Free Republic

The Persian Gulf island has had a Christian presence for over a centuryBahrain, the small island country nestled between Qatar and Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf, will gain a Catholic cathedral, a step some see as an increased interest in Christianity in the heart of the Islamic world. King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa donated land for the project recently — the only church he has done so for, Northern Arabia vicar Bishop Camillo Ballin told Real Clear Religion, though Bahrain's cathedral is not the first church that the country's rulers have supported. "The king has a special appreciation...

In a recent interview with the Daily Beast that focused on the “bigotry” and “xenophobia” of Americans who are opposed to amnesty for illegal immigrants, Boston archbishop Cardinal Sean O’Malley said, “Obviously, the fear is not rational, and I think we are dealing with it in an irrational way.” The Daily Beast’s Christopher Dickey lead up to his discussion with O’Malley about the thousands of illegal immigrant minors flooding the United States following President Obama’s decision to relax their deportations: The fear and hatred of foreigners is nothing new in the United States, nation of immigrants though it is. O’Malley...

"Celebrate Pride Month with the St. Ignatius Community!" "As members of the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, we are called to celebrate and share the gifts of diversity of sexuality in our church today. Our organization, Embracing God's Gifts, has been formed as an instrument for recognizing these gifts and incorporating their goodness and use into the life of our parish."

How many voters know that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is a Roman Catholic? Or that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is a Southern Baptist, not a Latino Catholic? Or that Florida Sen. Marco Rubio worships at both a Catholic parish and an evangelical church? More importantly, does it matter? Actually, it does in today’s Republican Party, where a number of factors have forged a new religious identity that supersedes familiar old categories. These prominent Republicans are emblematic of the new religious amalgam that, in many instances, has helped refashion denominational differences that were once almost insurmountable. Look no further than...

Something strange happened in Washington last week: A panel of Catholic intellectuals and clergy, led by His Eminence Oscar Andrés Maradiaga, was convened to denounce a political philosophy under the headline “Erroneous Autonomy: The Catholic Case against Libertarianism.” The conference was mainly about free-market economics rather than libertarianism per se, and it was an excellent reminder that the hierarchy of the Church has no special grace to pronounce upon matters of specific economic organization. The best that can be said of the clergy’s corporate approach to economic thinking is that it is intellectually incoherent, which is lucky inasmuch as the...

The Catholics United Education Fund, a Democrat-leaning advocacy group which began criticizing Church opposition to same-sex “marriage” in 2012, received most of its operational budget that year from a gay activist foundation run by influential multi-millionaire Tim Gill. “I would say it is very obvious that Mr. Gill does not agree with the Catholic Church and Her teachings on the issues of homosexuality and marriage,” Jennifer Kraska, executive director of the Colorado Catholic Conference, told CNA May 29. “His attitude toward the Church on these issues is definitely one of extreme disagreement.” Tax forms show the Colorado-based Gill Foundation made...

I haven't seen the [AP Stylebook's] new religion chapter, but I have seen how the press generally reports on Catholicism -- and it seems like there are already some agreed-upon guidelines. For instance: Catholics in the news. If an actor, a football player, a CEO, or any other reasonably decent, successful or attractive person is a practicing Catholic, that is never relevant, and any reference to receiving the sacraments or belief in God must be edited out for clarity and brevity. However, if the story is about a transvestite stripper, a comedian who draws heavily on the comedic value of...

Fresh off promises from CNN boss Jeff Zucker that the channel will pursue more stories on global warming — whether their audience likes it or not — CNN anchor Carol Costello presided over a segment with two religious figures agreeing that to deny climate change is to sin against God. But Costello did much more than just moderate the “debate,” railing against “deniers” and questioning whether they’re “reading the Bible.” In the eye-popping intro to the segment — which aired during CNN’s “Newsroom”, not an opinion program — Costello pulls no punches while savaging those who dare to question the...

On Breitbart News Saturday, Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon and Editor in Chief Alex Marlow discussed Pope Francis's remarks to the United Nations where he called for "legitimate redistribution of economic benefits by the State," using government and the private sector. Bannon asked guest Austin Ruse, former head of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute and a Breitbart contributor, “Is Pope Francis a Commie?" "I know he is a Jesuit," Bannon said, explaining that Jesuits sit at the vanguard of the Communist revolution in Latin America there, before asking if "Pope Francis been taken over by liberation theology?” Bannon,...

More than 4 million Latinos in the United States have left the Catholic Church since 2010, according to a new Pew Research Center survey that spotlighted the church’s ongoing exodus of Latinos, a group seen as pivotal to the future of Catholicism. In 2010, two-thirds of Hispanics (67 percent) in the U.S. were Catholic. Today, that number has dwindled to 55 percent of the nation's 35 million Latino adults. While close to 20 million Latinos still identify as Catholic, the church has lost 12 percent, or 4 million Latinos in the U.S. over the past four years alone, according to...

Simon Pegg dabbled in apocalyptic nightmares via his zombie horror comedy Shaun of the Dead. Now the British actor and Star Trek star is trying to scare "deniers" into accepting the climate change doomsayers. Pegg fired off the following tweet today, his personal way of telling those who don't worship at the altar of Al Gore that there's no turning back from being wrong. Simon Pegg ✔ @simonpegg What will all the deniers say when their lives are palpably affected by climate change. When they’re drowning, burning or starving. Oopsie? 11:54 AM - 6 May 2014 635 Retweets 874 favorites...

Pope Francis has a funny way of naming and shaming certain tendencies in the church, using insults that are inventive, apposite, and confounding. His ear is finely tuned for the way the Catholic faith can be distorted by ideology. And I'd like to imitate his example when I say this: Most Catholics are completely unprepared for a wicked pope. And they may not be prepared for Pope Francis either. They are more loyal to an imagined Catholic party than to the Catholic faith or the church. Between Pentecost and the launch of Vatican.va, most Catholics did not have access to...

Questions abound over the recent vicious actions of the Chinese government towards Christians in the prosperous Zhejiang Province just south of Shanghai. The actions of the government during the fortnight after Easter against both Protestants and Catholics are unprecedented in recent decades and, justifiably, have received world attention. As with all actions in a country as vast as China, whose government could never be accused of transparency, it is difficult to discover who is making the decisions and what they hope to achieve. But one issue that has surprised many people outside China is both the size of its Christian...

Notre Dame University employed the police to order a group of traditional marriage advocates off its campus late last week. Volunteers with the Tradition Family Property Student Action were given permission by an official campus student group to set up a table, according to TFP director John Ritchie. The police arrived shortly after the group began handing out pro-family literature and told them to “cease and desist.” On its website TFP Student Action claimed: The TFP handout, 10 Reasons Why Same-Sex “Marriage” is Harmful and Must Be Opposed, was being warmly received by students and faculty members alike. However, several...

Writing for TFP, Peter Miller reports: Officials at the University of Notre Dame revoke permission for pro-marriage table, tell young Catholics to “cease and desist” promoting natural marriage on campus. Sound Bend, Indiana: April 29, 2014 -- Young volunteers with Tradition Family Property Student Action were ordered to “cease and desist” promoting traditional marriage at the University of Notre Dame on Friday, April 25. “Permission to have a table had been granted through an officially recognized on-campus student group,” said TFP Student Action director John Ritchie. “But that permission was revoked for some odd reason. Police officers arrived soon after...

The Archdiocese of Baltimore’s head of child protection praised Baltimore’s “Ban the Box” bill for including provisions to protect children and vulnerable adults. The City Council passed the controversial bill April 28. “We are very pleased with how the City Council has amended the bill,” said Alison D’Alessandro, director of the archdiocese’s Office of Child and Youth Protection. “It’s important everyone works together to be advocates for our children,” she said. The bill prohibits employers from checking applicants’ criminal history prior to extending a conditional job offer, in an effort to curb discrimination against ex-convicts in hiring practices. The Archdiocese...

It’s been no secret for a while that Sarah Palin, erstwhile vice-president candidate, is no longer a serious political contender — for evidence of that transition, note that even among her faithful, at CPAC this year, she got just 2 percent of the vote in the straw poll, tied with Condoleezza Rice. But as her crowd-pleasing performance in the very final speech of that event — and her lucrative contract with Fox News and huge social-media following — indicate, she’s gone from being a potential political leader to something of a cultural totem. That means her speeches have gone from...

"Rare is the leader who makes us want to be better people." President Obama added his voice to Time's list of "The 100 Most Influential People" by penning a tribute to Pope Francis. By implication, Obama associated himself with the pontiff and ultimately to Jesus. Obama called the pope "a moral leader in word and deed," equating Francis's message of inclusion with Jesus's "essence." Sprinkled within this panegyric was Obama's own familiar refrain heard throughout his presidency: "alleviate poverty…reduce inequality…open new doors of opportunity and visions of possibility for everyone." Obama's social agenda is nothing he has kept secret. Nor...

With a crushing dominance shown in repeated polls, Democrat Hillary Clinton is on a path to do something her husband and two-term president never achieved: win a majority of more than 50 percent of the presidential vote in 2016. In the latest poll, Zogby Analytics confirmed the trend showing the former secretary of state, one-term New York senator and former first lady beating Sen. Rand Paul, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie by more than 50 percent. Seizing a majority would give her substantial bragging rights over her husband, who won in 1992 with just...

President Obama gave House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi rosary beads blessed by Pope Francis during lunch Tuesday at the White House, according to an NBC News reporter. Carrie Dann @CarrieNBCNews Pelosi says she received a rosary blessed by Pope Francis from Obama at lunch today 12:24 PM - 1 Apr 2014 Obama met Pope Francis at the Vatican for the first time last week. Pelosi, a Catholic, has been criticized for her support of abortion — a practice which she has called “sacred ground” — by other Catholics. Last year, a Vatican official in Rome said that the California lawmaker...