Free Republic

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 12, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – In what pro-lifers are attributing to the hand of God, a Washington D.C. court has dismissed charges against four pro-lifers arrested in a July Red Rose Rescue. The pro-life supporters and their attorney with Life Legal Defense Foundation (LLDF) were prepared for trial, when the charges of criminal trespass were promptly and unexpectedly dismissed due to there being no witnesses for the prosecution. “Great victory in court today,” Citizens for a Pro-life Society (CPLS) Director Monica Migliorino Miller told supporters via email Thursday. “Charges dismissed against the 4 Red Rose Rescuers – Except...

Police drag Father Fidelis Moscinski, CFR away from the Garden State Gynecology abortion center on July 13 after a Red Rose Rescue. MORRISTOWN, New JerseyTwo Catholic priests and two lay pro-life activists were arrested this morning for entering and refusing to leave an abortion facility, offering red roses to the women inside and encouraging them to choose life. At least one woman turned away and didn’t go through with an abortion, Red Rose Rescue spokeswoman Lisa Hart told LifeSiteNews. The woman’s mother was forcing her to have the abortion. “I was in the process of trying to get her...

[Catholic Caucus] Wonderful Diversity: OFM Provincial Proclaims His "Homosexuality"Father Markus Fuhrmann, OFM, head of the 200-member German Franciscan Province, has told urbi et orbi that he is a "homosexual".He explained his confession to Katholisch.de (12 March) by saying that "I had to change something for the sake of my own honesty". Katholisch.de is run by the German bishops.Already in January 2022, Fuhrmann took part in 'OutInChurch', a homosexual propaganda campaign by about 120 employees of the "Catholic" Church in Germany, which employs about 650,000 people (including 'Caritas').Five months later, when the provincial chapter had to elect a new provincial, Fuhrmann...

Friar sentenced to probation after raping college student and pressuring her to abortA Franciscan friar who groomed and raped a college student with a history of trauma and abuse has pleaded guilty to a single count of sexual battery, and was sentenced to probation. The victim allegedly agreed to the plea agreement.Fr. David Morrier previously served as the university chaplain for the Franciscan University of Steubenville, and was accused of ritual abuse, rape, and coerced abortion. Late president Fr. Michael Scanlan and current president Fr. David Pivonka were also implicated in the lawsuit. Morrier allegedly groomed the student for years...

[Catholic Caucus] Protector of the IndiansAbove: the old and new basilicas of Our Lady of Guadalupe.In the year 1527 King Charles V of Spain spent Holy Week at the Franciscan Monastery of Barajo near the city of Burgo in northern Spain. Friar Juan de Zumarraga was the prior of the monastery at this time. So impressed was the King by Friar Zumarraga’s holiness and capabilities that a year later, in 1528, he recommended that he become the first bishop of Mexico. His official title would be “Protector of the Indians.”Advertisement - Continue Reading BelowOne might wonder why a Franciscan would...

[Catholic Caucus] Homosexual New Provincial Wants to Introduce ImmoralityThe German Franciscans elected Father Markus Fuhrmann as their new Provincial Minister on 8 June. A few weeks earlier he had announced to the world that he had adopted a homosexual identity.Talking to the oligarchs' Mk-Online.de (June 11), Fuhrmann demands that the Church abolish celibacy and introduce the [invalid] ordination of women and homosexuality, "The way this morality [= divine revelation] has been officially taught so far, it doesn't serve life [= lust]. It must change, respectively, develop further."We as a Church are "colourful" [= immoral], the Church is (also) "queer" [=...

In a world that changes constantly, people wonder if the Church can change its doctrine.

The Franciscan Protomartyrs and Interreligious Dialogue The Franciscan order was founded at the height of the Crusading era. Political and religious leaders were consumed with a noble cause: to recover the Holy Land that had been taken centuries earlier by Muslim forces. St. Francis, however, had a different obsession: to convert the Muslims to the one true faith, Catholicism.In 1219, the Franciscans held a General Chapter, and St. Francis announced that he would be traveling to the East to preach to the Muslims. At the same time, six brothers were given the task to travel to the West, Morocco specifically,...

Franciscan group defends image of Virgin Mary with Pachamama: We show Jesus next to a donkey Screenshot of the header image in the Christmas email from Franciscans International December 24, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – A Christmas greeting from Franciscans International (FI), a human rights group formed by various Franciscan orders, depicted the Andean earth-goddess “Pachamama” alongside the Blessed Virgin Mary. In an email to a concerned Catholic obtained by LifeSiteNews, FI executive director Fr. Markus Heinze OFM defended doing so. “Regarding your accusation of the message of the Christmas Card, I don’t want to go into details, I just don’t...

Franciscan Media Image: Saint James of the Marches | Francisco de Zurbarán | photo by Galería online Saint James of the Marche Saint of the Day for November 28 (1394 – November 28, 1476)  Saint James of the Marche’s Story Meet one of the fathers of the modern pawnshop!James was born in the Marche of Ancona, in central Italy along the Adriatic Sea. After earning doctorates in canon and civil law at the University of Perugia, he joined the Friars Minor and began a very austere life. He fasted nine months of the year; he slept three hours a...

November 27, 2018 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Almost all of the members of a conservative order of nuns that serve the elderly in French nursing homes have announced that they have asked to be released from their vows following attempts by the Vatican to force them to alter their way of life and to “modernize” their order. According to their lay supporters, the sisters have been accused of engaging in “too much prayer” and concerns have been expressed that they wear the guimpe, a traditional form of religious head covering used by nuns that is no longer in vogue among the Church’s...

Franciscan Media Image: Blessed Frédéric Ozanam. Frontispiece from Complete Works of Frederic Ozanam, Lecoffre editions, Paris , 1862 ( second edition ). Blessed Frédéric Ozanam Saint of the Day for September 7 (April 23, 1813 – September 8, 1853)  Blessed Frédéric Ozanam’s Story A man convinced of the inestimable worth of each human being, Frédéric served the poor of Paris well, and drew others into serving the poor of the world. Through the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, which he founded, his work continues to the present day.Frédéric was the fifth of Jean and Marie Ozanam’s 14 children, one...

Alvernia University has dropped its “Crusaders” mascot, saying many have found it “troublesome, even offensive.” “Even more important, they view the image as opposed to the peace and harmony of ‘right relationships’ modeled by St. Francis and the spirit of inclusiveness for which Franciscans strive,” officials with the Franciscan-Catholic university in Pennsylvania state on their website. In a Frequently Asked Questions page, officials reject the notion that the decision is steeped in political correctness. “It’s a matter of being true to our Franciscan mission and our core values of service, humility, peacemaking, contemplation, and collegiality,” they state. “This change is...

A Michigan priest gives a homily wearing a p***yhat CHICAGO (ChurchMilitant.com) - Multiple Catholic groups, including Franciscan priests, joined in solidarity with the Women's March on January 21, despite the fact that most marchers were advocating for pro-abortion and pro-LGBT social issues while carrying explicit signs and wearing non-family-friendly apparel. And in Lansing, Michigan, Fr. William R. Lugger gave a homily wearing a pink p***yhat, symbolizing the feminist, anti-Trump protests. Father Daniel Horan of the Franciscan Friars went on Twitter to call the Chicago solidarity March "wonderful," and added, "If you think the #catholic clergy have no business supporting #WomensMarch,...

Analysis of DNA from Richard III has thrown up a surprise: evidence of infidelity in his family tree. Scientists who studied genetic material from remains found in a Leicester car park say the finding might have profound historical implications. Depending on where in the family tree it occurred, it could cast doubt on the Tudor claim to the English throne or, indeed, on Richard's. The study is published in the journal Nature Communications. But the scientists would not be drawn on what meaning it might have - if any - for the current Royal Family, as it was still unknown...

Archaeologists, led by John Thomas and Mathew Morris of ULAS, have been investigating a series of medieval and post-medieval backyards dating from the 12th century through to the 16th century... Evidence recorded includes stone-lined pits (possibly storage pits or cisterns), rubbish pits, latrines, wells, boundary walls and a possible late 15th or 16th century cellar. Such activity, and the evidence carefully collected and recorded from it, will give important new insights into the lifestyles and industry of the people living along one of Leicester's principle medieval streets... The site lies at the heart of Leicester's historic core, close to significant...

The ruins of a 16th century colonial church have re-emerged from a reservoir due to the lack of rain in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. This year's drought has gripped the Grijalba river, which feeds the Nezahualcoyotl reservoir, dropping the water level by 75 feet. It is the second time the church has emerged from underwater. In 2002, the water was so low visitors could walk inside the church. The church, in the Quechula locality, is the work of a group of monks headed by Friar Bartolome de la Casas, who arrived in the region inhabited by the Zoque...

A significant rally in defense of the Franciscans of the Immaculate was held in Rome over the weekend. The effort was basically an appeal by the laity formerly attached to the FIs (their association being terminated by the direct order of the apostolic overseer Fr. Volpi) to Pope Francis to have mercy on the Immaculates and stop the severe intervention in the order, which many insiders report as dying as a result of the draconian actions taken against both the male and female sides over the past year. The rally was attended by hundreds (it could have been more, but...

ROME — Bypassing strapped government funding, a community of Franciscan friars in Rome was able to raise more than a quarter of a million dollars in 30 days through the crowd-funding platform, Kickstarter.The small cell where St. Francis of Assisi used to sleep when he came to Rome. (Screengrab from the Franciscans’ Kickstarter webpage) The Franciscans in charge of the Church of St. Francis at Ripa will be using the money to restore the darkened, crumbling cell where St. Francis of Assisi stayed during his visits to Rome.More than 1,100 people, mostly from the United States, contributed to the Franciscans’...

Lepanto Society: We ask for the resignation of Fr. Volpi, commissioner of the Franciscans of the Immaculate Father Volpi “deposed the entire general government of the order, starting from its founder, Fr. Stefano Maria Manelli, who finds himself under house arrest without even knowing the reasons why…” By Roberto de Mattei Note: A group of sites and of associations of lay Catholics have started to collect signatures to ask for the dismissal of Fr. Fidenzio Volpi from his duty as commissioner of the Franciscans of the Immaculate. All those who wish to sign this appeal may do so by clicking...