Free Republic

When, during his encounter with the youth at the University of Santo Tomas, Pope Francis advised the organizers to include more women next time, to offset the program dominated by men, I remembered John Paul II at Mass in Luneta who brought cheer to women when he changed the standard invitation to prayer or exhortation, “Brothers and sisters in Christ,” to “Sisters and brothers…” While we know that the ordination of women in the Catholic Church are light years away, comment on this issue during the papal coverage should have been made over the cold malunggay soup served the Pope...

Below is an excerpt from an address given by Pope Pius XII to the Directors of the Associations for Large Families of Rome and Italy in January 20, 1958, the nineteenth (and final) year of his papacy. Throughout the address the Holy Father eloquently speaks of the joy, sacrifice and generosity so prevalent amongst those families who God has abundantly blessed with the gift of children. “Large families are the most splendid flower-beds in the garden of the Church; happiness flowers in them and sanctity ripens in favorable soil. Every family group, even the smallest, was meant by God to...

Full Transcript of Pope's Press Conference on Flight from Manila In a wide-ranging press conference, on the flight from Manila to Rome, Pope Francis spoke about corruption in Governments and the Church, the need for prudence with freedom of expression, why he didn’t meet the Dalai Lama recently and the Church’s position on birth control. He talked too about the trips he intends to make to three cities in the USA, and—though plans are not yet finalized—to three Latin American countries (Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay) and two African countries (Uganda and the Central African Republic) this year, and his hope...

And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed...

My Uncle, Jim Buttrey, died today. Was widowed in the 1960s, met is new wife when he was in his 80s! Came back to the Church, thanks to her. Please pray for the repose of his soul. He was a good man and a conservative, and never wanted anyone to fuss over him when his health got bad. He said his angels would watch over him! May he rest in peace.

It was announced yesterday on the Bulletin of the Holy See that the Holy Father has erected the Eritrean Catholic Church to sui juris status as a Metropolitan Church, separating its territory from that of the Archeparchy of Addis Ababa (the capital of Ethiopia). The 23rd sui juris Church, which follows the Alexandrian liturgical tradition, will comprise four eparchies, covering the entire territory of the nation of Eritrea: the Archeparchy of Asmara, seat of the new Metropolitan and the national capital, and the Eparchies of Barentu, Keren and Segheneity. The Pope has nominated as the first Metropolitan His Excellency Mons. Menghesteab Tesfamariam, who...

Featured Term selected at random:JESUS PRAYER A popular devotion among Eastern Christians. The words of the prayer are "O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." It is said by devout Christians at regular intervals during the day and night, and is used by them as the basis of their meditation. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission. 

While firmly upholding Church teaching regarding contraception, Pope Francis clarified that good Catholics need not mate “like rabbits, or wasp spiders, with the female devouring the male following the procreative act.” “Openness to life for the husband,” the pontiff said to reporters on his return flight from the Philippines, “is a condition for the sacrament of matrimony.” Catholic couples should practice mutual love and tenderness, he explained, rather than the female “catching her partner in a web and slowly gnawing on him while he’s still alive, resulting in his slow, agonizing death.”

What Does Jesus Mean When He Says to Some, “I Do Not Know You”? By: Msgr. Charles PopeEvery now and then someone will come past my door and request parish services of some sort. Maybe it’s to plan a wedding, a baptism, or a funeral; maybe it’s for money! And then I look at him or her and say, “Who are you?” (since I don’t recognize the person). “Oh, well Father, you don’t know me but my grandmother goes here; this is our family Church.” “Oh, I see, but where do you go to Church?” I usually ask.  The response...

There are five revealing details that emerge from the papal trip to Sri Lanka and Philippines. Five details that perhaps help us to understand better this pontificate, as well the expectations surrounding it. Each of these details can be understood through a single interpretative key, as explained by Pope Francis himself: the Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, that Francis considers something like his governing program. Evangelii gaudium is first of all the criterion through which Pope Francis chooses saints to be canonized. The formula the Pope has often used is that of the “equipollent canonization,” i.e., the proclamation of a saint...

Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme of Maiduguri said that military intervention was the only viable option for combating the IslamistsA bishop whose diocese in north-east Nigeria has suffered at the hands of Boko Haram wants the West to send in military forces to defeat the militants. Describing how Boko Haram was now recruiting from countries across north Africa, Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme of Maiduguri said that Western military intervention was the only viable option in the fight against the militants. In an interview with Aid to the Church in Need, the Catholic charity for persecuted and other suffering Christians, the bishop...

I’ve read the replies on other threads about the subject of who or what a “real” Christian is, and there are some issues I believe have presented themselves as a result of these discussions that have a great deal to do with what is happening in America today. The main thing I’ve noticed is that there doesn’t seem to be a generic Christian. Not only do people who call themselves Christians not believe those who think differently than them on the subject are actually Christians, they also think those people are going to go to hell, forever, because of the...

January 20, 2015Tuesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Heb 6:10-20 Brothers and sisters:God is not unjust so as to overlook your workand the love you have demonstrated for his nameby having served and continuing to serve the holy ones.We earnestly desire each of you to demonstrate the same eagernessfor the fulfillment of hope until the end,so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who,through faith and patience, are inheriting the promises. When God made the promise to Abraham,since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself,and...

Calif. priests must return to Iraq.The following comes from a Jan. 15 story in the Los Angeles Times. Intervention by Pope Francis has apparently not solved the schism between a prominent Chaldean priest in eastern San Diego County and the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq. At issue is a demand by Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako that Father Noel Gorgis and several other Chaldean priests in the U.S. return to Iraq or face, in effect, excommunication. In an interview with Aleteia, a Rome-based Catholic news agency, Sako said that the survival of the church was at stake...

Pope Francis has obliquely but sharply criticized how financially stable nations lend aid to developing countries, saying they sometimes require concessions that strike echoes of 20th century dictatorships. The pontiff has also made what appears to be an unprecedented statement that Catholics may have a moral responsibility to limit the number of their children, while reaffirming Pope Paul VI’s ban on artificial means of birth control. Francis’ statement about development aid was a clarification of an earlier warning against what he called an "ideological colonization" of family life, made during a meeting with families in the Philippines last week. Speaking...

>>No, he said, Catholics don't have to "be like rabbits" and have more children than is safe or responsible. << >>Francis said he would have loved to have entered the U.S. via the Mexican border, saying it would have been a "beautiful thing, as a sign of brotherhood and of help to the immigrants."<< >>"But you know that going to Mexico without going to visit the Madonna (of Guadalupe) would be a drama. A war could break out!" he said, laughing. He said a Mexico visit would come in the future.<<

St John the Baptist gave his life in the defense of marriage. The German bishops, by coming out in favor of Cardinal Kasper’s proposals on divorced and remarried Catholics, took the side of Herod. In effect, they concluded that St. John’s position was too antagonistic and decided to issue a letter of congratulations to Herod upon marrying his brother’s wife. While some might think this comparison hyperbolic, it is nonetheless what their recent statements regarding the divorced and remarried come down to. Rather than being a witness to the indissolubility of marriage and what it means to sin against...

This is a breakup letter. But it's worse than that. This is a breakup letter by a junior high schooler who is trying to tell everyone in the hallway outside homeroom that the person they had liked a few days ago is just like kinda' totally awful or something. Some lib in The Inquisitr wrote:Elected in 2013, Pope Francis has since shown us a very convincing image of a bold, refreshing deviant who has adamantly defied the church’s typically iron-fisted conservatism. His stance on LGBT, women’s rights, atheism, and evolution were so mind-blowingly revolutionary that many people saw him as...

In a very small whiff of fresh air in the stench in which we are living, Pope Francis has said two or three things which really sound Catholic. Look at the Patheos crowd delighting in being able to tell themselves the Pope is orthodox, after having waited 12 hours for the broken clock to show the right time. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it’s as bad as that: Francis must only say a couple of words vaguely resembling Catholicism every couple of months, and the enthusiastic following of the blind is assured to him. The words aren’t even so strong, not...

Featured Term selected at random:EGOISM The morally sinful pursuit of one's own advantage, while ignoring the law and the interests of other people. In this it differs from egocentrism, which may be unconscious. It is, however, worse than selfishness, which need not be indifferent to others' needs. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.