Free Republic

To quote a friend of mine, “Trying to understand Church issues through mainstream secular media is like trying to understand global economics through a 13-year-old girl’s Instagram account.” In short, it just won’t happen. The personnel aren’t equipped, and likely don’t want to take the time to become equipped, to speak well and foster understanding about nuanced issues in the Church. They’re only after eyes, likes, and shares, (and I don’t know that they deny it) so why, OH WHY do we fall for this every. single. time? A bit of background: Cardinal Raymond Burke, former bishop of the Dioceses...

Catholic Theologians Protest ‘Deep-Seated Racism’ Of US, Compare Eric Garner To Christ A "statement of commitment to racial justice." More than 400 Catholic theologians signed a statement protesting the “deep-seated racism” of the US and compared Eric Garner to Jesus Christ. Written by St. Louis University Professor of Theological Ethics Dr. Tobias Winright, it is called a “statement of commitment to racial justice.” Advertisement-content continues below What prompted the writing of the statement was the killing of blacks by police officers. The statement reads: The killings of Black [sic] men, women and children—including but not limited to Rekia Boyd, Eric...

In an article which may be found here, Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke says, "I think there has been a great confusion with regard to the specific vocation of men in marriage and of men in general in the Church during the past 50 years or so. It’s due to a number of factors, but the radical feminism which has assaulted the Church and society since the 1960s has left men very marginalized. Unfortunately, the radical feminist movement strongly influenced the Church, leading the Church to constantly address women’s issues at the expense of addressing critical issues important to men; the...

According to recent reports, St. James Episcopal Church in Wichita, Kan., is preparing to mark the 42nd anniversary of legalized abortion with a chili dinner on church grounds later this month. Tickets range from $20 to $1,000 for the Planned Parenthood-sponsored event, which promises “an evening of stimulating conversation, refreshments and CHILI!” The event, dubbed Chili for Choice, is one of many anniversary celebrations planned throughout the nation to mark another year of allowing American women to legally kill their unborn children. Concerts and celebrity appearances mark many of these gatherings; however, an ostensibly Christian church willing to openly endorse...

A youtube video has been uploaded which shows that a Nevada church is only steps away from an abortion clinic. According to the video, West End Medical Clinic abortion clinic in Reno Nevada is thirty-three steps away from The Potter´s House Christian Fellowship. The video implies that the church is not activated to oppose abortions feet from their door. The church’s website address is Reno for Jesus, where they state that they are a, “Bible based, Spirit Filled, Nondenominational Family of Believers.” It is difficult to believe that a church which preaches the Bible could be so close to an...

A youtube video has been uploaded which shows that a Nevada church is only steps away from an abortion clinic. According to the video, West End Medical Clinic abortion clinic in Reno Nevada is thirty-three steps away from The Potter´s House Christian Fellowship. The church’s website address is Reno for Jesus, where they state that they are a, “Bible based, Spirit Filled, Nondenominational Family of Believers.” Saynsumthn has no knowledge of the church’s position on abortion or whether they or their members protest this abortion clinic. The blog has sent an e-mail to the pastors to find out. As of...

More than a quarter of the victims on AirAsia flight 8501 were members of the same pentecostal church in Indonesia ... Mawar Sharon Church, in Surabaya, Indonesia, hosted a prayer service earlier this week as to comfort relatives and remember those who were lost in the crash.

A suicide bomber blew himself up outside an evangelist church in northeast Nigeria on Thursday, injuring several people, witnesses and a rescue worker said. "There was an explosion outside the ECWA church this morning. A suicide bomber who was restrained from getting into the church blew himself up," said Abubakar Yakubu, who heads the Nigeria Red Cross in Gombe. "Luckily no one was killed but some people were mildly injured." A witness said the man arrived during the church service and refused to park his motorcycle outside a security barrier set up by church volunteers. "He insisted on riding through...

Riot Police Protect St. Louis Cathedral from Protesters at Christmas Midnight Mass Posted by Kristinn Taylor on Thursday, December 25, 2014, 12:18 AM Churchgoers in St. Louis Wednesday night were not allowed to celebrate the birth of Jesus without the threat of disruption by supporters of the so-called Black Lives Matter campaign. Photos posted to Twitter show police in riot gear massed in force protecting a church identified as the Cathedral Basilica.

A hair-raising video has emerged that a car full of masked robbers exploding moments after they raided a church in Russia - and witnesses insist they were hit by lightning. The dash cam footage uploaded by YouTube user World News TV, shows a vehicle speeding along with a police siren sounding in the background. All of a sudden the car bursts into flames and explodes, sending debris all over the road.

Once a Constitutional Republic famed for its pragmatism, the United States has lately become a country notorious for its inconstancy, no longer recognizing that actions have finite and foreseeable consequences. In this space, for example, I recently argued that the release of the “torture report” by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence came perilously close to the constitutional definition of treason by “giving Aid and Comfort” to America’s enemies. Admittedly, that was a tough assessment. But barely a week after the report’s release, the Huffington Post published an article linking those revelations with their most immediate effects on our allies....

Vatican City, Dec 19, 2014 / 09:38 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis cautioned Christians against an egoism that excludes the need for God in his homily at Mass on Friday, saying this attitude renders our lives sterile and prevents the Church from bearing fruit. “This too makes me think of our mother Church and of so much sterility within our Mother Church,” the Pope told those present in the Vatican’s Saint Martha guesthouse chapel Dec. 19. He noted that when too much emphasis is placed on our ability to choose to be good by following the commandments unaided by grace,...

Many observers have called 2014 the “Year of the Bible Movie” and it’s easy to see why. A vast array of faith-based films have released this year, some to significant success including Heaven is for Real, Irreplaceable and Son of God. But Rick Santorum says we can do more than entertain with films. “Yes, we make films for the church,” he said recently at The Heritage Foundation. “We need to wake up the church!” As CEO of Echolight Studios, Santorum aims to do just that with the new documentary film One Generation Away. His group invites local churches to host...

But this article isn’t about the whole apparition story so much as it is about the tilma, Juan Diego’s cloak, on which the image of the Blessed Mother was imprinted. In the centuries following the event, some amazing and unexplainable qualities have been discovered about it. Here’s four (literally) awesome facts about the tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe:

I wrote in my book, “unPlanned,” about a church that kicked me out when they found out that I worked for Planned Parenthood. I often get questioned about that, whether I still think they made the wrong decision. My answer is a resounding YES. I try not to go down the “what if” road very often. It isn’t fruitful and just makes you feel crummy. But, just for the sake of this article, let’s go there. What if I had been ministered to instead of shunned by that church? How could my life be different? Well, maybe I would have...

A pastor in England faced a hearing in court in which he is accused of keeping a woman as a sex slave and forcing her to have an abortion. While abortion is legalized in many nations under the auspices of a “right to choose,” the reality is that a large percentage of women who get abortions are forced, pressured or coerced into getting them. In this case, Gilbert Deya, 61, who runs a ministry outfit named after himself, is charged with four counts of rape, one of attempted rape, two of sexual assault and one of battery. His church reportedly...

Pro-choice Pastor Roger Paynter, in a sermon to his congregation: “… Abortion is not the automatic breaking of God’s will… In general, we should say that God is against the ending of all life, but that in some tragic circumstances, he understands – even allows – and certainly forgives the choices we have to make.” Robert M Baird and Stuart E Rosenbaum, editors The Ethics of Abortion, 3rd edition (Amherst, New York: Prometheus books, 2001) 236

From The Wall Street Journal: Americans aren’t building churches like they used to anymore.Construction of religious buildings in the U.S. has fallen to the lowest level at any time since private records began in 1967. Religious groups will build an estimated 10.3 million square feet this year, down 6% from 2013 and 80% since construction peaked in 2002, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. In terms of dollars, spending on houses of worship totaled $3.15 billion last year, down by half from a decade earlier, according to Commerce Department figures.As the economy heals, churches, synagogues, mosques and temples may move...

So much for the seventh commandment. Unholy crooks better pray the big man upstairs wasn’t watching when they swiped a 5-by-3 foot crucifix from a Bronx church during services on Wednesday. The $5,000 German-made wooden cross was lifted from the lobby of Padau Roman Catholic Church — near a sign proclaiming, “Jesus wants all of us to come to him” — between 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., police sources said. “I’m distressed. That crucifix means so much to the people here … I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Josu Iriondo, 75, pastor of the church on East 166th Street...

Have you noticed that nobody loves modern churches? Nobody. I mean NOBODY.Seriously. Have you ever met anyone who sees a church like this and and heard them whisper, “I just love that church! It is so inspiring!”.No. Never.Have you ever gone into a “worship space” like this and heard someone say how awed they were to be in the presence of God? I doubt it.  That’s because these buildings were not designed to inspire awe or to remind you about the presence of God. They are people centered, not God centered. They are auditoria not temples.There is a gut level...