Man whose premature birth was declared a 'miracle' by Pope Leo is now wanted by police over double shooting



Tyquan Johnson stopped breathing when he was born prematurely in 2007 and was dead for 65 minutes before a physician's prayer miraculously led to the baby regaining a heartbeat, according to the Catholic Church.

Nineteen years later, police are searching for Johnson under an arrest warrant listing felony assault with a firearm and firing in a compact area.

'If God didn't want me in this world, He would just let me die on that table. But he wanted to give me a second chance.'

The revival of Johnson as a baby was considered a miracle because the attending physician had invoked the aid of Father Salvador Valera Parra in prayer immediately before Johnson came back to life.

The Catholic Church investigated the incident for years before Pope Leo XIV officially recognized it as a miracle in 2025.

Johnson is being sought over a double shooting in Newport, Rhode Island, on July 19, along with another man who is being sought for questioning.

Police said they found two victims, ages 22 and 25, who had been shot. They were transported to a hospital for treatment of gunshot injuries that were not life-threatening.

Detectives said they believe the shooting was targeted.

Johnson and the other man sought are believed to be armed and dangerous, according to a police Facebook post.

Johnson's mother told WPRI-TV that she had not talked to him for several days.

RELATED: Pope calls for gun control in US after Texas mass shooting, Chicago Cardinal agrees: 'The Second Amendment did not come down from Sinai'

Johnson was interviewed in 2025 after his revivification was declared a miracle.

"I feel normal. ... I can do everything a normal person would do. It definitely has changed my faith a lot because I'm destined to be in this world," he told WAVY-TV.

"If God didn't want me in this world, He would just let me die on that table. But he wanted to give me a second chance," he added.

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Pope Leo assigns conservative archbishop who denied Pelosi the Eucharist to key Vatican role



Pope Leo XIV has overseen a shakeup at the Vatican sure to vex progressives: assigning an American conservative who has fought against the LGBT agenda and abortion activism to the Catholic Church's highest court.

Weeks after excommunicating all members of the Society of St. Pius X and declaring it a schismatic sect, the Vatican announced a number of resignations and appointments.

'It is a position of great prestige and trust within the Catholic Church.'

While declining to renew the term of Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark — a progressive cleric who has tipped his biretta to the LGBT community and championed migrant causes — Pope Leo XIV appointed on July 25 seven new members to the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.

Among the new members are a pair of American bishops — San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone and Bishop Edward Lohse of Kalamazoo — and two Spanish canon lawyers who belong to Opus Dei, a conservative Catholic institution.

These appointments do not require a relocation to Rome.

Maggie Gallagher, executive director of the Cordileone-founded Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship, told Blaze News that "the Apostolic Signatura is essentially the Supreme Court of the Catholic Church (except that the Pope may intervene and overturn a court ruling)."

"It doesn't issue rulings on Catholic teachings, but on cases against individuals including for example judgements of nullity for marriages, and charges against other judges, etc," continued Gallagher. "It is a position of great prestige and trust within the Catholic Church and the appointment of Archbishop Cordileone is clear indication that Pope Leo appreciates his competence and his leadership."

Gallagher added that Archbishop Cordileone's appointment "does not mean of course that the Pope agrees with all the positions he has taken, but he is clearly signaling that these views do not put you on the outs with Rome, and that is a great relief to many Catholics in the United States, especially for Catholics attached to the traditional Latin Mass."

Cordileone, the San Diego native whom President Donald Trump appointed last year to serve on the advisory board of the White House's Religious Liberty Commission, is the archbishop who was harassed by California radicals for denying communion to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a professed Catholic within the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

RELATED: 'It's insanity': Massachusetts Democrats pass bill that would make it open season on viable babies

Franco Origlia/Getty Images

In May 2022, Archbishop Cordileone — who has referred to abortion in America as a "genocide on life in the womb" — provided Pelosi with a refresher on the Church's moral teaching that abortion is a "grave moral evil," and stressed that there can be no more extreme example of "throwaway culture" than "when direct attacks on human life are enshrined in a nation’s law, celebrated by society, and even paid for by the government."

Citing canon law — which states that those "obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion" — as well as the instruction of Pope Benedict XVI, the American archbishop said it was his responsibility to bar the Democrat from what the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls the "source and summit of the Christian life":

After numerous attempts to speak with her to help her understand the grave evil she is perpetrating, the scandal she is causing, and the danger to her own soul she is risking, I have determined that the point has come in which I must make a public declaration that she is not to be admitted to Holy Communion unless and until she publicly repudiate her support for abortion ''rights” and confess and receive absolution for her cooperation in this evil in the sacrament of Penance.

Pelosi remained unrepentant and attacked Archbishop Cordileone on the network then known as MSNBC, complaining, "Our archbishop has been vehemently against LGBTQ rights too."

Archbishop Cordileone is on the radar of GLAAD and other non-straight activist organizations, not only for his defense of the Catholic teaching that "all sexual acts outside of a marriage between one man and one woman are morally wrong and do not serve the good of the person or society," but for his rejection of gender ideology, long-standing defense of the institution of marriage, and advocacy for protecting the First Amendment freedoms of those opposed to the LGBT agenda.

In addition to holding fast to the teachings of the Church, Archbishop Cordileone has called — especially in the wake of the SSPX schism — for greater Catholic access to the traditional Latin Mass.

Archbishop Cordileone said in a statement on Saturday, "I am deeply grateful to the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, for this appointment as a member of the Supreme Apostolic Signatura. I receive this responsibility with a profound sense of stewardship, recognizing that every office in the Church is entrusted for the service of Christ, His people, and the mission of the Gospel."

"The Supreme Apostolic Signatura assists the Holy Father in safeguarding the proper administration of justice within the life of the Church," continued the archbishop. "Justice in the Church is never merely legal; it is ordered toward the salvation of souls, the protection of the rights of the faithful, and the strengthening of ecclesial communion. I am honored to contribute to that important mission."

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Possible school massacre thwarted after homosexual allegedly threatens Catholic nuns, governor



A potential massacre at a Christian high school in Nebraska was thwarted thanks to the swift action taken by school officials and the Nebraska State Patrol.

Columbus Catholic Schools, a unified educational system that serves over 850 students in Nebraska, received a message on June 26 threatening Scotus Central Catholic, a Christ-centered high school in Columbus.

'The heated political rhetoric that too often leads to radicalization and violence must cool off.'

Jeff Ohnoutka, the executive director of CCS, said in a statement on Friday that after he was made aware of the "disturbing threat," he immediately brought it to the attention of the NSP and the Columbus Police Department.

According to the NSP, the message "included a threat of violence to the school and Governor Pillen's family."

Republican Governor Jim Pillen and his wife, Suzanne, have four children and seven grandchildren. The family is Roman Catholic.

In a post under the name "Bobby McGee" on the Facebook page for Columbus Catholic Schools, 32-year-old homosexual Ean Halstead of Omaha allegedly wrote, "I’m going to shoot up this school and kill Jim Pillen’s children and a few nuns for (expletive) funsies," reported WOWT-TV.

RELATED: International pro-life leader assassinated at home

Gov. Jim Pillen (R). Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc./Getty Images

Within hours of learning of the threat, authorities identified an apartment in Omaha that was linked to the IP address associated with the social media post.

Authorities promptly made contact with Halstead outside an apartment complex on Bedford Avenue, but "the man refused commands from troopers, ran to the apartment, and barricaded himself inside," said the NSP.

Law enforcement on the scene — reinforced by NSP SWAT — obtained a search warrant for the residence as well as an arrest warrant and were able ultimately to coax the suspect out and into handcuffs without incident.

Halstead was initially charged with obstructing a police officer and failure to obey a lawful order.

Following further investigation and an examination of electronic items seized during a search of his residence, the NSP rearrested Halstead on July 17 and charged him with terroristic threats and destruction of evidence.

Halstead is currently being held at the Douglas County Department of Corrections. The NSP told Blaze News that the investigation remains ongoing.

According to court documents reviewed by the Plains Sentinel, Halstead has a "history of violent tendencies" and was previously slapped with a protection order from an ex-boyfriend for allegedly brandishing a knife and threatening to "kill him and their dogs while they slept."

WOWT reported that Halstead was convicted for threatening his ex-lover and setting his bedroom on fire while filming.

Gov. Pillen's chief of staff, Dave Lopez, said in a statement, "We are extremely grateful to the dedicated investigators of the Nebraska State Patrol and allied law enforcement agencies for their quick and thorough work to track down this individual and ensure the security of the First Family."

"We have zero tolerance for political violence here in Nebraska, including threats to carry it out," continued Lopez. "If you threaten violence against a public official or their family in this state, you will be found and held accountable. The heated political rhetoric that too often leads to radicalization and violence must cool off."

Ohnoutka thanked the NSP and Columbus Police Department "for their service to our state and the city of Columbus."

"May God continue to bless Columbus Catholic Schools," he added.

Halstead's threat comes nearly one year after a trans-identifying man formerly known as Robert Westman shot up a Catholic church full of schoolchildren in Minneapolis, injuring 23 and killing two kids, ages 8 and 10. The shooter, who committed suicide at the scene, left behind a mountain of evidence indicating that he was motivated by hatred for the Catholic Church and President Donald Trump.

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'Moderate' Gov Abigail Spanberger Taps Former FBI Official Behind Retracted Biden-Era Memo Targeting Catholics as Terror Threat To Lead Prison Reform Council

A cabinet official "moderate" Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger (D.) tapped to co-lead a prison reform council headed the FBI field office in Richmond that issued an infamous, since-retracted Biden-era memo identifying traditionalist Catholics as potential domestic terrorists. DOJ leaders subsequently said they were "aghast" at the memo, which they described as "appalling."

The post 'Moderate' Gov Abigail Spanberger Taps Former FBI Official Behind Retracted Biden-Era Memo Targeting Catholics as Terror Threat To Lead Prison Reform Council appeared first on .

Vatican declares ultra-traditionalist sect schismatic, takes grave measures



The Society of St. Pius X is a breakaway Catholic sect founded in 1970 by Marcel Lefebvre, a French archbishop who took issue with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. After consecrating four new bishops in 1988 without the approval of the Vatican, Lefebvre was excommunicated. He died three years later.

The Vatican lifted the canonical excommunication on Lefebvre's prelates in 2009 in hopes of restoring the group's "full communion" with Rome, although SSPX remained without canonical status. The Catholic Church's efforts since to bring SSPX back into the fold appear to have been in "vain."

'To tear the seamless garment of Christ is a sin of extreme gravity.'

The SSPX, which has a global membership of roughly 600,000 members and 700 priests, crossed the Rubicon on Wednesday with episcopal consecrations that Rome explicitly warned the Lefebvrists not to pursue.

In his last of multiple appeals, Pope Leo XIV wrote on June 29 to Rev. Davide Pagliarani, the superior general of the SSPX, "I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: Please turn back! I urge you to consider carefully the spiritual good of the faithful, because the schismatic act you are about to undertake would deprive them of the licit and, in some cases, even valid reception of the Sacraments, which they love and seek for their sanctification."

"The Church is open to a path of dialogue and understanding that the Holy Spirit can make possible and fruitful," continued the pope. "I pray for you, because to tear the seamless garment of Christ is a sin of extreme gravity."

Pagliarani said in response that the SSPX believes it "to be our very duty to do everything possible to mend Christ's seamless garment, torn by forces and pressures incompatible with a truly Catholic spirit," adding that the SSPX desires to serve the Catholic Church "by means that are extraordinary, as one would assist a mother in distress who requires particular help."

RELATED: Five standout denunciations and warnings in Pope Leo XIV's new papal encyclical

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, 1979. Wojtek Laski/Getty Images.

The SSPX proceeded, however, in Switzerland on July 1 to ordain four new bishops — Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michael Poinsinet de Sivry, and Marc Happier — without papal approval.

The primary celebrant executing the consecrations was Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta who was joined by Bishop Bernard Fellay — both of whom were among the original Lefebvre prelates.

The SSPX's ordination of bishops without a pontifical mandate is regarded by the Catholic Church as a matter of great gravity and scandal because it breaks the line of succession extending back to the earliest days of the Christian church and undermines church unity.

Pope John Paul II, since declared a saint, noted when recognizing the SSPX as schismatic in 1988 that "it is impossible to remain faithful to the Tradition while breaking the ecclesial bond with him to whom, in the person of the Apostle Peter, Christ himself entrusted the ministry of unity in his Church."

For having carried out "an act of a schismatic nature," namely the "episcopal consecration of four presbyters, without pontifical mandate and against the will of the Supreme Pontiff," Galarreta, Fellay, and their four new bishops incurred automatic excommunications from Rome, according to a decree released on July 2 and signed by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In addition to those who participated in the ceremony, all of SSPX's priests, bishops, and lay adherents have also been excommunicated and are now considered schismatics by Rome.

The Vatican decree noted further that:

the holy People of God are warned that the sacred ministers of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X administer the sacraments illicitly, and that the sacrament of penance administered by them and marriages assisted by them are invalid.

In addition to warning Catholics to refrain from taking part in celebrations promoted by the SSPX, the decree noted that "the Church, as a caring mother, will welcome with sincere affection and lively solicitude all those who wish to return to full communion."

According to Catholic canon law, an excommunicated person is prohibited from: celebrating or receiving the sacraments; administering sacramentals; celebrating the other ceremonies of liturgical worship; and from exercising any ecclesiastical offices, duties, ministries, or functions.

Excommunication is regarded as a medicinal spiritual penalty that effectively pushes the offender out of the church in hopes of prompting a change of heart. Although his or her baptism cannot be effaced, the excommunicated person is effectively a stranger to the church until brought back into the fold.

The SSPX General House stated following the ordinations on Wednesday, "The profound joy inspired by these episcopal consecrations cannot, however, be overshadowed."

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Exorcist fired for saying aliens are actually demons is an ex-Air Force intelligence officer



A Catholic priest who was officially employed as an exorcist has been removed from his role.

The Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., said the firing came in direct response to comments made in late May surrounding UFOs and aliens.

'They can do things that we can't do.'

Cardinal Robert McElroy, the Archbishop of Washington, D.C., said in a press release on Wednesday that Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, a priest of the Diocese of Syracuse, N.Y., would no longer be affiliated with the archdiocese where he was used as an exorcist.

Rossetti recently made comments in a YouTube video saying that his personal belief was that aliens were most likely demonic entities.

"There's no question in my mind ... that probably many, if not most of these UFO sightings, are in fact demons," Rossetti said in a video that has been removed from YouTube.

It has since been noted that Rossetti is a former Air Force intelligence officer who spent six years in service. Rossetti confirmed this in a 2024 interview, describing himself as a signals intelligence officer, while other biographies have also listed him as working in an intelligence capacity.

RELATED: Exorcisms are exploding across America — but nobody wants to admit why

Grzegorz Galazka/Archivio Grzegorz Galazka/Mondadori Portfolio/Getty Images

Rossetti is also listed as a former serviceman in an official Air Force document, where he is described as a "distinguished graduate of the Air Force Academy class of 1973."

"They can do things that we can't do, thus the speed and all sorts of things that human beings can't," Rossetti said in his recent video. "They will try to manipulate us."

Cardinal McElroy said Rossetti's statements that linked "UFOs to demonic presence" and his social media activity "gravely undermine the Church’s very precise teaching on the devil, demons, and exorcism."

Rossetti responded to the press release by saying he was "saddened" by the decision and asked for forgiveness if he had not been faithful to the "teachings of the Church's Magisterium."

"I believe it is of the utmost importance to be obedient to the Church, and I will continue to endeavor to subject all that I do and the Center to be thus obedient," he added.

RELATED: EXORCIST: Is America demonically possessed?

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The comments come at a time of increased UFO disclosure, which has included a trove of government documents revealing reports of unknown objects like "glowing orbs."

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) in particular has been at the forefront of remarkable claims about aliens and UFOs/UAPs in recent months.

Burchett has claimed that alien aircraft, life forms, and even human-alien breeding programs are confirmed to exist.

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Canada Needs A Real Reckoning For The ‘Mass Graves’ Hoax

Five years after Canadian liberals incited a moral panic about “mass graves” of indigenous schoolchildren, almost no one will admit it happened.

There’s No Such Thing As Pro-Life Feminism

It is well past time to scuttle establishment feminism and work with women’s human nature instead of against it.

All Roads Lead to Rome

The Catholic Church saw incredible growth in the United States this past year, especially among young people (men, in particular). If you're tuned into the online discourse about this trend, you'll be familiar with the tradition-oriented, conservative kind of Catholic who might look down his nose at new, inexperienced converts or those who aren't as orthodox in their faith. There is nothing wrong with a preference for tradition and the piety that often goes with it. In fact, I would say Catholics the world over would do well to be more reverent. But, at the same time, the Church is and ought to be a home for all. It is, of course, a hospital for sinners. That's what makes Melanie McDonagh's new book, Converts: From Oscar Wilde to Muriel Spark, Why So Many Became Catholic in the 20th Century, a worthwhile read.

The post All Roads Lead to Rome appeared first on .

Ireland and the UK’s collapse from Christianity to liberalism could be America’s future — if we don’t wake up



Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck is sounding the alarm over what he sees as a cultural road map America could soon follow if conservatives fail to maintain the momentum of the Trump era.

“If we don’t get a Marco Rubio, or whoever is running and is the candidate, in line with what Donald Trump is doing right now — if we don’t get that, we’re going to be back here with a vengeance,” Beck warned.

“We’ll be right behind you,” he tells Peter McIlvenna.

McIlvenna, who grew up in Northern Ireland as well as in the Republic of Ireland in Dublin and Limerick, tells Glenn that he’s right — and that the cities there are “not Irish at all.”


“Ireland is an interesting test case, going from probably the most staunchly Christian Catholic country to now the most liberal country. What happened on the abortion laws was unbelievable. The rush to same-sex marriage so quick,” he explains.

“Part of that was the sex scandals that were in the Catholic Church were then used to destroy any remnant of Christianity within the country. Instead of saying 'this is happening in parts of Church; we need to address it,' the Church was decimated,” he continues.

The hypocrisy, McIlvenna points out, is when you point out that Islam has the same problems — or worse — the response is that it’s “a few bad apples.”

“It was a concerted attack on the Church, destroying the Church’s role as a guiding light for Irish society to now being dismissed and ridiculed and rejected,” he explains.

But it’s not just Ireland. The decline of Christianity and embrace of Islam are happening all over the United Kingdom.

“Islam presents itself as dominant and gives them an identity. And I think that’s the thing we are lacking as a nation. We don’t know our identity,” he says. “We have ripped out Christianity from the nation.”

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