Free Republic

Today, in cloisters and schools around America, the sound of young voices is ringing out. These sisters’ voices resound in classrooms, lift in chant, laugh on the playing field — and bring their fresh, healthy orthodox Catholicism into the spiritual desert. In September 1971, Sister Imelda Marie, O.P. stepped into our eighth grade classroom. She was greeted by a stunned silence. Sister smiled awkwardly, and then turned on her heel to write pre-algebra equations on the chalkboard. From the back of the classroom came a stifled giggle, then a raised hand. “Sister, where’s your habit?” Sister Imelda was a formal...

A nun in east London climbed to the top of a local building and ripped down a flag similar to the one flown by Jihadist militants in Syria and Iraq. IB Times reported Friday that the flag was being flown alongside Palestinian flags and slogans in support of Gaza. Community members issued complaints over the flag with local council members, claiming that it was causing tension within the community. When council members went to take the flag down, they were surprised to find, someone had beat them to it. “The council can confirm that following reports this morning of a...

[Cross removed this week from dome of Syriac Orthodox Cathedral, Mosul, Iraq] For two thousand years, our dearest brethren saw it all from Mosul: Romanized Greeks, Hellenized Persians, Hellenized Romans from all origins later called "Byzantines", Armenians, Arabs from the desert with a religion of the sword, Egyptians, Crusaders, Mongols, Turks, French and British, "Independence"... Then the clumsiest Empire in history, an Empire unwanted by most voters, unwarranted by the Republic's own Constitution, led by bellicose hawks motivated by God knows what, justifying their actions on untruths, arrived, upsetting a balance that was not the best, but was best...

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe announced Wednesday it is exploring sainthood for an Italian-born nun who challenged Billy the Kid, calmed angry mobs and helped open New Mexico territory hospitals and schools. Archbishop Michael Sheehan said he has received permission from the Vatican to open the “Sainthood Cause” for Sister Blandina Segale, an educator and social worker who worked in Ohio, Colorado and New Mexico. Segale, a nun with the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, came to Trinidad, Colorado, in 1877 to teach poor children and was later transferred to Santa Fe, where she co-founded public and Catholic schools. During...

'What a Feeling' Nun Wins Italy's 'The Voice' Video at link.

ROME – Italy’s singing nun, Sister Cristina Scuccia, is the winner of “The Voice of Italy,” after becoming a global sensation starting in March when her rendition of Alicia Keys’ “No One” in the talent show’s blind audition got more than 50 million hits on YouTube and appreciative Tweets from Keys herself and Whoopi Goldberg. On Thursday night, wearing her nun’s habit, crucifix around her neck, and plain black shoes, the 25-year-old Sicilian nun won Italy’s version of “The Voice” with 62.3 percent of the vote. “My presence here is not up to me, it’s thanks to the man upstairs,”...

From The Catholic Herald: The Dominican sister who gave a presentation on sexuality to students at Charlotte Catholic High School that sparked controversy among students and parents last month is taking a sabbatical from teaching and canceling her other speaking engagements.The presentation March 21 by Dominican Sister Jane Dominic Laurel of Nashville, Tenn., entitled “Masculinity and Femininity: Difference and Gift,” drew the ire of hundreds of students and parents over the past two weeks, and their emotions boiled over during a parents meeting with school and diocesan leaders Wednesday night.Sister Jane has a doctorate in sacred theology from the Pontifical...

Nearly 1,000 parents gathered at Charlotte Catholic High School on Wednesday night to air complaints about a recent speech to students by a nun who made what many considered inflammatory comments about gays and lesbians, divorce and single parenthood. So many parents lined up to speak that the meeting with high school officials, the school’s chaplain and the Diocese of Charlotte’s vicar of education lasted more than an hour longer than scheduled. Though the gathering was closed to the media, texts and tweets from parents inside the school gym cast the meeting as often heated, with emotions running high on...

Move over Pope Francis, there's a new spiritual sensation in town. An Italian nun has become a national star after she wowed judges on her country's version of "The Voice." Sister Cristina, from Sicily, saw all four chairs turn around during her blind audition of Alicia Keys' "No One." The 25-year-old then told the quartet: "I have a gift and I'm giving it to you." Broadcast on Wednesday night, the clip has already racked up more than 30,000 views. It shows the Catholic Sister confidently walking out onto the stage and belting out her version of the hit song. Fellow...

Madrid, January 30, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a recent interview with the Spanish feminist magazine Pikara, a Benedictine sister, Teresa Forcades, said her position towards the proposed restrictions on abortion by the Spanish conservative government was that of “criticism and upfront rejection.” “I’m in favor of allowing abortion when the fetus isn’t viable,” said the Sister. The proposed law will eliminate a provision passed in 2010 by the previous socialist government allowing abortion on demand until 14 weeks gestation, and will remove fetal malformation as a reason for the mother to abort. “There can be a mother,” she continued, “to...

This is the first picture of nun and new mother Roxana Rodriguez. The 33-year-old woman, a nun with the order of the Little Disciples of Jesus, stunned her mother superior and local church chiefs after giving birth last week to a baby boy which she has called Francis, in honour of the current Pope. Sister Roxana initially claimed to have no idea that she was pregnant and thought her labour pains were 'stomach cramps' when an ambulance rushed her to hospital in severe pain after being called by fellow nuns when she collapsed at her nunnery.

Authorities near Pittsburgh have arrested an 18-year-old man who admitted to the brutal rape a nun in the parking lot behind the church where she serves Friday morning. The suspect, Andrew Bullock, faces at least 10 charges in the viscous attack. According to authorities, the victim was walking in the parking lot behind the Titus Church on Franklin Avenue in Aliquippa - about 20 miles northwest of Pittsburgh - when the suspect approached her and asked if she needed help. [Snip] 'The first thing you notice when you look up up where this horrific act occurred, is the statue of...

EAVER COUNTY (KDKA) – An 18-year-old has been charged in the brutal rape and beating of an elderly nun in Aliquippa. Andrew Bullock, of Orchard Street, faces at least 10 charges in the Friday morning attack. The nun serves at St. Titus Church on Franklin Avenue. She was walking in a parking lot behind the church when she was approached by a man who choked her, punched her, then threw her to the ground where she was assaulted and raped.

A mob marched nuns through the battle-torn streets of Cairo ‘like prisoners of war’ in the latest outrage against Egypt’s Christian minority. Sister Manal, principal of a Franciscan school in suburban Cairo, watched for six hours as a mob looted the building, knocked the cross off the gate and replaced it with a black banner resembling the flag of Al Qaeda. The classrooms were then burned to the ground and the women taken away, attracting a crowd of abusive onlookers. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2396764/Egypt-crisis-Islamist-mob-parades-nuns-Cairo-prisoners-war.html#ixzz2cTNGBxc6 Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

When I was asked during my grade school years, “What are you going to be when you grow up?” my standard answer would be, “Either an opera singer or a Sister!” That was quite a range. It is easy to tell which one became a reality. Franciscan-Sister-RenitaOn a hot Sunday morning in August, I was born in Manitowoc, Wisconsin to Anita Broecker Tadych and Zenon Tadych. I have two younger sisters, Dorothy and Caroline (Kitty). My mother died when I was three years old. Some years later my father remarried, and we were blessed with Lillian, “our Mom,” and LaVerne,...

When Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) was launched on Aug. 15, 1981, many felt there would be little demand for a Catholic network. In fact, when Mother M. Angelica, a cloistered nun, fulfilled a promise to our Lord in the early 1960s by founding Our Lady of Angels Monastery in Irondale, Ala., she had no idea she would one day found the largest religious media network in the world. Who could have imagined that a cloistered nun would found a global television network? Who could have predicted that a network funded entirely by donations from “people in the pews” instead of...

Along with the tradition of naming a new pope, there’s the symbolism. The name Francis is in reference to St. Francis of Assisi– who shares much in common with the new pope. Sister Alicia Torres from the Franciscans of the Eucharist spoke about the importance. VIDEO AT LINK.

Rome, Italy, Mar 7, 2013 / 04:12 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Blessed Maria Restituta, a Catholic nurse who was decapitated by the Nazis in March of 1943, was remembered for her courageous martyrdom during a recent Mass in Rome. Cardinal Christoph Shonborn recalled the 70th anniversary of Blessed Maria’s death during a celebration of the Liturgy of the Word on March 6. The Mass was held at the Basilica of St. Bartholomew, which was dedicated by Pope John Paul II to the memory of the martyrs of the 20th and 21st centuries. During the Mass, members of Blessed Maria’s religious...

Democrats broke into a battle of wills on Wednesday over the need to restore God to the party’s official platform. After much infighting, they eventually made a change that restored language that was in the 2008 platform.It now reads: "We need a government that stands up for the hopes, values and interests of working people and gives everyone willing to work hard the chance to make the most of their God-given potential."Republicans had a field day with the godless platform. But was the change actually necessary?We asked Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of the Catholic social justice lobbying group NETWORK...

(RNS) Paul Ryan has been taking a lot of heat over the factual accuracy of claims he made in his prime time address at the Republican convention last week, but Wednesday night at the Democratic confab the GOP vice-presidential candidate – and practicing Catholic – was schooled by a popular nun on the moral shortcomings of his budget proposals. “Paul Ryan claims this budget reflects the principles of our shared faith,” Sister Simone Campbell, who became a celebrity of sorts this summer when she led the national “Nuns on the Bus” tour for social justice, told cheering Democratic delegates...