Free Republic

In his latest book Tea Party Catholic, Dr. Samuel Gregg develops a Catholic case for the values and institutions associated with the free economy, limited government, and America’s experiment in ordered liberty.He underscores the moral and economic benefits of business and markets, addresses the welfare state’s problems, and deals with related issues that divide Catholics in America such as the demands of social justice, the role of unions, immigration, poverty, and the relationship between secularism and big government.Gregg concludes that as a creative minority, limited government Catholics can help transform the wider movement to reground the United States upon the...

In his first major work, Pope Francis urged the Catholic Church to commit itself to fighting poverty and called on world leaders to become more concerned about the current state of society. He opened the door to reforms of Vatican bureaucracy while reaffirming that female priests and the church’s opposition to abortion is 'not open to discussion.' (In his first major work, Pope Francis called on an end to society’s obsession with money. He also said he was open to reforms that would move power away from the Vatican.) Pope Francis decried the unfettered capitalism that has created “a new...

Following the distribution of the Jesus Christ/Joseph Smith DVD last month, there have been many conversations and opinions published online regarding the Christian outreach effort. One exchange took place on the Salt Lake Tribune’s public forum. A Catholic woman, who believes in “love and charity to all” wrote to express her dismay over the DVD distribution, ending her letter with a kind hope that Latter-day Saints had been able to enjoy their Church’s General Conference despite the “sport” engaged in by “anti-Mormons.” Perhaps this was not the most charitable and loving letter “to all” in consideration of the nature of...

The US Declaration of Indepdence: Thomas Jefferson saw Catholicism as despotism Foreign visitors are often bewildered, and occasionally disgusted, by the spectacle of Guy Fawkes Night. The English are not a notably religious people, yet here they are wallowing in what looks like a macabre orgy of anti-Catholicism.In fact, of course, the event has transcended its sectarian origins. To the extent that participants are aware of any historical resonance at all, they believe they are celebrating parliamentary democracy – which needs protecting, these days, from the Treaty of Rome, not the Bishop of Rome. Fifth of November bonfires serve as...

A Roman Catholic scholar and former philosophy and religion professor has released a new book that defends Mormonism as "one of the youngest branches on the Christian tree," and claims that Christians can learn from the Mormon religion. Stephen H. Webb, former 25 year professor of religion and philosophy at Wabash College and author of the book, Mormon Christianity: What Other Christians Can Learn From the Latter-day Saints, told The Christian Post that, among other things, "Mormon theology teaches us to think of matter in new and creative ways." "Traditional theology teaches that matter is lifeless, without the soul it's...

Pope Francis said it is true that in the past, people with epilepsy might have been mischaracterized as being possessed by demons, but that confusion did not refute the fact that the Devil exists and is so important that he “is on the first page of the Bible” and at the Bible’s end, “with the victory of God over the Devil.” … As for his comments on Satan and other demons, the Pope said, “Some may say, ‘But Father, you’re too old-fashioned. You’re frightening us with these things.’ No, it’s not me! It is the Gospel! And these are not...

My friends know that I appreciate candor, and that I can be frank to a fault. I don’t tolerate it well when everyone in the room is desperately trying to ignore the proverbial eight-hundred pound gorilla sitting in the corner. Author Sherry Weddell does not tolerate this well either. And she would like us – “active” and presumably committed Catholics, lay, religious, consecrated and clergy – to focus on one rather large gorilla sitting in the corner of our contemporary Church: the reality that a disturbingly large proportion of Church-going Catholics fail to live as disciples of Jesus – as...

“Then they came for the Catholics, and I did not speak out Because I was not Catholic,” was the third stanza in a poem by Protestant Pastor Martin Niemoller who was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp for seven years because he spoke against denial of religious freedom to worship as each individual sees fit. His theme centers around the Silence is Consent mantra of Germans who alleged they knew nothing about the gas fumes circling the country’s forests. Well, last weekend, here in America, our First Amendment Right of Religious Freedom was silenced by an edict from on high...

Last week the king declared it illegal for a large number of Catholic priests to enter upon HIS royal military bases and celebrate mass which is the central ritual of Catholicism. According to His Majesty’s edict, priests who have been hired as “Contract workers” to minister to the 25% of our military forces, who are Catholics, were declared non-essential workers the same as the goat herders who guide their hungry weed eating animals around some government lands. With this edict the king has again reminded us of just how over his head he is as he runs around our house...

For vast numbers of people, Roman Catholicism is the religion of choice. Rome can be attractive for a wide variety of reasons. The most significant is familial, people born into and persevering in the Roman Church. But other attractions of various sorts can be readily found: theological, philosophical, liturgical, moral, psychological, and historical.Defenders of Protestantism over the centuries have entered the lists, confronting at great length all of Rome's attractions. Understandably, the discussions have often focused particularly on biblical and theological arguments. But historical arguments are of great importance as well. Rome often claims that it represents two thousand years...

Pope Francis cranked up his charm offensive on the world outside the Vatican on Tuesday, saying in the second widely shared media interview in two weeks that each person “must choose to follow the good and fight evil as he conceives them” and calling efforts to convert people to Christianity “solemn nonsense.” The Vatican’s head seemed intent on distancing himself from its power, saying church leaders “have often been narcissists” and “clericalism should not have anything to do with Christianity.” The interview with atheist Italian journalist Eugenio Scalfari set off another round of debate about what the pope meant: Was...

Pope Francis has denounced abortions as a symptom of a modern "throwaway culture", a day after criticising the Catholic Church's "obsession" with social issues, such as contraception and homosexuality. Speaking to a group of Catholic doctors, the Pope said that they should refuse to perform abortions because he says the first right of a person is to life. "Dear friends, doctors, those of you who are called to deal with human life in its initial phase, remind everybody, with facts and words, that this is always, in all its phases and at every age, sacred and always quality life, and...

The Fathers of the Church can help us refine our liturgical worship after 50 years of subjection to sentimental pop music.At the beginning of this 50th anniversary year of Vatican II, Benedict XVI called for a renewed, authentic reading and implementation of the council documents. After suffering through many decades of vulgar, saccharine Church music, it is encouraging to note a rise of musicians who are serious about authentic reform of sacred worship. The recent Sacred Liturgy Conference in Rome was a great success, and there is a spirit of joyful, liturgical rejuvenation among the youth. Today’s composers are considering...

Pope Francis offered an olive branch of sorts to the doctrine-minded, conservative wing of the Catholic Church on Friday as he denounced abortions as a symptom of today’s “throw-away culture” and encouraged Catholic doctors to refuse to perform them. Francis issued a strong anti-abortion message and cited Vatican teaching on the need to defend the unborn during an audience with Catholic gynecologists. It came a day after he was quoted as blasting the church’s obsession with “small-minded rules” that are driving the faithful away. In an interview that has sent shock waves through the church, Francis urged its pastors to...

Earlier this week, noted Scripture scholar and author Dr. Scott Hahn delivered the inaugural lecture in Christendom College’s Major Speaker Program, entitled, “The Bible, the Eucharist, and the New Evangelization.” The press release from Christendom College provides some highlights from Hahn's address: “We face the task of re-evangelizing the de-Christianized,” Hahn said. “The cause of de-Christianization has been this oppressive secularization, which doesn’t just cause us to forget the faith, but it causes us to become more and more distant from those structures that make it real.” Hahn explained that just as human love and relationships lead to a...

Imagine a situation whereby the number of abortions will be greatly increased, they will be performed by unqualified individuals, government money will be used to pay for them, and Planned Parenthood will receive the bulk of the windfall. Now, imagine you’re not imagining. Welcome to California’s AB 154. AB 154 would legalize nurse practitioners, nurse midwives and physician assistants, who have taken an 8 week course, to provide first trimester abortions—and it would reclassify that procedure of abortion by aspiration (vacuum) as non-surgical. The author and sponsor’s (Planned Parenthood) primary argument for the need for the bill was “access.” The...

Australia's PM-elect Tony Abbott has said his top priorities are to abolish a tax on carbon emissions and to stop asylum-seekers arriving by boat. His government would "swiftly implement Operation Soverign Borders" aimed at "intercepting vessels and turning them around", Mr. Abbott told the Herald Sun. Outgoing PM Kevin Rudd has said he will not stand again in for Labor leadership. The Australian Election Commission confirmed on its website that the Liberal-National coalition had won 88 seats in the House of Representatives and Labor 57...

President Obama has been touted as four-square in favor of the rights of women. Yet He tries very hard to further the spread of Islam.Islam and the rights of women[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbmeQtGMkUU]Video linkIslam is a religious, ideological and political movement that seeks an Islamist Caliphate through world conquest to convert heathen to Islam or to kill them and to make slaves of women. There is no Islamist "race" and disapproval of, and effective opposition to, Islam and its objectives are not racist. They are, however, necessary for the survival of what's left of our civilization. I wish some "feminists" would watch...

The head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said Congress must seize on a "once-in-a-generation" chance to pass comprehensive immigration reform when it comes back from its August recess next week. Writing in the New York Daily News, Timothy Dolan, who is also archbishop of New York, invoked Pope Francis and Martin Luther King, Jr. in arguing that immigration reform would help families and the economy while improving the country's security.

A nun in Qara, Syria, claims she has “evidence” proving video footage of the deadly chemical attack in Syria was fabricated. Mother Agnes Mariam el-Salib, mother superior of St. James Monastery, told Russia Today that she plans to submit her findings to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Before we go any further, it must be noted that RT is widely considered to be the media mouthpiece of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime. Given the political differences in the Syria conflict between the U.S. and Russia, as well as the numerous conspiracy theories surrounding the chemical attack, it’s...