Free Republic

'A sordid tale of lesbian sex, murder and seduction in a Catholic convent in 19th-century Rome has been discovered in a secret Vatican archive. The Sant'Ambrogio scandal involves a beautiful young sister who convinced the nuns she was experiencing visions and visits from heaven - then made them engage in rampant sexual activity. Herbert Wolf, a leading scholar of the Catholic Church, learned of the Sant'Ambrogio scandal when he became one of the first allowed into the archives of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The naughty nun also entered into an erotic relationship with a theologian on...

Comedians and dramatists delight in "pouring scorn" on Christianity but are "timid" about mocking Muslims, a broadcasting watchdog chief said yesterday. Islam was accorded far more respect on television and radio than other religions because satirists were "cautious" and "self-censoring" when faced with the prospect of causing offence to Muslims, said Lord Dubs, chairman of the Broadcasting Standards Commission. "In portraying Muslims they have held back, they have censored themselves, they are timid," the Labour peer said. "I have seen them pour scorn on Christianity more than on other religions. Christianity is an easier and more acceptable target followed, to...

WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH ANDREW SULLIVAN? What is his problem with Sarah Palin? I don’t get it. The Log Cabin Republicans have thrown their support to her. He is a long time member of the group, is he not? One would think he’d be in support of her candidacy and of her choice for Vice President by John McCain. One of Palin’s first acts as Governor of Alaska was to veto a bill that would have denied gay couples the same benefits as are paid to married heterosexual couples in Alaska. Regardless of her personal feelings (is being gay a...

JERUSALEM – Pope Benedict XVI is "arrogant," "stupid," and "criminal," and will be judged by Allah on the day "when eyes will stare in terror," declared a sermon delivered this past weekend on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' state-run television. The sermon coincided with a cartoon also published this weekend in an official Hamas-run daily newspaper in which the pontiff is depicted holding a swastika while wearing a scarf of American and Danish flags. The pope has been drawing fire from Muslims worldwide for remarks he made earlier this month concerning Islam. "To this arrogant Pope – criminal and...

KISMAYO, Somalia (Reuters) - Islamist fighters in the Somali port city of Kismayo opened fire on Monday toward residents burning tires, throwing stones and chanting to protest against the Islamist takeover of the city hours before. A 13-year-old boy was shot dead while protesting, and two other people were injured as violence raged for several hours in Somalia's third biggest city, witnesses said. "We have been taken over by extremists, the Islamic courts have taken us by force, and now they are firing at us," protester Dahabo Dirie said. Riding trucks with machine guns, the Islamists guarded main streets and...

<p>Strange doings in Virginia. George Allen, former governor, one-term senator, son of a famous football coach and in the midst of a heated battle for re-election, has just been outed as a Jew. An odd turn of events, given the fact that his having Jewish origins has nothing to do with anything in the campaign and that Allen himself was oblivious to the fact until his 83-year-old mother revealed to him last month the secret she had kept concealed for 60 years.</p>