Free Republic

In an exclusive interview with Crux, retired bishop of Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen says he believes Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin is more interested in diplomacy than he is the Catholic faith. The cardinal spoke critically about the current state of the Holy See's relationship with China and says he believes the Church is willing to compromise too much in order to establish diplomatic relations. HONG KONG - He’s been called “the conscience of China,” lauded by some for his indefatigable promotion of democracy and loathed by others for his hard-line position against the Beijing authorities. At age...

Faith Is About Obedience Msgr. Charles Pope • October 15, 2017 • There is a very important phrase in the beginning of St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, which we are reading in daily Mass. A common modern conception of what it means to have faith has an egocentric element, for which St. Paul provides a remedy. In describing his authority and mission as an apostle, he says,Through [Jesus] we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name (Romans 1:3-4).There it is: the obedience of faith.He repeats the...

Yesterday, immediately following the canonization of 35 saints (including 33 Martyrs, 30 of whom were murdered by a Protestant-led horde during Holy Mass), Pope Francis announced the convocation of a Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the "Pan-Amazonic" region, that is, the regions of the Amazon area in various South American countries. The gathering will take place in Rome in October 2019. The assembly was called supposedly to address indigenous natives' concerns.  But we know better. Just as the Synods "for the Family", in 2014 and 2015, were called basically to find enough ambiguity and semantic confusion to...

A short video that shows the rebirth of Christianity in modern Russia after decades of persecution and enforced atheism. Strongly recommended.

White Semidouble AT the beginning of the thirteenth century, the plateau of Upper Asia poured down a fresh torrent of barbarians, more terrible than all their predecessors. The one fragile barrier, which the Græco-Slavonian civilization could oppose to the Mongols had been swept away by the first wave of the invasion; not one of the States formed under the protection of the Byzantine Church had any prospect for the future. But beyond this Ruthania, which had fallen into dissolution before being conquered, the Roman Church had had time to form a brave and generous people: when the hour arrived,...

October 16, 2017 Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Rom 1:1-7Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus,called to be an Apostle and set apart for the Gospel of God,which he promised previously through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,the Gospel about his Son, descended from David according to the flesh, but established as Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith,for the sake of his name, among all the...

Ecumenism has gone wrong one more time in Germany and has escalated into denial of the truth about the Eucharist: in the German Diocese, Stuttgart-Rottenburg, an initiative by a Catholic theologian has invited Protestants to receive Communion on a large scale.“Here on sight, we begin with a hospitable Church by inviting each other openly and cordially to Communion and the Celebration of the Last Supper [Abendmahl]” reads the “Ravensburger Manifesto” signed on October 8.

The Catholic Church in the UK is descending into civil war behind the scenes after a major row over abortion was sparked by a controversial editorial in the respected journal The Tablet. A number of bishops were 'scandalised' by the article, Christian Today understands, and are urging Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, to intervene. One figure accused the weekly magazine which is sold at the back of Westminster Cathedral – the home of Catholicism in the UK – of trying 'to obscure the witness of Christian teaching'. It comes after The Tablet published an editorial criticising a conservative...

The holy witness of the Servant of God American Jesuit priest who was imprisoned for 15 years in solitary confinement and labor camps in the former Soviet Union.Servant of God Father Walter Ciszek (1904-84) was an American Jesuit priest who was imprisoned for 15 years in solitary confinement and labor camps in the former Soviet Union, and another eight years with restricted freedom, before being allowed to return to the United States. During his imprisonment, he often struggled to survive under harsh conditions, including the constant threat of starvation. Much of his time was spent in Siberia. When the opportunity...

Scholars and clerics fear being punished for speaking out over Amoris LaetitiaOrthodox Catholics are facing “persecution” – and not from secularists, but from their fellow believers. That’s the startling claim made last week by Professor Josef Seifert, the philosopher and friend of St John Paul II. His remarks echoed some recent comments from Cardinal Gerhard Müller, who told the National Catholic Register that Vatican officials and university teachers were “living in great fear”. And Seifert and Cardinal Müller are only saying publicly what many will say in private. In researching this article, I have heard from priests and academics on...

Ultramontanism's Death Sentence Pope Pius XII In 1952 Pope Pius XII said the following, in a public address recorded among his official acts: Even when it is a question of the execution of a condemned man, the State does not dispose of the individual's right to life. In this case it is reserved to the public power to deprive the condemned person of the enjoyment of life in expiation of his crime when, by his crime, he has already disposed himself of his right to live. In 2017 Pope Francis spoke, in a not dissimilar context: It must be clearly stated...

Party or Perish Msgr. Charles Pope • October 14, 2017 • The past three Sundays have featured shocking parables about our readiness, fruitfulness, and decision as to whether to accept and enter the Kingdom of God. The Lord has used the image of a vineyard extensively: a vineyard into which workers are dispatched at different times of the day but who have different attitudes about what is due to them at the end of the day; a vineyard into which two sons are sent, one of whom goes and one who does not; a vineyard in which are wicked...

Dear friends, This will be my last email from me sent to all my friends together as I have done up to now. I hope I succeed in sending this email to everyone using this new email address. Masonry has control of just about everything now; Microsoft, Twitter and Google are selectively blocking some of my Web sites and emails. On September 18, 2015, I discovered for the first time that with the browser Explorer of Microsoft, there no longer appeared the contents of my two principle web sites which are the indexes of my more important articles in English...

Green Semidouble THE divine Leader of God’s people is their salvation and that in all their distress. Did we not last Sunday see him prove himself as such, and in a very telling way—by curing both body and soul of the poor Paralytic, who was a figure of the whole human race? Let us hear his voice, in the Introit, with love and gratitude; let us promise him the fidelity he asks of us; his Law, if we will but observe it, will preserve us from a relapse. The Anthem which follows is made up of several passages of...

White Double “Although the Church triumphant in heaven, and the Church mourning here on earth appear to be completely separated,” says Bossuet on this feast, “they are nevertheless united by a sacred bond. This bond is charity, which is found in this land of exile as well as in our heavenly country; which rejoices the triumphant Saints and animates those still militant; which, descending from heaven to earth, and from Angels to men, causes earth to become a heaven, and men to become Angels. For, O holy Jerusalem, happy Church of the first-born whose names are written in heaven,...

Read/print the novena here.

October 15, 2017 Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Is 25:6-10aOn this mountain the LORD of hostswill provide for all peoplesa feast of rich food and choice wines,juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.On this mountain he will destroythe veil that veils all peoples,the web that is woven over all nations;he will destroy death forever.The Lord GOD will wipe awaythe tears from every face;the reproach of his people he will removefrom the whole earth; for the LORD has spoken.On that day it will be said:"Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!This is the LORD for...

The Tablet on the Filial Correction I said some time ago that the instinct of conventional Catholic ‘progressives’ would be to ignore the Filial Correction. It is the strange new brand of Ultramontanist liberal who is writing article after article and tweet after tweet attacking it. Compare the response of John Allen (report it as briefly as possible alongside two unrelated issues) or PrayTell (pretend it never happened) with that of the likes of Walford, Fastiggi and Goldstein, Fagioli, and Buttiglione (see this blog passim ad nauseam). The old-style liberals have spent a life-time criticising Ultramontanism, and many — there’ll...

The university said students would be able to 'reflect' on the band's music during MassA Mexican archdiocese has distanced itself from a “Coldplay Mass” celebrated by a Jesuit university. The Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla advertised the Mass, promising that worshippers would be able to “listen and reflect on the songs of the British group”, and “see how their messages interweave” with the liturgy. Coldplay’s songs are not explicitly religious. However, ACI Prensa quotes a 2008 interview with lead singer Chris Martin, in which he spoke about God: “I’m always trying to decipher what ‘he’ or ‘she’ is. I’m not sure what’s...

Reporting on the extraordinary turnout for the “Rosary on the Borders” prayer campaign in Poland, the Associated Press (AP) suggested that the event smacked of “a problematic expression of Islamophobia.” On-the-ground sources said that over a million Poles turned out Saturday to pray the rosary along the country’s 2,000-mile border for the salvation of their country. According to the spokesman for the Polish Bishops’ Conference, Father Pawel Rytel-Andrianik, the event drew “millions of people” to pray the rosary together and was the second-largest prayer event ever held in Europe, after the 2016 World Youth Day. “This exceeded the boldest expectations...