Free Republic

The bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., says he's a man of God, not a lobbyist. But state officials say he's both.According to the Connecticut Office of State Ethics, the diocese acted as a lobbying organization in March when it rented buses to transport people to a rally in Hartford — the state capital — to protest a bill that would have granted more power to parishioners regarding church finances.Officials also are investigating whether the church acted as a lobbying organization on its Web site when it urged parishioners to contact lawmakers about the bill, which...

Not too long ago, I wrote an article for my parish newsletter about why we must offer encouragement -- not sideways glances -- to parents who bring their young children to Mass. Overall, the response was positive, but one reader sent me a letter suggesting I leave my kids at home so I could "more fully receive Christ." It was charitable enough, but the point was clear: Children are sweet, but they don't belong in church.   This wasn't the first time (and I suspect it won't be the last) I've been scolded for encouraging our children's presence at...

Aug 4, 2005 : 11:23 am ET KERNERSVILLE, N.C. -- The director of a church youth group has been charged with sex crimes involving two teenage girls in his group. Timothy Paul Rowell, 23, of Kernersville, is accused of statutory sex offense and indecent liberties with a child. He had worked at Main Street Baptist Church. The incidents happened between April 20 and June 1 with girls between 13 and 14 years old, police said. The church suspended Rowell from his duties June 22 and he was fired a week later. "We ... did not see this coming, and basically...

Let us now try to understand the Vatican’s bizarre policy on terrorism. Recently Pope Benedict XVI condemned terrorist attacks against civilians in Great Britain, Egypt, Iraq, and Turkey. In a pregnant omission – very pregnant in light of the Vatican’s long history of silence in the face of attacks against Jews – the Pope omitted any mention of the country that has suffered the largest number of terrorist attacks against civilians since 9/11, namely, Israel. When the Israeli government understandably protested the omission, the Vatican’s position became even more troubling. It singled out Israel for criticism, saying that that beleaguered...

CHRISTMAS is the second most important festival of the Church, after Easter, but it holds a special appeal for most Christians. The miracle of Bethlehem speaks to the heart of redeemed mankind. The little town had been identified in prophecy as the birthplace of the Messiah and this was only the first of innumerable instances in the life of Our Lord that scrupulously fulfilled the forecasts of the prophets, culminating on Calvary in the realisation of David’s words: "They have pierced my hands and my feet, they have numbered all my bones." The Feast of the Nativity is very much...

"It is as it was." This, Peggy Noonan reports in the Opinion Journal, was the Pope's comment to his good friend Msgr. Stanislaw Dziwisz after watching "The Passion of Christ," Mel Gibson's much-maligned film. In other words, the Holy Father feels that Mel Gibson's film accurately shows how events unfolded in the last days of Christ on Earth. The Vatican has had no official comment on the movie, but Noonan in her latest column tells us that "John Paul II, who even with the challenges of his current illness has more good sense than many of his cardinals, knew of...