Free Republic

A Muslim religious leader in Ireland has called for a debate around the recognition of polygamous families after a court refused to recognise the second wife of a Lebanese refugee who has become a naturalised citizen. Dr Ali Selim of the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland said families fleeing warzones are “disintegrating” because of laws in this country that don’t exist at home. “Now is not yesterday’s situation,” he told i. “People are forced to leave their country, where they used to live in accordance with the legislation of that country.” “This raises questions we have not faced before.” The...

The Story of Hosea and What It Teaches About God and Holy Matrimony Msgr. Charles Pope • July 5, 2016 • We are currently reading from the Book of the Prophet Hosea at daily Mass. The story of the Prophet Hosea’s troubled marriage is a powerful testimony to two things: our own tendency to be unfaithful to God, but also of God’s passionate love for us. We do well to recall the story, especially given the “great debate” among some in the Church today over the question of divorce and remarriage. And while there are many painful stories of...

A dearth of marriagable men has left an “oversupply” of educated women taking desperate steps to preserve their fertility, experts say. The first global study into egg freezing found that shortages of eligible men were the prime reason why women had attempted to take matters into their own hands.

The Carnage of Divorce Msgr. Charles Pope • June 28, 2017 • Almost two decades ago, as a younger priest, I remember trying to save a marriage. Sadly, by the second counseling session I concluded that the couple really had no intention of trying to save the marriage. Rather, they were looking to me to assuage their guilt and to console them by telling them they were really “doing the right thing,” that God wanted them to be happy and would not mind if they divorced. I could do no such thing.At a critical moment the couple said, in...

It seems like an easy fix. Traditionally male factory work is drying up. The fastest-growing jobs in the American economy are those that are often held by women. Why not get men to do them? The problem is that notions of masculinity die hard, in women as well as men. It’s not just that men consider some of the jobs that will be most in demand — in health care, education and administration — to be unmanly or demeaning, or worry that they require emotional skills they don’t have. So do some of their wives, prospective employers and women in...

It’s common knowledge that roughly half of marriages today end in divorce. This is up significantly from the 1960s, when about 30 percent of marriages ended in divorce within 15 years. The underlying social and economic changes that have spurred this increase remain a bit of a mystery. But the topic was taken up in a massive 2016 study conducted by Harvard sociology professor Alexandra Killewald.

Four theologically conservative cardinals have sent a new letter to Pope Francis asking for the head of the 1 billion-strong Roman Catholic Church to clarify his stance on divorce and remarriage. (Photo: Reuters/Alessandro Bianchi)Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church addresses the faithful at the St. Peter's Square in Rome.Posted by Vatican journalist Sandro Magister to his blog earlier this week, the letter was signed by Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, emeritus archbishop of Bologna, on behalf of himself and the other three cardinals and was sent in late April amid confusion in the church body.At issue was the release in April...

It’s a Glorious, Glorious Life Christopher Baker • June 22, 2017 • Last week, in preparation for our celebration of the Archdiocese of Washington’s Marriage Jubilarian Mass, we produced this video about Bob and Laurin Balkam, a husband and wife from the Greatest Generation.Before the interview could start, Bob said, “I’ll tell you my life story and you see what you think. And I’ll try to do it in about five minutes.” But you can neither tell a 75-year love story in five minutes, nor help but take away some life lessons.The first lesson to take away is the...

On June 17th, a socialist politician, Herbert Pfeffer, staged his gay pseudo-marriage with a certain Mathias Goldhahn in front of the town administration of Traismauer, Austria. The parish-priest, Fr Wolfgang Payrich, was present and blessed the gay-pseudo-marriage, Austrian media writes. Fr Payrich belongs to the Augustinians of Herzogenburg, near St Pölten, and is the spiritual assistant of the St Pölten Diocese's Family Association. The diocese is run by Opus Dei Bishop Klaus Küng (76). Another Austrian parish priest, Fr Christoph Pernter, a Norbertine from Innsbruck, hailed Fr Payrich's gay-blessing on Facebook saying that it is important, that homosexuals can live...

EditorÂ’s Note: The following is excerpted from Diane MedvedÂ’s DonÂ’t Divorce, and reprinted here with permission. On June 21, the author and her husband, radio host Michael Medved, will join NR senior editor Jay Nordlinger for a public conversation at SeattleÂ’s Town Hall, hosted by the Discovery Institute. Space is limited, so please pre-register here. Even the best marriages are subject to forces in our pro-divorce culture that exert pressure toward dissatisfaction. TheyÂ’re magnets that tug spouses apart in their moments of ennui, frustration, or anger, and the inertia of their pull can ultimately propel them to a receptive...

Popular televangelist Pat Robertson, who serves as chancellor of Regent University and chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network, has said he doesn't know of anything in the Bible that condemns polygamy — the practice of having more than one wife or husband at the same time. "I'm not sure I know anything in the Bible that indicates polygamy, as such, is against the Bible. But we don't do it and there are a lot of laws based on the New Testament [that] don't permit it, and that's where we are," Robertson said in a clip from "The 700 Club" series...

In an interview with Oliver Stone, Putin declared "God has decided." Vladimir Putin claims it’s his “duty” to stop gay people from getting married. In an interview with Oliver Stone airing on Showtime this week, the Russian president explained that, as head of state, he was obligated “to uphold traditional values and family values.” His reasoning? “Because same-sex marriages will not produce any children. God has decided, and we have to care about birth rates in our country. We have to reinforce families.” “But,” he added, “that doesn’t mean that there should be any persecutions against anyone.” Repression of Russia’s...

Some guiding principles for those who face the too common problem of an invalid marriage in the circle of their family or friends. ONE of the most common and difficult moral problems that must be faced by Catholics today is that concerning the right attitude to be taken toward Catholics who have publicly renounced the grace of God by entering an invalid marriage. Sometimes parents have to face the problem when a son or daughter takes this fateful step. Other relatives, friends, neighbours, business associates, fellow parishioners, not infrequently run into the same thing. All want an answer to questions...

Fifty years after Mildred and Richard Loving's landmark legal challenge shattered the laws against interracial marriage in the U.S., some couples of different races still talk of facing discrimination, disapproval and sometimes outright hostility from their fellow Americans. Although the racist laws against mixed marriages are gone, several interracial couples said in interviews they still get nasty looks, insults and sometimes even violence when people find out about their relationships. "I have not yet counseled an interracial wedding where someone didn't have a problem on the bride's or the groom's side," said the Rev. Kimberly D. Lucas of St. Margaret's...

JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, have won a defamation lawsuit against an Israeli journalist over a Facebook post he wrote claiming that the first lady had booted the premier out of the car in an official convoy after a heated argument. On Sunday, an Israeli magistrates court ordered the journalist, Igal Sarna, to pay the Israeli leader and his wife $28,300 for writing the post. The judge ruled that the post, at least in part, was “malicious and ugly, intended to humiliate and shame the plaintiffs.” Sarna, who works for popular Israeli daily Yediot...

The Marriage Crisis in the Catholic Church - The Church and Asmodeus, by Don Pietro Leone (REVISED EDITION) After receiving a detailed critique of the section on Theology of the Body in the essay below, the author has seen fit to clarify certain parts of that section as well as that on Amoris Laetitia. There follows the corrected and revised version of the essay by Fr. Pietro Leone, a traditional priest in Italy. The booklet is available below as a 29-page PDF file:

Dear Tech Support, ’Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slowdown in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0. In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as: Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as: NBA 5.0, NFL 3.0 and Golf Clubs 4.1. Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and House cleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I...

Vusumuzi Mthembu, writing on polygamy in the Nguni culture, said: "Bathi asiganwe umfazi ngamunye. Lezi zintombi ezingangotshani zizophelelaphi? Ziyogana izinyamazane? Phinde!" Translated, it says "They say we must be married to one wife. What will then happen to these many women? Who will they marry? Deers? Never!" Perhaps the question Vusumuzi would have to answer today is: "If we want to marry many wives, can we afford to?" And this is what the University of KwaZulu-Natal's cultural expert, Gugu Mkhize says all polygamists-to-be must consider -- the financial implications of the practice. "Polygamy seems not viable in the 21st century...

An Indian woman who says she was drugged, kidnapped and forced to marry a Pakistani man at gunpoint returned to India on Thursday amid much media fanfare and as tensions between the two South Asian neighbors rise. Uzma, whose family name cannot be given for legal reasons, said she met the Pakistani national in Malaysia and decided to travel to Pakistan on May 1 after he invited her to visit. But when she arrived she said the man forced her to sign a marriage contract at gunpoint and that she suffered physical and emotional violence for five days until she...

In a Rome speech, the Italian cardinal warned that societies are now facing a “frightful” war on marriage and the family but urged the faithful not to be afraid, to witness to Christ, as the victory is already won. Edward Pentin Satan is hurling at God “the ultimate and terrible challenge,” to show he is capable of constructing an “anti-creation” that mankind will be deceived into thinking is better than what God has created, Cardinal Carlo Caffarra has warned. The archbishop emeritus of Bologna said this decisive confrontation is taking place now, and is being fought primarily over marriage and the...