1. Iraqi Christian leaders plead with US, Iran to sort things out

2. 1.7 million human embryos created for IVF thrown away

3. Washington is first state to allow for composting of human bodies

4. Jeff Jacoby: Is abortion on the way out?

5. Chelsea Patterson Sobolik in USA Today:

No one should be forced into lifelong parenting if they don’t want to take on that role. My own birth mother was unable to parent me. However, she didn’t abort me in the womb. She made the brave and courageous decision for me, and allowed me to be adopted by a couple in a position to love and raise a child. I’m able to advocate for the lives of others, particularly for the little ones in the womb, who can’t speak for themselves.

And her book, Longing for Motherhood, is beautiful.

6.

Of Note: The share of children in foster care living with relatives is growing https://t.co/QnZXHzI5jl via @ChildTrends — Inst. Family Studies (@FamStudies) May 22, 2019

7. Bishop Robert Barron: It’s time for Catholics (and all religious people) to wake up to the danger of the California Confession bill




8. Andy Ferguson on Knock Down the House

Also, if you’ve not read his Atlantic pieces since joining them, print them out for Memorial Day weekend or something. They are all worth reading, he always is.

9. Speaking of the Atlantic, Sohrab Ahmari writes: Abolish the priesthood? Count me out.

10. Speaking of priests, a reflection, even on Twitter:

The church is dealing with the spiritual aftermath of 2 world wars. We keep looking to the 60s and 70s – And there is stuff worth critiquing there. But more fundamentally we haven’t confronted the effect that killing each other in war has had on our civilizational inheritance. — Fr. Harrison Ayre 👌🏻 (@FrHarrison) May 21, 2019

And a homily for today on the vine and the branches

11. The September 11th Museum and St. Patrick’s Cathedral: Siblings, years apart

12. High school valedictorian earns more than $3M in scholarships amid homelessness, loss of father