Free Republic

Father Raffray is a well-known priest who has a growing apostolate on the internet and social media aimed especially at young French-speaking people.The French government has initiated a series of legal measures against Father Matthieu Raffray for calling homosexual relations sinful and for describing homosexuality as a “weakness.” On March 15, the priest of the Institute of the Good Shepherd — created in 2006 in Rome for “the defense and dissemination of Catholic Tradition in all its forms,” according to the website of this society of apostolic life — posted a video on Instagram in which he encouraged the faithful...

Angela Chao, the billionaire sister-in-law of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, was drunk when she accidentally reversed her Tesla into a pond on a Texas ranch and died last month, according to police. The revelation was detailed in a report released Wednesday by the Blanco County Sheriff’s Office, which said Chao’s blood alcohol level was nearly three times the state’s legal limit when she backed her car into the pond while making a three-point turn. The sheriff’s office investigation determined Chao’s Feb. 10 death was “an unfortunate accident,” according to the report.

A man in Thailand who went on a violent rampage at a temple in the Chonburi province died after being impaled by a Buddha statue. On Feb 27, the 49-year-old man, who went by the name Ek, had taken methamphetamine in the temple with his friend - a monk at the temple who goes by the name Best, reported Thai media outlet Thaiger. Ek then attacked Best with a fluorescent tube. While the latter ran away to seek help, Ek went on to smash statues in the temple, before fleeing into the main hall. When the police arrived at the...

An aquarium and shark lab in Hendersonville is expecting a miracle birth any day -- with some exciting new additions. The Aquarium and Shark Lab by Team ECCO in downtown Hendersonville has an expectant stingray named Charlotte. But this pregnancy isn't just any normal pregnancy -- and because of that, staff thought the swelling they started to see in Charlotte in September might be cancer. Why? Because there was no possible way for her to have become pregnant -- or so they thought -- as there were no male sting rays in the tank. 'Miraculous birth' expected from stingray with...

It's National Pizza Day - so let's wrap ourselves in the warm, gooey embrace of cheese, settle into a heavenly array of toppings and chomp down on some delectable crust. The celebration comes every February 9, but it's hardly the only pizza-positive spot on the calendar. Still to come: National Cheese Pizza Day (September 5), National Pepperoni Pizza Day (September 20), National Pizza Month (October) and National Sausage Pizza Day (October 11). There's no doubt about it - folks do love their pizza in all its forms. Here are some absurd pizza facts, helpful tips and strong opinions to fuel...

Expect to taste up to 12 pizzas, 24 cheese samples a weekIf you possess a passion for pizza, cheese and all things dairy, your taste buds may be in luck. The University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center for Dairy Research is looking to hire a descriptive sensory panelist - in other words, a dairy taste tester - to join "a group of expert tasters" who can talk about their sensory experience, according to the job posting. The center wants someone to describe the taste of dairy foods "on the basis of appearance, texture, taste and aroma attributes" for product development and research...

2024 is the Year of the DragonAsian American communities around the U.S. will ring in the Lunar New Year on Feb. 10 with community carnivals, family gatherings, parades, traditional food, fireworks and other festivities. In many Asian cultures, the Lunar New Year is a celebration marking the arrival of spring and the start of a new year on the lunisolar calendar. It's the most important holiday in China where it's observed as the Spring Festival. It's also celebrated in South Korea and Vietnam. It begins with the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ends 15 days later on...

A group of scientists has proposed building a giant space curtain to reduce global warming and shield Earth from solar radiation. Spanning as much as 4 million square kilometers, this megastructure aimed to fight “climate change” would be located about 1 million miles from Earth, in an area known as the Sun-Earth Lagrange-1 point, according to The Messenger, a news website launched in May. The point marks the area between the sun and the Earth where the combined gravitational forces of the star and planet create equilibrium that allows a spacecraft to be “parked,” according to Space.com. Upon installation, the...

Lawyer who has advised foreign secretary says Israel has the capacity, but not the will, to relocate even one settlerNearly 200,000 of the 700,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank would have to be relocated to Israel to create a viable Palestinian state, according to an Israeli lawyer from whom the UK foreign secretary, Lord Cameron, has sought advice on his visits to Israel. Cameron has said he realises reaching a two-state solution would be tough, but he has not spelled out the practical consequences in terms of borders, including the need to persuade so many Israelis to relocate. Cameron...

A Catholic community of religious sisters today declared victory in their lawsuit against government officials who wanted access to the Sisters’ sensitive internal documents. In June 2022, New York passed a law targeting life-affirming pregnancy centers for government investigation. In Sisters of Life v. McDonald, the Sisters of Life—a community of Catholic women who have given their lives to serve pregnant women in need—asked a federal court for an order protecting them from such government intrusion. The State of New York agreed to a court order, which was granted today, that forbids them from demanding the Sisters’ information or punishing...