Free Republic

A former social studies teacher arrested earlier this week for threatening to shoot Donald Trump and his son Barron, 17, has now been accused of previously stalking the teen at his high school. Tracy Marie Fiorenza, 41, was arrested Monday morning in Chicago on a charge of transmitting threats to kill or injure - months after she traveled to Florida to allegedly stalk the former president's youngest son. Police in Palm Beach questioned the teacher outside the Oxbridge Academy in March, as reported by the Chicago Tribune. Florida prosecutors asked that Fiorenzia be held without bond during her Wednesday hearing,...

Archaeologists in Italy have discovered what may be a rare sacred text in the Etruscan language that is likely to yield rich details about Etruscan worship of a god or goddess. The lengthy text is inscribed on a large 6th century BCE sandstone slab that was uncovered from an Etruscan temple. A new religious artifact is rare. Most Etruscan discoveries typically have been grave and funeral objects. “This is probably going to be a sacred text, and will be remarkable for telling us about the early belief system of a lost culture that is fundamental to western traditions,” said archaeologist...

On Friday, September 26,2014 a luncheon was scheduled at the First Circuit Court of Appeals. It was a meeting arranged by Judge Michael Massengale and the Activist Catholic Charities helping to arrange relief for Unaccompanied Minors crossing the borders in droves and explain their vulnerabilities as they encounter our legal system. The goal here, in brief, is to get the word out to the legal community to provide "pro-bono" assistance and train these attorneys to understand the various statuses in refugee,asylum,traffficking law. The powerpoint presentation (http://www.stopthemagnet.com/blog/elected-officials-learn-legal-loopholes-keep-uacs-place) is full of legal sleight of hand in prepping lawyers to help get these...

The Feast of the Epiphany occurs in the calendar of Tradition as it has from time immemorial, January 6. This is really the day on which we should be giving gifts to our family members and friends. The Church has long taught us that the Feast of the Epiphany symbolizes three distinct manifestations of Our Lord to the world. The first centers around the homage paid the Christ-child by the wise men from the East, the Magi. Our Lord's manifestation to them was His unfolding to the Gentile world, the world of unbelievers, that He was the true light of...

Two popular weekly magazines, Newsweek and Time, devoted their current issue (Dec. 13) to an extensive cover story on the birth of Jesus. Both magazines probed the questions which scripture scholars, theologians, historians and astronomers have asked for years: Are the Christmas stories in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke the literal truth, or are they stories mostly based on ancient Greek and Roman myths about their national heroes? It is not surprising that neither magazine gave a definite answer to this old question, and concluded that the debate has not been resolved by scholars. I found much in both...

22 priests, 4 deacons blamed By TARA DOOLEY Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Religion Writer Twenty-two priests and four deacons sexually abused 46 minors in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Galveston-Houston over the past 53 years, according to church officials. Eighty percent of the abuse occurred before 1980 but was reported in the past 10 years. The confirmed sex abuse allegations cost the diocese $3.6 million in settlements, counseling and legal fees. The numbers were released in a letter from Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza published in the recent edition of The Texas Catholic Herald, the diocesan newspaper. "It is a very...

The brave stand taken against the Novus Ordo and in defense of Traditional Latin Mass by Father Stephen Zigrang, the pastor of Saint Andrew’s Church in Channelview, Texas, has inspired countless thousands of people around the world. His celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass in his parish on June 28 and June 29, 2003, continues to generate reaction from readers of The Remnant as well as on various websites, The Father Zigrang case has produced the largest number of letters sent to the Seattle Catholic website since the furor caused by the events leading up to the American invasion of...

The late Father John A. Hardon, S.J., said repeatedly that nothing is ever a coincidence. Everything happens within the Providence of God. Everything happens for a reason, although we may not understand the reasons for the events of our lives and the world fully until the Last Day. Sometimes, however, Our Lord provides us with information on some things that are unexpectedly related to other matters. Such is the case of Eric Law, a “priest” of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. Eric Law, who is referred to as “Eric” and/or “Father Law” in various places, has spoken in the...

A priest at a Channelview Catholic church has taken an extended vacation from the pulpit after surprising parishioners with a weekend of Masses in Latin. The Rev. Stephen P. Zigrang, pastor of St. Andrew Catholic Church, will be absent from the church for a two-month vacation and retreat, said Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston. Zigrang has not been suspended from his duties and remains pastor of the church, Fiorenza said. Repeated phone calls to Zigrang were not returned. A letter to the priest from Fiorenza and Monsignor Frank H. Rossi, chancellor of the diocese, contained a...

After waiting nearly six months to hear back from the Bishop of Galveston-Houston, the Most Reverend Joseph Fiorenza, Father Stephen Zigrang, the pastor of Saint Andrew’s Church in Channelview, Texas, announced on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Sunday, June 29, 2003, that he will never again celebrate the Novus Ordo. Father Zigrang made this announcement at the Saturday evening anticipation Mass on June 28, 2003, and at each of the three Sunday Masses on the actual feast of Saints Peter and Paul. To emphasize his intention in this regard, each of these four parish Masses were celebrated according...

For a Catholic priest in a small Texas town, it has been a particularly eventful week. Over the course of three days, Fr. Stephen Zigrang JCL, pastor of St. Andrew's Church in Channelview, has been called into his bishop's office, threatened with suspension, removed from his parish and even forced to defend his mental health to his own father. These unfortunate events have taken place because Fr. Zigrang did something new during last Sunday's Masses — or, more accurately, did something very, very old. Before each Mass on the morning of June 29th, Fr. Zigrang announced that he would no...