Free Republic

History is full of great quotations that people never said. One of the best lines comes from Vladimir Lenin. He described Russian progressives, social democrats, and other fellow travelers as “useful idiots” – naïve allies in revolution whom the Bolsheviks promptly crushed when they took power. Or so the legend goes. In fact, there’s no evidence Lenin actually spoke those words, at least in public. But no one seems to care. It’s a compelling line, and in its own way, entirely true. The naïve and imprudent can very easily end up as useful tools in a larger conflict; or...

There are 23,145 verses in the Old Testament and 7,957 verses in the New Testament. That is a total of 31,102 verses from Genesis 1:1 to Revelations 22:21 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Revelations 22:21 In all those verses, there are many ways to interpret what each and everyone means. Without getting into the different ways people study or interpret things, I will just say that it takes the Holy Spirit to lead you to the truth. That being said, there...

Pope Francis has referred to Cardinal Christoph Schönborn as the “authoritative interpreter” of Amoris Laetitia. So when the Austrian cardinal spoke to an Irish audience about the controversial papal document, people naturally paid careful attention. According to Austen Ivereigh’s account: Schönborn revealed that when he met the Pope shortly after the presentation of Amoris, Francis thanked him, and asked him if the document was orthodox. “I said, ‘Holy Father, it is fully orthodox’,” Schönborn told us he told the pope, adding that a few days later he received from Francis a little note that said: “Thank you for that word. That gave...

TORONTO, July 17, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) -- Vatican spokesman Fr. Thomas Rosica has penned a strongly worded defense of Fr. James Martin’s new pro-gay book Building a Bridge. In it, he slams Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput, without specifically mentioning him by name, for issuing a correction to Fr. Martin for his abandonment of Catholic teaching on homosexuality. Fr. Rosica, a Basilian priest and CEO of the Canadian-based Salt and Light Media, wrote July 15 that he was filled with “bewilderment” and “astounded” after reading “critical comments” of Fr. James Martin’s book. He specifically mentioned that he was referring to “some bishops’...

He understands the fears of some conservative Catholics that same-sex marriage could open the floodgates for marriages “á trois” or for incest. But he says such fears are baseless. Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich has distanced himself from the apocalyptic scenarios some Catholics have voiced over Germany’s new same-sex marriage law, saying the Church should be more concerned over its historic complicity in demonizing gay people. Marx, who is head of the German bishops’ conference and one of Pope Francis’ chief advisors and allies, stated clearly that he firmly upholds the Church’s view on marriage. But in a lengthy interview...

Vatican gay sex stings are symptoms of the homoheresy The scandal of homosexual clerics preying on young males and the latest gay sex stings in the Vatican are but symptoms of the homoheresy. The depraved lifestyle of gay priests expresses their rejection of Church teaching on the intrinsic evil of homosexual relations. In 2007, Newsweek ran a story by Vaticanista Ed Pentin on Msgr. Tommaso Stenico, videotaped soliciting a male youth in Rome for sex. The young man related telling the monsignor he was "about to commit something with me that is a sin in the eyes of God." The...

Proverbs 17:15 He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD. The left and all of it's fruits summed up in a simple but powerful Proverb.

It will be Monsignor Gilfredo Marengo, Professor at John Paul II Pontifical Institute, the coordinator of the commission nominated by Pope Francis to “re-interpret” the encyclical Humanæ Vitæ by Paul VI, in the light of Amoris laetitia, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the former’s promulgation, which falls next year. The initial rumors of the existence of this commission, still secret, reported by Vatican reporter Marco Tosatti, were of a sound source. We can confirm that there is a commission, made up of Monsignor Pierangelo Sequeri, Head of the John Paul II Pontifical Institute, Professor Philippe Chenaux, Lecturer...

Proverb 17 (NKJV) The LORD Tests Hearts 01 Better is a dry morsel with quietness, 00 Than a house full of feasting with strife. 02 A wise servant will rule over a son who causes shame, 00 And will share an inheritance among the brothers. 03 The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, 00 But the LORD tests the hearts. 04 An evildoer gives heed to false lips; 00 A liar listens eagerly to a spiteful tongue. 05 He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker; 00 He who is glad at calamity will not...

“Francis is more interested in leftwing politics than in Catholic theology”, George Neumayr, contributing editor of The American Spectator, states talking to Tom Woods on July 14th on tomwoods.com. Woods describes Francis as a result of John Paul II who - as he puts it - appointed "absolutely terrible people" as bishops: "Catholics have suffered under Bergoglios for decades now”. Neumayr agrees that a lot of the liberal bishops were appointed by John Paul II and Benedict XVI. He sees Francis as the “culmination of a century” of liberalism and modernism in the Church. For him it is "highly unlikely"...

A family spokesperson has complained that if the Gards were wealthy the situation with their child 'would have never arisen'.Critically ill baby Charlie Gard has been "taken prisoner by the NHS and by the state", a spokesperson for the family has told Sky News. Alasdair Seton-Marsden, who represents Charlie Gard's family to the press, complained that if they were rich instead of "ordinary people" their child would be free to receive treatment in the US. "Baby Charlie wouldn't have become what is essentially - and these are my words - a prisoner of the state. The child is effectively being...

The disgraceful Pontificate of the Evil Clown can be summarised with the following points: Dethronement of Christ, and substitution for a Weltanschauung in which earthly cares and problems are the only focus. Francis says we should kneel in front of the poor, but he does not kneel in front of the Blessed Sacrament. He is a South American agit-prop in White. Aggressive pushing of a strongly socialist agenda of the sort that has repeatedly put on its knees the economy of several Central and South American Countries. Pushed by a person every bit as arrogant, incompetent and outright stupid. War...

In response to numerous questions over the past two weeks about Jesuit Fr. James Martin’s book, Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity, I have prepared the following reflection. Many years ago I was invited by the Archdiocese of San Francisco to preach the annual Parish Mission at Most Holy Redeemer Church in the heart of the “Castro”, the gay district of that city. I was told that I had been invited to preach the mission because of my own Scripture studies, teaching and work...

The sermon was titled “Fatal Attraction.” It was a cautionary message to those of us who were married members of the congregation to scrupulously observe the wedding vows we took according to God’s holy ordinance: To have and to hold each other from our wedding day forward. To forsake all others who might come between us. To love each other, comfort each other and keep each other, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness, in health, until death do us part. But wait, said the junior pastor. He had an additional vow to suggest to Christ- following...

Proverb 16 (NKJV) Wisdom Is Better Than Gold 01 The preparations of the heart belong to man, 00 But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. 02 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, 00 But the LORD weighs the spirits. 03 Commit your works to the LORD, 00 And your thoughts will be established. 04 The LORD has made all for Himself, 00 Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom. 05 Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; 00 Though they join forces, none will go...

On Thursday, July 13, Cardinal Cristoph Schönborn — the pope’s chosen interpreter and advocate for his apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia — addressed an audience at the “Let’s Talk Family: Let’s Be Family” conference in Ireland in anticipation of the World Meeting of Families in Dublin next year. According to Greg Daly of The Irish Catholic, Schönborn opened his talk by assuring those in attendance that both the exhortation and the pope responsible for it are Catholic: Later, Daly tweeted that Schönborn said that all of the dubia questions can be answered with a “yes”: If you don’t recall what the answers are supposed to be,...

READ this excerpt of Pope Benedict's message read at Card. Meisner's funeral today. It is loaded with meaning:

In light of the confusion stirred in some readers of recent texts on Social Media and other online portals, regarding the Church’s clear teaching on homosexuality and the pastoral need to care for those suffering in particular from the social trend to regard it as “natural” or a thing to be accepted as part of human nature, the following text is provided for contrast. Presented as a “reference text” at a clergy meeting of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia in the USA last year, it offers a clear response to many of the social arguments used in the...

In Proverb 15, Solomon tells us how the peace may be kept, that we may know how in our places to keep it; it is by soft words. If wrath be risen like a threatening cloud, pregnant with storms and thunder, a soft answer will disperse it and turn it away. When men are provoked, speak gently to them, and give them good words, and they will be pacified, as the Ephraimites were by Gideon's mildness (Judges 8:1-3); whereas, upon a likeoccasion, by Jephthah's roughness, they were exasperated, and the consequences were bad, (Judges 12:1-3). Reason will be better...

ROME, July 14, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) -- A high ranking Vatican archbishop who heads a pro-life Academy as well as a theological institute for marriage and family said that Christian values do not need to be defended because “they defend themselves.” Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia dismissed concerns that Pope Francis’ controversial reforms of the Pontifical Academy for Life and the Pope John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family, which the Archbishop heads, signify any reluctance to fight for Christian values. “My view is the exact opposite: I am so certain of the power of Christian values that I don’t feel...