Quote:Their Calling Was Supposed to Be the Priesthood. Then They Met.

Priesthood was supposed to be the future for Brazilians Melqui Ferraz and Denisson Santos. Instead, their time in the seminary led them somewhere neither man expected: into each other’s arms.

According to Melqui, the feelings between them were always there, but they had to be kept quiet because of their religious vocation. Their superiors eventually tried to separate them, including transferring them to different cities.

Despite the distance, the memories of their time together stayed with Melqui.

“I carried with me the memories I made with you in that city, like the celebrations we attended, pretending to be brothers when, behind closed doors, it was love,” Melqui wrote. It is a simple but powerful description of what it was like to care deeply for someone while having to hide what that relationship really meant.

Melqui also described attempts by their superiors to keep the two men connected, but only discreetly and away from public attention.

For Melqui, living that way was not enough.

“If loving you and living with you caused these so-called doors to close, then let another thousand close!” he wrote.

Eventually, Melqui chose to leave the seminary so he could live his life and his relationship with Denisson more openly. It was not necessarily an easy choice. Leaving behind a path they had spent years preparing for meant stepping into an uncertain future.

Their story has resonated online, with many people praising the former seminarians for choosing authenticity despite the pressure they experienced.

They may not have become priests, but they did find something meaningful along the way. They found each other. And sometimes, finding the person you love is enough to make you brave enough to change the rest of your life.

https://instinctmagazine.com/two-priesth...l-in-love/

(September 2, 2026 at 10:13 am)Fake Messiah Wrote: Another love story between the members of Catholic clergy.

Quote:Their Calling Was Supposed to Be the Priesthood. Then They Met.

Priesthood was supposed to be the future for Brazilians Melqui Ferraz and Denisson Santos. Instead, their time in the seminary led them somewhere neither man expected: into each other’s arms.

According to Melqui, the feelings between them were always there, but they had to be kept quiet because of their religious vocation. Their superiors eventually tried to separate them, including transferring them to different cities.

Despite the distance, the memories of their time together stayed with Melqui.

“I carried with me the memories I made with you in that city, like the celebrations we attended, pretending to be brothers when, behind closed doors, it was love,” Melqui wrote. It is a simple but powerful description of what it was like to care deeply for someone while having to hide what that relationship really meant.

Melqui also described attempts by their superiors to keep the two men connected, but only discreetly and away from public attention.

For Melqui, living that way was not enough.

“If loving you and living with you caused these so-called doors to close, then let another thousand close!” he wrote.

Eventually, Melqui chose to leave the seminary so he could live his life and his relationship with Denisson more openly. It was not necessarily an easy choice. Leaving behind a path they had spent years preparing for meant stepping into an uncertain future.

Their story has resonated online, with many people praising the former seminarians for choosing authenticity despite the pressure they experienced.

They may not have become priests, but they did find something meaningful along the way. They found each other. And sometimes, finding the person you love is enough to make you brave enough to change the rest of your life.

https://instinctmagazine.com/two-priesth...l-in-love/

(September 2, 2026 at 12:12 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: This, along with your post about the two formers nuns, is almost enough to make one suspect that the Catholic Church is selectively breeding for homosexuality.

Boru

Quote:How the wage cap works and why it's a problem

Under current law, Social Security's Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance payroll tax is 6.2% for employees and employers, each, but only on wages up to the annual taxable maximum, which is $184,500 in 2026. Once a worker's income crosses that threshold, Social Security taxes stop for the rest of the year — no matter how much more they earn.

The wage base limit was put in place because of the way Social Security's funding mechanism works. Social Security benefits are earned benefits — you pay taxes on your income and, in return, receive benefits equal to a percentage of the average wages you earned over your career. To prevent people with very high incomes from receiving very high Social Security benefits, the wage base limit was created. The system was intentionally symmetrical: pay less in above the cap, collect less out.

The problem is that this symmetry is creating a solvency crisis. The Social Security trustees said that the OASI trust fund is projected to be depleted in the fourth quarter of 2032, after which 78% of scheduled benefits would be payable. Without congressional action, that means an automatic benefit cut of roughly 22% — affecting every retiree in the country.


What Warren is proposing

Senator Warren's solution is direct: make high earners pay Social Security taxes on all of their income, not just earnings up to the cap. In an X post, Warren wrote: "Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos shouldn't be paying the same amount in Social Security tax as someone making $175,000 a year. Billionaires are not paying their fair share."

Warren used an annual salary of $175,000 as an example, but remember that the 2026 maximum is $184,500.

Warren's proposal would raise enough revenue to increase benefits by $200 a month for every senior, a meaningful boost for households that depend on those checks for basic expenses.

Warren's position also reflects a broader Democratic approach to the solvency question. Eliminating the payroll tax cap has been a popular proposal among Democrats, with Senators Warren, Bernie Sanders, and others proposing to apply Social Security payroll taxes to all income over $250,000.