Free Republic

A British Catholic journalist has said she was astonished when major world news outlets mistook an Vatican April Fool’s report she wrote for a genuine news story. The Guardian, which this week won a Pulitzer Prize for its reporting of Edward Snowden’s National Security Agency leaks, was one of the organisations that reported the hoax story that the Vatican employed a hawk called Sylvia to protect the doves periodically released by the Pope. Other outlets to reproduce the story include Agence France-Presse and the Washington Times.

The holy monastery of St. Catherine at Mount SinaiA retired army general says he has filed a court case pushing for Egypt's historic Saint Catherine's Monastery to be demolished and its Greek monks deported on the grounds that they pose a threat to national security. In May 2012, Ahmed Ragai Attiya obtained 71 administrative orders regarding the demolition of the monastery's multiple churches, monk cells, gardens and other places of interest on the grounds, which he claims were all built in 2006 and thus not historic, according to Ihab Ramzy, the monastery's lawyer. However, in an interview with private channel...

Vatican City, Apr 12, 2014 / 05:01 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis has appointed Lady Margaret Scotford Archer as president of a group of scholars dedicated to studying issues in the social sciences in order to offer reflection and advice to the leadership of the Church. According to an April 12 press release from the Holy See, “the Holy Father has named the most illustrious Professor Lady Margaret Scotford Archer President of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.” The new president was born in Grenoside, U.K., and holds a Ph.D. from the University of London. She is currently a professor...

I can remember when Colorado was a normal state. Conservative, even. Then hundreds of thousands of Californians, having wrecked their own state, moved in. The state is now really divided, but the leftists have the upper hand in the state government. Lord, please never let that happen here. The radicals, who have also passed stupid laws against certain kinds of firearms, have a new bill called Senate Bill 175. According to Archbishop of Denver Samuel Aquila, it basically seeks to enshrine abortion in Colorado law forever, and forestall any future pro-life legislation: If you haven’t yet heard, there is a...

VATICAN CITY (RNS) While millions of pilgrims are expected to attend the Catholic Church’s first-ever double canonization at the end of April, the Vatican is preparing its most ambitious TV and social media campaign for the millions who don’t make it to Rome.View down Via della Conciliazione to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Photo courtesy of Jimmy Harris via Flickr City officials are expecting more than 5 million people to attend the ceremony when Pope Francis declares his predecessors Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII saints in St Peter’s Square on April 27.For the first time viewers will...

Bill Donohue comments on the latest developments in the Catholic League’s boycott of Guinness: We have amassed over 7,000 email addresses from the Knights of Columbus, constituting over 1,500 councils across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Today, we are asking the Knights to join us in our boycott of Guinness. We are confident that many Knights will participate. How do we know? Because we have been contacted by many councils already, anticipating our appeal to them. When Guinness pulled the plug on its sponsorship of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City—over the bogus argument...

Five Jewish Israelis were arrested Monday after allegedly attempting to sacrifice a goat at the Temple Mount in honor of the Passover holiday. The suspects were brought in to a nearby police station for further questioning. The goat was transferred to representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ynet reported. In the bible,a special ritual sacrifice is commanded on the Passover holiday and the custom was practiced by Jews during the First and Second Temple periods when their central shrine stood on the same site that today houses the al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock . However, most rabbinic authorities...

My native place of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has its large share of loony dissent. Some of it is so strange that you wonder if you are actually imagining it. That said, I am not making this up. From the Minneapolis Star Sickle comes this big puppet liturgical horror for Palm Sunday at the über-weird St. Joan of Arc parish, in the running for the weirdest parish in these USA. QUOTE Actors and musicians presented Palm Sunday Family Mass with In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre [apt mane] at Saint Joan of Arc...

A communist official in China has condemned the rapid growth of Christianity in the region as "excessive", but has denied allegations of increased persecution. Officially an atheist state, the right to freedom of religious belief is guaranteed under Article 36 of the Chinese Constitution but protections are limited to those who worship within state-sanctioned bodies. Chinese Christians often suffer at the hands of government authorities, and the Asian superpower is ranked the 37th worst country in the world for Christian persecution by the Open Doors World Watch List. Despite this, reports suggest that between 3,000 and 10,000 people are turning...

It’s not a secret the church has been in decline for a number of years and for a variety of reasons. You can read some statistics and views on why, here and here and here. Everyone has their opinions.Abuse, apostasy, and irrelevance are just a few of the words that keep coming up in the search for reasons for the decline. There are a variety of compelling opinions and I even have a few of my own.But I suggest there is another area of decline more significant and perhaps much less obvious—and one that certainly contributes to the church’s decline...

Why did Alex Hribal do it? Why did the 16-year-old sophomore at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, Pennsylvania stab and slash 20 of his classmates (and a security guard), leaving at least four of his victims in critical condition? WTAE in Pittsburgh reports that “investigators continue to explore bullying as a possible motive.” NBC News cites criminologists who suggest Hribal was driven “by rage and adrenalin.” The Associated Press reports “[t]he boy’s family is just as puzzled as police about what triggered the attack.” But there is an obvious explanation of Hribal’s murderous rampage, which has been ignored by...

Something for the weekend. One of the most powerful depictions of Christ on film from the movie Ben Hur (1959). A wonderful melding of music and dialogue as Christ goes silently to the aid of Ben Hur and gives him water. The wordless encounter between Christ and the Centurion was amazing, as the Centurion’s face registers bewilderment, shame and curiosity as he has a totally unexpected encounter with the Divine. Whatever the actor who played the Centurion was earning that day, it wasn’t nearly enough.

A fine young man, a father of children and a professional, approached me at church: "What do you think of that Pope John-Paul? He's no good." Others also didn't like him. I put a magnetic sign on my car, it was met with sneers: 5 pictures of the Pope immediately after being shot, in 1/6th of the space, "In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood." – Hebrews 12:4 Yet I also didn't like Pope John Paul II, not in himself, but because of the cult of personality around him. I love...

REGINA, Saskatchewan, April 11, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A prominent U.S. pro-family activist was detained by the Canadian Border Services Agency Thursday for alleged violations of Canada’s “hate propaganda” l Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality, had flown into Regina International Airport to speak at the Saskatchewan Pro-Life Association provincial conference this weekend. LaBarbera had been targeted by a makeshift group known as “Intolerance Free Weyburn,” which pressured the government to deny him access to the country. LaBarbera believes he was flagged by customs as a result. LaBarbera provided LifeSiteNews with a formal document issued by CBSA agent...

As the America celebrates Palm Sunday, let us not forget about the history of the false perception that 2.7 million visitors of Jesus' day had (Jews and Gentiles) from all over the land of Israel and the known world during the Week of the Passover. Countless multitudes in Jerusalem at that time had totally misunderstood who Jesus was (Matt. 23:27; Luke 19:14). These countless multitudes that Jesus healed from demonic oppression and all kinds of diseases had soon forgotten His wonderful works for them. His 3-1/2 year preaching ministry was beginning to wear thin, and they had had enough of...

The Muslims Will Invade The Vatican, And Try to Destroy The Roman Catholic Church By Ted on April 12, 2014 inFeatured, General SHOEBAT EXCLUSIVE By Theodore Shoebat I remember a few years ago spending time with an Evangelical friend of mine. Within our conversation, somehow, the subject of the Crusades came up. Of course, I defended the Crusades, explaining that they were fighting off Islamic invaders in the Middle East. He, on the other hand, vehemently condemned the Crusaders as evil and barbarous people. I asked him, “Who would you rather win, the Muslims or the Crusaders?” He said,...

Today I saw on the front page of the Holy See’s daily that the Holy Father reconfirmed Msgr. Guido Marini as Master of Ceremonies for another term. Good sign. Pope Francis is keeping certain of Pope Benedict’s people pretty close.

Well, that didn't take long. As my colleague Edward Malnick reports, the first gay Church of England priest – a canon, no less – today married his boyfriend. Canon Jeremy Pemberton, 58, a divorced hospital chaplain and father of five, wed his long-term partner Laurence Cunnington, 51. We're not told where, but obviously it wasn't in an C of E church. That's against the law. But they may well be able to have their marriage blessed in church because that's only "against the rules" as opposed to illegal.Campaigners predicted that Canon Pemberton would be the first of many. I think they're...

This is amazing news. According to internet activity it would seem that Christianity is a lot more popular than Communism in China right now. There is something beautiful going on in one of the most oppressive countries on the globe. That's the odd thing about Christianity -the more you try to stamp it out the more desirous it becomes. I seem to remember the apostles weren't treated very well in their travels. But they did pretty well. World Mag: Foreign Policy released a fascinating infographic today, based on a compilation of information from Weibo, China’s huge social media platform that...

Today I saw on the front page of the Holy See’s daily that the Holy Father reconfirmed Msgr. Guido Marini as Master of Ceremonies for another term.Good sign.Pope Francis is keeping certain of Pope Benedict’s people pretty close.