Free Republic

“Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded” (Proverbs 13:13).

[Barf Alert] Amazon Synod Briefing: Forming a Church with an indigenous face On Day 6 of the Synod for the Amazon, journalists and Synod participants gather in the Holy See Press Office to share impressions and answer questions concerning the main themes under discussion. By Vatican NewsThe Saturday afternoon briefing concluded the first week of discussions on the Synod for the Amazon, and saw the participation of four speakers on the podium: two bishops, a woman religious, and a deacon.Summary by Dr Paolo Ruffini The Prefect of the Dicastery for Communications, Dr Paolo Ruffini, began by providing a summary of...

“A man shall be commended according to his wisdom: but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised” (Proverbs 12:8).

Metropolitan Community Church of Rehoboth will host a program entitled Homosexuality and the Bible, an In-Depth Study, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 26. This seminar will show that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality. For better understanding of scripture, participants will look at writings of ancient scrolls though the influences of Middle Eastern traditions, Hebrew traditions, Greek and Roman traditions and early Christian situations. Attendees also will look at the difference between translation and interpretation, the difference between historical-critical reading and literal reading, defining sexuality and spirituality, the danger of picking and choosing scripture passages and the...

Catholics should not turn their faith into an ideology, the Pope saidIn his general audience Wednesday, Pope Francis warned Catholics to not turn their faith into an ideology, as he said St Paul did when he was persecuting Christians before his conversion. St Paul, called Saul before his conversion, was “an ideologist; for Saul, religion had become ideology, religious ideology, social ideology, political ideology,” the Pope said. Reflecting on Saul’s behavior toward Christians is a chance for everyone to consider how they are living their faith, he said, suggesting people ask themselves: “How do I live my life of faith?...

Recently at least eleven liberal United Methodist congregations in five different states, from the Deep South to the far North, have publicly announced that they are taking at least initial steps towards leaving the United Methodist Church. These moves are all being made directly in protest over our denomination’s continued official traditionalist policies on marriage and sexual morality. Eight of these eleven congregations are formally affiliated with the LGBTQ-liberationist Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN). On September 8, members of Asbury Memorial United Methodist Church in Savannah, Georgia, voted by a whopping 309-7 to disaffiliate from the UMC. Then on September 17,...

“A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight” (Proverbs 11:1 KJV).

Plenary Council Member: 'We're in the birth pangs of a new Church in Australia'A "rite of blessing" for same-sex couples and for the divorced and remarried was proposed at the conclusion of Brisbane Assembly 2019. The Brisbane Assembly was run by the archdiocese of Brisbane, and about 400 people from across the archdiocese and various Catholic agencies attended the two-day event. It was billed as a process of "communal discernment" in preparation for the 2020 Plenary Council in Australia. The archbishop of Brisbane, Mark Coleridge, was in the front row of the auditorium when the proposal was displayed on large...

“Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins” (Proverbs 10:12 KJV).

ROME, October 9, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Atheist Italian journalist Eugenio Scalfari has claimed that Pope Francis does not believe that Jesus Christ is truly God and man. The Pope has granted Scalfari numerous interviews throughout his pontificate, despite repeated claims from the Vatican press office that his reports are unreliable. In La Repubblica newspaper on Wednesday, Scalfari wrote: “Those who have had the chance, as I have had different times, to meet him [Pope Francis] and speak to him with the greatest cultural confidence, know that Pope Francis conceives Christ as Jesus of Nazareth, a man, not God incarnate. Once...

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased” (Proverbs 9:10-11 KJV).

Among the new cardinals is Liverpool's Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald, 82, former papal ambassador to Egypt. Disloyalty in the Church is rooted in a lack of compassion and indifference, Pope Francis said as he made 13 new cardinals in St Peter’s Basilica. The 82-year-old Roman Pontiff, who has faced unprecedented public opposition to his ministry from some high ranking prelates, argued that without a “lively awareness” of God’s compassion, disloyalty to “our own ministry” seeps in. “The readiness of a cardinal to shed his own blood – as signified by the colour of your robes – is secure if it is...

A substantial portion of missional philosophy rests on the belief that the gospel not only may be, but must be contextualized, or adapted, across cultures and subcultures in order to be understood. In a conversation I had with a proponent of the contextualization of the gospel, this person claimed something that may at first seem attractive: When it comes to the gospel, contextualization is placing the gospel into a context in a way that the gospel can be understood. It is not about making the gospel less offensive. It is not about watering down the gospel. It is not about...

“All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them” (Proverbs 8:8 KJV).

Krakow archbishop rouses Poles to consider debt owed to national heroes, saintsKRAKOW, Poland (ChurchMilitant.com) - Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski of Kraków issued a pastoral letter on Sept. 28 warning of major threats to Polish — and international — freedom emanating from the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. The archbishop addressed his "Beloved Archdiocesans" in the letter entitled Totus Tuus ("Totally yours"), urging them to resist "the radical rejection of God" and LGBT propaganda. He explained the "integrated approach" of totalitarianism; that when it rejects God, it makes a new vision of man, one that presents man as a caricature of himself...

'The Holy Spirit is the main actor of the synod,' Francis says. 'Please, let’s not throw it out of the room.'In his opening remarks for the Amazon synod Monday, Pope Francis said the assembly’s working document is meant to be “destroyed” as the starting point of the work of the Holy Spirit, who he prays will guide the synodal process. “Synod is to walk together under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit,” the pope said inside the Synod Hall Oct. 7. “The Holy Spirit is the main actor of the synod. Please, let’s not throw it out of...

Famed eighth century missionary Saint Boniface appeared at the Vatican yesterday for the kickoff of the Amazonian Synod. Reading from the working document, the moderator was saying, For the indigenous peoples of the Amazon Basin, the good life comes from living in communion with other people, with the world, with the creatures of their environment, and with the Creator. Indigenous peoples, in fact, live within the home that God created and gave them as a gift: the Earth. Their diverse spiritualities and beliefs motivate them to live in communion with the soil, water, trees, animals, and with day and...

“For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death” (Proverbs 7:26-27 KJV).

“A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth” (Proverbs 6:12 KJV).

“Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger” (Proverbs 5:8-10 KJV).