Free Republic

Pope’s Education Pact Hits Wrong Targets Francis sidesteps onslaught of LGBT indoctrination in Catholic schools VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - Educationists, teachers, policymakers and parents are lamenting Pope Francis' Global Compact on Education (GEC) for its failure to address the most critical issues facing children — from the Copernican revolution of "child-centered pedagogy" to LGBT indoctrination in Catholic schools. Launching the GEC Thursday at Rome's Pontifical Lateran University, the pope explained that the pact would "ensure that everyone has access to a quality education consonant with the dignity of the human person and our common vocation to fraternity."Muslim parents protest LGBT indoctrination...

[Catholic Caucus] Amazon Synod’s Stations of the Cross Fuse Politics and Paganism With Piety 'Pachamama' takes center stage, where procession opens with burning sage ritual VATICAN (ChurchMilitant.com) - Indigenous rituals and political protest merged with the popular devotion of the Stations of the Cross Saturday morning in Rome.Lakota natives smoke a peace pipe near Castel Sant'Angelo at the start of the procession Over 250 delegates at the Amazon Synod took part in the procession, with banners and signs marking what they deem the pain and injustice felt by the indigenous peoples of the Amazon. Bishops, priests, indigenous leaders and Catholic laity began...

During a friendly meeting on January 19 with an ecumenical delegation from Finland, Pope Francis affirmed his commitment to reunion with Lutheran Christians by offering an historical claim about the great German reformer: “The intention of Martin Luther five hundred years ago was to renew the Church, not divide her.” A day or so before, news had begun circulating that Vatican City would honor the five hundredth anniversary of Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses with a special postage stamp. And earlier this fall, the pope praised Luther for having re-focused the Church’s attentions on the centrality of Scripture, blaming subsequent divisions between...

Minneapolis] Being a radical in touch with indigenous traditions is a kind of garden industry involving lots of consumer items, sage, special mystical rocks, weird confab liturgies, guest appearances at schools and other perks. Whether these practices are legitimately Indian, or have more pecuniary or nefarious purposes is at question. Supposedly, the personages involved in this type of activity is surrounded by a panoply of myths and various objects imbued with alleged magical properties. They provide an aura of authenticity for entrepreneurs, various groups of victims, particularly native Americans, who often hide their demands for special treatment, entitlements and subsidy...

Wednesday, October 26, 2005 (Pune): A gathering of leading Catholic clergymen from all over India have asked the Vatican to endorse their proposal to include Hindu rituals in the church. The Pune Papal seminary said priests from all over India were unanimous that the Catholic clergy must incorporate Hindu practices like performing aarti during mass, studying Sanskrit and the Vedas, and experiencing ashram life. The Catholic Church's Indianisation process began in the mid 1960s, when a revolutionary council introduced local traditions and practices like mass in regional languages. Four decades later, the Catholic Church feels there is a need to...

ENUGU, Nigeria – Ejike Mbaka is telling a story. The 20,000 Nigerians gathered around him in the red-dust lot have gone quiet. "Last week, there was a man who was mad, insane," he begins, standing on a rickety stage. "For years, the doctors attempted to heal him. But the infirmity continued. He came to me for help. "I gave him some healing water" – and here, some in the audience hold up the small plastic packages of water he sells, 45 cents each – "and told him to pour it in his ear on Sunday. Then pour it in his...

One controversy—caused by the suggestions that the role of saints is similar to that of revered ancestors in African cultures—had barely subsided among the Catholics of South Africa. Now a new dispute began, involving suggestions that African culture could be incorporated into Catholic liturgy through animal bloodletting during the Mass. On the controversy over the status of ancestors, Archbishop Buti Tihagale of Bloemfontein drew a clear distinction, concluding that while respect for one’s ancestors is both natural and laudable, “ancestors are no substitute for saints.” But the Pretoria News implicated the same archbishop with the supporters of a proposal to...

Ananova: Churches told to ditch 'Jesus on a cross' image Churches are being urged to drop the image of the Crucifixion and instead highlight the social benefits of filling the pews in an effort to boost Sunday attendance. Traditional approaches such as showing Jesus on the cross and Bible quotations are a turn-off to non-churchgoers, according to one of two suggested advertising campaigns drawn up by agencies. Instead, advertisers say churches should highlight their community life, the chance to have a good sing, hear a good sermon and have a heart-to-heart chat. Another separate campaign has advised that churches should...

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 23, 2003 (Zenit.org).- The growth of sects is due to the lack of religious formation among the baptized, and is a challenge to ecclesial communities to renew their style of welcome, says John Paul II. Meeting today with a group of bishops from southern Brazil on their quinquennial visit to Rome, the Pope referred to the worldwide "religious revival," which is "not lacking in ambiguity but which contains ferment and stimulation that must not be ignored." He asked the Brazilian bishops if the growth of sects in their country is not "a concrete sign of an unsatisfied...

THE POPE’S LEFT-TURN ON IMMIGRATION by Jim Kalb FrontPageMagazine.com | December 10, 2002 Here's the Pope's message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which I gather is an annual event in the Catholic Church: "To Overcome Racism, Xenophobia and Exaggerated Nationalism". What he says is in one sense typical -- it follows the line all respectable Christian religious leaders now follow -- but in another sense quite extraordinary: He speaks of "undocumented migrants" as among "the most vulnerable of foreigners," of "the Christian duty to welcome whoever comes knocking out of need," of "true acceptance of immigrants in...