Pictures: Downtown foot-washing prayer service ahead of Easter weekend

Scenes from the Holy Thursday prayer service presented by the Faith Leader Network of the Immigrants Are Welcomed Here Coalition of Orlando and the Hope CommUnity Center of Apopka, outside the Federal Immigration Court in downtown Orlando, Thursday, April 17, 2025. Local pastors and clergy from multiple faiths, immigrant families, elected officials, and community advocates participated in The Washing of the Feet service, known as Maundy, a religious rite observed by various Christian denominations leading into Easter weekend. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
MAUNDY WASHING OF THE FEET — Sister Ann Rowland, left, with Bishop David Maldonado, is greeted by a protester during a Holy Thursday prayer service presented by the Faith Leader Network of the Immigrants Are Welcomed Here Coalition of Orlando and the Hope CommUnity Center of Apopka, outside the Federal Immigration Court in downtown Orlando, Thursday, April 17, 2025. Local pastors and clergy from multiple faiths, immigrant families, elected officials, and community advocates participated in The Washing of the Feet service, known as Maundy, a religious rite observed by various Christian denominations leading into Easter weekend. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) MAUNDY WASHING OF THE FEET — Bishop David Maldonado washes the feet of Sister Gail Grimes during a Holy Thursday prayer service presented by the Faith Leader Network of the Immigrants Are Welcomed Here Coalition of Orlando and the Hope CommUnity Center of Apopka, outside the Federal Immigration Court in downtown Orlando, Thursday, April 17, 2025. Local pastors and clergy from multiple faiths, immigrant families, elected officials, and community advocates participated in The Washing of the Feet service, known as Maundy, a religious rite observed by various Christian denominations leading into Easter weekend. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) MAUNDY WASHING OF THE FEET — Sister Ann Rowland, right, hugs a friend during a Holy Thursday prayer service presented by the Faith Leader Network of the Immigrants Are Welcomed Here Coalition of Orlando and the Hope CommUnity Center of Apopka, outside the Federal Immigration Court in downtown Orlando, Thursday, April 17, 2025. Local pastors and clergy from multiple faiths, immigrant families, elected officials, and community advocates participated in The Washing of the Feet service, known as Maundy, a religious rite observed by various Christian denominations leading into Easter weekend. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) MAUNDY WASHING OF THE FEET — Bishop William Cavins washes the feet of Bishop David Maldonado during a Holy Thursday prayer service presented by the Faith Leader Network of the Immigrants Are Welcomed Here Coalition of Orlando and the Hope CommUnity Center of Apopka, outside the Federal Immigration Court in downtown Orlando, Thursday, April 17, 2025. Local pastors and clergy from multiple faiths, immigrant families, elected officials, and community advocates participated in The Washing of the Feet service, known as Maundy, a religious rite observed by various Christian denominations leading into Easter weekend. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) MAUNDY WASHING OF THE FEET — Bishop William Cavins washes the feet of Sister Ann Kendrick of the Hope CommUnity Center during a Holy Thursday prayer service presented by the Faith Leader Network of the Immigrants Are Welcomed Here Coalition of Orlando and the Hope CommUnity Center of Apopka, outside the Federal Immigration Court in downtown Orlando, Thursday, April 17, 2025. Local pastors and clergy from multiple faiths, immigrant families, elected officials, and community advocates participated in The Washing of the Feet service, known as Maundy, a religious rite observed by various Christian denominations leading into Easter weekend. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) MAUNDY WASHING OF THE FEET — Protesters hold signs during a Holy Thursday prayer service presented by the Faith Leader Network of the Immigrants Are Welcomed Here Coalition of Orlando and the Hope CommUnity Center of Apopka, outside the Federal Immigration Court in downtown Orlando, Thursday, April 17, 2025. Local pastors and clergy from multiple faiths, immigrant families, elected officials, and community advocates participated in The Washing of the Feet service, known as Maundy, a religious rite observed by various Christian denominations leading into Easter weekend. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) MAUNDY WASHING OF THE FEET — A protester holds a sign during a Holy Thursday prayer service, in the baackground, presented by the Faith Leader Network of the Immigrants Are Welcomed Here Coalition of Orlando and the Hope CommUnity Center of Apopka, outside the Federal Immigration Court in downtown Orlando, Thursday, April 17, 2025. Local pastors and clergy from multiple faiths, immigrant families, elected officials, and community advocates participated in The Washing of the Feet service, known as Maundy, a religious rite observed by various Christian denominations leading into Easter weekend. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) MAUNDY WASHING OF THE FEET — Community Organizer Frank Rivera holds up a sign calling worshipers during a Holy Thursday prayer service presented by the Faith Leader Network of the Immigrants Are Welcomed Here Coalition of Orlando and the Hope CommUnity Center of Apopka, outside the Federal Immigration Court in downtown Orlando, Thursday, April 17, 2025. Local pastors and clergy from multiple faiths, immigrant families, elected officials, and community advocates participated in The Washing of the Feet service, known as Maundy, a religious rite observed by various Christian denominations leading into Easter weekend. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) MAUNDY WASHING OF THE FEET — Protesters hold signs during a Holy Thursday prayer service presented by the Faith Leader Network of the Immigrants Are Welcomed Here Coalition of Orlando and the Hope CommUnity Center of Apopka, outside the Federal Immigration Court in downtown Orlando, Thursday, April 17, 2025. Local pastors and clergy from multiple faiths, immigrant families, elected officials, and community advocates participated in The Washing of the Feet service, known as Maundy, a religious rite observed by various Christian denominations leading into Easter weekend. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) MAUNDY WASHING OF THE FEET — Protesters hold signs during a Holy Thursday prayer service presented by the Faith Leader Network of the Immigrants Are Welcomed Here Coalition of Orlando and the Hope CommUnity Center of Apopka, outside the Federal Immigration Court in downtown Orlando, Thursday, April 17, 2025. Local pastors and clergy from multiple faiths, immigrant families, elected officials, and community advocates participated in The Washing of the Feet service, known as Maundy, a religious rite observed by various Christian denominations leading into Easter weekend. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) MAUNDY WASHING OF THE FEET — Protesters hold signs during a Holy Thursday prayer service presented by the Faith Leader Network of the Immigrants Are Welcomed Here Coalition of Orlando and the Hope CommUnity Center of Apopka, outside the Federal Immigration Court in downtown Orlando, Thursday, April 17, 2025. Local pastors and clergy from multiple faiths, immigrant families, elected officials, and community advocates participated in The Washing of the Feet service, known as Maundy, a religious rite observed by various Christian denominations leading into Easter weekend. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) Show Caption1 of 12MAUNDY WASHING OF THE FEET — Bishop William Cavins washes the feet of Sister Ann Rowland, as Bishop David Maldonado looks on, during a Holy Thursday prayer service presented by the Faith Leader Network of the Immigrants Are Welcomed Here Coalition of Orlando and the Hope CommUnity Center of Apopka, outside the Federal Immigration Court in downtown Orlando, Thursday, April 17, 2025. Local pastors and clergy from multiple faiths, immigrant families, elected officials, and community advocates participated in The Washing of the Feet service, known as Maundy, a religious rite observed by various Christian denominations leading into Easter weekend. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)Expand

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7 hours ago

• New York Post

How Fox News' Gianno Caldwell sought justice for his murdered brother

The day my little brother was murdered in 2022, he was standing with friends on a street in the Morgan Park community on the South Side of Chicago when a black SUV pulled up and several men got out with various guns and opened fire indiscriminately. For a heartbeat, time seemed to pause, the world holding its breath in confusion. 9 Author Gianno Caldwell (r) with his brother Christian, who was killed by gunfire in Chicago in 2022. Caldwell's new book details the philanthropists and politicians whose failed leadership allowed Christian's murder to happen. Courtesy of Gianno Caldwell Then came the recognition — the burst of defensive moves and noise; the staccato crack-crack-crack, harsh and unnatural against the night. People screamed, the sound primal and raw, as the crowd scattered. Advertisement The SUV now sped away, its engine roaring, leaving behind more cries and glittering fragments of shattered glass. Some 50 shell casings were found on the street, and bullets went through the windows of nearby houses. Three in the crowd were rushed to the hospital; only two survived. Christian had just turned 18 years old. He loved school and sports and was excited about starting college. So much so that he and I had taken the tour at the University of California, Los Angeles, when he was just 16. His future was very bright. 9 Author Caldwell testifying before Congress about Chicago's gun violence epidemic in 2022. C-SPAN Advertisement The police tell me Christian was not the intended target. He just happened to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was part of a legacy now. Slaughtered. Another innocent victim of America's ongoing violence. And my family was now part of this terrible escalating pattern. 'Heartbroken' isn't enough. My family's hearts were shattered. I was — and remain — devastated and beyond understanding. My grief was quickly accompanied by a burning need to learn more, to uncover why things like Christian's murder happen far too often. To know how our laws, institutions and societal values perpetuate tragedies like his. To ensure that others never experience the same loss my family has and that justice truly serves the people it should protect. 9 Billionaire investor George Soros has donated tens of millions of dollars to ultra-progressive causes — with a special focus on elections for local prosecutors. AP I met with hundreds of other experts on these issues as I wrote the book 'The Day My Brother Was Murdered.' From district attorneys and congressmen to community organizers, gang members and families, like my own, too often left behind in the wake of violence. I've traveled our country, the world even, to uncover the roots of the violence that claimed my brother's life and to explore all avenues for meaningful reform. Advertisement The name George Soros came up often in my conversations. 9 Open Society Foundations, the primary Soros philanthropic vehicle. Soros — who made billions as an investor and financier — is a prominent supporter of progressive causes and the number one political donor in the United States. In total, he has contributed more than $30 billion to liberal causes and candidates. Nearly 10 years ago, Soros first began to channel millions into local district attorney campaigns across the county. These sums far exceeded the total spent on the 2016 presidential campaign by all but a few superdonors. Soros understands that focusing on local politics will eventually bring about the national changes he and his collaborators champion: drug legalization, open borders and mass immigration, the erosion of national sovereignty, the demise of capitalism as we know it and, of course, soft-on-crime policies and bail reform. Advertisement His efforts have negatively impacted my family at a personal level. The former Cook County state's attorney Kim Foxx, for instance, has been funded by Soros — and her far-left, soft-on-crime policies have contributed to the death and violent crime epidemic in Chicago. I hold her and former mayor Lori Lightfoot responsible for my brother's murder. In 2023, I testified before a House Judiciary Committee focused on Chicago's crime problem. Afterwards, Foxx told the press she was sorry for my brother's murder. She should be sorry. Not just about Christian, but the countless others who are being slaughtered. And it's not just Foxx. 9 Caldwell believes that Kim Fox, the Cook County Prosecutor, is directly responsible for his brother's death owing to her departments' lax enforcement efforts. AP It's Larry Krasner in Philadelphia. It was George Gascón in Los Angeles. Chesa Boudin in San Francisco. It was Kim Gardner in St. Louis. It's Alvin Bragg in New York. They are all around the country — and they all have one thing in common: they were all financially supported by George Soros. Interesting how people like Soros, Fox, Lightfoot, Newsom, Pelosi, Biden . . . all have these grandiose ideas on making America 'more just' but do so behind professional security guards and gated communities. Security, in many cases, paid for by taxpayers. Through his primary philanthropy vehicle, Open Society Foundations, Soros has impacted American politics on a national level for years. But the local level is where he has done the most damage. An elected prosecutor is an extremely powerful position in this country. Soros very smartly understood you can spend tens of millions of dollars on a presidential race or millions on a US Senate race. But by spending just a fraction of that on a local prosecutor race, you may be able to effect more of the change you seek. And so he poured resources into local prosecutor races all over the country. 9 Caldwell also believes former Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot is equally responsible. Getty Images Advertisement We cannot ignore the shadow that crime casts over our everyday lives. It's not just the statistics, the headlines, or the body counts — it's the sheer fact that crime strikes at the very foundation of what it means to live freely. It is about good people, minding their business, walking to work, riding the subway, or going to the store in neighborhoods they've called home for years — only to find themselves at risk of harm. When that happens, when danger creeps into the places we know and love, society itself begins to erode. If we can't keep crime in check, we lose the glue that holds us together — the trust, the freedom and the simple right to feel safe. A single act of crime reverberates, making us question not just our safety, but our place in the world. I moved to Miami in the spring of 2020. Los Angeles, where I had lived since 2017, was looking more and more like my hometown of Chicago. The shootings. Carjackings. Homeless camps. Drug dealers and addicts roaming the streets. The gangs. Leadership in LA was far more interested in whether or not you were wearing a mask or standing on a beach than in its rising rates of property and violent crime. I packed up my things. 9 Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez, whom Caldwell believes is helping to lead Florida's push toward ensuring rule of law in the state. DAX TAMARGO/Shutterstock Advertisement One of the reasons I chose Florida, and Miami especially, is that the leadership there is doing all the right things when it comes to law and order. 'It's a tale between two types of cities,' says Miami mayor Francis Suarez, who has held the position since 2017. 'Where elected officials believe that the rule of law and public safety are the foundations of a free and prosperous society, versus other types of cities where elected officials fail to uphold the law, refuse to enforce the law, and blame those who follow the law, from police to small businesses, as the causes of crime.' It helps that the mayor can count on support from Florida's governor and state attorney general. Gov. Ron DeSantis cautions that prosecutors in his state don't get to 'pick and choose which law that they enforce. If you disagree with a law, run for the legislature and change it, but you don't get to be a law unto yourself.' Advertisement Crime is at a 50-year low in Florida, with overall crime down by nearly 10% compared to 2021. Murder is down by 14%; burglary is down by 15%. It's one of the few places in the nation that can truly claim meaningful reductions in crime. While Democrats focus their attention on abortion, transgender rights and condemning Israel, the other party works to make sure I can take my family to lunch downtown without fear of being carjacked or shot. 'A permissive society is not a civilized society,' Suarez warns of our other once-great cities. 'It's a decaying one.' People here are less likely to commit a crime in Florida because they know they will get caught. They know the police are everywhere — and the prosecutors will lock them up. 9 Gianno Caldwell and Pres. Trump. Courtesy of Gianno Caldwell Advertisement Suarez provides the simplest path to our salvation. 'If mayors are held responsible for the crime levels in their cities, then we should also hold district attorneys accountable in every local race where it affects their citizens and the quality of life in their cities.' Fund and train our police. Enforce already-existing laws. Secure our southern border and dismantle the gangs. Focus resources, from money to time, on organizations already addressing the root causes of crime. Treat mental health and addiction as the diseases they are, not as a crime after the fact. These are all solutions that have worked in our past. We already know the ways to a safer society. Gianno Caldwell is a political analyst for Fox News channel and the founder of the Caldwell Institute for Public Safety. He is the author of the new book 'The Day My Brother Was Murdered: My Journey Through America's Violent Crime Crisis' (Broadside Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, copyright 2025 by Gianno Caldwell), from which this essay is adapted.

Politico

16 hours ago

• Politico

New Texas law requires 10 Commandments to be posted in every public school classroom

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas will require all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments under a new law that will make the state the nation's largest to attempt to impose such a mandate. Gov. Greg Abbott announced Saturday that he signed the bill, which is expected to draw a legal challenge from critics who consider it an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state. A similar law in Louisiana was blocked when a federal appeals court ruled Friday that it was unconstitutional. Arkansas also has a similar law that has been challenged in federal court. The Texas measure easily passed in the Republican-controlled state House and Senate in the legislative session that ended June 2. 'The focus of this bill is to look at what is historically important to our nation educationally and judicially,' Republican state representative Candy Noble, a co-sponsor of the bill, said when it passed the House. Abbott also signed a bill that allows school districts to provide students and staff a daily voluntary period of prayer or time to read a religious text during school hours. The Ten Commandments laws are among efforts, mainly in conservative-led states, to insert religion into public schools. Texas' law requires public schools to post in classrooms a 16-by-20-inch poster or framed copy of a specific English version of the commandments, even though translations and interpretations vary across denominations, faiths and languages and may differ in homes and houses of worship. Supporters say the Ten Commandments are part of the foundation of the United States' judicial and educational systems and should be displayed. Opponents, including some Christian and other faith leaders, say the Ten Commandments and prayer measures infringe on others' religious freedom. A letter signed this year by dozens of Christian and Jewish faith leaders opposing the bill noted that Texas has thousands of students of other faiths who might have no connection to the Ten Commandments. Texas has nearly 6 million students in about 9,100 public schools. In 2005, Abbott, who was state attorney general at the time, successfully argued before the Supreme Court that Texas could keep a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of its Capitol. Louisiana's law has twice been ruled unconstitutional by federal courts, first by U.S. District Judge John deGravelles and then again by a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which also considers cases from Texas. State Attorney General Liz Murrell said she would appeal and pledged to take it to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

17 hours ago

New Texas law will require Ten Commandments to be posted in every public school classroom

AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas will require all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments under a new law that will make the state the nation's largest to attempt to impose such a mandate. Gov. Greg Abbott announced Saturday that he signed the bill, which is expected to draw a legal challenge from critics who consider it an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state. A similar law in Louisiana was blocked when a federal appeals court ruled Friday that it was unconstitutional. Arkansas also has a similar law that has been challenged in federal court. The Texas measure easily passed in the Republican-controlled state House and Senate in the legislative session that ended June 2. 'The focus of this bill is to look at what is historically important to our nation educationally and judicially,' Republican state representative Candy Noble, a co-sponsor of the bill, said when it passed the House. Abbott also signed a bill that allows school districts to provide students and staff a daily voluntary period of prayer or time to read a religious text during school hours. The Ten Commandments laws are among efforts, mainly in conservative-led states, to insert religion into public schools. Texas' law requires public schools to post in classrooms a 16-by-20-inch (41-by-51-centimeter) poster or framed copy of a specific English version of the commandments, even though translations and interpretations vary across denominations, faiths and languages and may differ in homes and houses of worship. Supporters say the Ten Commandments are part of the foundation of the United States' judicial and educational systems and should be displayed. Opponents, including some Christian and other faith leaders, say the Ten Commandments and prayer measures infringe on others' religious freedom. A letter signed this year by dozens of Christian and Jewish faith leaders opposing the bill noted that Texas has thousands of students of other faiths who might have no connection to the Ten Commandments. Texas has nearly 6 million students in about 9,100 public schools. In 2005, Abbott, who was state attorney general at the time, successfully argued before the Supreme Court that Texas could keep a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of its Capitol. Louisiana's law has twice been ruled unconstitutional by federal courts, first by U.S. District Judge John deGravelles and then again by a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which also considers cases from Texas. State Attorney General Liz Murrell said she would appeal and pledged to take it to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.