Free Republic

“Barriers and police and army vehicles have been placed around St. Peter’s Basilica to make it harder for a vehicle to gather speed in an attack such as the one last week in Barcelona, which killed 13 people.”What? This is unconscionable and Islamophobic! Pope Francis has declared: “Authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence.” And that the rights of Muslim migrants override national security concerns. And that every foreigner who knocks on our door is an opportunity to meet Jesus Christ,So why the high security at the Vatican? The Pope should...

* ISIS video, filmed in Marawi in the Philippines, shows the desecration of a church* One English-speaking jihadi points at camera and promises: 'We will be in Rome'* Pictures of the current Pope and his predecessor are torn up and thrown away* Church is ultimately burned while statues of Jesus on the cross are destroyed* Terror group is losing ground in Syria and Iraq but battle in Marawi continues ISIS has released a new propaganda video showing its fighters stamping on busts of Jesus, ripping pictures of the Pope in half and promising to come to Rome. Filmed mostly in...

[...] Jesus is not the Son of God and belief in the Trinity is "excess": "O People of the Book! Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter anything concerning Allah save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah, and his word which he conveyed to Mary, and a spirit from him. So believe in Allah and His messengers, and do not say 'Three.' Cease! It is better for you! Allah is only One Allah. It is far removed from his transcendent majesty that he should have a son. His is all that...

Monsignor Ignazio Zambito, the former Bishop of Patti, Sicily, said to La Fede Quatidiana that "Islam is not a religion of peace". About illegal immigrants he added, "They are not human resources and much less an opportunity, at least not in the present way. They could become this if they really wanted to integrate. But the majority of them refuses to integrate. How often do they arrogantly throw away the food they receive from volunteers? Or they say that Italy is disgusting?" Bishop Zambito does not rule out that inside the Church there are professionals for whom welcoming illegal immigrants...

The massive rise of Christianity in Iran, especially among youths, continues despite the Islamic government's efforts to suppress the faith. Even Islamic leaders admitted that more and more young people are choosing to follow Christ.According to Mohabat News, which reports on the persecution and state of Christianity in Iran, the "exponential rate" of Christian growth has been a factor for the last couple of decades.Now even leading Islamic seminary officials, such as Ayatollah Alavi Boroujerdi, have pointed to "accurate reports indicating that the youth are becoming Christians in Qom and attending house churches."Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi has also been raising alarm over...

* Police believe the terror cell behind Thursday's atrocity in Barcelona planned attack of 'bigger scope'* It could have included a plan to blow up a gas-filled van by the world-famous cathedral Sagrada Familia* Killers were forced to abandon plans to use butane gas and plastic explosive TATP following accidental explosion on Wednesday* TATP - also known as 'Mother of Satan' - caused devastation when it was used in the 7/7 attacks in London One person died and police believe there may be a second corpse in rubble of home in Alcanar, 120 miles from Barcelona * Investigators think vans...

For almost two millennia, Christianity has survived innumerable challenges from without, including heresies, schisms and philosophical “isms,” as well as more than a few challenges from within. But the most dangerous challenge of all may be one that was overcome seven centuries ago but is now regenerated—the challenge posed by Islam. Its agents no longer wield battle axes and scimitars, as their militant predecessors did. They travel instead in the peaceful garb of immigrants and refugees. Their stated purpose for migrating is to find opportunity or to escape persecution and in many cases that claim is no doubt genuine. Yet...

"We've been not only abandoned by the Western countries, we have been betrayed"The West has failed to do enough to protect Christian minorities in the Middle East, the Syriac Catholic Patriarch has said. “I can tell you, we’ve been not only abandoned by the Western countries, but even we have been betrayed,” Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan told The Southern Cross, newspaper of the Diocese of San Diego. He made the comments in a recent interview at Our Mother of Perpetual Help Syriac Catholic Parish in El Cajon. While the Christian minority in Syria and Iraq is composed of “peaceful...

Historian Arnold Toynbee once famously said that “civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” Using this as a springboard, commentator Mark Steyn shows in a new video how Western Europe is already in the death throes of “demographic suicide” because couples are no longer having enough children. He then shows how a thriving Muslim population in Western Europe is well on its way to filling all the empty space. Steyn explained how given the divergent birth rate between Muslims and post-Christian secularists, it will take only two generations for the current Muslim population (sitting at about 10-percent) to have as...

'Our government will not allow any new church to be built in Somaliland'Somaliland’s only Catholic church has been closed due to “public pressures”, just eight days after it was officially reopened on 29 July. The self-declared state's Religious Affairs Minister, Skeikh Khalil Abdullahi, said reopening the church had caused “a lot of division” which was not in Somaliland's interest. The government has decided to respect the wishes of the people and their religious leaders, and keep the church closed as it has been for the past 30 years,” Sheikh Khalil announced at a press conference on 8 August, local paper...

People pray in front of a huge crucifix in Kakoge, north of Uganda's capital Kampala. A Christian teacher from Uganda was threatened with death and beaten until he lost consciousness by Muslim residents from his village who were angry about how he turned his back on Islam to embrace Christianity. Malik Higenyi, 30, of Bufuja village, Butaleja District in the eastern part of the African nation first received anonymous text messages threatening him and his family with death, the persecution watchdog Morning Star News reported. "Be informed that you risk your life and that of [your] entire family if...

ANN ARBOR, MI – In a settlement agreement, which reads more like an instrument of surrender, Bernards Township (“Township”), New Jersey officials agreed that, in addition to a $3.5 million payment to Islamic Society of Basking Ridge (“ISBR”), residents and citizens of the Township are prohibited from commenting on “Islam” or “Muslims.” at the upcoming public hearing to approve the settlement. Astonishingly, a federal judge approved the prohibition as a fully enforceable Order of the Court. As a result of this suppression of speech, the Thomas More Law Center (“TMLC”), a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor,...

A billboard erected on a busy road in Indianapolis, Indiana, is sparking heated controversy among residents. The sign in question, which can be seen from the southbound lanes on I-465 near the Washington Street exit, claims to list the characteristics of "the perfect man."Among the traits listed on the contentious sign are "married 6 year old," "slave owner," "rapist," "beheaded 600 Jews in one day," "13 wives, 11 at one time" and "tortured and killed unbelievers." By now, you've likely figure out that the traits listed here are anything but those of an ideal human being -- and opponents...

* In the last 30 years, more mosques and Muslim prayer centers have been built in France than all the Catholic churches built in the last century. * The Church of Santa Rita used to stand in the fifteenth arrondissement of Paris. A few weeks after Father Hamel was murdered by Islamic terrorists, the French police cleared the church. It is now a parking lot. Police dragged the priests out by their legs as a Mass was being celebrated.* In France there are laws protecting old trees. But the state is free to flatten old Christian churches. The vacuums...

EU, George Soros acting against the will of the peopleBUDAPEST, Hungary (ChurchMilitant.com) - The leader of Hungary is warning that an effort to de-Christianize Europe is underway. Speaking in Romania in July, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán spoke of a deliberate plan to transform Europe into a "mixed, Islamicized" society. "In Brussels," he warned, "an alliance has been forged against the opinion of the people." Orbán said Europe is being prepared to surrender its heritage and identity: We are observing the conscious, step-by-step implementation of this policy. In order for this to happen, for the territory to be ready to...

A Christian therapist in England who was suspended after being accused of evangelizing to a Muslim colleague has suffered another loss in court. Victoria Wasteney, the former head of Forensic Occupational Therapy at a hospital in London, was issued a nine-month suspension by East London National Health Service in 2014 after an eight-page complaint was filed against her by a Muslim colleague named Enya Nawaz. As has been reported, Nawaz and Wasteney, a born-again Christian, developed a relationship while working at the St. John Howard Centre in East London and at points discussed religious differences. Nawaz's complaint accused Wasteney of...

“If you want to see the face of Europe in 100 years, barring a miracle, look to the faces of young Muslim immigrants,” Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput told a group of Catholics Thursday.Speaking at an annual conference of the Napa Institute in California, Chaput tied the future of civilization to a willingness to have children—an area where Muslims lead every other group. “Islam has a future because Islam believes in children,” Chaput said. “Without a transcendent faith that makes life worth living, there’s no reason to bear children. And where there are no children, there’s no imagination, no reason...

The leading prelate in Africa’s most populous nation said that Christianity and Islam are engaged in a “contest for souls.” “Our evangelizing mission does indeed entail our doing our best to propagate openly the Gospel of Jesus, and to welcome all who freely accept faith in Jesus,” Cardinal John Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria, preached at the ordination of a bishop. “It is in this light that I do not hesitate to declare that it is my desire to ‘Christianize Nigeria’ by all means of peaceful persuasion and conviction.” “But I am also aware that there are others who have a...

Labib Rammo, along with his wife and children, left Ankawa's exile to return home. After three years, "we really feel we are in the right place." Hope to find coexistence with Muslims; Reconstruction a "duty"; Sufferings have "strengthened our faith".Karamles (AsiaNews) - Returning home and to normal life, "is like throwing off, leaving behind a burden that we had been carrying fr too long." Now, for the first time after three years, "we really feel we are in the right place." This is what Labib Rammo, a Christian of the Nineveh plain, tells AsiaNews. His family is the first (and...

European Union leaders and Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros are seeking a "new, mixed, Muslimized Europe," Hungary's anti-migration prime minister said Saturday. Prime Minister Viktor Orban said during a visit to Romania that Hungary's border fences, supported by other Central European countries, will block the EU-Soros effort to increase Muslim migration into Europe. While Hungary opposed taking in migrants "who could change the country's cultural identity," Orban said under his leadership, Hungary would remain a place where "Western European Christians will always be able to find security." Orban, who will seek a fourth term in April 2018, said Hungary's opposition parties...