On November 26, the Catholic Church celebrated the Solemnity of Christ the King, which occurs on the last Sunday of the liturgical year.

Roughly three-quarters of the Christian world, including Orthodox Christians, Coptic Christians, Anglicans and Lutherans follow the liturgical calendar (also called the Christian year or church year). The calendar is an annual cycle that governs the observance of “feast” days that commemorate a special part of the Christian faith.

Solemnities are the highest-ranking feast days celebrating important mysteries of the Christian faith. For example, Easter and Christmas are both solemnities. The church “new year” begins on the first Sunday of Advent.

The Feast of Christ the King emphasizes the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and His Lordship over all creation and governments.

The feast was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 in response to growing threats from cultural ideologies like secularism and materialism, as well as the political ideologies of communism, nationalism, socialism and fascism.

The 1920s and 30s saw the rise of dictatorial and tyrannical governments in Europe and Asia. In 1925, dictator Benito Mussolini was Italy’s prime minister and Joseph Stalin led the Soviet Union. Adolf Hitler was on the rise in Germany, becoming Chancellor in 1933.

In light of these developments, Pope Pius XI, on December 11, 1925, added the feast of “the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ” to the liturgical calendar.

Vivian Geraghty taught English at Jackson Memorial Middle School in Massillon, Ohio. She was forced to resign for refusing to use the “preferred name and pronouns” of two transgender-identified students who were “socially transitioning,” due to her belief in the fact that there are only two sexes – male and female.

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a complaint on her behalf, and the Jackson Local School District has agreed to pay $450,000 in damages and attorney’s fees for violating Geraghty’s free speech.

It’s the third victory in a row for ADF, which describes itself as “an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.”

As Daily Citizen has reported, it’s yet another victory for ADF as it seeks to protect the First Amendment rights of teachers.

The legal aid group also represented four Virginia teachers, in two separate cases, who won victories over school districts with transgender policies that forced teachers to participate in students’ “gender transitions.”

ADF Legal Counsel Logan Spena said of Geraghty’s victory, “No school official can force a teacher to set her religious beliefs aside in order to keep her job. The school tried to force Vivian to accept and repeat the school’s viewpoint on issues that go to the foundation of morality and human identity, like what makes us male or female …”

Earlier this month, the Texas attorney general sued a New York doctor for prescribing abortion medication to a Texas woman in violation of state law that makes abortion-inducing drugs illegal.

The lawsuit is the first of its kind to challenge shield laws that abortion-supporting states passed in an attempt to protect abortionists from the legal ramifications of prescribing abortion-inducing drugs to women in states with laws restricting abortion.

Background

Texas law protects preborn babies from abortion with a few limited exceptions.

The law also includes provisions for private citizens to sue those who aid or abet an abortion.

This lawsuit involves a New York doctor who allegedly prescribed mifepristone and misoprostol, the two-pill cocktail known as “the abortion pill,” through a telehealth appointment.

The abortion-inducing drugs resulted in serious medical problems for the 20-year-old Texas woman, which required medical intervention.

Legal Arguments

Texas contends that New York-based Dr. Maggie Carpenter knowingly violated Texas abortion law by providing medication to induce an abortion.

In their lawsuit, Texas argues that telehealth appointments must follow state law, even if the doctor is based outside of the state.

When Marcus Freeman was introduced in 2021 as the 30th head coach of the University of Notre Dame football team, one of the first people he acknowledged and thanked was his beloved Joanna.

“My wife, my partner,” he said. “Thank you for your unselfishness. Thank you for always being there in your support. Thank you for just being there.”

The eyes of the college football world will be on Notre Dame Stadium tonight as the Fighting Irish square off against the Indiana Hoosiers in the post season’s first playoff game.

Earlier this week, Marcus Freeman agreed to a four-year contract extension, a deal that will keep him on the famed South Bend campus for the next six seasons.

Interviewed this month, the 38-year-old Freeman was asked about rumors the NFL’s Chicago Bears were pursuing him. Would he jump to the pros?

“I love this place, I love these guys, I love 18-to-22-year-old’s,” the veteran coach replied. “I don’t know what that [NFL] life is like. This is the life I’ve been coaching for 15, 16 years now, and it’s a joy.”

Here’s how Coach Freeman has described himself:

“I’m the son of a man who was in the Air Force for 26 years. I’m the son of a woman who was born in Korea that came over here in 1976, but I tell you that because that’s who I am. I get my discipline, my work ethic, my honesty from my father.”