Independence Day 2026

Independence Day 2026

July 3rd, 2026 - Happy Independence Day (Observed)! Sarah and Jake discuss St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, filial piety, patriotism, and American Catholicism. Rise Right is a live morning program hosted by Sarah Cain & Jakob Martin Kraft, designed to help Catholics begin their day grounded in faith, clarity, and peace. The goal is simple: help listeners start their day well. Stay rooted in prayer, informed about the world, and able to face each day with joy and reason. RiseRight.org [https://thestationofthecross.com/riseright]

Handling Scandal + Vatican Confirms SSPX Schism

July 2nd, 2026 - Happy feast of the Visitation! The Holy See has responded to the SSPX consecrations with a clear formal message, declaring all their ministers to be schismatic. Hours after the Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship and struck down President Donald Trump's executive order seeking to limit it, the Department of Justice directed federal prosecutors to prioritize investigations and prosecutions of fraudulent birth tourism schemes. Jessica Gorman testified before a House Judiciary subcommittee Monday, urging lawmakers to end sanctuary policies she said enabled the March murder of her 18-year-old daughter, Sheridan, a Loyola University Chicago freshman who was fatally shot while walking along the Chicago lakefront. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit against several Colorado janitorial firms, accusing them of excluding qualified American and non-Hispanic applicants from at least 2016 to 2022. Indirect U.S.-Iran negotiations mediated by Qatar and Pakistan concluded yesterday with both sides citing progress on implementing last month's ceasefire, but disagreeing over whether they'd agreed to release part of Iran's roughly $6 billion in frozen assets. Capt. Brandon Jones-Adams pleaded guilty at his June 24 court-martial to intentionally killing an unborn child after secretly placing the abortion drug mifepristone in the drink of his pregnant then-girlfriend, causing her to miscarry at 13 weeks. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Rise Right is a live morning program hosted by Sarah Cain & Jakob Martin Kraft, designed to help Catholics begin their day grounded in faith, clarity, and peace. The goal is simple: help listeners start their day well. Stay rooted in prayer, informed about the world, and able to face each day with joy and reason. RiseRight.org [https://thestationofthecross.com/riseright]

Schism & SCOTUS

July 1st, 2026 - Happy feast of the Precious Blood! The Superior General of the SSPX responded to Pope Leo’s letter within hours yesterday, signaling his intent to move ahead and his request that Pope Leo approve the consecrations. The consecrations then took place without papal approval in the early hours of this morning. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 yesterday that states may reserve women's and girls' sports for only females under the 14th Amendment and Title IX, upholding laws in Idaho and West Virginia and setting a precedent for similar laws in 27 states. The Supreme Court blocked President Donald Trump's executive order that would have required at least one parent to be a citizen or lawful permanent resident. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the Trump administration is restoring the Presidential Fitness Test, with schools nationwide set to begin administering it this fall. It was first introduced under President John F. Kennedy in the 1960s and was phased out under Obama. Terrorists in Nigeria have kidnapped women and children from a school in a Christian town. Please pray for their safe return. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Payne granted the Department of Justice's (DOJ) motion for a preliminary injunction in its lawsuit challenging Virginia's new Mask/Identity statute. Rise Right is a live morning program hosted by Sarah Cain & Jakob Martin Kraft, designed to help Catholics begin their day grounded in faith, clarity, and peace. The goal is simple: help listeners start their day well. Stay rooted in prayer, informed about the world, and able to face each day with joy and reason. RiseRight.org [https://thestationofthecross.com/riseright]

Pope Leo Makes Last Appeal to SSPX

June 30th, 2026 - Happy feasts of St. Paul & the Roman Martyrs! Luigi Mangione’s federal trial has been officially pushed back until January 2027. The Supreme Court declined yesterday to hear President Trump's appeal of a $5 million civil judgment against him after a 2023 federal jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll. The U.S. committed $150 million in humanitarian assistance and deployed search-and-rescue teams to Venezuela following twin earthquakes that killed more than 1,700 people, while Pope Leo XIV authorized an emergency Vatican donation and Catholic Relief Services mobilized through the Caritas Venezuela network. President Donald Trump said yesterday that U.S. envoys will meet with Iranian representatives in Doha today, calling it a meeting Iran had "requested" — though Tehran denied asking for direct talks. Pope Leo XIV sent a letter to the SSPX Superior General, pleading with the society to halt the consecrations. Bishop Robert Barron warned yesterday that Americans should not be complacent about the growing political success of self-described socialists and communists, arguing that communism is fundamentally hostile to religion. Rise Right is a live morning program hosted by Sarah Cain & Jakob Martin Kraft, designed to help Catholics begin their day grounded in faith, clarity, and peace. The goal is simple: help listeners start their day well. Stay rooted in prayer, informed about the world, and able to face each day with joy and reason. RiseRight.org [https://thestationofthecross.com/riseright]

King Charles Now Defender of WHAT?

June 29th, 2026 - Happy feast of Ss. Peter & Paul! Former national security adviser John Bolton pleaded guilty to one count of retaining national defense information, admitting misconduct after an indictment accused him of keeping and transmitting highly sensitive material after leaving the White House. Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement for a limited Israeli military withdrawal from southern Lebanon, closing out four days of U.S.-mediated negotiations at the State Department. The U.S. and Iran agreed yesterday to stop attacking each other and plan to meet Tuesday in Qatar to address the Strait of Hormuz dispute. The reported pause follows a weekend of renewed strikes that strained the 11-day-old ceasefire, after Iran attacked a commercial oil tanker. President Donald Trump has selected Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security Lance Schroyer to be the next Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director, citing his experience locking up “the worst of the worst.” The largest fire in the U.S., the Cottonwood Fire, now stretches more than 144 square miles and remains 0% contained. On Saturday, six states, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah, underwent Red Flag Warnings for dangerous weather conditions after the fire continued growing overnight. After Mid Vermont Christian School forfeited a girls' basketball game against a team with a male player, Vermont barred the school from its state-funded tuition program and athletic league. The official death toll following twin earthquakes in Venezuela has risen to 1,450 people, but tens of thousands still remain unaccounted for. Rise Right is a live morning program hosted by Sarah Cain & Jakob Martin Kraft, designed to help Catholics begin their day grounded in faith, clarity, and peace. The goal is simple: help listeners start their day well. Stay rooted in prayer, informed about the world, and able to face each day with joy and reason. RiseRight.org [https://thestationofthecross.com/riseright]