Free Republic

2Chronicles 7:14 If My People, which are Called by My Name, shall Humble themselves, and Pray, And Seek My Face, and Turn from their Wicked Ways; Then will I Hear from Heaven, and will Forgive their Sin, and will Heal their Land.

Unrecognised by the Chinese government, he was liked by both official and underground Catholics as a humble and capable pastor. Almost everyone in Diocese of Mindong belongs to the underground Church, 80,000 out of 90,000 members. The authorities would like to see a low profile funeral, with the body without Episcopal insignia. The faithful plan otherwise. Mgr Huang spent 35 years in prison, house arrest and forced labor. He ordained his successor, Mgr Vincent Guo Xijin, in 2008.Mindong (AsiaNews) – Mgr Vincent Huang Shoucheng, underground bishop of Mindong (Fujian), died this morning at 11 am (local time). He was 93....

An estimated 7-10 million potential users in Russia stand to benefit from the project, which will allow them to keep in constant contact with each other and the Church.They already have a special social network devoted to them, but now members of Russia’s Orthodox community will also be able to communicate with each other via instant messages. The founders of the Elitsy Orthodox social network, who announced the news on July 27, believe that worshipers need a system that will allow them to constantly keep in touch with the Church. The service, with an estimated 7-10 million potential users, should...

SALEM, Mass. —It’s a hot summer night, and leaders of the Satanic Temple have gathered in the crimson­-walled living room of a Victorian manse in this city renowned for its witch trials in the 17th century. They’re watching a sepia-toned video, in which children dance around a maypole, a spider crawls across a clown’s face and eerie, ambient chanting gives way to a backward, demonic voice-over. The group chuckles with approval.On Monday, the group plans to introduce its After School Satan Club to public elementary schools, including one in Prince George’s County, petitioning school officials to allow them to...

Katherine Haik’s one-year reign as Miss Teen USA ends Saturday evening in Las Vegas. An active member of her youth group at First Baptist Church in Franklinton, Louisiana, in 2015 Katherine became the youngest-ever contestant to win the pageant. Alas, the then 15-year-old high school freshman did not earn her victory without making a certain compromise – disregarding the Scripture advising that “women should adorn themselves in respectable attire, with modesty and self control.” Well, one needn’t be prudish to wonder whether sashaying across a stage in high heels and a teensy bikini fits the Biblical definition of “modesty.” Especially,...

Yes, Bergoglio said this to young people, many of whom are wrestling with all sorts of temptations right now. For the record, saying God wants us to be morally weak is a vicious and damnable lie. From Catholic News Agency: God prefers us weak, Pope Francis says off-the-cuff to youth Krakow, Poland, Jul 30, 2016 / 09:28 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The weaker we are, the more God's mercy can transform our lives. Pope Francis made these impromptu remarks on Saturday to crowds of young people gathered outside of Krakow’s St. John Paul II shrine. “Today, the Lord wants us to...

BATON ROUGE - A win for the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Baton Rouge today in a legal case that centered around a church doctrine prohibiting a priest from revealing what is said inside a confessional. A state appeals court affirmed that Father Jeff Bayhi does not have to reveal any conversation between him and a woman who claims she was sexually abused by a now deceased parishioner. Rebecca Mayeux claimed in a lawsuit against the Church that she told Bayhi about the alleged behavior in 2008 and that those statements between the two should be included during...

There's been a lot taken down and a lot that needs to be put back together at Elkview Baptist Church. "We have sustained damage primarily in our children's area. It was completely wiped out," said student Pastor Clint Chiles. "The Lord's taken care of us, we're still plugging through and making due with what's been given to us," he said. As Chiles shines some light on a basement that was once, over a month ago, plunged into the darkness of flood waters, he keeps his faith despite not being eligible for government assistance.

Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have...

Pope Francis has again said stupid things about war. In his latest plane presser on the way to Poland (dear Lord, are we going to have two of these for every trip from now on?!) he has again parroted the boilerplate leftist blither we were taught to recite in the 70s in our hippie free schools. CNA reports his comments: “When I speak of war, I talk about it seriously, but it’s not a war of religion. It’s a war for money, for resources, for nature, for dominion. This is the war,” Pope Francis told journalists on his July 27...

The Didaché, a brief, anonymous Christian treatise, was written between the years 65 and 80 (according to most scholars) and held in the highest esteem by the early Church Fathers.It is considered that the Didaché, also known as “the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,” or simply “The Teaching” (“Didaché” means “teaching” in Greek), is a letter that belongs to the very first Christian corpus of literary production. It is considered the first and oldest written catechism, and as such has been respected and preserved to this day. Both the author and the place where the Didaché was written remain unknown. The original...

Using dramatic dance to show the separation caused by imprisonment and even a rock-climbing wall to equate the need to forgive each other's offenses to getting up after you fall down, the youths presented the pontiff with what they called "The Way of Mercy." They started the event by tying the condemning of Jesus to death to the need to shelter pilgrims, who they identified today as migrants entering Europe to flee war and violence. Among those carrying the cross at the first station were two Syrians living as refugees in Italy.

The Bible speaks of these Last Days and testifies to what the social conditions will be at this time among those who profess Christ and have a "form" of godliness. (Romans 10:2-4, 1 Tim. 3:1-7,2 Tim. 4:1-3, Jude, 1:10, Rev. 3:14-22). At this time, a secular progressive movement - initiated by the super fallen intelligence of fallen angels (i.e., demons ) will begin to dominate and influence the entire world preparing the world for Lucifer's lawless minion and the global worship of himself and his lawless super -ultra fascist world leader (2 Thess. 2:3-12, Rev.13). Some of the signs of...

(ANSAmed) - PARIS, JULY 28 - French religious leaders met on Wednesday with President Hollande to ask for increased security in places of worship, following the attack in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray on Tuesday in which two armed teens claiming allegiance to ISIS took four people hostage and killed 84-year-old Catholic priest Father Jacques Hamel. On Tuesday, Hollande spoke with Pope Francis and said France will "do everything to protect our churches and our places of worship". French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the country's anti-terrorism operation "Sentinelle" will increase military presence to 10,000 soldiers, 4,000 assigned to Paris and the remaining distributed...

A new $5 million Anglican Centre is to be built in Spain in Santiago de Compostela, the end of the world-famous Catholic pilgrimage route the Way of St James. The Reformed Episcopal Church of Spain, which is part of the Anglican Community under the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury, is to begin fundraising with the help of Trinity Church, Wall Street in the United States. The new Anglican centre in Spain will have instant and enormous appeal to Christians from through the Anglican Communion worldwide. Santiago de Compostela is believed to be the burial site of the disciple James,...

On Wednesday, July 27, Pope Francis arrived in Krakow, Poland, in order to celebrate World Youth Day. As part of this trip, the pope commented on controversy surrounding Muslim migration to Europe. Many of these comments reveal an apparent ignorance of Polish history and current reality, a privileging of Marxist and culturally relativist worldviews that distort reality, and an abandonment of true Christian ideals. I write as a devout Catholic. I wish my pope would read what I write here.

A Planned Parenthood affiliate in Utah is facing public backlash after it integrated a Mormon trademark phrase on its new condom packages. KLS News in Utah reports the condom packages showed the letters “CTR” against a pink shield, a reference to a popular Mormon hymn and symbol used in youth religious education programs. On Monday, the abortion group posted a photo of the condoms on its Facebook page, but deleted it later that day after the public began to complain, according to the report. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints issued a statement saying it has a registered...

SAMARA, Russia, July 28, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) — An American clergyman in the Ukraine was deported for planning to officiate a gay wedding. Jim Mulcahy, pastor of Metropolitan Community Church, was arrested at the LGBT center Avers in Samara. The Kremlin’s Vesti News Channel reported that Mulcahy intended to marry LGBT couples and engage in gay propaganda, a violation of his tourist visa. Mulcahy is the Metropolitan Community Churches' Eastern Europe Coordinator. His arrest was videotaped by state-controlled television (NTV). He denies planning to officiate a gay "marriage" but reportedly performed "unspecified ceremonies for homosexuals." Sodomy is no longer illegal in...

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has said recent comments by Cardinal Raymond Burke on Islam's desire to govern the world are unhelpful at a time when Europe reels in the aftermath of a spate of terror attacks. The archbishop decried the murder of elderly French priest, Fr. Jacques Hamel, in Normandy as "something that no religion would stand over," adding that the atrocity in the small parish church of Saint Etienne du Rouvray has been "horrifying to everyone" and that people have been "absolutely stunned by the brutality" of it. Speaking from Poland where he is attending World Youth Day,...

Fr. Jacques Hamel (+2016) At the online site of the excellent Regina magazine there is a good piece about the rock and the hard place, the Scylla and Charybdis, the fire and the frying pan, the deep blue sea and the devil, betwixt which we find ourselves. A Catholic Caught Between Jihad and the AgendaISIS has made its intentions clear: “the Christian community… “will not have safety, even in your dreams, until you embrace Islam. We will conquer your Rome, break your crosses, and enslave your women….”It happened yesterday, but it could have been the 700’s. Yesterday, Pere Jacques Hamel,...