Free Republic

An estimated 350 people gathered together on Monday to commemorate and celebrate the overturning of Roe v Wade exactly two years ago, enjoying an afternoon of free food, singing, fellowship, and speeches while nearby counterprotesters raged from the side. The Life Day Block Party in Moscow, Idaho, was organized by RedBalloon and Bohnet Music Academy, two local businesses with connections to Doug Wilson’s Christ Church. With a tagline of “Goodbye Roe,” the event recalls an answer to prayer fifty years in the making, when on May 2, 2022, Politico published a leaked draft of the Supreme Court majority decision in...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis’ errors are causing ‘many invalid confessions’: Italian priest and theologianVATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis’ errors regarding sacramental absolution and contrition are causing “many invalid Confessions,” an Italian priest and theologian is warning.Don Tullio Rotondo, author of the book Betrayal of sound doctrine through “Amoris Laetitia,” is raising the alarm that any attempt by a priest to grant absolution in Confession without the penitent expressing sorrow for all mortal sins committed – which must all be confessed – or without the penitent’s firm intention to avoid sin in the future, are not valid confessions. Don Rotondo...

A group of secular legal organizations is suing Louisiana to stop a law passed this month that would make it the only state requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms.The Freedom From Religion Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a legal complaint on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana on behalf of a religiously diverse group of individuals with minor children enrolled in Louisiana public schools. The defendants include Christian, Jewish, Unitarian and nonreligious parents."There is no longstanding tradition of permanently...

[Catholic Caucus] "He who keeps silent is to be taken as consenting…”The miscarriage of justice in the case of Marko Rupnik—the appalling farce it has been from the start—is sadly not an aberration under Pope Francis. The Rupnik Affair has indelibly stained this pontificate.“Who am I to judge the Rupnik stories?”Pope Francis’s Communicator-in-Chief, Dr. Paolo Ruffini, asked that rhetorical question on Friday in an Atlanta, GA hotel ballroom, in front of journalists, one of whom—Colleen Dulle of America Magazine, it happens—had asked him to explain his dicastery’s rationale for continuing to use reproductions of artwork by a disgraced priest who...

Pro-lifers are often accused of opposing abortion solely for religious reasons. If you follow Secular Pro-Life on Twitter long enough, you will see tweets from pro-choicers claiming SPL is really a Christian group. Some pro-abortion people say that atheists like me who oppose abortion are closet Christians who have no reason for our views except for our (alleged) faith. Pro-abortion people have also used this argument to discredit religious pro-lifers. Even when a religious pro-lifer relies solely on secular arguments, they almost invariably hear that they only oppose abortion because their religion tells them to. Sometimes, though, it is pro-choicers...

There’s a significant gap in the involvement of Protestant churches with local pregnancy resource centers, despite heightened attention on such centers following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade two years ago. A survey by Lifeway Research reveals that only 31% of Protestant churchgoers have observed any congregational support for these centers since the ruling. On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization allowed states to enact laws regulating abortion, spotlighting the role of local pregnancy centers in providing support for women with unintended pregnancies. Despite this, the majority of...

The pope’s right-hand man is reshaping the church, becoming a targetMost Catholics have little sense of the liberal archbishop behind the Vatican’s pronouncements. But critics of the pope see Víctor Manuel Fernández as Enemy No. 2.“Fernández’s appointment was the most consequential of [Francis’s] pontificate,” said Massimo Faggioli, a Catholic theologian at Villanova University. “After one year of Fernández, we’ve witnessed a series … of frequent, specific, out-of-the-ordinary actions the likes of which have never been observed. And this from a prefect who knows full well that he’s Francis’s own alter ego and enjoys the pope’s complete trust.” ... Senior church...

Hillary Clinton attacked Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on his Christian faith in a recent interview, calling the conservative justice “scary” and “a fanatic” for his religious views. The former secretary of state and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee made the remarks in April during a podcast interview with Democracy Docket’s Marc Elias. A clip from that discussion resurfaced on social media over the weekend. “You know, I was in the Senate when both John Roberts and Alito were nominated to the court by George W. Bush. Therefore, I had a chance, as you rightly say, to interview both of them,”...

CV NEWS FEED// On Wednesday, June 20, Bishop Michael Burbidge, on behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) released a statement celebrating the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which overturned the previous ruling of Roe v. Wade. As Bishop of Arlington and Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, Bishop Burbidge has been an outspoken champion of the right to life, calling abortion the “preeminent civil rights issue of our time,” as CatholicVote recently reported. In his statement on the anniversary of Dobbs, he urges American Catholics to continue defending life. He reminds Catholics...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican communications prefect: Removing Rupnik art ‘not the Christian response’The prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication told a group of Catholic journalists Friday that removing artwork by disgraced religious artist and alleged serial sexual abuser Fr. Marko Rupnik is “not the Christian response.” Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, speaks at a synod on synodality briefing at the Vatican on Oct. 14, 2023. Screenshot from Vatican News YouTube channel.“I don’t think we have to throw stones, thinking it is the way of healing someone,” said Paolo Ruffini, according to video footage of his remarks...

[Catholic Caucus] “Queering” the Catholic ChurchAn article published in The Stream last March featured this headline: “Pope Francis Must Choose: LGBTQ Ideology or Children.” A few days before “Pride Month” began, Francis announced his choice, quietly but blatantly.When the Vatican celebrated World Children’s Day in late May this year — a holiday it created — a male drag performer danced in front of children, who even saw the performer’s posterior deliberately exposed to them.The performer, Carmine De Rosa, said on social media that the Vatican invited him to perform and knew what his act contained: “I would like to point...

Priest: Pope Francis is waging a ‘war against the Church’ at every turnPopes don’t usually wear black pants under their white robes, and they don’t wear black shoes either.They do not live in the Vatican guest house and do not use simple wheelchairs. No matter how frail a pope may be, he always maintains maximum dignity. He owes this less to himself than to his high office; after all, being pope always means fulfilling a role that is greater than yourself; but it also means that you become someone else to some extent. The numerous titles of the popes indicate...

As some Catholics know, Archbishop Viganò is a hero in the eyes of many who do not enjoy the spectacle of Pope Francis’ continual and seemingly ongoing reversal of Catholic teaching and law. The hyperpolitical, leftist Pope has been, by his own words, engaged in irreversibly (he hopes) and increasingly modifying (according to his own predilections) the Catholic Church since he took papal office. Sound like anybody you know? Viganò has been consistently faithful to Canon Law and to the established teachings of the Church, his warnings falling against a wall of thunderous silence from most of the Western bishops...

Indiana native and father of four Paul Schmucker shared his story of overcoming regret and grief after coercing his girlfriend to get an abortion. Paul, now age 42, grew up as one of twelve in a traditional Amish family in Indiana. He had loving parents and a wonderful childhood in the Amish community. At age 16, according to tradition, Paul experienced Rumspringa, a tradition when Amish youth leave the community and immerse themselves in the outside world. This period of Rumspringa grants young Amish men and women the opportunity to decide whether they want to return to their community or...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal O'Malley's Former Episcopal Vicar to "Marry" a Man 32 Years His JuniorJames Flavin, 62, a former priest of the Archdiocese of Boston, is to 'marry' Michel E., a man 32 years his junior. A two-day celebration is planned for February 2025 in Mexico.Flavin was ordained a priest in June 1987. He was a favourite of Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who appointed Flavin an episcopal vicar in 2014.Flavin worked as a psychotherapist, specialising in internet addiction and treating priests with drug, alcohol or psychiatric problems. In 2019, Flavin took a sabbatical time.In May 2020, he bought a $1...

[Catholic Caucus] A Father’s Day TaleThe Priest Who Took Down a Gang To Protect His FlockIn 1955, an American seminarian studying in Louvain, Belgium read a line from a poem that changed his life—and eventually the world. The poem that jolted Venerable Aloysius Schwartz was “Still Falls the Rain,” by British poet Edith Sitwell, after a German air squadron’s bombardment in 1940. Sitwell depicts Christ nailed to the cross as a “Starved Man,” observing death in London’s fire-scorched streets. “Fr. Al,” who grew up poor in a Washington D.C. rowhouse during the Great Depression, began to understand his priestly identity...

[Catholic Caucus] The Faith of Pope Pius IX’s Qui Pluribus is Alone Capable of Defeating Catholicism’s Enemies In 1846, Blessed Pius IX began his first papal encyclical, Qui Pluribus (On Faith and Religion), by describing his purpose in writing to the Church’s bishops:“Its purpose is to urge that you keep the night-watches over the flock entrusted to your care with the greatest possible eagerness, wakefulness and effort, and that you raise a protecting wall before the House of Israel; do these as you battle with episcopal strength and steadfastness like good soldiers of Christ Jesus against the hateful enemy of...

Pew’s recent report on Catholics in the United States notes that around 20 percent of U.S. adults describe themselves as Catholic. Of this number, only three in ten say they attend Mass weekly or more often, which means that seven in ten Catholics are not practicing their faith. This is necessary context to consider the number of Catholics in the poll, six in ten, who think that abortion should be legal. To illustrate this distinction, consider an earlier Pew report from May 2022, which noted that: Among Catholics who attend Mass at least once a week, about two-thirds (68%) say...

Mifepristone, also known as the abortion drug, is a highly controversial pill that now accounts for over 60% of abortions in the U.S., according to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute. Among the many fighting for and against access to mifepristone is the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine (AHM), a group of pro-life physicians who challenged the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) 2016 and 2021 decisions that lead to easier access to the abortion drug by “permanently [eliminating] its requirements that women receive ongoing in-person medical care when taking mifepristone.” The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled last week to dismiss the challenge. As...

A Missouri circuit judge has ruled against several clergy members who argued that the state's abortion laws infringe on the Missouri Constitution's Establishment Clause. The lawsuit, led by a diverse group of faith leaders, was met with a dismissal. The challenge, initiated in January 2023 by representatives from Christian, Jewish and Unitarian congregations, was spearheaded by advocacy groups, including Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the National Women's Law Center. They sought an injunction to halt Missouri's abortion laws, which lack exceptions even in cases of rape or incest, arguing these laws violate constitutional provisions against the...