Free Republic

Throughout the history of the Church, several Popes have been deposed for a variety of reasons. Pope Liberius was deposed and exiled by the Arian emperor, Constantius II in the mid-4th century. Six hundred years later, Pope Gregory VII was deposed by anti-Pope Clement III, the creature of the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV. During the reign of Justinian, Pope Saint Silverius, who I have written about previously on this blog, was not only deposed—he was martyred by the political forces who coveted his ecclesiastical power as head of the Church. In my previous post, I included an excerpt from...

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Moscow today, in the largest of more than 70 protests across Russia, to voice their anger at alleged election fraud and to demand that the results of the parliamentary elections be cancelled, a new election be held, and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin resign. Opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, one of the organizers of the rally, explained the protesters’ demands to ABC News. “Our demand is to cancel these criminal elections, because Putin stole about 13 million votes. Secondly, to fire Mr. [Vladimir] Churov, who is responsible for the election and to...

Malacañang will help deposed President Joseph Estrada secure a United States visa to allow him to undergo knee surgery in California, a ranking Palace official said yesterday. Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Secretary Michael Defensor told The STAR he personally called up Estrada to assure him of assistance in securing a US visa. "I told him, ‘Mr. President, if you have any visa problems with the US Embassy (in Manila), please let us know and we will give you a line to them’," Defensor said. Malacañang made the offer after the Sandiganbayan on Tuesday allowed the former leader...