Free Republic

While huge segments of Christendom go apostate by baptizing practicing homosexuality as divinely blessed, Christianity based upon the Bible as divine revelation not to be tampered with is flourishing in Africa.

“But now it’s Ken’s turn,” Rita said with concern. “Yes, we just spent the last several months interceding for Ellen. And now we remember Ken,” I answered.

24/7 Catholic radio is now beaming across metro Phoenix and beyond thanks to the newest station to come on line in the ever-expanding Immaculate Heart Radio network. This follows the recent launch of another powerhouse Catholic radio station in Salt Lake City, which is now broadcasting 24/7 Catholic programming across the great State of Utah. . . .

WASHINGTON, D.C., DEC. 18, 2009 (Zenit.org).- With only one week left before Christmas, and as ordinary Americans flood shopping malls and prepare for the holidays, the U.S. Senate is working overtime to pass a massive health care reform bill before the end of the year. President Barack Obama has made health care reform a hallmark issue of his first year in office, calling it the most significant legislation of its kind since Franklin D. Roosevelt's Social Security Act of 1935. The U.S. episcopal conference has taken an active interest in articulating guidelines for health care reform, and gained national recognition...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Attorneys for victims of clergy sex abuse in Alaska say it is despicable, after they claim the Fairbanks diocese insurance company is refusing to pay settlement money for victims. Thursday's statement came after the Fairbanks diocese submitted a new bankruptcy reorganization plan. According to attorneys for the victims, Catholic Mutual is refusing to pay the diocese money that has been agreed to in a settlement. They say for 10 years the insurance company, run by the Catholic church, has tried to prevent Alaska Native victims from receiving justice. "It means delay, it means that despite the fact...

THERE WAS mixed reaction among parishioners in Limerick yesterday after Dr Donal Murray announced his resignation as bishop of the diocese. While many expected yesterday’s announcement since the publication of the Murphy report, the sense of sadness among those gathered at St John’s Cathedral was palpable, when Bishop Murray confirmed his resignation. “I think he could have served more purpose by staying on and doing some good. I do think he was a good bishop, he didn’t actually do anything himself. He has taken responsibility and held up his hand so I do think by staying on, he could have...

Bishop Martin Drennan of Galway has said his conscience is clear and he has no intention of resigning from his post at present despite calls for him to stand down as the fallout from the Murphy report continues. Calls for the resignation of Bishop Drennan, one of five serving bishops named in the report into the handling of child abuse complaints, increased after Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray stepped down yesterday. Bishop Drennan served as auxiliary bishop of Dublin from 1997 to 2005. He is named in the report in connection to reports of inappropriate behaviour relating to Fr Guido...

The bishops of Kerala-- the home of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church-- have reached an agreement with Syrian Jacobite and Syrian Orthodox leaders to share churches outside Kerala for Sunday Mass and to consider sharing cemeteries and the use of priests at funerals. All four churches trace their origin to the evangelization of St. Thomas the Apostle. Underscoring the agreement’s ramifications beyond India, the Catholic delegation was led by Bishop Brian Farrell, LC, the secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity since 2002. Although the sacred liturgy in both the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and...

The priest who shook the hand and gave character evidence on behalf of a convicted sex offender has left his post of parish priest in Castelgregory. Fr Séan Sheehy, who met Bishop of Kerry Bill Murphy this morning, had said yesterday he did not accept the unanimous verdict of a jury that found Danny Foley guilty of sexually assaulting a 24-year-old woman in Listowel, Co Kerry, on June 15, 2008. The priest said he had no regrets about shaking hands with Danny Foley of Meen in Listowel as the 35-year-old waited to be sentenced for his crime. He felt there...

Although the Bible clearly does not support the doctrine of celibacy as a requisite to any office of the church (see Pinedo, 2008), the Catholic Church has established celibacy as a distinctive mark of the papacy and other Catholic offices. In fact, the current pope, Benedict XVI, affirmed that celibacy (imposed by Pope Gregory VII in the Council of Rome in 1074) “is really a special way of conforming oneself to Christ’s own way of life” (“Pope Pens...,” 2007). Therefore, whoever wants to serve as a priest, and finally as the Universal Bishop of the Catholic Church (the pope),...

One of the more beautiful passages in the Old Testament is the 12th Chapter of Ecclesiastes. It is a melancholy but soulful meditation on old age. It’s poetic imagery is masterful as it draws from the increasingly difficult effects of old age such as hearing loss, fading eyesight, difficulty walking, digestive issues, even gray hair. I’d like to present it here in totality and present commentary below the text: Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come And the years approach of which you will say, I have no pleasure in them...

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin last night strongly signalled that his two auxiliary bishops, Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field, will quit in the new year as Bishop of Kildare Jim Moriarty was on the brink of taking early retirement. Hours after the expected resignation of Donal Murray as Bishop of Limerick, 73-year-old Bishop Moriarty, due to resign in two years' time, said he would go sooner if it would “serve the Church, the victims and the people” — in a clear hint he will bow out in 2010. A spokesman for Bishop of Galway Martin Drennan, the fifth bishop implicated...

Phoenix, Ariz., Dec 18, 2009 / 02:40 am (CNA).- A new Catholic radio station launched in Phoenix on Thursday, becoming the 24th station of the Immaculate Heart Radio network in the western United States. The local bishop says it will be a “channel of evangelization.”The new station, broadcast at KIHP 1310-AM, is the result of a five year effort to bring Catholic radio to the Phoenix market, the Phoenix Business Journal reports. The last three letters of its call sign stand for Immaculate Heart Phoenix.Though the radio station used by KIHP was priced at four or five million dollars...

The Catholic church in Connecticut has been training thousands of priests, catechism teachers and other adults how to prevent, detect and report child sexual abuse. So far, more than 70,000 adults in parishes statewide have taken the church-sponsored training sessions, which were mandated by the U.S. Conference of Bishops in 2002 in response to allegations that thousands of priests nationwide had sexually abused children. A national report commissioned by the Conference of Bishops found 4,392 allegations of sex abuse by priests from 1950 to 2002. In many cases, the victims were ignored and clergy transferred to other parishes. The three-hour...

A ship without a strong cable tied to solid ground will be dashed to pieces by storms. For some, the church is just such a ship. Three authors explore the present condition of the Western church, each proposing a different cable to keep the church from running aground. In “The Great Emergence,” Phyllis Tickle introduces the cable as a metaphor about why the church is changing and suggests where those changes are leading. The cable connects the church to “some purpose and/or power greater than itself.” Three strands make up the cable — spirituality, corporeality (church practice) and morality. Wrapping...

A memory of an innkeeper was published in the Nov. 22, 2006 edition of the local paper. Authored by Ralph Wilson of Joyful Heart Ministries. Finding it a unique take on the Christmas story, for the season, I have decided to add it to my column. For the rest of the writing period before Christmas, I will be doing articles on the holiday and its traditions. Please enjoy. They think I'm some kind of cruel, heartless landlord. Someone must have told them that. But they're wrong, just plain wrong, and it's time to set the record straight, once and for...

Even as you read this, persecuted Christians from around the world are gathering names and addresses from their local communities. These names are then submitted to Bibles Unbound where members have the opportunity to mail New Testaments in the appropriate language directly to the field. This unique program gives you the ability to stand alongside our persecuted brothers and sisters and help create a witness for Jesus Christ in hostile lands right from your own home. We invite you to read about current ministry operations to the right and consider joining today. For a donation of only $30.00 per month...

The Pope has refused a traditional procession and palace banquet during his state visit to Britain next year. The Vatican has said it does not want any of the pomp which usually accompanies such a trip. And, although Pope Benedict XVI will be a guest of the queen, he will not stay at Buckingham Palace, but instead with his Ambassador to the Court of St James, the Apostolic Nuncio, at his house in Wimbledon, south-west London. During his three-day visit from September 16 to 19, the Pope has confirmed he will not be visiting Ireland.

The late Pope John Paul II is one step closer at getting a spot on the altars, now that Benedict XVI will name him venerable. Benedict XVI is expected to sign the decree Saturday December 19th. When the Pope gives a candidate to the altars, the title "venerable" that means he recognizes that they lived the Christian virtues as heroes. To beatify a candidate, the commission of cardinals and Vatican theologians must certify that God has performed a miracle through his intercession. In the case of John Paul II, just two months after his death, several medical teams have classified...

BISHOP Donal Murray finally resigned today, three weeks after he was criticised for his failure to deal with a paedophile priest. The Bishop told Mass-goers that his resignation “cannot undo the pain that survivors of abuse have suffered”. “I humbly apologise once again to all who were abused as little children,” he added. The now ex-Bishop of Limerick was heavily criticised by the Murphy Report into clerical sex abuse in Dublin. The investigation named Murray as someone who did not deal properly with suspicions in relation to Fr Tom Naughton, yesterday jailed for abusing a six-year-old altar boy more than...

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 15, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI has made two changes in canon law, regarding marriage for those who have formally renounced the Church, and clarifying the ministry of deacons. The changes came in a statement issued "motu proprio" (on his own initiative), called "Omnium in mentem" (In the Mind of All). The document is dated Oct. 26 but was released today. Preparation of the statement began during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II and required lengthy consultations with episcopal conferences around the world.The document published today contains five articles modifying Canons 1008, 1009, 1086, 1117 and 1124....

The faithful say she comes in a flash of light amid a swirl of pigeons. Hundreds, if not thousands, have been lining up for hours every night at the Virgin Mary Orthodox Church in a Cairo neighborhood just off the Nile. Many of them claim that a mysterious light hovering above the church's domes is an apparition of the Virgin Mary who will bring Christian Copts prosperity and relief in a time of national and religious struggle. The crowds began appearing Thursday evening when a number of residents spotted a flickering light. No one was sure where the illumination was...

For the second time in eight days, a lawsuit was filed against the Benedictine Order at St. John's Abbey accusing it of covering up the sexual abuse of a student at St. John's University 25 years ago. The suit was filed Wednesday in St. Cloud by a "John Doe," who alleges that he was molested by the late Rev. Bruce Wollmering, the Rev. Finnian McDonald and Brother John Kelly. All three also were named in last week's suit. St. John's Abbey has issued a statement pledging to investigate the allegations, adding, "We do not tolerate sexual misconduct in any form."

VATICAN CITY, 17 DEC 2009 (VIS) - The Holy Father accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Limerick, Ireland, presented by Bishop Donal Brendan Murray, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

Britain’s first woman bishop could be appointed next month after a married priest with three children was nominated for a vacancy in Glasgow. The Rev Canon Dr Alison Peden, 57, has been short-listed with two men for the role of Bishop of Glasgow & Galloway in the Scottish Episcopal Church. The church is in the liberal vanguard of the Anglican Communion and its synod voted overwhelmingly in 2003 to allow the ordination of women bishops. Dr Peden has been short listed at a time when the Church of England remains deeply divided over its decision last year in favour of...

Merry Christmas Everyone LORD'S PRAYER

John L. Allen, Jr., The Future Church: How Ten Trends are Revolutionizing the Catholic Church (New York: Doubleday Religion, 2009), 480 pp., $28.00. FORCASTING THE future of religion has a long and tainted history. Too often, futurology merely consists of watching the current trajectory of lines on a graph, and extending them until they reach some sensational conclusion. This was the process that led Mark Twain, a century ago, to predict that the world’s largest religions by 2000 AD would be Roman Catholicism—and Christian Science. But no less troublesome is the enduring belief that religion is simply going to fade away...

Several GetReligion readers have sent in the URL for a Washington Post story that ran last weekend about the formation of a group for gays, lesbians and, one would assume, bisexuals on the campus of the Catholic University of America. This story is pretty much what you would expect: A love song to a small, courageous band of true believers who are standing up against the establishment. Journalists love that template. You can see this right at the top of the report: Every Wednesday morning, 150 officials at Catholic University receive an email about a gay student’s struggles on campus.There’s...

The incoming Archbishop of Milwaukee, Jerome Listecki, for example, has just come out publicly with a ringing affirmation of the truth of Catholic teaching about contraception — i.e., that it's a serious sin and no Catholic in good conscience can willfully contracept— this in response to yet another goofball pro-abortion front group which styles itself "Young Catholics for Choice" . . .

MILWAUKEE, December 15, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The incoming Archbishop of Milwaukee, Jerome Listecki, has responded to a campaign by "Young Catholics for Choice" to promote use of contraception and abortion among Catholic youth. Using media advertising the group is, says the Archbishop-Designate, "attempting to convey the message that Catholics can disregard Church teaching regarding contraception, abortion and human sexuality in general and remain Catholics in good standing." However, "Nothing could be further from the truth." "While people can call themselves whatever they want, it is my duty as a bishop to state clearly and unequivocally that by professing and disseminating...

I celebrate just over 50 funerals a year; about one a week. (People are dying to come to church here). And most of these funerals feature large numbers of fallen away Catholics and unchurched individuals. Most of these people I see ONLY at funerals and sometimes weddings. For this reason, in recent years, I have altered my approach at funerals and direct almost half of the sermon to the unchurched and call them to repent and return home. Surely in the first part I speak of the deceased, offer thanks to God for their life, entrust them to God and...

Recently a Pew poll demonstrated how many Americans mix faiths. But how long will there be faiths to mix in America? 'Faiths' here means bodies of believers, gathered in communities such as congregations. Has the United States begun to follow the overall pattern of decline in membership, attendance, activity, support, and visibility that is so patent in, say, Western Europe? Forty years ago it was hard to find a seat at mass in Ireland or Quebec. Today it is harder to find mass-goers in countless parish churches. Now in America 'Distance Early Warning' signals of decline almost across the board...

From NE Ohio December newsletter - Bishop's Article: On December third we held a special meeting of the synod council, deans, committee chairs and synod staff to take a look at the projected $250,000-$400,000 deficit for fiscal year 2010-11. Since a $400,000 deficit is a jaw-dropping number to me, I wanted advice on how to carry out the ministry that we do together as a synod. The short-term solution is to reduce hours and compensation for the entire staff. Developing a long-term solution is going to take a lot more work. I have had many people who are quick to...

Bishop Kevin Farrell Dallas, Texas, Dec 14, 2009 / 07:22 pm (CNA).- As Christmas quickly approaches, the Diocese of Dallas has launched a campaign to bring lapsed Catholics back into the Church. One part of the outreach involves bus ads with the message: “Catholics come home for Christmas.”“When I travel around the diocese, I have so many people tell me that their wife or husband or parents or kids have abandoned their church or faith,” Bishop Kevin Farrell explained to the Dallas Morning News on Sunday. “They're always asking me what we can do about it.”The recent bus ads are...

Denver, Colo., Dec 15, 2009 / 05:16 pm (CNA).- This morning the Vatican published a Motu Proprio from Pope Benedict called “Omnium in Mentem”  and dated October 26. According to J.D. Flynn, a canon lawyer for the Archdiocese of Denver, the new document clarifies the nature of a deacon's orders and the impact of defections from Catholicism on the validity of a marriage.“Omnium in Mentum,” roughly translated as “Everything in Mind,” deals with two unrelated topics, a fact that caused Flynn to observe that it's probably easier to publish one Motu Propio than two. Writing in an explanatory note for...

The time is now for the church to return to the sufficiency of Scripture, said a ministry head. Scott T Brown, director of the National Center for Family-Integrated Churches, opened a three-day conference on Thursday calling attention to the urgency of the matter. "What is at stake here is the question of the sufficiency of God," he wrote in his blog, recalling his address to thousands of conference attendees. "God did not breathe into the Scripture; He breathed the Scripture." To embrace the sufficiency of Scripture is to embrace the sufficiency of God Himself, Brown asserted. The conference at the...

Monday December 14, 2009 Author Calls on US Bishops to Reform Catholic News Service (CNS) - Part 2 Many parishes "force feed" subscriptions to the diocesan newspaper upon their parishioners See Part 1  Commentary By Louie VerrecchioWASHINGTON, DC, December 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - CNS' cavalier attitude toward orthodoxy is not confined to its recent treatment of the life issue alone. Some other examples, just to name a few:In 2005, CNS issued a glowing review of the movie "Brokeback Mountain" and rated the homosexual propaganda piece as suitable for a "limited adult audience." Following the backlash of outraged readers, CNS eventually changed...

Problems with Evolutionary Theory Why is there a problem with evolution in the first place? Someone once asked you, "What should I believe?" Remember what you told them? Basically I said you should only believe what there is evidence for. After spending years studying evolution in bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs, I can tell you that, first of all, there is evidence for small changes in organisms as they adapt to small environmental fluctuations. Second, there is evidence that new species do arise. We see new species of fruit flies, rodents, and even birds. But when the original species is...

KEVIN Rudd's decision to take holy communion at the Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel in Sydney has sparked debate within the Catholic Church because he is a practising Anglican. The controversy mirrors a debate nearly a decade ago when Jeff Kennett complained he was sent a letter by Cardinal George Pell instructing him not to take communion at the state funeral of prominent Catholic B.A. Santamaria, despite the then Victorian premier's own shift to Catholicism. The Australian has confirmed that the chaplain and sisters at the chapel were caught unawares by the Prime Minister's visit on Sunday. They were concerned that...

Bishop-elect William Medley Owensboro, Ky., Dec 15, 2009 / 11:08 am (CNA).- Fr. William F. Medley of St. Bernadette's Parish in the Archdiocese of Louisville was nominated on Tuesday by the Holy Father to be the new bishop of the Diocese of Owensboro in western Kentucky.  He will succeed Bishop John J. McRaith, who resigned in January of 2009.According a biography on the Diocese of Owensboro's website, in the previous 27 years of his priesthood, bishop-elect Medley served as parish priest in a number of parishes in the Louisville and Bardstown areas and was also the Diocesan Director of...

We suspect that this is another indication of a more hopeful future for the American episcopacy — at the very least it belongs in the did-I-read-that-correctly category: Recently, two bishops in two separate dioceses prevented brother bishops from making public appearances on Catholic property in their dioceses. Yes, you read that correctly. A lone bishop banning a brother bishop is a rarity in this day and age. Frankly, it just isn't done. For two of them to take such similar courses of action is inconceivable. Thomas Gumbleton, retired auxiliary bishop of Detroit, was slated to speak in the Diocese...

"Because too many people are not [ready to meet God]. They're just goofing off, laughing their way through life, like everything's a big joke. They don't pray, they don't trust God, they're not in Church on Sunday, they're in serious mortal sin, and they think they're going to be ready to meet God, and it does not work that way." . . .

VATICAN CITY — The release of a transcript of the 1989 meeting between Pope John Paul II and Mikhail Gorbachev offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse of one of the more important papal audiences of the 20th century.It’s a translation of the Russian record of the private meeting, released by the National Security Archive, an independent institute in Washington. For background on this and other documents being made public, look here.I remember the Dec. 1, 1989, encounter well. I was among the pool journalists allowed inside the Vatican for the event. We chatted with some of Gorbachev’s aides as the two...

A support group for survivors of priest abuse is asking a national Catholic review board of lay people to investigate Bishop William F. Lori and his handling of sexual abuse claims against two active priests, including the former second-highest official in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport. But an expert in clergy sexual abuse cases said Monday that the request by Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) likely won't get very far. "The best the National Review Board will do is say they regret the situation and they will make a note of it, but they have no...

Cardinals and bishops of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints reportedly voted in favor of the late Pope John Paul II having lived a life of heroic virtue, according to some Italian press reports. They report that members of the congregation voted unanimously Nov. 16 to recommend that Pope Benedict XVI formally recognize that Pope John Paul II heroically lived the Christian virtues. The Vatican would not deny or confirm the reports. The process is being carried out under strict secrecy, and officials are refusing to discuss any aspect of the cause for canonization. But if true, Pope Benedict...

The Anglican diocese of Quebec is “teetering on the verge of extinction” as parish finances continue to collapse and the number of parishioners dwindles. This doom-and-gloom message was delivered to the recent Canadian House of Bishops meeting here by Bishop Dennis Drainville, who declared that he could possibly be “the last bishop of Quebec.” Bishop Drainville urged the House of Bishops to have a “new vision” and to look at how “old relationships and structures” can be changed to respond to the needs of the times. People are looking for three things in a church, he said: “a compassionate, caring...

Dublin, Ireland, Dec 12, 2009 / 11:29 am (CNA).- Irish Catholics can expect "major reorganization" within the Church following the meeting between the Pope and Irish prelates on Friday regarding child sexual abuses by clergy in the Archdiocese of Dublin, according to an article published in the Irish Times. It is not yet known how far reaching these structural changes will be. Archbishop of Armagh Sean Cardinal Brady and Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin attended a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI, papal nuncio to Ireland Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, and other leaders from Vatican dicasteries to voice concerns and discuss solutions...

His site is currently down (Voice of Evangelism, Manna Fest), but you can watch it there if you can get to it. This is not surprising. There are CDs, DVDs on his site about this. Let's just say he's letting it fly...The show is on his web site.

"They will hate you for My sake". This is what Jesus said would happen to those who follow Him. "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved."Matthew 24:9-13 Up until recent times, most Christians in America...

A Minnesota bishop with Deep South roots was elected Saturday the eighth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina. The Rev. W. Andrew Waldo, pastor of Trinity Episcopal Church in Excelsior, Minn., emerged as the winner on the third ballot, defeating five other candidates. Among the six vying for the post were three South Carolinians, including the dean of Columbia's Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, the Very Rev. Philip C. Linder. "I'm so happy to be returning to the South, and coming to South Carolina," Waldo said by telephone from his Shorewood, Minn., home. He said his first task will...