked the group and began making arrests.”

Police said, “All will be charged with unlawful demonstration and crossing a police line. Additional charges for some will include assault on a police officer and resisting arrest.”

One law enforcement official told CNN the demonstrators were part of a veterans’ group protesting fascism. CNN has reached out to the group but has not heard back. It wasn’t immediately clear how many organizations were involved in the protest.

Now let me refresh my memory here. When grandmas walked through open doors past friendly cops into the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 to protest a stolen election, that was the worst thing that had happened to America since Fort Sumter/Pearl Harbor/September 11, wasn’t it? So it was absolutely necessary to throw those protestors into solitary confinement and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law, including using obscure, unrelated laws linked to Enron shredding documents. Have I got that right? Are those the new rules in America?

I hope and pray that the Justice Department applies those same rules to these opponents of “fascism,” by which they mean U.S. sovereignty. The only way such ugly new rules get repealed is if those who put them in place start facing the results of them in every context — both legally and at the ballot box. And to those who say “two wrongs don’t make a right” I answer: “Then why do we imprison kidnappers?”

If you appreciate The Stream archives, please consider supporting the outreaches of LIFE.

Israel’s War with Iran Isn’t Over Yet

President Donald Trump must do absolutely everything possible to keep the U.S. entirely out of the conflict between Israel and Iran, which is far from over.

We didn’t elect Trump to get the U.S. into land wars in Eurasia, and the time to pick a fight with a terrorist-sponsoring nation isn’t when we have more than 10 million foreigners roaming around our country unaccounted for. Even if Iran cynically launches direct attacks on U.S. forces, trying to drag us in, Trump should stand firm and leave all the fighting to Israel — the same way Israel didn’t respond to Saddam Hussein’s attacks in 2003, which were meant to paint the U.S. war with Iraq as an Arab-Israeli conflict.

The Israeli strikes so far have been reasonably precise and aimed at appropriate military targets. Given Iran’s long commitment to genocide in Israel and its sponsorship of Hamas and Hezbollah, I can’t say that Israel’s actions weren’t morally justified. They absolutely were. Time will tell if they prove prudent. It’s certainly a mitzvah that the mullahs of Teheran are now much further away from having the power to obliterate cities full of innocents.

We must pray for all the civilians in the region — including those in Gaza, who are stuck in the middle of Hamas’s last bitter stand. I reiterate what I wrote last week: The only humane solution to that humanitarian nightmare is for Israel to return Gaza to Egypt and for the U.S. to force Egypt to accept it, along with the responsibility for returning the Israeli hostages. Then Israel should build a wall like the one that stopped most terrorist attacks in the West Bank.

Promoting sane, diplomatic compromises like that should be the extent of U.S. involvement in this conflict. Trump should remember that if we’d wanted another Bush administration, we would have elected Jeb.

Town That Kicked Out a Spirit-Filled Church in Colorado Climbs Down, Pays Court Costs

Score a win for religious freedom!

The energetic defenders of the First Amendment at First Liberty Institute report that the town of Castle Rock in Colorado has backed down from persecuting a local church that was conducting ministry to homeless people via trailers on its own property. The church had filed a federal lawsuit against the town last May for seeking to prevent it from doing so, and the town has now settled the case. According to the terms, the town

will recognize the church’s ability to continue to operate its on-site temporary shelter ministry, use its building to provide emergency shelter (including partnering with the Red Cross), and even operate its coffee shop at cost or for voluntary donations. Further, the Town of Castle Rock agreed to pay $225,000 toward the church’s attorney’s fees.

Why did the town ever seek to stop a church from sheltering the homeless? It doesn’t sound like anti-Christian bias so much as suburban Not In My Backyard prissiness, at least from the terms of the agreement:

As part of this agreement, a new Letter of Determination will permit the Rock to operate its On-Site Temporary Shelter Ministry located in its existing parking lot. The Town has the option to install additional fencing or landscaping to partially screen the location of the units from the surrounding neighborhood in accordance with the terms of the agreement. [emphasis added]

Where in the World Is John Zmirak?

This isn’t Rhodes. It’s a tourist mecca island, whose pictures of white buildings with blue domes graced the Greek restaurants of Astoria, Queens, where both John Zmirak and Eric Metaxas, who hosted his Mediterranean cruise tour, were born.

Keep those guesses coming for a chance to get a free gift from us at the end of the month.

Do you think you know where John is? Send your guesses to us at [email protected] or visit our Facebook page.

The Affogato summer series game: Where in the World is John Zmirak?

Along The Stream …

Don’t miss Randy Robison’s powerful meditation on fatherhood, especially God’s. He knows about tender, loving fathers, since James Robison is his.

How do we build faith that really weathers the storms of life? Later this morning, Pastor Shane Idleman offers a passionate, personal testimony about his own journey toward an antifragile faith.

 

John Zmirak is a senior editor at The Stream and author or coauthor of 14 books, including The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Catholicism. His newest book is No Second Amendment, No First.