Free Republic

Cardinal Reinhard Marx / Wolfgang Roucka / Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0 The Catholic Church is experiencing a special momentum in church history under the leadership of Pope Francis, says Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich.And in an interview with the Bavarian daily Münchner Merkur, the 64-year-old cardinal said he’s doing everything he can to support the pope while encouraging all the faithful to do likewise.Marx, speaking with the paper on the tenth anniversary of his appointment as Archbishop of Munich (November 30, 2007), said he sees a new readiness to focus on the Christian faith. He said this is partly because of...

Dec 5 Dec 5 "Resist, Resist, Resist": CFN Exclusive Interview with Fr. Alessandro M. Minutella "I am dumbfounded that in Italy, I am still the only one."Suspension and Double-Excommunication: "These are medals of honor""Resist, resist, resist!"Editor's Note: Father Alessandro Maria Minutella is an Italian priest of the Archdiocese of Palermo. Born in 1973 and ordained in 1999, he became known in the past month to English speakers around the world thanks to a Youtube video about resisting Pope Francis and Amoris laetitia. Catholic Family News is happy to present this exclusive interview with Don Minutella, (to our knowledge) the first...

@import url("chrome://global/skin/aboutReaderContent.css"); A woman walks past an anti-Pope Francis poster in Rome (Getty Images) The book, published under a pseudonym, makes numerous allegations about the Pope's behaviourA search is on for the author of a new book about the Pope which accuses him of being a “dictator”.Published on Kindle in English and in Italian, The Dictator Pope appears under the pseudonym “Marcantonio Colonna”, the name of an admiral who fought at the Battle of Lepanto.Colonna claims to be an Oxford-educated historian now based in Rome. His book tells the story of Francis’s pontificate, as well as his life before...

Describing them as “authentic magisterium,” Pope Francis ordered the official publication of his letter to a group of Argentine bishops and their guidelines for the interpretation of Amoris Laetitia, his apostolic exhortation on the family. According to a brief note by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, Francis wanted his letter and the bishops’ document to be published on the Vatican website and in the “Acta Apostolicae Sedis,” the official record of Vatican documents and acts.The papal letter, dated Sept. 5, 2016, was written in response to guidelines published by the bishops in the Catholic Church’s Buenos Aires region....

Fr. Don Miller, OFM Image: Images from Whitworth University | Whitworth Digital Commons Saint Gregory Grassi and Companions Saint of the Day for July 8 (d. July 9, 1900)  Saint Gregory Grassi and Companions’ Story Christian missionaries have often gotten caught in the crossfire of wars against their own countries. When the governments of Britain, Germany, Russia, and France forced substantial territorial concessions from the Chinese in 1898, anti-foreign sentiment grew very strong among many Chinese people.Gregory Grassi was born in Italy in 1833, ordained in 1856, and sent to China five years later. Gregory was later ordained Bishop...

Fr. Don Miller, OFM Image: Stained glass window in St. Peter church | Jaffa | photo by yiftah-s Blessed Emmanuel Ruiz and Companions Saint of the Day for July 7 (1804 – 1860)  Blessed Emmanuel Ruiz and Companions’ Story Not much is known of the early life of Emmanuel Ruiz, but details of his heroic death in defense of the faith have come down to us.Born of humble parents in Santander, Spain, he became a Franciscan priest and served as a missionary in Damascus. This was at a time when anti-Christian riots shook Syria and thousands lost their lives...

Fr. Don Miller, OFM Image: Stained glass window of Saint Maria Goretti | Reinhard MüllerSaint of the Day for July 6 (October 16, 1890 – July 6, 1902)  Saint Maria Goretti’s Story One of the largest crowds ever assembled for a canonization—250,000—symbolized the reaction of millions touched by the simple story of Maria Goretti.She was the daughter of a poor Italian tenant farmer, had no chance to go to school, never learned to read or write. When Maria made her First Communion not long before her death at age 12, she was one of the larger and somewhat backward...

Fr. Don Miller, OFM Image: Sculpture of Saint Anthony Mary Zaccaria, at St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican | Cesare AureliSaint Anthony Zaccaria Saint of the Day for July 5 (1502 – July 5, 1539)  Saint Anthony Zaccaria’s Story At the same time that Martin Luther was attacking abuses in the Church, a reformation within the Church was already being attempted. Among the early movers of the Counter-Reformation was Anthony Zaccaria. His mother became a widow at 18, and devoted herself to the spiritual education of her son. He received a medical doctorate at 22, and while working among the poor...

Fr. Don Miller, OFM Image: Santa Isabel de Portugal | Francisco de Zurbarán Saint Elizabeth of Portugal Saint of the Day for July 4 (1271 – July 4, 1336)  Saint Elizabeth of Portugal’s Story Elizabeth is usually depicted in royal garb with a dove or an olive branch. At her birth in 1271, her father Pedro III, future king of Aragon, was reconciled with his father James, the reigning monarch. This proved to be a portent of things to come. Under the healthful influences surrounding her early years, she quickly learned self-discipline and acquired a taste for spirituality.Thus fortunately...

Silence in Advent Prepares Us for the Joy of ChristmasConstance T. Hull The topic of silence has grown in popularity on social media in recent months. This is especially true in light of the various pieces written on Cardinal Sarah’s brilliant book, The Strength of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise. Silence is an important topic. We are inundated with noise. This noise is not only an assault on our auditory faculties, but on our senses as a whole. The world wants to keep us distracted, busy, and living with a constant din buzzing in our ears. Why? Noise is...

For the Record: Franciscan Friars & Sisters of the Immaculate status update -- Bergoglio's destruction nearly complete For so many years now we have both broke and chronicled the news of Pope Bergoglio's destruction of the Franciscans of the Immaculate -- both the Friars (FFI) and the Sisters (FSI). So much has happened, often in the shadows, and has gone unreported.  Below are simple bullet points of what we've been told recently. They come from multiple sources both inside and outside the order. But all must be recorded for history, so we post it today. We do this, as we...

Cardinal Gerhard Müller is revealing his removal from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) was the result of "certain forces" conspiring to oust him. In a new interview, Müller is asserting "forces" were at work in the Vatican while he was head of the CDF to pit him against Pope Francis. These forces "worked to get me in the way of the Pope, or their ideas of papacy and Church," he said. "I think that's the only explanation that can be found. "  He also added that he did not like Pope Francis' method of government, including his attitude...

Quick one today.On this blog you dear reader no doubt ran across material that suggested that there was more to the WikiLeaks revelations about the OBAMA/CrookedHillary camp intervening in matters behind the Sacred Vatican Walls, than was being written.Of the above mentioned posts, yesterday’s is a case in point.I did’t want to emphasize this aspect since these were just suspicions and not substantiated by any material EVIDENCE.And now we get the below, via Deacon Nick Donnelly’s Twitter Feed:And this…The book can be bought here:

No worries, Canon 915 has not been changed… Every single time Francis does something atrocious, there is the one or other theologian explaining to us that Francis has not proclaimed a new dogma, or abolished Canon 915, or the like. Yeah, well, interesting as an intellectual curiosity. Still, I think that the approach is totally wrong, and that we must stop circling around the real problem. If there is a hurricane going on, I am not really interested in the way the ozone layer reacts to it, nor am I reassured by the newly imparted knowledge. There is a hurricane going...

In Christ, the Son of Man, Our Total Victory Is Certain Msgr. Charles Pope • December 3, 2017 • At daily Mass last week, we read from an important passage in Daniel 7. It is important not only for its prophecy, but also because Jesus implicitly sets it an interpretive key for His own ministry and mission and for why He calls Himself the “Son of Man” so frequently. Let’s consider the passage from several different perspectives: its historical meaning, its Christological meaning and its present meaning.In a vision I, Daniel, saw during the night, the four winds of...

Last week, I offered a preview of a new book called The Dictator Pope, which bills itself as  “The inside story of the most tyrannical and unprincipled papacy of modern times.” In my sneak peek at the book, I said it was important and asked you to consider pre-ordering it, and you rose to the occasion. Today it debuted in English as an Amazon best-seller out of the gate, ranking #1 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Biographies > Popes & the Vatican, #2 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Catholicism, and rising about 500 spots to sit at #876...

Tuesday, November 18, 2014 Can the Church Depose an Heretical Pope? Written by  Robert J. Siscoe Excommunicated by the Second Council of Constantinople, 553  “Indeed the Church has the right to separate herself from an heretical pope according to divine law. Consequently it has the right, by the same divine law, to use all means of themselves necessary for such separation…”– John of St. Thomas“The Church must render a judgment before the pope loses his office. Private judgment of the laity in this matter does not suffice.”– Robert J. SiscoeA recent article by Fr. James V. Schall S.J., which was...

Retired Catholic Bishop of Corpus Christi TX, Rene Henry Gracida said on his blog over the weekend, “Francis’ heterodoxy is now official.” England’s internet-famed Deacon Nick Donnelly wondered on Twitter, “Has Francis deposed himself as the successor of St Peter by attempting to make the heretical interpretation of AL Authentic Magisterium?” The comments come in response to Pope Francis' elevation of a controversial private letter of his to the status of an 'apostolic letter' and calling it "authentic Magisterium." His private letter to the Argentine bishops approving their guidelines for giving communion to civilly-divorced-and-remarried Catholics living in adultery was originally...

The Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome will be hosting a year-long series of lectures on the fiftieth anniversary of Humanae Vitae. The featured speakers are not known to be great proponents of the encyclical, while noted scholars on the subject of the consequences of ignoring the prohibition against contraception, such as Mary Eberstadt, are conspicuous by their absence. The series is, of course, billed as an “interdisciplinary study,” a form of “dialogue” among differing views – yet the preponderance of views represented leans in a certain, predictable direction.This seems to be a recurring phenomenon when the call to “dialogue”...

Canceling Sunday Masses before Christmas December 4, 2017 Apparently this is a thing now: arch/bishops canceling all Sunday morning Masses in their arch/dioceses on Dec 24 (the Fourth Sunday of Advent) and directing priests to offer only the Christmas Mass of anticipation on Sunday evening. While the faithful could still attend Mass on Saturday evening, Dec 23, in anticipation of Sunday, those who usually attend Sunday Mass on Sunday morning will arrive to find locked doors and lights out.This is a bad idea.Sunday is “by apostolic tradition … the primordial holy day” and participation in Mass on Sunday is the signature...