Free Republic

(Washington) The Cardinal in Spe, Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, stated in an interview that his interpretation of the controversial post-synodal letter Amoris laetitia "is the same from Pope Francis." From a progressive outsider to the influential church prince Monsignor Cupich was not only the Bishop of the tiny Diocese of Spokane in the state of Washington in 2014, but also the progressive outsider in the American Episcopal Conference. Nevertheless, or just as observers say, Pope Francis appointed him Archbishop of Chicago, one of the most important diocese in the world. Since then, the Argentine pope has been calling on...

October 4, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) — At the request of the Vatican, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) surveyed bishops and leaders across the country to determine how Amoris Laetitia is being implemented and received across the country. The USCCB’s survey led it to recommend the development of resources on “best practices based on Amoris Laetitia,” particularly “further resources on the application [of] aspects … such as those treating the internal forum and reception of the sacraments with regard to persons in irregular marital situations” and “advice on how confessors can assist persons in irregular marital relationships.” The survey results...

In the one and the other the pope has made it known what kind of implementation he wants for the eighth chapter of “Amoris Laetitia,” the one about communion for the divorced and remarried. His approved spokesmen: the Argentine bishops and his cardinal vicar by Sandro Magister ROME, October 4, 2016 – There was a big stir all around the world over the letter of commendation written by Pope Francis to the Argentine bishops of the region of Buenos Aires, praised for how they have been able to give the right interpretation of “Amoris Laetitia” - meaning that of Francis...

“Today there is a global war to destroy marriage,” the Pope said during a meeting in Tbilisi with priests, religious, seminarians and lay people active in parish life.

Catechism of the Catholic Church The catechism clearly states that Christ condemns adultery Adultery refers to marital infidelity. When two partners, of whom at least one is married to another party, have sexual relations – even transient ones – they commit adultery. Christ condemns even adultery of mere desire (cf. Mt 5:27–28). The sixth commandment and the New Testament forbid adultery absolutely (cf. Mt 5:32; 19:6; Mk 10:11; 1Cor 6:9–10). The prophets denounce the gravity of adultery; they see it as an image of the sin of idolatry (cf. Hos 2:7; Jer 5:7; 13:27). (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no....

An Air Force colonel facing court-martial next month on multiple counts of sexual assault was found dead Sunday at his Colorado home, according to the Air Force. Col. Eugene Marcus Caughey, formerly the vice commander of the 51st Space Wing at Schriever Air Force Base, had been charged with rape, assault, adultery and other crimes. His court-martial was scheduled to begin Oct. 17 in what would have been a rare instance of the military placing a senior officer on trial for sexual assault. Officials at Peterson Air Force Base said Caughey, 46, was found dead at his off-base residence in...

The Catholic Church is being rocked to its foundations in the aftermath of the publication of Amoris laetitia and Pope Francis’ “confidential” (and promptly leaked) letter to the bishops of Buenos Aires affirming that the admission of public adulterers in “second marriages” to Holy Communion is the only correct interpretation of Amoris. Now we read that a friend of the late Pope John Paul II, the renowned Austrian philosopher Josef Seifert, has declared in a video interview that certain statements in Amoris are “objectively heretical” and that the Pope must act to correct them “to avoid schism and to avoid...

80 Catholic personalities reaffirm their loyalty to the Magisterium of the Church on the family and Catholic morals A Declaration of Fidelity to the ChurchÂ’s Unchangeable Teaching on Marriage and to Her Uninterrupted Discipline was disclosed today by a group of 78 Catholic personalities, including cardinals, bishops, priests, eminent scholars, leaders of pro-family and pro-life organizations and influential figures of civil society. The statement was disclosed by the association Supplica Filiale [Filial Appeal], the same organization that collected, between the two Synods on the family, nearly 900,000 signatures of Catholic faithful (including 211 prelates) in support of a petition asking...

With Burning Concern: We Accuse Pope Francis Part III of III "Have you no sense of alarm about the divisions you have provoked within the Church, with some bishops departing from the teaching of your predecessors on the divorced and 'remarried,' solely on your purported authority, while others attempt to maintain the bimillenial doctrine and practice you have labored without ceasing to overthrow?" A Joint Statement from The Remnant and Catholic Family News PART III A “Pastoral Practice” at War with Doctrine You have approved as the only correct interpretation of Amoris a moral calculus that would in practice undermine...

Catholics face a choice. Will they uphold the Church's teaching that the divorced and remarried cannot be admitted to communion, or will they reject it? Pope Francis has brought this question before the Church, though he refuses to formulate it so starkly. He believes that an exception can be made in every case, so that the principle will be preserved even as it loses all force—as if faith need not shape practice, and practice would not remake faith. In the face of his campaign, many who value Catholic truth have fallen silent. It seems that only an outright denial of...

With Burning Concern: We Accuse Pope Francis: The Remnant & Catholic Family News - I of III With Burning Concern: We Accuse Pope Francis "The culminating event that impelled us to take this step was the revelation of your 'confidential' letter to the bishops of Buenos Aires authorizing them, solely on the basis of your own views as expressed in Amoris Laetitia, to admit public certain public adulterers in 'second marriages' to the sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion without any firm purpose of amending their lives by ceasing their adulterous sexual relations. " From Michael Matt, Christopher Ferrara &...

I was really dumbfounded when Jeff Mirus said: "In this case, the continuing sins involved in the irregular union on the part of the repentant spouse would seem to be venial—on the grounds that full consent of the will to the moral evil of continued sexual relations is lacking. The sins would be rendered venial by either a very real confusion about the best course or the compulsion inherent in the particular situation, or both " So if your husband wants you to break one of the ten commandments, you're only committing venial sin because you're breaking them to keep...

From the very beginning of this ill-fated pontificate, this page was maligned for stating the obvious about Cardinal Bergoglio, and the prospects his positions brought to the papacy. For example, from the very beginning it was clear to us Francis wanted to impose on the Church the new doctrine of communion to the "divorced and remarried" (that is, those living in permanent state of sin, without the desire to end their sinful situation), the new German Doctrine. Other commentators tried to hide for as long as possible, even up to a few days ago, that the Pope wanted to personally...

So now we know. We knew before, really, but didn’t have explicit confirmation. The long, agonizing slog, however, is finally over: from Pope Francis’ invitation to Cardinal Kasper to address the bishops in Rome in February of 2014 to the pope’s letter last week to some Argentinean bishops affirming guidelines they had developed in a joint document that, in “exceptional cases,” people divorced and remarried (living in an “adulterous” relationship as we believed for 2000 years in Western Christianity), may receive Holy Communion. This whole affair is bizarre. No other word will do. As I wrote on this page many...

Recently, it was made public that priests and theologians wrote to every Cardinal in the Church to press Pope Francis to clarify his position on those parts of Amoris Laetitia which have potential to mislead the Faithful into error. This is the latest major initiative aimed at seeking clarification from the Pope, undertaken privately but made public. At considerable risk to themselves, this request was made by persons of good will towards the Pope and in good faith. Since then, Fr Hunwicke has made it quite clear that the response to this letter from certain quarters has been one of...

After the battle in the Catholic Church over the last two years culminating in the publication of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, many Catholics may be left scratching their heads. One of the most common thoughts has been why all the fuss over allowing “remarriage” in some cases? And why not allow the happily married new couple to be good Catholics and go to Holy Communion? This was also one of the most frequent criticisms of our report on September 9 about the Pope’s letter praising the Argentinean bishops’ directive allowing Communion for the divorced and remarried. But while...

Given the willingness of both Archbishop Paglia and Msgr. Sequeri to entertain views and pastoral practices which critics say would contradict the moral clarity of traditional Church approaches to these issues, some are concerned by their appointments to such key roles related to life, marriage and family, and the changes they might enact.

"No other interpretation," The words of Jorge Berogoglio on the infamous chapter in Amoris Laetitia! Now we know. Now we know what Bergoglio really thinks, there is no more doubting it. Yet, there will be people, including in this combox, who will say, that he did not say this or that he said elsewhere. No. This is modernism and this is heresy. It only takes a drop of water to poison a litre of water. If you drink it, you will still die. The Bishops of Buenos Aires have issued a document to their priests on the interpretation of Amoris...

In a letter reportedly leaked by a priest in Argentina, Pope Francis writes that there is “no other interpretation” of Amoris Laetitia other than one admitting divorced and remarried Catholics to Holy Communion in some cases. The letter, dated September 5, comes in response to a confidential document by the bishops of the Buenos Aires pastoral region to priests instructing them on the application of the Pope’s controversial apostolic exhortation. LifeSite has acquired copies of both original documents and has provided professional side-by-side translation. The Spanish original of the letter from the Pope is here The Spanish original of the...

The Spanish-language Catholic journal InfoCatólica — which is based in Spain, but covers issues in Latin America as well — has published a document from the Argentine Bishops’ in response to Amoris Laetitia. They have also released a corresponding letter attributed to Pope Francis in which he praises their work, saying (according to the slightly cleaned-up machine translation we’re currently working with) “The writing is very good and fully express the meaning of Chapter VIII of Amoris Laetitia. No other interpretations.” And yet, paragraphs 5 & 6 of the bishops’ document makes an assertion about the permissability of confession and...