Free Republic

Washington D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory was among 13 new cardinals named by Pope Francis on Sunday and will become the first Black U.S. prelate to earn the coveted red hat. Gregory was picked by Francis to lead the prestigious diocese in the U.S. capital last year. He served three times as the head of the U.S. Conference of Bishops. The newly elected cardinal was part of a select group of Catholic leaders that criticized President Donald Trump for staging a picture in front of St. John's Episcopal Church near the White House, amid protests about the death of George Floyd....

A Permissive Pope for a Permissive Age Whatever he is up to, it is not saving souls. Jorge Bergoglio’s pontificate beyond parody continues apace. The latest papal farce revolves around his reiteration of support for homosexual civil unions. In a new documentary, Pope Francis says that homosexuals “have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over it. What we have to have is a civil union law — that way they are legally covered. I supported that.” Previous popes hated the sin and loved the sinner. Pope Francis shrugs at the sin and...

Hated For My Names Sake by Chuck NessOctober 25, 2020 Many people complain when a Christian, like me, uses Trump's faith as a reason for his success. While I understand their argument, I disagree with it. We are told by Christ, that if we have the faith of a mustard seed, we could accomplish amazing things. Throughout his life, Donald Trump has accomplished amazing things. Yet, once he became President, his accomplishments have overshadowed even those of Ronald Reagan. Yes, I said that. I loved Reagan, but even he did not have to face the things Trump has.TrumpÂ’s faith...

Gay Unions: Pachamama Slayer Grills Pope Banner in St. Peter's Square asks Francis for clarification VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - Austrian Catholic Alexander Tschugguel took Vatican police by surprise Saturday afternoon as the "Pachamama slayer" unfurled a massive banner in St. Peter's Square asking Pope Francis for "clarity on same-sex unions." Alexander Tschugguel holds a banner in St. Peter's Square Tschugguel led a band of faithful Catholics from Castel Sant'Angelo — where the Catholic convert had dumped five Pachamama idols into the Tiber River during the Amazon Synod — to the Vatican in protest against the pontiff's repudiation of Catholic teaching. As...

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone released a statement Wednesday arguing for ‘inclusive’ civil unions that disregard people’s sexual proclivities to embrace non-sexual partnerships. “In our bishops region’s audience with Pope Francis last January during our ad limina visit (the visit diocesan bishops make every five years to the Vatican), the topic of civil unions came up in conversation,” Archbishop Cordileone wrote in a statement. “The Holy Father clearly differentiated between a civil arrangement which accords mutual benefits to two people, and marriage.” “The former, he said, can in no way be equated to marriage, which remains unique,” the archbishop added,...

Pope Francis’ recent statement in support of gay civil unions contains a number of inconsistences and contradictions to Christian teaching, His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary, the Chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, said yesterday. In a new documentary, “Francesco,” released on Wednesday, Pope Francis said: “Homosexual people have a right to be in a family. They are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be rejected or be made miserable over it.” However, “There are already a number of contradictions in this one phrase,” Met. Anthony said in comments to the Ukrainian...

Well, that’s a rhetorical question that bites the dust. Like Rick and Ilsa in Casablanca who will “forever will have Paris”, bears will continue to do what they do in the woods but I’m not so sure you can say the same thing about the pope. I’m bewildered at the dizzying pace in which Pope Francis is giving away the store. And make no mistake, the recognition of civil unions for homosexuals is so “yesterday” that it really doesn’t make sense to be talking about it at this juncture. Except on this level: eventually, the Catholic Church will go full...

Bishop Schneider calls faithful to pray for Pope Francis to ‘convert’ 'Every true Catholic, every true Catholic priest, every true Catholic bishop must with deep sorrow and a weeping heart regret and protest...' October 23, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — The Catholic Faith in the voice of the Magisterium of all times, the sense of the faith of the faithful (sensus fidelium) as well as common sense clearly reject any civil union of two persons of the same sex, a union which has the aim that these persons seek sexual pleasure from each other. Even if persons living in such unions should not...

BREAKING: Catholic youth outside Vatican ask Pope to clarify gay civil union remarks Pachamama dunker Alexander Tschugguel asked the Pope to explain his comments on homosexuality. VATICAN CITY, October 24, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) ― Just a few hours ago, a group of young Catholics gathered in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, asking Pope Francis “for clarity on same-sex unions.” In a documentary released earlier this week, the Holy Father had expressed his support for homosexual civil unions. Led by Alexander Tschugguel, known as the Pachamama dunker, the young people of Austria’s St. Boniface Institute gathered in St. Peter’s Square today with a...

(New Zealand) Bishops endorse civil unions stand by Pope Francis Pope Francis was widely quoted this week supporting same-sex civil unions –– which have been available in Aotearoa New Zealand since 26 April 2005. This is a comment on the pope's statement by Bishop Patrick Dunn, Bishop of Auckland and President of the NZ Catholic Bishops’ Conference: “I endorse the reported comments of Pope Francis. I know that he is anxious for LGBTQ people to know that they are valued members of the family of the Church as they are of their own families. We want their happiness, and for...

Gay Unions: Vatican Orders Media Blackout Pope Francis' full statements on homosexual partnerships censored VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - The Vatican has imposed a media blackout after fresh revelations that the pope's approval of gay civil unions in a 2019 interview was censored, only to re-emerge unauthorized in the new Francesco film.Vatican communications prefect Ruffini with Afineevsky "With reference to the [current media] crisis triggered off by Russian director Evgeny Afineevsky's film Francesco, for now we are not going out with ANY news, neither [on] radio nor [on the] web," ordered Massimiliano Menichetti, head of Vatican Radio and Vatican News, in an email. "Also, nothing about...

US Catholic bishops fund network that endorses Biden, abortion, strippers October 23, 2020 (Lepanto Institute) — Last week, the Lepanto Institute published a report showing how the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), through the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), is funding a network of community organizers openly committed to helping Joe Biden get elected as the next president of the United States.  The community organizing network, “Faith in Action” (formerly the PICO Network), has forty-nine affiliate members, twenty-nine of which received $1.5 million from pewsitting Catholics last year.  In 2016, the CCHD provided a $500,000 grant directly to PICO/Faith...

Schneider: This Could Mean the Loss of Francis Soul The Catholic Faith, the voice of the Magisterium, and common sense reject the recognition of civil homosex unions, Bishop Athanasius Schneider writes in an October 22 statement. He points out that homosexuals seek sexual pleasure from each other which represents a "great scandal," “a public recognition of sins of fornication,” and is "unrealistic.” “With deep sorrow and a weeping heart,” Schneider regrets that Francis pronounced an endorsement of homosex unions. Thus, he supports "a structure of sin, for a lifestyle against the sixth Commandment of the Decalogue,” Schneider explains. He points...

Evangelist Franklin Graham and leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention have responded to Pope Francis’ endorsement of same-sex civil unions, calling it “unthinkable in light of the Word of God” and explaining that no pope or priest gets to “define sexuality or the family.”“For Pope Francis to attempt to normalize homosexuality is to say that Holy Scriptures are false, that our sins really don’t matter, and that we can continue living in them,” Graham, the president of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, wrote on Facebook.“If that were true, then Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection wouldn’t have...

John Piper is one of the most respected Christian leaders in America, and I personally hold him in high esteem. Yet I differ with his suggestion that Christians might do best by sitting out the presidential election, since a vote for either Trump or Biden cannot be justified.Michael Brown holds a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Literatures from New York University and has served as a professor at a number of seminaries. He is the author of 25 books and hosts the nationally syndicated, daily talk radio show, the Line of Fire.Before sharing my differences, though, I want to...

John Piper, founder of DesiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary, speaks at the MLK50 Conference hosted by the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and The Gospel Coalition in Memphis, Tennessee, Christians from across the spectrum have weighed in on influential pastor and author John Piper's op-ed piece criticizing Christians' support for President Donald Trump.“I think it is a drastic mistake to think that the deadly influences of a leader come only through his policies and not also through his person,” Piper, founder of Desiring God, wrote on Thursday. “Flagrant boastfulness, vulgarity, immorality...

Prelates Censure Pontiff on Gay Civil Unions Argentine archbishop: Francis' words have been accurately translated VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - Leading prelates are reprimanding Pope Francis for his "scandalous" endorsement of homosexual civil unions, asking the pontiff to retract his approval "for the sake of the salvation of his immortal soul."Pope Francis greeting gay film director Evgeny Afineevsky "Every true Catholic, every true Catholic priest, every true Catholic bishop must with deep sorrow and a weeping heart regret and protest against the unheard fact, that Pope Francis ... uttered in the documentary film Francesco ... his support for civil same-sex unions," Bp. Athanasius Schneider...

"You Are Welcome": Francis Makes Phone Call to Homosexual With Three Surrogacy Children The Roman homosexual Andrea Rubera sent in 2015 a letter to Francis, and Francis called him on the phone.Rubera and his homosex-partner in sin raise three children produced by a paid surrogate woman in Canada.Despite wilfully denying three children a mother, Rubera asked Francis for a “Catholic education" for them.The story is featured in the documentary “Francesco” produced by the homosexual filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky. Rubera is the spokesman of Cammini di speranza, a group of "Catholic" homosexuals.Francis asked Rubera on the phone if the surrogate children had...

Abp. Viganò: Here is what the Pope’s ambiguous statements are doing to the Church October 23, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Yesterday, on the occasion of the Rome Film Festival, the director Evgeny Afineevsky presented a documentary called Francesco, which proposes several interviews done with Jorge Mario Bergoglio over the course of the last few years of his pontificate. Among other disconcerting statements, there are several about the legitimization of homosexual civil unions: “What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they [homosexuals] are legally covered. I stood up for that.” I think that both the simple faithful...

WWJD? Should we always do what Jesus would do? I think the answer is obvious: No. Don’t get me wrong. I love Jesus. He’s God. There’s no person who is a greater arbiter of what’s right and wrong. There’s no person who could do better than he would do. Generally speaking, we should take our cues from his life and public ministry. But if we are honest, we shouldn’t—and can’t—always do what Jesus would do. Here are three examples where Jesus did something we should not do. Jesus made certain claims. In John 10:30, Jesus said, “I and the Father...