Free Republic

'Our government will not allow any new church to be built in Somaliland'Somaliland’s only Catholic church has been closed due to “public pressures”, just eight days after it was officially reopened on 29 July. The self-declared state's Religious Affairs Minister, Skeikh Khalil Abdullahi, said reopening the church had caused “a lot of division” which was not in Somaliland's interest. The government has decided to respect the wishes of the people and their religious leaders, and keep the church closed as it has been for the past 30 years,” Sheikh Khalil announced at a press conference on 8 August, local paper...

Proverb 11 (NKJV) The Folly of Wickedness01 Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD,00 But a just weight is His delight. 02 When pride comes, then comes shame; 00 But with the humble is wisdom. 03 The integrity of the upright will guide them, 00 But the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them. 04 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, 00 But righteousness delivers from death. 05 The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way aright, 00 But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness. 06 The righteousness of the upright will...

Erbil, Iraq, Aug 9, 2017 / 04:32 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After three years in exile from Iraq's Nineveh Plain while it was occupied by the Islamic State, the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena are returning to their homeland to face the daunting challenge of rebuilding their destroyed communities. “Three years ago, we left our homes at night to the unknown. We started a journey of displacement, exile and questioning,” stated an Aug. 6 open letter from the Dominican Sisters in Erbil. “Despite everything, we always dreamed of going back and finding our houses safe and sound, just as...

As a psychiatrist, the recent false accusations from Rome against faithful Catholics reminds me of couples preparing to divorce. False accusations of hostility, divisiveness and hatred occur not infrequently in marriages with high levels of conflict and with impending separation or divorce. When of an extremely severe nature, such anger can lead to demonizing a spouse in an effort to undermine the trust of the children in that spouse and to obtain their loyalty instead. This pathological behavior is referred to as parental alienation and is clearly psychologically damaging to Catholic youth, spouses and families. Spouses who make false accusations against...

Proverb 10 (NKJV) A Wise Son and a Foolish Son01 The proverbs of Solomon: 00 A wise son makes a glad father, 00 But a foolish son is the grief of his mother. 02 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing 00 But righteousness delivers from death. 03 The LORD will not allow the righteous soul to famish, 00 But He casts away the desire of the wicked. 04 He who has a slack hand becomes poor, 00 But the hand of the diligent makes rich. 05 He who gathers in summer is a wise son; 00 He who sleeps in...

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky, August 9, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) -- U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke has criticized German Cardinal Reinhard Marx for saying that Germany’s recent legalization of homosexual “marriage” is of no major concern for the Catholic Church in that country. Burke, one of the Church’s leading canon law experts, spoke about Marx as he outlined how evils now commonly accepted in the West’s “ravaged” culture have managed to infiltrate the Church, passing from the shepherds to the sheep. He made the comments at the July 22 “Church Teaches Forum” in Louisville. “But, in a diabolical way, the confusion and error which has...

A gay rights group tried to prosecute the archbishop for hate speechThe Spanish state prosecutor has dismissed a ‘hate crime’ complaint against the Archbishop of Granada after a gay rights group claimed a homily he gave in February was trans-phobic. The Efe news agency says the case was thrown out after the Grenada public prosecutor’s office could not find sufficient motive to justify legal action. In February the ‘Observatory Against LGBTphobia’ complained that Archbishop Francisco Javier Martínez “promoted hate” in a homily where he denounced the promotion of gender theory in schools. “There is a pathology behind that,” the archbishop...

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 8, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — The nation’s largest homosexual activist group lambasted President Trump’s pick to serve as ambassador at large for international religious freedom. “Gov. (Sam) Brownback’s appointment would promote discrimination, not religious freedom,” Human Rights Campaign’s Brian McBride charged. Brownback will only perpetrate Trump’s “discriminatory ideologies in other nations.” “HRC is deeply disappointed by Trump’s nomination of this anti-LGBTQ politician,” the organization said in a press release, adding that nomination of Brownback is “a weapon to advance discrimination.” Yawn. Brownback is a bold, pro-life and pro-marriage conservative who has defended the right of Christians and others...

ANN ARBOR, MI – In a settlement agreement, which reads more like an instrument of surrender, Bernards Township (“Township”), New Jersey officials agreed that, in addition to a $3.5 million payment to Islamic Society of Basking Ridge (“ISBR”), residents and citizens of the Township are prohibited from commenting on “Islam” or “Muslims.” at the upcoming public hearing to approve the settlement. Astonishingly, a federal judge approved the prohibition as a fully enforceable Order of the Court. As a result of this suppression of speech, the Thomas More Law Center (“TMLC”), a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor,...

A United Methodist minister is publishing a book of daily Bible devotionals inspired by the verses regularly sent to Hillary Rodham Clinton when she was running for president. The Rev. Bill Shillady, executive director of the New York-based United Methodist City Society, will be releasing the book on Aug. 15. Titled Strong for a Moment Like This: The Daily Devotions of Hillary Rodham Clinton, the book will include 365 of the over 600 devotions as well as a forward by Clinton herself. "Over the course of those 20 months, Shillady — a pastoral friend of Clinton's — and a small...

Proverb 9 (NKJV)The Way of Wisdom Wisdom's Invitation01 Wisdom has built her house, 00 She has hewn out her seven pillars; 02 She has slaughtered her meat, 00 She has mixed her wine, 00 She has also furnished her table. 03 She has sent out her maidens, 00 She cries out from the highest places of the city, 04 "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!" 00 As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, 05 "Come, eat of my bread 00 And drink of the wine I have mixed. 06 Forsake foolishness and live, 00...

Addressing priests in the Philadelphia archdiocese, Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow, Scotland, said that American Catholics should learn from the problems facing the Church in Great Britain. The Scottish archbishop predicted that “some version of the problems we face today in Scotland will be heading your way tomorrow.” In particular he warned that intolerance of the faith is likely to increase. Archbishop Tartaglia reported that Catholics now constitute the most active religious group in Scotland, because the Protestant churches are steadily shrinking. Thus the Catholic Church becomes the primary representative of Christianity—and the main target for the more aggressive opponents...

Proverb 8 (NKJV) The Excellence of Wisdom Wisdom Is Everlasting01 Does not wisdom cry out, 00 And understanding lift up her voice? 02 She takes her stand on the top of the high hill, 00 Beside the way, where the paths meet. 03 She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city, 00 At the entrance of the doors: 04 "To you, O men, I call, 00 And my voice is to the sons of men. 05 O you simple ones, understand prudence, 00 And you fools, be of an understanding heart. 06 Listen, for I...

CAMBRIDGESHIRE, U.K. — A Christian prison worker in the U.K. who was barred from participating in chapel services after quoting a Scripture that references homosexuality has lost his appeal, as an Employment Appeals Tribunal was not convinced that he had suffered discrimination. The tribunal concluded that the policies at HMP Littlehey, a prison for sex offenders, were legitimate in light of the prison’s desire to maintain order as some inmates could find the quoted passage offensive. “Justice Slade upheld the Employment Tribunal’s ruling that the quoting of [certain verses in] the Bible in a chapel service could ‘legitimize … mistreatment’...

'To suggest gender diversity is an antidote to child abuse is both offensive and absurd'The head of a public body responsible for the arts in Scotland has been condemned as “poisonously anti-religious” after calling for the Church to be compelled to ordain women as priests. Ben Thomson, who chairs Creative Scotland, said greater “gender diversity” in the Church would have helped to prevent the abuse crisis. In a private submission to a government consultation, Thomson said: “The lack of women as part of the leadership in religion leads to wider problems in society … Most of the religions practised in...

A few years ago, I attended a conference where pastors were encouraged to meet at a pub after the general sessions. A few of these pastors could exercise their liberty, but why publicly? I wondered how many people at the conference stumbled because of it. The demands of life often tempt us to seek gratification in alcohol and other things. We must be on high alert. The enemy uses "opportune times" to draw us away from God. (cf. Luke 4:13.) The line is so thin that it is often hard to determine when we cross over. The person who consumes...

LifeSite News reports that The Pontifical Academy of Science (PAS) has announced yet another population control conference. You can read the article here. The bottom line is that the invited speakers at this conference include various climate alarmists who zealously preach the pretext of man-made climate change to justify their agenda of population control (including birth control and abortion) which must be carried out by global governance in order to save the planet. One of the speakers at the coming conference even said “sometimes politicians have to take citizens to task “with coercion” to overcome their own resistance to change.”...

Proverb 7 (NKJV) The Wiles of a Harlot 01 My son, keep my words, 00 And treasure my commands within you. 02 Keep my commands and live, 00 And my law as the apple of your eye. 03 Bind them on your fingers; 00 Write them on the tablet of your heart. 04 Say to wisdom, "You are my sister,"; 00 And call understanding your nearest kin, 05 That they may keep you from the immoral woman, 00 From the seductress who flatters with her words. The Crafty Harlot 06 For at the window of my house 00 I...

* In the last 30 years, more mosques and Muslim prayer centers have been built in France than all the Catholic churches built in the last century. * The Church of Santa Rita used to stand in the fifteenth arrondissement of Paris. A few weeks after Father Hamel was murdered by Islamic terrorists, the French police cleared the church. It is now a parking lot. Police dragged the priests out by their legs as a Mass was being celebrated.* In France there are laws protecting old trees. But the state is free to flatten old Christian churches. The vacuums...

Marriage and baptism are not bourgeois rites of passage. We need to make them easierThere are plenty of things for which I thank God: good friends, the health of my children, the glorious tenth anniversary of Summorum Pontificum, the fact that the Detroit Tigers will not be trading their star pitcher Justin Verlander. Another is the fact that my wife and I were never made to attend a Catholic marriage preparation course.If we had been members of a parish where the mind-numbingly dull half-year of expensive weekend retreats had been required, we would have gone through with it, obviously. Offering...