Free Republic

In Poland, Catholics take their faith very seriously. On October 7, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, a million Poles gathered at thousands of points on the country’s borders to pray the rosary “for the Poles and for the whole world,” one participant told the BBC. Coming from hundreds of churches throughout the country, Poles joined arms in prayer, “some on beaches on the Baltic Sea, some in fields and some in towns” on the 2,000-mile border, the BBC reported. Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski, of Krakow in southern Poland, said during his sermon on Saturday morning that people should...

Civil servants should avoid using gendered pronouns like ‘he’ and ‘she’ or assuming someone with the title ‘Mr’ is male, according to the latest government directives. The rules, which apply to all Whitehall departments, are intended to avoid causing offence to people whose chosen gender does not identify with their biological sex. But opponents branded the language code ‘politically-correct claptrap’ and accused the government of trying to bring in ‘social engineering by the back door’. The Service Manual is produced by the Cabinet Office and used by government departments to design their websites. ­­ These include taxpayer-facing departments such as...

In a surge of populist fervor, Austrian voters ousted leftist incumbents from office Sunday and swept a young conservative and his party into power. The center-right People's Party (OVP) claimed the top spot in the national elections, with 31 percent of the vote. As a result, party leader Sebastian Kurz is advancing to the chancellorship of Austria. At just 31, upon assuming office Kurz will be world's youngest national leader. After declaring victory, Kurz vowed that it's time for a change in Austria and thanked those for entrusting him to guide the country through the coming transformation, "Many people have placed great...

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán opens conference by calling on nations, particularly in Europe, to cast aside political correctness, stand up against Christian persecution, and defend the roots of Christian civilization. It is time for Europe to free itself from the shackles of political correctness, speak the truth, and face the facts about the violent persecution of Christians, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Thursday. In a hard-hitting speech delivered at the opening of the first major conference ever held by a government in support of persecuted Christians, Orbán said that the “forced expulsion” of Christians from parts of the...

European conservative scholars and intellectuals have released a manifesto aimed at restoring Europe to its “true genius” and actively recovering “what is best in our tradition.” The manifesto, called the Paris Statement, details how “technocratic tyranny” and “false freedom” prevails in Europe, threatening its very existence as well as the Christian roots that undergird it.  The statement, released October 7, lists concerns about the growing secularization of Europe, Muslim immigration, and the rise of a “false Europe.” It outlines ways Europe can return to respecting the sovereignty of its nations, overcome “isolation and aimlessness,” and restore “true liberalism.” “The true...

A short video that shows the rebirth of Christianity in modern Russia after decades of persecution and enforced atheism. Strongly recommended.

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for our President and Vice President and for AMERICA: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 JOHN 5:14 Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

The Catholic Church in the UK is descending into civil war behind the scenes after a major row over abortion was sparked by a controversial editorial in the respected journal The Tablet. A number of bishops were 'scandalised' by the article, Christian Today understands, and are urging Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, to intervene. One figure accused the weekly magazine which is sold at the back of Westminster Cathedral – the home of Catholicism in the UK – of trying 'to obscure the witness of Christian teaching'. It comes after The Tablet published an editorial criticising a conservative...

Scholars and clerics fear being punished for speaking out over Amoris LaetitiaOrthodox Catholics are facing “persecution” – and not from secularists, but from their fellow believers. That’s the startling claim made last week by Professor Josef Seifert, the philosopher and friend of St John Paul II. His remarks echoed some recent comments from Cardinal Gerhard Müller, who told the National Catholic Register that Vatican officials and university teachers were “living in great fear”. And Seifert and Cardinal Müller are only saying publicly what many will say in private. In researching this article, I have heard from priests and academics on...

Fires, Disease, Loss of Common Sense, Inability to Reason, Prophetic Blindness, Gender Confusion and total depravity. These are the things that should cause us reason to pause, ponder and understand that we should "Expect the Unprecedented" as we continue to hurtle toward the end. John explains in this week's update.

Your Holiness, Your Excellencies and Eminences, Esteemed Church and Secular Leaders, Welcome to Budapest. Today I do not wish to talk about the persecution of Christians in Europe. The persecution of Christians in Europe operates with sophisticated and refined methods of an intellectual nature. It is undoubtedly unfair, it is discriminatory, sometimes it is even painful; but although it has negative impacts, it is tolerable. It cannot be compared to the brutal physical persecution which our Christian brothers and sisters have to endure in Africa and the Middle East. Today I’d like to say a few words about this form...

It’s been a time of calamities: Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, flooding in South Asia and Africa and a massive earthquake in Mexico have led to widespread devastation around the globe.Some people seem to think this is divine retribution for the sins of humanity: Kirk Cameron, former child actor, said in a video on Facebook that Hurricane Harvey and Irma were “a spectacular display of God’s immense power” and were sent so human beings could repent. Earlier, after seeing the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, conservative Christian pastor John McTernan had noted that “God is systematically destroying America” out of anger over...

Amir is back in Israel with news and comment to bring us up to date on current events and put them in the proper perspective. The dangers of North Korea and Iran, Trump's speech on the Iran Deal, U.S. and Russia fighting and defending different groups of rebels, and Yellowstone supervolcano. He also remarks on the apathy and illiteracy among the young toward Bible prophecy and the Rapture. Our lesson: Be sure we are ready, because what happens may happen suddenly.

Since Christ first promised His disciples He would return, Christians have wondered if their generation is the one that would witness the fulfillment of that promise. And probably every generation since has thought itself to be the last generation, basing their belief on the perceived or actual declining moral standards of society in their day. Yet for all the speculation and hearsay, only one generation can be the final generation, and all the evidence points to ours. For centuries, Christians have used anecdotal evidence, such as "things have never been so bad" or "look at all the evil in the...

Bishop Matthew Kukah accused Western leaders of 'turning their backs' in ChristianityA Nigerian bishop said the Catholic Church in his country is beginning to lose its public influence partly because of the decline of religious faith in the West. Bishop Matthew Kukah of Sokoto accused European and American politicians and diplomats of publicly “pandering” to Islam at the expense of Christianity. The result, he said, was the ascendancy of Islam and evangelical Christianity in Nigeria and the decline of Catholicism. He told Catholic News Service in an interview in Liverpool that the widespread loss of Christian faith in the West...

John Anton – OCP News Service – 12/1017 +Memory Eternal+ Cairo-Egypt: A Coptic Orthodox Christian priest was murdered and another was injured in a knife attack this morning in the Capital city of Cairo. Father ‘Samaan Shihata’ (Fr Simon) from Bani Suief, Upper Egypt, was on a visit to Cairo with another priest. They were attacked by some unknown person who killed Fr Simon. Local media reported that police have arrested the culprit and he is currently under investigation. The ancient Coptic orthodox christian community in Egypt face various persecution from religious fanatics . May be the memory of the...

Students at Balliol College condemned their representatives for 'violation of religious freedom'Students at an Oxford college have protested after their representatives tried to ban the Christian Union (CU) from a freshers’ fair. Balliol College’s Junior Common Room (JCR), which represents undergraduates, refused the CU a stall, according to student newspaper Cherwell. The JCR reportedly feared a Christian stall would be “harmful” to students because of Christianity’s links with “neo-colonialism” and “homophobia”. But students proposed a motion that condemned the JCR leadership for “barring the participation of specific faith-based organisations” and committing “a violation of free speech [and] a violation of...

Sister Frances Ridler said the programme was an 'honest portrayal' of religious life and would be 'good for the Church'A convent in Norfolk is taking centre stage in a reality television series about “party girls” swapping sex, parties and alcohol for religious life. The four-part series, to be aired on Channel 5 on Thursdays, features five girls who were told they would go on a “spiritual journey” but were horrified to discover they had been sent to a convent. Sister Frances Ridler, of the Daughters of Divine Charity in Swaffham, said the experience had been a “rollercoaster” but she felt...

Two Russian mercenaries who were slaughtered by ISIS after they refused to to be filmed rejecting their Christian faith and converting to Islam have been remembered as martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church. Roman Zabolotny, 39, and Grigory Tsurkanu, 38, were thought to be fighting for a private Russian mercenary force in Syria when they were captured by ISIS last week, the Mail Online reports. The two men appeared in a video released by ISIS' news outlet, Amak, in which they are shown in a jihadist vehicle, their legs bound by rope and hands tied behind their backs. The pair...

FULL TITLE: Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards: “Why Should Christians be Able to Impose Their Views on Women?” Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards claimed Monday evening, at a conference in D.C., that progressives can’t “take back political power if we don’t also stand up every single day for reproductive healthcare including safe and legal abortion in America.” The conference was hosted by the State Innovation Exchange (SiX), an organization that “supports state legislators in advancing and defending progressive policies across the country.” The remark was likely prompted by some recent discussion within the Democratic party over whether abortion should be...