Free Republic

The Catholic Church in Minnesota and, indeed, around the United States, is deeply concerned about our nation’s immigration policy. It is inconsistent and ineffective, and it does not promote the common good. For more than two decades, this country has simultaneously had both a “keep out” and a “help wanted” sign at our borders. Our national policy has been to encourage (and permit) illegal immigration in order to create a new and inexpensive labor source. We have sent mixed messages to migrant workers and their families. Businesses, farmers, homeowners and communities rely on immigrants for labor, yet we simultaneously attack...

   Deep Misunderstanding about the Bible by Fr. Robert Barron In this talk at a Protestant College, hear Father Robert Barron explain some of the causes for many misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the Holy Scriptures, and suggest a very helpful and valuable tool that we all could use when we read and study the Bible. Note: The above youtube link is for an extracted segment from a longer talk (a very interesting talk), which can also be viewed in its entirety here:     Father Robert Barron: Evangelizing the Culture

Question: It is obvious that Mary had children after Jesus was born. As long as Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, why was it necessary that Mary have no previous children? I am not asking why it was necessary that Jesus be conceived by the Holy Spirit—I understand that. I guess my question is, Why would it matter that Mary had other children first, as long as Jesus was conceived by the Spirit? Answer: I agree with you that from what is said in Scripture, it appears to be "obvious that Mary had children after Jesus was born. "...

The other day I received a rather lengthy email from a fellow responding to a chapter in my book, Nuts and Bolts - A Practical How-To Guide for Explaining and Defending the Catholic Faith, specifically responding to my defense of calling priests "father."Score One Up For the ProtestantsI have answered this question hundreds of times over the years, but this fellow's critique caught my attention first of all because he used my own style of argumentation against me. I liked that. "Matthew 23:9," he reminded me, "says, ‘Call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father,...

Hear Dr. Peter Kreeft tell his fascinating story of his conversion from Evangelical Protestantism to Catholicism.     Dr. Peter Kreeft's conversion to Catholicism from Protestantism (Full)

One of the more difficult Biblical themes to understand is the concept of God hardening the hearts and minds of certain human beings. The most memorable case is that of Pharaoh wherein, before sending Moses to him God said he would “harden Pharaoh’s heart” (Ex 4:21). But there are other instances where biblical texts speak of God as hardening the hearts of sinners, even from among his own people.What are we to make of texts like these? How can God, who does no evil, be the source of a sinful mind or heart? Why would God do such a thing...

Here are 8 great Christian songs. (The links lead to the corresponding audio via YouTube.) Read "8 Great Christian Songs"

Like the article?  Read the book! INTRODUCTION Naturally, any blog entitled "Catholic in the Ozarks" is going to require a page dedicated to answering basic questions that are common to people in the Ozarks.  Since most people in this part of America (the "Bible Belt") are of Baptist and Pentecostal belief, they often don't have much knowledge of what Catholicism really is, or what Catholics really believe.  They may even be under some false impressions or have misunderstandings. This article is a Question and Answer (Q&A) format designed specifically for people in this area, or anyone else who might...

If you attend Mass on September 8th, it is likely the priest's homily will be less about spiritual mattersand more about the political imperative of passing an amnesty law for the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants.

German sociologist Gabriele Kuby has been warning the public about threats to society and dangers to the Catholic Faith for years. She has warned of the excesses of the cultural revolution of 1968, offered a critique of the ideology of feminism, and warned of the destructive effects of the sexual revolution. But what makes her especially qualified to speak about such matters is that she herself was a revolutionary soixante-huitard before converting to the Catholic Faith in 1997. Born in Konstanz, Germany, in 1944, Kuby studied sociology in Berlin and completed her Master’s degree in Konstanz under Ralf Dahrendorf...

Transfiguration icon by Theophanes the Greek (15th c.). August 6th commemorates Christ’s transfiguration in glory on Mount Tabor. The Transfiguration is one of twelve major feasts on the Eastern Christian liturgical calendar. A major feast is the equivalent of a solemnity on the Roman calendar. A glimpse of this feast through the hymns and traditions of the East gives a fresh perspective on God’s plan of salvation for us. “My favorite part of this feast is singing the troparion,” says Robin Roxas of Morning Star Family Farm in Hartland, Wisconsin. Robin and his family of ten traveled an hour from...

Question: Does the OPC use the crucifix in the church? If not, are they opposed to it? Answer: Thank you for your question. The answer is, so far as I know, the crucifix is not used in OPC churches, and here is why: 1.The Second Commandment (Ex. 20:4-6 and Deut. 5:8-10) forbids any picture or image of God, and that would include the Son of God, even as man. At any rate we do not know what Jesus looked like as there is no physical description of him. 2.The crucifix will always end up being an object of worship—regarded as...

People’s World is the flagship publication of Communist Party USA, and the successor publication to the Daily Worker. It recently carried back-to-back articles that were very revealing of a dubious but old tradition among the American left. To wit: America’s communists have always found allies—useful idiots, dupes—among the liberal/progressive left, the mainstream Democratic Party, and (especially) the religious left. As to the latter, I’m ever reminded of the words of the late Herb Romerstein, who told me: “The religious left; they were the biggest suckers of them all.”

An influential Vatican journalist has explicitly charged that the newly installed prelate of the Vatican bank has engaged in homosexual misconduct, and has been protected by other officials at the Vatican. Sandro Magister of L’Espresso reports that Msgr. Battista Ricca provided room and a job for a male companion while he was assigned as a Vatican diplomat in Uruguay between 1999 and 2001. The Italian cleric also frequented gay bars, and was once beaten in an altercation at a bar. Magister goes on to charge that although these incidents were well known, there were not noted on Msgr. Ricca’s personnel...

A Catholic mother who was brutally murdered by a gay man because she challenged him about his homosexual lifestyle “died as a martyr for her faith,” according to Bishop Thomas Paprocki, head of the Catholic diocese in Springfield, Ill., who also said the woman’s “murder was widely ignored by the media,” apparently for political reasons. The woman, Mary Stachowicz, a 51-year-old mother of four children and devout Catholic, was beaten, stabbed, raped, and strangled to death by then-19-year-old Nicholas Gutierrez on Nov. 13, 2002. He then wrapped her body in plastic and stuffed it under the floorboards of his apartment....

As the U.S. Bishops’ development agency was taking heat last summer for handing out over $5 million to the abortion-supporting group CARE, they were in the midst of giving a total of $13.8 million in grants to the same pro-abortion group during 2012, according to its recently-published IRS filings. While CARE claims it “does not fund, support or perform abortions,” in 2009 its president and CEO, Helene Gayle, appeared before a Senate committee to urge the funding of abortions abroad by overturning the Mexico City Policy. CARE also heavily distributes contraceptives, including the abortifacient “emergency contraception,” as part of its...

Leave the Church of Nice vort-2013-07-09 Hello everyone and welcome to The Vortex where lies and falsehoods are trapped and exposed. I’m Michael Voris. Here is an appeal to any Catholic in the Church of Nice, or anyone who has a friend or relative in the Church Nice, please leave it now. What is the Church of Nice? It's a worship community that sort of looks Catholic and OFFICIALLY is Catholic – but at the end of the day, authentic Catholicism has been sucked out of it in almost every possible way. There are all kinds of signs you can...

Embassy Row: Gay diplomat an ‘insult’ Church leaders in culturally conservative Dominican Republic are outraged that President Obama nominated an openly homosexual activist to serve as ambassador to the Caribbean nation. Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez, the Roman Catholic archbishop of the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo, Bishop Pablo Cedano and the Rev. Cristobal Cardozo, leader of the Dominican Evangelical Fraternity, are urging President Danilo Medino to reject the nominee, Chicago lawyer James Brewster. “It’s an insult to good Dominican customs,” Father Cardozo said last week. Bishop Cedano denounced the nomination for showing “a lack of respect,” and added cryptically:...

A last-minute no-show by Pope Francis at a concert where he was to have been the guest of honor has sent another clear signal that he is going to do things his way and does not like the Vatican high life. The gala classical concert on Saturday was scheduled before his election in March. But the white papal armchair set up in the presumption that he would be there remained empty. Minutes before the concert was due to start, an archbishop told the crowd of cardinals and Italian dignitaries that an "urgent commitment that cannot be postponed" would prevent Francis...

The Weekly Standard’s John McCormack tripped up Democrat Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi last week with a question about her 2012 claim that Obamacare would “lower everyone’s rates.” And it looks like he got her again on Thursday with a question regarding condemned murderer Kermit Gosnell and Rep. Pelosi’s disapproval of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act … “As a practicing and respectful Catholic, this is sacred ground to me when we talk about this,” she added. “This shouldn’t have anything to do with politics.” (Side note: There’s absolutely nothing in Catholic doctrine to support Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi’s hard-line stance on abortion.)...