Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] Archbishop prohibits priests from ‘performing any form of blessing’ of same-sex couples in response to new Vatican declarationRome — A metropolitan archbishop has become the first prelate to issue guidance to his flock on the Vatican’s declaration allowing same-sex blessings. In it he firmly prohibits priests and faithful from accepting or performing any form of blessing of couples in an irregular situation and same-sex couples.In a statement dated December 19, and sent to all priests and parishes in his archdiocese, Archbishop Tomash Peta of Saint Mary in Astana, Kazakhstan, together with Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider, firmly contend that...

Although a Catholic legislator’s vote in favor of legalizing abortion still falls short of the “formal cooperation” that carries with it automatic ex-communication, the church still considers such a vote a stain on the legislator’s soul. As such, unless he confesses his sin and does penance for it, he may not receive communion without committing the second mortal sin of sacrilege, a point that many American bishops and priests seem to have forgotten.After months of accusing Republicans of using “phony, trumped-up culture wars” to divide the electorate, the Democrats have chosen abortion, the mother of all culture war issues, as...

Joe Biden looked spooked on Friday when a reporter asked him about Catholic Bishops taking steps to prevent him from receiving Holy Communion. U.S. Catholic bishops have approved the drafting of a “teaching document” that will prevent Joe Biden and other pro-abortion politicians from receiving Communion for their support for the practice. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the move, with 168 in favor and 55 against. It was announced on Friday at the end of the three-day meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, following their vote on Thursday. Blood drained from Joe Biden’s face on Friday...

Biden likes to talk a big Catholic game when he’s campaigning, but like most Democrats, the moment power is achieved is the moment that Catholicism gets tossed out of the window. As a result, American bishops are going to have a meeting to discuss whether or not he should be denied Holy Communion.According to Fox News, the meeting between the bishops will take place virtually and talk about, not only Biden but any politician who embraces any stances that run contrary to Catholicism’s teachings:The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will hold their annual meeting, virtually, from Wednesday through Friday,...

Updated: Bishops respond to ‘totally unacceptable’ USCCB agenda letterArchbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco called an effort to push Eucharistic coherence from the USCCB’s June agenda “unacceptable,” and called for U.S. bishops to engage in more mutual prayer, and a free and honest debate on the issue. Cordileone is one of several bishops to come out in public support of the USCCB leadership following a report by The Pillar on a letter to Archbishop Jose Gomez, signed by more than 60 bishops, calling for Eucharistic coherence to be dropped from the agenda at the conference’s June meeting.In a wide-ranging interview...

List of US bishops for and against denying Communion to pro-abortion politicians like Biden, PelosiThe question of Communion to pro-abortion politicians has become a dividing line for U.S. cardinals and bishopsUNITED STATES, May 21, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Should pro-abortion politicians who say they are Catholic, like President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, be admitted to Holy Communion while attending Mass? The question has become a dividing line for U.S. cardinals and bishops. Some say that such a ban would amount to a “weaponization” or “politicization” of the Eucharist. Many more point out, however, that such a ban is...

Bishop Rebukes Bishopa Pro-abort politicians are unworthyGALLUP, N.M. (ChurchMilitant.com) - A New Mexico prelate is protecting brother bishops who believe pro-abortion Catholic politicians should be denied Holy Communion.In an article for First Things on Tuesday, Bp. James Wall of the diocese of Gallup rebuked San Diego bishop Robert McElroy — ripping his essay that argued pro-life bishops are politically motivated and weaponizing the Eucharist.Bishop Wall wrote:But while I don't presume to know what's in the mind and heart of my brother bishops, I am not motivated by political ends, nor are those with whom I have discussed the subject. Our...

The White House defended its decision to lift restrictions on taxpayer-funded research using fetal tissue from abortions on Tuesday. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops condemned the practice in a statement, saying it is “unethical to promote and subsidize research that can lead to legitimizing the violence of abortion.” Press secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration “respectfully disagrees” with the statement from the bishops during the daily press briefing at the White House. “We believe that it’s important to invest in science and look for opportunities to cure diseases. And I think that’s what this is hopeful to...

What a difference a day makes, huh? And when I say "day" I mean Election Day, of course. Since the big steal occurred, the media and the bishops have done a complete 180 on a few things. The media finally reporting on Hunter Biden reminds me of the bishops publicly worrying about Joe Biden's abortion stance. Both, after the election. We are not fooled. Treachery or cowardice? There really isn't another choice.

[Catholic Caucus] TX Bishop Calls for Eucharistic Processions to Fight Coronavirus Meanwhile, other bishops cancel Mass and force Communion in the hand TYLER, Texas (ChurchMililtant.com) - A Texas bishop is calling for Eucharistic processions to battle the coronavirus, even as fellow bishops are canceling Masses and banning the reception of Holy Communion on the tongue. On Wednesday, Bp. Joseph Strickland of the diocese of Tyler tweeted, "I call on every Catholic priest to lead a simple Eucharistic Procession around your Church sometime before the Feast of St Joseph, March 19, for repentance, Christ’s healing hand on the Coronavirus & that all men may be...

Polish bishops call for more Masses in response to coronavirus: ‘Unimaginable’ to close churches 'Just as hospitals treat diseases of the body, so the Church serves to, among other things, treat illness of the soul; that is why it is unimaginable that we not pray in our churches,' said Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, leader of the Polish bishops' conference. Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, president of the Polish bishops' conference. POZNAN, Poland, March 10, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) ― Poland’s bishops have called for more Masses as a response to the coronavirus epidemic.  Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, writing as the leader of the Polish bishops’ conference,...

Ukrainian bishops fraternally correct German bishops for abandoning Catholic sexual morality  Bishop Radosław Zmitrowicz, head of the Ukrainian Episcopate’s Commission for the Family. KIEV, Ukraine, February 10, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Ukrainian Catholic bishops have delivered a fraternal correction to the bishops of Germany for their “synodal path” that, among other things, promotes changing Catholic sexual teaching on contraception, masturbation, and homosexuality. According to Polish newsmagazine wPolityce.pl, the Ukrainian Episcopate’s Commission for the Family, headed by Bishops Radosław Zmitrowicz and Jan Niemiec, sent a letter on Thursday to the German bishops’ own Commission on Marriage and the Family, headed by...

German bishops proclaim homosexuality ‘normal,’ adultery ‘not grave’ BERLIN, December 9, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) ― The Commission for Marriage and Family of the German Bishops’ Conference has come to a consensus that homosexuality is a “normal form of sexual predisposition.” Two German prelates have also claimed that Amoris Laetitia teaches that sexual relationships formed after a divorce are neither gravely sinful nor a bar to the reception of Holy Communion. On December 5, the German Bishops’ Conference published a press release detailing the results of an “expert consultation on the topic ‘The sexuality of man: how to discuss it scientifically-theologically,...

New York's Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo standing with abortion giant Planned Parenthood in 2017. | Photo: FacebookNew York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's faith is being questioned after he signed a bill into law that legalizes abortion up until birth for any reason.Section 2 of the controversial Reproductive Health Act states that “an abortion May be performed by a licensed, certified, or authorized practitioner within 24 weeks from the commencement of pregnancy, or there is an absence of fetal viability, or at any time when necessary to protect a patient's life or health.”In an open letter Saturday to the governor in The...

A federal appeals court rejected a Texas abortion chain's demand for all private communications from the state's 23 bishops. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency appeal from the Texas Conference of Catholic Bishops after a lower court gave the church 24 hours to hand over decades of private records to Whole Women's Health. "IT IS ORDERED that the emergency motion for stay filed by the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops is GRANTED pending further order of this court," the court said in a preliminary ruling [emphasis in original]. The case stems from the clinic's successful lawsuit to...

The Venezuelan Episcopal Conference (CEV) has publicly invoked the intercession of the Virgin Mary to free the nation “from the claws of communism,” in a clear reference to the regime of President Nicolás Maduro. “Blessed Virgin, Mother of Coromoto, heavenly Patron of Venezuela, free our country from the claws of communism and socialism,” the CEV posted on Twitter this Sunday, complete with an image of Santa Maria and a Venezuelan flag.

The New York Times and the U.S. bishops appear to have very different understandings of President Trump's motivations, but do seem to arrive at an equally negative conclusion. First, here is Times' editor David Leonhardt's take, titled "Trump Flirts With Theocracy": Let’s not mince words. President Trump’s recent actions are an attempt to move the United States away from being the religiously free country that the founders created — and toward becoming an aggressively Christian country hostile to other religions. ... On Friday afternoon, of course, Trump signed an executive order barring refugees and citizens of seven majority Muslim countries...

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is appealing to the U.S. government to take in 100,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the year, along with an additional 100,000 from other countries. The population of Syrian refugees is overwhelmingly Muslim. In a message distributed via email, the USCCB is encouraging Catholics to submit a letter to their congressional representatives as well as to President Obama urging the government to "protect the lives and dignity of people in Syria, Iraq and in other countries suffering war, persecution and poverty." According to the pre-transcribed letter this is to be accomplished by...

The Francis-Obama strategy now in effect: The first obvious outcome of the Barack Obama celebrated Pope Francis ‘Laudato Si ‘encyclical on the environment will be the return of the Lib-left as the Government of Canada. It’s official, proof of which can be found online in the Canadian Council of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) 2015 Election Guide at cccb.ca under “publications”. Catholics like me were informed in paraphrased words at Sunday Mass yesterday, that the next four weeks during the federal election campaign, the homilies of all Catholic priests in Canada will abandon the Gospel of Christ for hardline electioneering advising folk...

As long as their bishops are supporting soul-killing Marxism, Catholics should stop supporting their bishops It was the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) that unleashed the evil Saul Alinsky on an unsuspecting Western society, from Chicago. Satan-loving Alinsky, whose ideals motivate both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to this day, was going nowhere until the USCCB took him under their robes and financed him. With the USCCB’s well-documented history of financing devil-worshipping Alinsky patently ignored by the mainstream media, USCCB today is using its favourite charity to fund groups advocating the Michael Brown-Eric Garner protests, including burning and looting...