Free Republic

Vatican politics is notoriously fickle, and media reports about who is in and who is out usually depend on the particular bias of the reporter. However, for months, reports from both the ecclesiastical left and the right were in agreement about the imminent demotion of the leading American cardinal in the Vatican: the Church’s chief justice, or, to give him his proper the title, the prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, the highest judicial authority in the Church, after the pope — Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke. For once, it seems, the tittle-tattle over the evening limoncello was correct. Burke has been...

Former Archbishop of Canterbury says ‘panic’ about the niqab is 'largely misplaced' even if young children cannot see their teacher’s face There is no need to “panic” about Muslim primary school teachers wearing the full-face veil in class, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Williams, has insisted. He said concerns that young children would struggle to learn from a woman whose face was covered were “largely misplaced” and that there are other ways to "read” what people are saying. The former Archbishop’s remarks, in an interview for the Christian think-tank Theos, reopen the debate about the place of the niqab...

On October 22...LDS.ORG posted three essays dealing with the practice of plural marriage by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between the 1830s and 1904... Several major controversies have been generated in conjunction with the introduction of plural marriage in Nauvoo in the early 1840s. All of these are briefly discussed in the introductory essay, Polyandry (paragraphs 20–23, endnotes 29–30). The essay acknowledges that “Joseph Smith was sealed to a number of women who were already married,” estimating the number of these sealings at 12–14 (endnote 29)... Fanny Alger... Sexuality... Children with plural wives... Number of...

Mormon Church Finally Admits Founder Joseph Smith Was Polygamist With 40 wives Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints admits its founder was a polygamist, having long glossed over his marital history Emma Hale Smith was the first of 33 wives of Mormon founder Joseph Smith Philip Sherwell 11 Nov 2014 The Mormon founder Joseph Smith married as many as 40 women, including a 14-year-old girl, church leaders have acknowledged for the first time in a surprising revelation about their most important prophet. Although the Mormon church was closely associated with polygamy during its first decades, its teachings had long...

This is a refutation regarding some anti-Catholic statements that were made in a history class that I attend. The history class is based on ancient civilizations to the 16th century. The professor originally stated that the reason that the Catholic Mass used to be completely in Latin was because the Church did not want the people to understand what was going on, since the Church wanted to oppress the people. I refute this argument in my first response. In this response I describe the use of Latin in the Catholic Mass and why it continues to be used.The professor then...

The International Association of Exorcists says satanism is gaining popularity. Valter Cascioli, a spokesman for the organization, said there has been an "extraordinary increase in demonic activity" during a segment on Vatican radio. The International Association of Exorcists includes around 300 members. The group met in Rome last week to talk with the Pope and discuss the impact of the occult and Satanism. Cascioli said people are too willing to participate in "ordinary demonic activity." Renowned exorcist Fr. Aldo Buonaiuto recently said, "Many say Halloween is a simple carnival, but in fact there is nothing innocent or fun about it...

Ouija board séances, marathon-watching “Long Island Medium” and reading witchcraft books may be common teenage obsessions, but for one mother this was a cause for concern -- and for the Catholic Church, it may be the source of a growth industry in exorcisms. Last week, in an advice column in the online Catholic magazine Crux, an anonymous mother asked whether her child’s occult interests could lead to “black lipstick and Satan worship” in the future. Whoever this young girl is, she is not alone. Films like the recent blockbuster hit “Ouija,” ghost-hunting "reality" TV shows and even the Harry Potter...

Listers, the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta has a long and rich history. The Sovereign Military Order of Malta or “SMOM” for short, traces its origins to a crusade-era hospital in the Holy Lands charged with caring for not only Catholics but for Jews and Muslims as well. The Order was further charged with the military defense of those hospitals – especially for the poor and suffering inside – and for Catholic pilgrims. While other military orders faded as their military purpose was no longer needed, the Order of Malta...

All is not well in the old world. There is a tremendous danger looming, and it is very difficult to be optimistic. We might be in the final stages of the Islamization of Europe. This not only is a clear and present danger to the future of Europe itself, it is a threat to America and the sheer survival of the West. The danger I see looming is the scenario of America as the last man standing. The United States as the last bastion of Western civilization, facing an Islamic Europe. In a generation or two, the US will ask...

If you attend a church regularly, you’ve probably noticed the phenomenon. A guest shows up for a worship service, but he or she never returns. It is, unfortunately, a common issue in many churches. I did a Twitter poll to ask these first-time guests why they chose not to return to a particular church. While some of the responses were anticipated, I admit being a bit surprised with some of them. Though my poll is not scientific, it is nevertheless fascinating. Here are the top ten responses in order of frequency. 1.Having a stand up and greet one another time...

Using science is wise - blindly patronizing science is presumption and idolatry - Anon. In a blazing headline One News Now published an article entitled "Pope backs evolution, Vatican calls creation 'blasphemous,'" in it, author Michael F. Haverluck says "In a speech given at a Pontifical Academy of Sciences ceremony unveiling a bust of his predecessor, Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI, Pope Francis declared his full-fledged support of evolution as the scientifically correct explanation of the origin of man - and the universe." Unwilling to go full-fledged "everything from nothing' the Pope has scratched out an explanation from the playbook of 'theistic-evolution'...

The “What People Think I Do / What I Really Do” meme is a clever way of poking fun at stereotypes vs. reality. We’ve assembled some of the best related to Christianity from around the web. Enjoy!

Former NBA star Charles Barkley recently drew national attention with his candid comments referring to the envy between “successful blacks” and “non-intelligent blacks” as being like “crabs in a barrel”. Mr. Barkley was referring to an African proverb -- “Put one crab in a pot and it will escape. Put two crabs in a pot and neither will escape.” The point of this proverb is that envy destroys everyone. Whatever your reaction to Barkley’s perception of an issue in his community, envy and covetousness are actually national problems. Americans have difficulty remembering, much less keeping, the 10th Commandment: Thou Shalt...

Many believers today try to manufacture and produce the heavenly joy and experiential wisdom by earthy carnal means, but the end results of these self efforts are the eventual collapse and shipwreck of the child of Almighty God on the rocks of unbelief (Matt 7:26-27, 1 Tim 1:19, Heb. 4:2, James 1:22). Only when the mind of the child of God is absolutely fixed (Is 26:3) and locked onto Almighty God’s NEVER changing Word - by faith with application (Heb. 11:1,6) - will the child of God enter into a realm of spiritual treasure and knowledge that transcends the confinements...

Leaders explore hospitality and relationship while stressing message to people of faith across the globeWASHINGTON -- Washington National Cathedral and five Muslim groups announced today the first celebration of Muslim Friday prayers (Jumaa) at the Cathedral on Friday, November 14. Leaders believe offering Muslim prayers at the Christian cathedral shows more than hospitality. It demonstrates an appreciation of one another's prayer traditions and is a powerful symbolic gesture toward a deeper relationship between the two Abrahamic traditions. What: Muslim Friday Prayers at Washington National Cathedral When: Friday, November 14, 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Who: *The Rev. Canon Gina Campbell,...

Shahzad Masih was 28 years old and his wife, Shama, 25, two young Catholics with four children. She was pregnant with the fifth. She was working in a job in a brick making factory known for exploiting its workers, whose owner, a Muslim, had already brutally beat her. She worked in Kasur, near Lahore, in that Pakistan where Christians are considered as trash. Last November 4th the two young people were falsely accused of having profaned pages of the Koran. They were tortured for two days, lynched by a furious mob and at the end thrown into an oven and...

Test and fine-tune your modernist-church-detection abilities against your communist-architecture-detection skills! It's harder than you think...

UPDATE BELOW (Fishwrap closed it’s comments.)___ Original Published on: Nov 9, 2014 ___ An evil site and occasion of sin - Wherein Fr. Z rants [ 6:15 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1114) If ever you needed proof of what an evil site and occasion of sin the National Schismatic Reporter (aka Fishwrap) has become, just have a look at the combox under the shameful post by Michael Sean Winters about the reassignment of Card. Burke. HEREI undershot when I used the image of a “Lord of the Flies Dance” to describe what was about to...

Most of us infidels in the West have been lied to. Trusting the education system, foolishly, we believed all the bunk bundled into our textbooks concerning the period in history (1096 AD -1272 AD) when the Crusades took place…they left out an itty bitty piece of info…This will be great for all your “enlightened” friends… The real reason WHY the Crusades took place…and here’s the shocker: It was a response to Islam’s aggression! That’s right…it all began with Muhammed’s implicit threat more than 450 years before the Crusaders entered Jerusalem. He said: “embrace Islam and you will be safe.” (Muhammed’s...

Brother Andre Love, a Benedictine monk, sits in the church after praying at the Mount Angel Abbey on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014. Love, a former tattoo artist, still has tattoos on his hands, arms and neck. Six years ago, Mount Angel Abbey's serene hilltop campus shook, as leather-clad Bobby Love rolled in on his motorcycle. Love removed his helmet revealing pierced ears and a mop of dreadlocks. With tattoos on his hands, arms and neck, he looked like an extra on "Sons of Anarchy" not a someone attending a retreat for those who might become Catholic monks. "One of...