Free Republic

While Boston, Chicago and Washington have always been important forces in American Catholic life, they haven’t always been exactly in alignment. That, however, is certainly not the case in 2016, when one could make a good case that those three cities now form a key “Pope Francis Axis” in the American church.Throughout American Catholic history, the archdioceses of Boston, Washington and Chicago have always been important centers of influence, generally led by strong prelates with national and international profiles. In the 1980s, arguably no American was more consequential in John Paul II’s Vatican than Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston, until...

December 16, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – On Thursday's "The World Over with Raymond Arroyo," Cardinal Raymond Burke responded to those within the Church who are criticizing him and three other cardinals for asking for moral clarification on Amoris Laetitia. He said the cardinals are not creating division, but "address[ing]" existing division within the Church. He also insists that he will "never" be part of a schism for defending the Catholic faith, and that attacks on marriage destabilize the Church and society. Burke directly responded to the claims that close papal collaborator Father Anthony Spadaro and Cardinal Christoph Schönborn have made about...

Washington D.C., Dec 15, 2016 / 03:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- You might have seen an Army chaplain devoutly praying the rosary on the sideline during Saturday's Army-Navy football game. Who was he and what was he praying for? “I always pray for both our teams, for no serious injury on either team. And I pray for the kids on both teams, and just for their holiness and their salvation,” Fr. Matthew Pawlikowski, chaplain of the United States Military Academy at West Point, told CNA. “And then I ask for Army's victory,” he added. Saturday's Army-Navy game was the 117th meeting...

Over just a few days, a hailstorm of rebukes. Which show the pope’s irritation over the criticisms of “Amoris Laetitia,” these too the fruit, in his judgment, of a legalistic and decadent mentality. ROME, December 16, 2016 – In this fourth autumn of his pontificate, Jorge Mario Bergoglio is showing special concern for the seminaries, meaning the formation of new priests. On December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Vatican congregation for the clergy published a new 90-page “Ratio fundamentalis” for seminaries all over the world, which in reality departs very little from the previous instructions issued in...

Cardinal Cordes, the Emeritus President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, has expressed support for the Four Cardinals arguing that it is necessary for Cardinal Müller to reply to their dubia in order to clarify Amoris Laetitia. He expressed surprise that it was assumed that a footnote in a post synodal exhortation could be seen as solving a doctrinal problem that has been examined throughout the Church's history. His Eminence expressed doubt about the motivations of those indignantly attacking the four cardinals, saying they were not seeking to find the truth. Cardinal Cordes was clear that Amoris Laetitia should not...

December 13, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) — By now, Catholics are used to it: Pope Francis speaks plainly, openly, and sometimes … yes, indeed, rudely. But then there are times when you just ask yourself: What is he trying to achieve? The Jesuit on the Chair of Peter regularly keeps journalists on their toes when he steps onto an airplane, for they – anybody for that matter – wait in suspense for whatever is going to come out of the Pope’s mouth during the in-flight press conferences. Because the words of Pope Francis are often thoughtless and rash at best, or abrasive...

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain – A new low for the Catholic Church in Spain has been reached with the ordination of a homosexual couple to the priesthood by Archbishop Julian Barrio of Santiago de Compostela. These men, part of an ordination class of six, are not only active homosexuals but are in a public relationship with each other. According to the original story by InfoVaticana, the parishioners of Santiago were presented with their ongoing relationship in some form of “coming out” ceremony. Their ordination has caused consternation among the faithful congregation and clergy at this major center of European Catholicism....

Researchers looked at 22 Protestant churches in CanadaA study of Protestant churches in Canada has found that growing churches tend to be more orthodox, while shrinking ones are theologically liberal.Terry Mattingly, author of the Get Religion blog, covered the findings of the study, which appeared in the peer-reviewed journal, Review of Religion Research.The researchers, David Millard Haskell, Kevin N Flatt and Stephanie Burgoyne, looked at 22 mainline Protestant churches in Canada. Nine of the churches were growing in attendance, while 13 were declining. The researchers found that when other factors were controlled for, ”the theological conservatism of both attendees...

December 12, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) — The Catholic bishops of Atlantic Canada are citing Pope Francis and his controversial exhortation Amoris Laetitia to support a decision allowing priests latitude to decide whether to give euthanasia seekers the sacraments before they are killed. In announcing it, the bishops rejected the approach of Alberta's bishops, who, while also stressing "pastoral accompaniment," insisted that in justice and mercy priests ought to be clear with euthanasia seekers that they would be committing a gravely sinful act. The Atlantic bishops' November 27 guidelines are closer to the Quebec bishops’ pastoral response to euthanasia than the response...

Over the last few years, Our Holy Father Pope Francis has said some pretty awful things about priests. He doesn’t limit himself to priests. Remember how he pummeled the Cardinals and Bishops of the Roman Curia as a Christmas gift a couple years ago? HERE Everyone is a target: women religious, theologians, canonists, you name ’em. The other day, during his daily Mass fervorino he recounted an anecdote – actually, a bit of gossip – in a rather – well, there isn’t any other way to take it – insulting manner about a seminarian getting some clerical gear. He heaped...

This is a timely video for this time of year. Get ready for Christmas. Remember the true meaning of the season!

Aurora Griffin was on a mission — a Catholic mission — while at Harvard University.  The author of the recently released How I Stayed Catholic at Harvard was a Rhodes Scholar and a magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the Ivy League. During her time at Harvard, she wrote for The Harvard Crimson, served as president of the Catholic Student Association and took the lead in having the “black mass” canceled on campus. “For all of us, there are moments that come to define who we are in the public eye,” Griffin told the Register. “Fighting the...

What will be the leading themes of the next Conclave? This question has been circulating for some time in Rome, and it does not come from an alleged wish to get rid of Pope Francis, nor from the improbable possibility that the Pope would resign or even die. The question is circulating because, after three and a half years of this pontificate, and with the Pope about to turn 80, it is time for taking stock. What has changed under Pope Francis’s pontificate? And what will the next steps be?For this reason, the pre-conclave meetings that led to his...

Next summer in Orlando, between 3-4,000 Catholic leaders from across the United States – including bishops, heads of national Catholic organizations, lay movements, religious orders and diocesan ministries and programs – will meet to discuss ways to be missionary disciples in today’s world. About 2,000 years ago, the New Testament tells us, the apostles gathered in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. Emboldened by the Holy Spirit, they and the disciples set out to bring Christ’s Gospel to the world. Next summer in Orlando, between 3-4,000 Catholic leaders from across the United States - including bishops, heads of national Catholic organizations,...

Vatican City, Dec 9, 2016 / 04:49 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has officially recognized the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal as a religious institute of pontifical right, the order has announced.Institutions of pontifical right depend immediately and exclusively on the Vatican in the matters of internal governance and discipline. It is the highest form of recognition for a religious community, and is granted to institutes that show steady growth over a period of approximately 20-25 years.The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, sometimes referred to as the CFRs, were founded in 1987 in the Archdiocese of New York by...

Activists for LGBTQ rights clap back at the Vatican's decision to reaffirm its opposition to gay priests. The decision was made clear in a document on the priesthood by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy, disappointing those who saw in Pope Francis a more inclusive approach to homosexuality.ROME - A Vatican decision to reaffirm its opposition to gay priests has angered activists who thought Pope Francis was changing Rome’s attitudes toward homosexuality. In a new document on the priesthood, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy reiterated a 2005 statement declaring that men with “deep-seated homosexual tendencies” or those who “support...

Is there a “Reign Of Terror” Inside the Vatican?He is a veteran Vatican-watcher, the Rome reporter for the USA’s National Catholic Register. He’s also that rarity among journalists – a practicing Catholic. He’s a real pro, too. In 2014 Edward Pentin’s journalistic integrity came under fire from a Pope Francis favorite, German Cardinal Emeritus Walter Kasper. The liberal Cardinal’s disparaging comments about African prelates attending the Synod had been captured on Pentin’s Iphone recorder. Kasper publicly denied ever making such remarks – and then had to retract his denial when Pentin quietly published the audio. The resulting furore quickly derailed...

From the Long Island Catholic, some happy news for my neighbors to the east: Pope Francis today appointed Most Reverend John O. Barres, Bishop of Allentown, Pennsylvania, to serve as the fifth Bishop of Rockville Centre. He succeeds Bishop William Murphy, 76, who has led the Diocese of Rockville Centre since 2001.The appointment was made public in Washington, December 9, 2016 by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.Bishop-designate Barres will assume leadership of the Diocese during a Mass of Installation at the Cathedral of Saint Agnes on January 31, 2017 at 2 p.m. Until that time,...

In recent years, whenever a government-backed bishop not approved by the Vatican appeared at an episcopal ordination along with Vatican-approved bishops, Chinese Catholics would mock it saying "mixing sand with rice." The first time I heard "mixing sand with the rice" was via my mentor, the late Father Yan Wenda. It was in 1984 when he gave me my first New Testament. Owing to the socio-political situation at that time, the dominating official ideology denied the supremacy of the pope. Thus, the New Testament was published with explanatory notes tampered by some so-called Chinese "theologians." Since the Bible was scarce...

VATICAN CITY – Priests are called to be mediators between God and God's people, offering their time and their very lives in service; they are not God's "intermediaries" or functionaries, who go to work to get paid or, worse, enter the priesthood in search of status, Pope Francis said. Priests who only want to dress the part end up looking ridiculous, he said Dec. 9 during his homily at Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae. Looking at the day's Gospel reading, Mt 11:16-19, where Jesus talks about people who are never satisfied and always judge others, Pope...