Free Republic

Lately, a number of abortion activists have been claiming that their faith is the reason they support abortion. Abortionist Willie Parker calls his deadly practice a “ministry,” saying Christianity inspires him to help pregnant women who are struggling. Abortionist-in-training Carolyn Payne says Christianity led her to believe that doing abortions “is one of the most meaningful ways I feel I can contribute to making the world a more fair and equal place for women.” Equality and compassion toward the suffering are key aspects of Christianity, but abortion supporters who call themselves Christians limit these values, refusing to extend them to...

Some Things You May Not Know About Vivaldi Msgr. Charles Pope • May 3, 2016 • One of my favorite composers is Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741). While I love his secular pieces (such as The Four Seasons), I am especially fond of his Church music. It is so light, bright, and tuneful! Vivaldi loved to go up and down the musical scale, varying the theme a half step at a time.Ah, Vivaldi, he’s right up there with Handel, Bach, and Mozart! I consider him to be an especially Catholic treasure given his large body of sacred Latin liturgical music.Here are...

WARNING - UPSETTING CONTENT: The Pope was subjected to violent sexual imagery after writing of Jesus' "love for us" on Twitter Reuters Pope Francis arrives at the weekly audience in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican Pope Francis has been subjected to abusive tweets after writing about Jesus' love on Twitter The Pope has been targeted by Twitter trolls with sickening abuse after he posted a message about Jesus on the social networking site. Pope Francis was subjected to the vile abuse just seconds after writing on his Twitter page. He wrote: "Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God’s mercy, out...

Pulling up Roots from Reality - A Review of a Cogent Analysis of the Post-Cartesian West Msgr. Charles Pope • May 2, 2016 • René DescartesOver the years I have attempted to trace the philosophical disaster of our modern world. Certainly the fundamental roots can be traced back to the breakdown of the medieval synthesis, the rise of nominalism, and the doubts of Descartes. These introduced a disconnect from reality. Descartes introduced a radical doubt in anything seen or experienced, and this disconnects us from reality. If we pull up roots from reality and the revelation of creation, we...

On the Need to Be More Urgent in Preparing for Final Judgment Msgr. Charles Pope • May 1, 2016 • At every funeral I celebrate, I spend a good portion of the sermon urging everyone, including myself, to be more intent on preparing for death and judgement. I remind the assembled of Jesus’ numerous parables on this theme. I remind them that no one loves them more than does Jesus, and yet no one issued more warnings of judgment and Hell than He did. I do this at funerals because the overwhelming majority of people I see there do...

We live in daily submission to a host of authorities who circumscribe our freedom: from parents to traffic police officers to dog catchers. All authorities are to be respected and, as the Bible declares, honored. But only one authority has the intrinsic right to bind the conscience. God alone imposes absolute obligation, and He does it by the power of His holy voice. He calls the world into existence by divine imperative, by holy fiat. He calls the dead and rotting Lazarus to life again. He calls people who were no people “My people.” He calls us out of darkness...

Four Gifts of Grace – A Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter Msgr. Charles Pope • April 30, 2016 • The Gospel for today has a number of “sayings” of the Lord Jesus, which all amount to a kind of litany of love. It is a setting forth of the gifts that He, by His grace, is accomplishing and will accomplish in us. Let’s get right to work and consider the wonderful gifts of grace.I. Power – Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever loves me will keep my word”Here is a fundamental theology of grace: keeping the commandments...

Why the New Evangelization Is Necessary, as Seen in a Cartoon Msgr. Charles Pope • April 29, 2016 • The animated short video below is a humorous reminder that when technology changes so rapidly, some of us can easily get left behind.In it, there is also something of an admonition to the Church, that we not act too much like the man in the video. 1. It would seem that the old man has been sheltered away in his apartment for too long while the world has passed him by. We in the Church also have been hunkered down...

Chipping Away Everything That Is Not of God or of You - A Meditation on God as Sculptor Msgr. Charles Pope • April 28, 2016 • Michelangelo was asked how he could make a beautiful sculpture like his “Moses” out of a block of marble. His famous response was that he simply chipped away everything that wasn’t “Moses.”This is a paradigm for us in two senses.First, the Lord must chip away everything within us that is not Jesus. Yes, everything that is not of the Lord must go. St. Paul said, “I live; no not I, Christ lives in...

National Catholic Distorter is reporting that the dissident theologian Hans Küng has publicly confirmed receipt of a letter from Pope Francis responding to his request “to give room to a free, unprejudiced and open-ended discussion on the problem of infallibility.” According to Küng, the pope gave him (and thus every other like-minded malcontent subversive in Catholic clothing) the green light to have at it. Given that Francis’ letter “set no restrictions,” according to Küng, “he has thus responded to my request to give room to a free discussion on the dogma of infallibility.” Notice the language that is used: Küng...

"Heresiarch Kasper: Pope will not preserve that which has been! Do you get it yet friends? The Pope IS the problem!" It really is time Catholics; wake up! Get out of your doldrums and your daydreams and your fantasy that all is well. The crisis in the Church which came to the surface during and after the Second Vatican Council, the crisis and heresy of Modernism is upon us now greater than ever. Prelate after prelate and even the Pope, the Bishop of Rome himself, Jorge Bergoglio, are now proving on a daily basis that they do not hold to...

The Secret of Modesty Msgr. Charles Pope • April 27, 2016 • The following post contains some adult content. There is nothing inappropriate, but it does speak frankly to an aspect of sexual desire. Exercise caution if reading it to younger children.There is a secret, once known and widely shared among women, that the best way to get and hold a man’s attention is through modesty. Near nakedness can get a man’s attention, but it is modesty that will hold it.Why is this so? It is because mystery is powerfully attractive. It entices; it draws and holds one in...

A Look at the Early Catholic Church from the Acts of the Apostles Msgr. Charles Pope • April 26, 2016 • The second reading from last Sunday’s Mass (5th Sunday of Easter) is very Catholic, and too informative to merely pass up. It presents the Church as rather highly organized and possessed of some of the structures we know today in full form. Granted, some of these structures are in seminal form, but they are there.We will also notice qualities of the original kerygma that are at variance with what some modern thinkers declare should be the methodology of...

The liberal media are so in love with Pope Francis that they can't report the hard truth about his blatant interference in the 2016 presidential campaign and what it represents. Not only was socialist Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) invited to a conference of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (PASS) on Catholic social teaching and the world situation, he also met personally with Pope Francis. A secular Jewish atheist, Sanders is not even a member of the Catholic Church. "I am not actively involved with organized religion," Sanders has said. His brother Larry says, "He is quite substantially not religious."...

The following was written by His Excellency Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of St Mary in Astana, Kazakhstan. This is the official response to Amoris Laetitia from the good bishop. He wishes this to be read by all so please repost and forward far and wide. "Amoris laetitia": a need for clarification in order to avoid a general confusion The paradox of the contradictory interpretations of "Amoris laetitia" The recently published Apostolic Exhortation “Amoris laetitia” (AL), which contains a plethora of spiritual and pastoral riches with regard to life within marriage and the Christian family in our times,...

What Will Our Resurrected Bodies Be Like? Msgr. Charles Pope • April 25, 2016 • When I gave a talk recently at the Institute of Catholic Culture on the subject of the Second Coming, I was I asked to describe what our resurrected bodies will be like. Here is an article I wrote a few years back that details some aspects of our resurrected bodies:St Paul writes to the Philippians of the glory that our currently lowly bodies will one day enjoy:He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified Body by the power that enables him...

Social media has enabled communication between friends like never before. It’s also enabled lies to be spread (and debunked more quickly) than ever before. The lies Mormons tell are typically hold-overs from before Snopes was invented, and most Mormons may not realize they are lying, or simply justify the lie because the church is too good and you, their neighbor, would “make such a good member!” Next time a member sends you one of these lies, feel free to send them a link to this list. Also, to you members, before your blood begins to boil on my definition of...

We all have been waiting for it for quite some time now. Finally, a prelate has spoken. On the topic of the apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Astana, Kazakhstan, has given a statement of over 6,000 words to the Italian website Corrispondenza Romana, which was published yesterday, 24 April. (No English translation has yet been made available; all of the following excerpts are taken from our own partial translation.) While Schneider says that different interpretations of Amoris Laetitia now are now spreading, he sees that “Some of the statements of Amoris Laetitia are objectively liable to misinterpretation.”...

A Model of Manhood – A Reflection on a Text from St. Paul to Timothy Msgr. Charles Pope • April 24, 2016 • This post is based on a talk I gave to a group of men in Scranton, PA. I preached out of a text from St. Paul to Timothy, whom St. Paul considered a son in the faith:But as for you, O man of God … Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the...

The Legacy of Love – A Homily for the 5th Week of Easter Msgr. Charles Pope • April 24, 2016 • The title of this sermon uses the word legacy, which refers to something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor.Perhaps the most accessible image of this is money. If I receive 100 million dollars from a dying relative, I can use those funds to start living differently. My bills, which now seem overwhelming, can be paid with just the interest earned from my newfound wealth. I can start enjoying things I thought I could never afford...