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We interrupt this Sandro Magister column for an important announcement: "The Temple of Solomon has reopened!" No, not the original Temple, of course: all over the news (cf. reports at the Times and in Forbes magazine), one can see the announcement of a bizarre gaudy 300-million-dollar supposed replica built by a Pentecostal sect in the largest Brazilian city, Sao Paulo. We wish to offer our readers a glimpse of how much the Catholic Church has "obstructed the growth" (in the Pope's words) of these Pentecostal communities in Latin America.

Posted by Tantumblogo in abdication of duty, Basics, disaster, Ecumenism, error, foolishness, General Catholic, horror, Papa, sadness, scandals, secularism, self-serving, sickness, the return. I have avoided over the past week or more the incredibly damaging and scandalous actions and statements by Pope Francis with regard to his evangelical buddies in the hopes these scandals might go away. But eventually it became too much to avoid. Apparently, TFG has been meeting and cavorting with these hucksters all summer. Scandal has piled on scandal. This is not a matter of translations, or spin. The statements are too cohesive, too similar, and repetitious...

A priest looking for advice on how to advance the Church in a fast-paced world so often embroiled in conflict recently approached a well-placed cleric who had been a religious order priest and bishop for many years. In response, the bishop answered, in part, by sharing the following true story: A priest went as a missionary to an area where for years they had no priest, and evangelicals had arrived. He told me that he went to a woman who had been the teacher of the people and then the principle of the village school. This lady sat him down...

The Church of England is set to vote on whether women should be allowed to enter its top ranks as bishops. […] Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby told the BBC that he hopes the vote will go through, saying “the votes, I think, are there.” …

WASHINGTON – An openly transgender Episcopal priest is set to preach at Washington National Cathedral. The Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge, the Episcopal chaplain at Boston University, will be a guest preacher on Sunday. He'll be the first openly transgender priest to preach from Canterbury Pulpit at the cathedral.

Pentecost is often called “the birthday of the Church,” and to the extent that we understand the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ present and active in this world, it most certainly is. As such, I prefer to think of Pentecost as that moment in salvation history when the Apostles, emboldened by the power of the Holy Ghost, came out of hiding to reveal for all to see precisely what the mission of the Holy Catholic Church looks like in action. So crucial is this timeless example of missionary zeal to the work of the Church that it was...

Reuters and other news agencies are reporting that the Pope has capitulated on several issues such as homosexuality, abortion and contraception. The PopeÂ’s remarks were taken from a 12,000 word interview with the Jesuit periodical, Civilta Cattolica, (Catholic Civilization) the most prominent statement reaching news agencies is his declaration that the church needs to shake off its obsession with abortion and homosexuality. The Pope has pleased the liberal factions of the Catholic Church and sickened and worried the conservative members of the church. Few have reported on the prophetic implications of the PopeÂ’s remarks and with some exceptions, such as...

More Americans continue to identify themselves as conservatives than as liberals on economic and social matters. However, the conservative advantage on each dimension is shrinking from higher points in recent years, down to 21 points on economic policy and four points on social policy.

Apostasy is not just something that scandalises people in far off lands. Harriet Alexander hears the story of a British woman whose life was turned upside down when she left Islam - echoing the plight of Meriam Ibrahim, who awaits a death sentence in Sudan for the same "crime" If Amal Farah were not living in Britain, she believes she might well be dead. For the 33-year-old financial manager had carried out an act so heinous, her family felt she deserved to die. Her crime? She had renounced her Islamic faith – “and within my community, that’s a capital offence,”...

The everyday rules for how Muslims must live their lives come from the Qua’ran. Hate has been codified into Sharia Law. Sharia Law is a plan for worldwide dominance of Islam with all other humans being held as slaves- often sex slaves living in misery. The cruelty displayed by the Boko Haram is a reflection of true Islam; not an aberration. These seventh century creatures are merely following what they have been taught by their leaders. It is doubtful that most, if any, of this band of animals even knows how to read so it’s a good bet they have...

... ~Effective today, the Sultan of Brunei has made his lucky people the first in eastern Asia to live under a national Sharia law: ... Brunei is a Commonwealth country whose ultimate court of appeal is the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. It will be interesting to see how culturally sensitive their Lordships are to the first gay stoning that lands on their desks. Islamic law is a bitch to live under because it has a complete lack of proportion, an inability to tolerate any dissent from orthodoxy, and a disinclination to recognize the concept of private...

A lesbian preacher in the United Methodist Church is being given a free ride. After a complaint was filed against Sara Thompson Tweedy of New York, the matter was considered and the case dismissed. There will be no prosecution. Rob Renfroe of Good News, an orthodox renewal United Methodist group, says there's no mistake about Thompson's lifestyle. "She's very up front that she that is married to another woman…" tells OneNewsNow. Renfroe describes her as a "proud, active, self-avowed lesbian."

New research claims that the global numbers of Christians has remained stagnant, while Islam has skyrocketed as a worldwide religion reports Christianity Today. Dick Slikker of Christian mission consultancy group Project Care, assembled a report comparing numbers of Christians and Muslims from 1900 to 2010. According to Slikker’s report, Christianity has remained about the same, but Islam has almost doubled in members. The statistics of the report are as follows: •Christians made up 34.5 percent of the world’s population in 1900, but fell to 32.9 percent in 2010. •Muslims made up 12.3 percent of the world’s population in 1900, but...

Wednesday on the "Tom Joyner Morning Show," Al Sharpton offered a curious explanation involving President Barack Obama for the meaning of Easter: "I think that the message is, no matter what the world may do to unfairly, no matter how your crucified, nailed to the cross at home, or in your personal relationships, or on the job that you can rise if you don't lose yourself during the hard times and the challenges. The story of Jesus on the cross. no matter what they humiliated him with. no matter how they mocked him he took it, because he knew he...

Obama pulled a surprise move Monday at the White House’s Easter Prayer Breakfast when he selected Gene Robinson to lead the closing prayer. Robinson is famously known as the first openly gay Episcopal bishop. Talking Points Memo’s Tom Kludt spotted the following tweet from Robinson, who was in attendance: Bishop Gene Robinson @BishopGRobinson POTUS "preaches" at the Easter prayer breakfast. Then, out of the blue, asks ME to close with prayer. OMG! #privilege Robinson, 66, became diocesan bishop of New Hampshire in March 2004. He retired in January 2013 and is currently a senior fellow at the progressive Center for...

TOPEKA, KS – On the same day that Fred Phelps’ body was found rotting in a chair in his upstairs office, members of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church announced that they would be picketing his upcoming funeral. Phelps, born November 13, 1929, was the leader of the church — an organization that practices a strange, anti-homosexual version of Christianity that has been known to protest at celebrity and military funerals. The pastor’s daughter, Shirley Phelps-Roper, was the first to discover the 83-year-old’s body. “We haven’t brought dad out to very many protests for a few years now,” said Phelps-Roper. “In...

Maher began the monologue by declaring that America is “stupid” because 60 percent of the country reportedly believes the tale of Noah’s ark is literally true. He went on to slam the film Noah as “floating giraffe cr**,” but said it “must be doing something right” since it’s been condemned by both Muslims and Christians. And the fact that it might lose a lot of studio money, he joked, “may put it in hot water with the Jews too.”

Last October Dr. Thomas Ogletree (above), a clergyman in the United Methodist Church (UMC), performed the wedding ceremony for his gay son. UMC pastors are not supposed to marry gay couples, family members or otherwise. They’re instead supposed to believe what their Book of Discipline (which is to the UMC what, say, the Tax Code Book is to the IRS) tells them to believe, which is that “homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.” ....................................................... So guess what happened this morning instead of the trial of Thomas Ogletree? The UMC bishop overseeing the trial dropped all charges against the pastor. And...

February 17, 2002 Researcher refutes claims of Jews' existence during Pharaonic dynasties     Aided by evidence from mural inscriptions in temples, items in museums and most Importantly verses from the Holy Quran, the researcher Bassam Al Shama' gave proof that the Jews were not existent in Egypt in the age of Pharaonic dynasties and that Prophet Joseph came to Egypt when it was under the reign of the Greek. He also cast doubt on the assumption that the Pharaoh who stood in the face of Moses was neither Ramsis 11 nor his son Nebtah. Al Shama' has in fact ...

...A frequently cited passage in LDS scripture identifies The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth”(...Doctrine and Covenants 1:30). “What does this mean?” asked Elder Tad R. Callister of the church’s Presidency of the Seventy during a devotional for college-age church members Sunday evening. “It does not mean that other churches do not have some truth, for certainly they do,” he said. “It does not mean that other churches do not render good, for they render much good. What it does mean is that this is...