These Last Days News - October 1, 2025
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Pope Leo XIV Wades into Durbin Debate...

NEITHER HOT NOR COLD
"My Mother has been sent to you to guide you in the days ahead. She is a Mediatrix between mankind and the Eternal Father. Do not cast Her words aside or treat them lightly, for you are then going fast into darkness.
     "When you come before Me, the Eternal Father, and the Spirit, you will be judged. If you are found lukewarm, neither being hot nor cold, I will vomit you from My mouth and cast you into the fires of eternal damnation! You cannot play the middle road, My pastors! You cannot mislead My sheep by giving in to the values of man! You must not change--you must not trade your soul and bargain for your world. No man can have both, the world and the spirit.” – Jesus, May 17, 1975

YOU SHALL FALL
"There are only two forces upon earth, My children: good and evil. You cannot at this time walk a middle course, for if you become lukewarm you shall fall.” – Our Lady, October 6, 1977

The above Messages from Our Lady were given to Veronica Lueken at Bayside, New York. Read more

CatholicNewsAgency.com reported on September 30, 2025:

By Valentina di Donato , Madalaine Elhabbal

Pope Leo XIV responded to controversy over the Chicago cardinal’s plans to honor a Catholic U.S. senator who supports legalized abortion, saying that the senator’s record should be considered in its totality and that Americans should search together for the truth on ethical issues.

Several U.S. bishops condemned Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich’s plans to honor U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Illinois, with a “lifetime achievement award” for his work surrounding immigration policy despite his pro-abortion voting record. 

“I am not terribly familiar with the particular case. I think it’s important to look at the overall work that a senator has done during, if I’m not mistaken, in 40 years of service in the United States Senate,” the pope told reporters on Tuesday in response to a question from EWTN News.

He said: “I understand the difficulty and the tensions. But I think as I myself have spoken in the past, it’s important to look at many issues that are related to the teachings of the Church.”

“Someone who says I’m against abortion but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life,” the pope explained. “Someone who says I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don’t know if that’s pro life.”

“So they are very complex issues and I don’t know if anyone has all the truth on them,” he continued, “but I would ask first and foremost that they would have respect for one another and that we search together both as human beings and in that case as American citizens and citizens of the state of Illinois, as well as Catholics, to say that we need to be close to all of these ethical issues. And to find the way forward as a Church. The Church teaching on each one of those issues is very clear.”

The number of U.S. bishops who have condemned Cupich’s decision to honor Durbin with a “lifetime achievement award” has risen to 10, including two bishops emeritus. 

The Chicago-born Pope Leo spoke to reporters as he was leaving the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo near Rome, where in recent weeks he has made it a practice to spend Tuesdays before returning to the Vatican.

Seven current bishops have joined Springfield, Illinois, Bishop Thomas Paprocki in calling on Cupich to reconsider honoring Durbin including Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco; Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska; Bishop James Wall of Gallup, New Mexico; Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay, Wisconsin; Bishop Carl Kemme of Wichita, Kansas; Bishop James Johnston of St. Joseph-Kansas City, Missouri; and Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth, Texas. 

The recently retired Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, also addressed the controversy over the weekend in a statement released to the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, in which he referred to the move by Cupich as a “source of scandal.” 

Cupich has defended the award as being aligned with instructions by the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2022, which instructed bishops “to reach out to and engage in dialogue with Catholic politicians within their jurisdictions.”

A spokesperson for Cupich did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Responding to Cupich’s argument, Naumann said in the statement: “Dialogue does not require giving awards to Catholic political leaders who disregard the most fundamental of human rights, the right to life of the unborn.” 

Bishop Emeritus Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, has also called on Cupich to reverse his decision to proceed with the award. 

In an interview on EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” on Sept. 25, Paprocki called on the Chicago cardinal to either withdraw the award or Durbin himself to decline it. 

A spokesperson for Durbin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Cupich has since canceled meetings with two groups of Illinois Catholic leaders, the Catholic Conference of Illinois and a separate meeting of Illinois bishops, this past week. 

So far, the Illinois bishops of Peoria, Rockford, and Joliet have refrained from joining Paprocki in calling for Cupich to reverse his decision, while the Diocese of Belleville is currently awaiting the appointment of a new bishop, after its former Bishop Michael McGovern was appointed archbishop of Omaha.

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LUKEWARM SHALL BE CAST ASIDE
"My children, My Mother has taken it upon Herself to act as a Mediatrix between God the Father and man. Her heart is torn constantly by the rejection She receives from mankind, for the good have become complacent, and the bad have become worse. And in between We find those who 'care less,' for they are neither hot nor warm, but lukewarm. And even the lukewarm shall be cast aside in the final count.” – Jesus, December 7, 1978

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Directives from Heaven... https://www.tldm.org/directives/directives.htm

D81 - Faith  PDF
D85 - Tradition  PDF
D123 - Catholic Church, Part 1  PDF
D124 - Catholic Church, Part 2  PDF
D125 - Ecumenism   PDF
D211 - Changes, Part 1 PDF
D212 - Changes, Part 2 PDF
D265 - The Papacy  PDF
D258 - Lukewarm  PDF
D311 - Pray for Your Clergy  PDF

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