Free Republic

Ukrainian Catholics fear 'new oppression' after Russian takeover Jonathan Luxmoore Catholic News Service  |  Mar. 12, 2014 Oxford, England A Ukrainian Catholic priest in Crimea said church members are alarmed and frightened by the Russian military occupation and fear their communities might be outlawed again if Russian rule becomes permanent. Fr. Mykhailo Milchakovskyi, a pastor in Kerch, Ukraine, described the atmosphere as tense because many residents of the town located in the eastern part of Crimea were unsure of their future. "No one knows what will happen. Many people are trying to sell their homes and move to other parts...

Yesterday, the Archbishop of Lucca (Tuscany, Italy) received a group of religion journalists for his annual chat, and the talk was moderated by a famous Vaticanist in Italian public television and radio network RAI, Raffaele Luise. The evening concluded with a debate in depth on the matter of homosexuality. Both Luise and the archbishop praise, in substance, the opening of the Church regarding gays and de facto couples. Particularly for Luise, it is necessary on this theme, "a cultural revolution, that contemplates the fact that homosexuality is not a deviancy, but a human attitude, and not just that, considering that...

Pope Francis has brought American Catholics to their knees. As the pontiff wraps up his first year in the Vatican, a new poll has found that 40 percent of his U.S. flock says they are praying more often than they did a year ago. It could be one sign of what's being called the "Francis Effect" — the impact of a very popular pope with the common touch who isn't afraid to shake things up.

Rhythm is life giving. We function according to days, weeks, months and years. We celebrate anniversaries and birthdays, dread tax time and look forward to time off. The cycles we go through help us move forward and stay in sync with the people around us. They increase both our productivity and our enjoyment of life, and they are essential to the health of our society. We see this truth throughout the natural world as well. Our calendars and timetables are based on seasons and phases, the perfectly predictable movement of our planet and moon through space. Rhythm is a form...

Michael Hathaway, author of 10 books on psychic development, past lives, regression, hypnosis and spirituality, and a board certified Past Life Regression Therapist is one of the most respected hypnotists in the country. He published a book entitled, “It’s Time to Simplify Your Soul’s Code”, an easy how-to guide for discovering our unique special purpose and to enrich our life experience by delving into the aspects of higher self and soul contracts. In this book, Mr. Hathaway emphasizes the source energy of the loving universe as a means to connect to our divine purpose as incarnated souls. He brilliantly describes...

In the second installation of a three-part series on "gun violence in Mexico," the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) continues to blame the U.S. for gun violence in Mexico, while viewing Fast & Furious as a legitimate attempt at law enforcement which just happened to go wrong. According to NCR, Obama tried to reinstitute an "assault weapons" ban in the U.S. as a way to keep Mexico safer. He also pledged to "keep increasing the pressure on the gun traffickers." NCR claims part of the pressure on traffickers included Operation Fast & Furious, which turned out to be a "botched 2009...

Anti-Religion: Ignoring abhorrences such as China's one-child policy and atrocities condoned by Shariah law, a U.N. committee tells the Vatican to deal with abusive priests and change its teachings on abortion, contraception and homosexuality. That the report issued by the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child would mention the instances of abuse of children by priests in the United States is not surprising. What is surprising and unfortunate is that the U.N. would act as if the Catholic Church had done nothing about it and use the report as a springboard to attack the core doctrines of a...

Not the least of which is on the part of the poll itself. Yesterday, the Washington Post’s religion reporters Michelle Boorstein and Peyton Craighill reported on a global survey conducted by Univision that showed a wide split among Catholics of different regions on adherence to church doctrine. Boorstein and Craighill argue that this demonstrates the uphill battle facing Pope Francis as he tries to unite the global Christian church, and his own: Most Catholics worldwide disagree with church teachings on divorce, abortion and contraception and are split on whether women and married men should become priests, according to a large...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A gunman opened fire in a cathedral on the Russian island of Sakhalin, off the country's eastern coast, on Sunday, killing a nun and a churchgoer and wounding six other people, state-run news agency RIA reported.

The nastiest corners of popular culture in Hollywood and Manhattan usually love nothing better than denying their filthiness by hectoring orthodox Christians for the sex scandals lurking behind their "judgmental" ways. But the last few weeks have shown that the current aura around Pope Francis, and the false hope that he'll "go native" with the permissive crowd, is exploited in a different way. Rolling Stone put Pope Francis on the cover, which hardly puts a practicing Catholic's mind at ease. But perhaps it was only natural that this weed-and-leftist-screed magazine would try to absolve itself for its horrendous James Dean-like...

"Playing off the idea of using social media to summon crowds for parties, Catholics have been attending some of the city's often sparsely attended churches."

Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles read aloud the letters of children of illegal aliens that were addressed to Pope Francis and collected by a coalition of groups seeking rights for illegal immigrants. Gomez said he hoped the letters would challenge the consciences of Americans. As a Catholic News Agency report in the National Catholic Register indicated on January 17th, Gomez discussed what the report said were “heartfelt letters to Pope Francis seeking his help and his prayers for their parents who have been deported or arrested.” “They know that Pope Francis himself is the son of an immigrant. They...

Douglas Kniec has always been a man who thinks a whole hell of a lot about himself. He has an ego a big as the sky. In 2008 he sold his Catholic faith out as a prominent supporter of Barack Obama a man he knew had sponsored a bill in the Illinois State Senate to murder miracle abortion survivors by leaving them on a stainless steel table to die of hunger and thirst. In his insulting rhetoric arguing for the election of Obama he maintained that, “Obama’s desire to “alleviate social conditions that correlate with abortion”, such as poverty, was...

I missed this until late yesterday, but the New York Times offered space on Thursday to Notre Dame philosophy professor Gary Gutting on the topic of abortion. Gutting, who also edits the Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews for the Catholic university in Indiana, argued that Pope Francis really should get with modern times and show love to women by allowing for abortion. According to Professor Gutting, the lack of “an all-out effort to prevent spontaneous abortions” and the “purely biological” humanity of the fetus means that the Catholic Church shouldn’t really care whether babies get aborted or not. Small wonder the...

January 26, 2014 Benghazi Ruining Liberals Deal With She-Devil Hillary John Ransom Ericynot1 wrote: So here's the deal. Despite Ransom's wishful thinking, barring some unforeseen event such as a serious illness in her family, Hillary will be the Dem candidate in 2016. And that should make you happy -- if she's as bad as you think she is, she ought to be easily defeated by the Republican candidate of your choice. Hillary Gets Knifed In Benghazi Drive By Dear Comrade Ericynot, Sounds like a deal with the devil. You apparently have a reading comprehension problem. That’s ok. It’s goes with...

USA Today has the announcement that President Obama will meet with Pope Francis next month, and hopes the Pontiff will prove useful to his political agenda: President Obama will meet with Pope Francis on March 27, capping a European trip that will take him to the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. "The president looks forward to discussing with Pope Francis their shared commitment to fighting poverty and growing inequality," said a statement from White House press secretary Jay Carney. Sounds like a swell afternoon! Maybe President Obama can show the Pope some photos from his luxury vacations, or his wife's protracted...

Pope Francis named his first batch of cardinals Sunday, choosing 19 men from around the world, including the developing nations of Haiti and Burkina Faso, in line with his belief the church must pay more attention to the poor. But advocates for victims of sex abuse by Catholic clergy said they felt let down that Francis didn't unequivocally embrace their calls that prelates who hadn't made a clean break with past practices of covering up pedophile behavior never be promoted. Francis read out the 19 names to a crowd of tens of thousands in St. Peter's Square....

I take no joy in being able to say “I told you so”, to Father John Jenkins the president of Notre Dame University. Father Jenkins was an original cheerleader for Barack Obama virtually from the first day of his first term. Notre Dame, its faculty and student body were absolutely beguiled by Obama. Jenkins invited him to speak at the university’s 2009 commencement ceremonies. At the time Father Jenkins and his faculty hid behind the fact that they have a tradition of inviting a newly elected president to be their graduation day speaker, but that just didn’t wash. Tradition aside...

It happened again. This time it was Phil Robertson, the patriarch of “Duck Dynasty,” who pulled back the shades on an immense body of TV viewers who had apparently escaped the notice of top execs at A+E Networks. But they should have known. It was this “mystery audience” that made History’s miniseries “The Bible” a smash hit not long ago. Yet A+E leaders Nancy Dubuc and Abbe Raven can be forgiven for failing to anticipate the nuclear backlash that benching the fuzzy-faced man from West Monroe, La., would stir after his condemnation of homosexual behavior in an interview with GQ...

ObamaCare: In bad news for a White House intent on shredding the First Amendment, a Supreme Court justice has exempted a group of nuns from the mandate to provide contraceptive coverage in health plans. Just hours before ObamaCare's birth-control mandate was to take effect, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Tuesday issued a last-minute stay in response to a case brought by the Denver-based Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged against the Department of Health and Human Services. The U.S. government is "temporarily enjoined from enforcing against applicants the contraceptive coverage requirements imposed by the Patient Protection...