Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- The Crusades may be causing more devastation today than they ever did in the three centuries when most of them were fought, according to one expert. Robert Spencer, author of "Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)" (Regnery), claims that the damage is not in terms of lives lost and property destroyed but is a more subtle destruction. Spencer shared with ZENIT how false ideas about the Crusades are being used by extremists to foment hostility to the West today. Q: The Crusades are often portrayed as a militarily offensive venture. Were they? Spencer: No. Pope Urban...

The "Siri Thesis" Unravels - by Inside the Vatican staff In our confusing times, many otherwise faithful traditional Catholics have denounced and broken with "conciliar Rome," including the "conciliar Popes." But that has not ended the confusion... "It has been very well observed that there is no such thing as an impartial historian. Every man who sets out to trace the development of life, whether in politics, religion, or art, is bound to do so with some theory in his mind... The historian, or the theologian, who is most nearly impartial is not he who has no view, but he...

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 27, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Pope John Paul II contemplated the possibility of resigning but decided against it for fear of creating a "dangerous precedent for his successors." So revealed his longtime private secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, to Cardinal Julián Herranz, president of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts, on Dec. 17, 2004. Cardinal Herranz has now revealed the contents of that conversation in a book entitled "Nei Dintorni de Gerico. Ricordi degli Anni con San Josemaria & con Giovanni Paolo II" (In the Surroundings of Jericho: Memories of the Years with Saint Josemaría and John...

The death of Pope John Paul II and the election of Pope Benedict XVI have drawn great attention to the papacy in recent months. Such intense interest is remarkable. Much of it relates to the personality and accomplishments of John Paul II. He was a man of great courage and contributed significantly to the collapse of communism in eastern Europe. Part of the interest also results from the powerful images that Rome can offer television cameras. Some of the greatest art and architecture of western civilization serve as a backdrop for elaborate rituals performed by gloriously clad clerics. Part of...

The Importance of the Hierarchy in the ChurchIn a diocese neighboring the one in which I live there was a recent controversy when the archbishop insisted that one parish regularize its canonical status by submitting to him authority over its finances, authority previously held by a lay board. The parish refused, and ultimately the archbishop removed its priest. What was most interesting and disturbing about the situation was not the problem with the status of the parish in itself, but the fact that many Catholics in the area sincerely could not understand why this "detail" mattered, and why the archbishop...

Pope John Paul II's last words before his death were "let me go to the house of the Father", according to documents released by the Vatican.His words were spoken in his native Polish to aides hours before he died last April. They are preserved in a new 220-page volume which chronicles the last two months of the late pontiff's life. It is the first time the Vatican has published such a detailed account of any pope's final moments. Parkinson'sCorrespondents say the report is an unprecedented move, as the death of a pope has always been surrounded by secrecy. The book...

Everybody knows that one of the major divergences between the Orthodox and Roman Catholics is based on the position of the Bishop of Rome in the Universal Church. According to the Romans the Pope is the head of the Universal Church. According to Orthodox doctrine, instead, the Pope of Rome is a bishop equal in dignity to the other bishops. At this point it is interesting to read a qualified opinion: that of St. Gregory the Great, Pope of Rome (+ 604 A.D.), whose feast is celebrated on 12 March. St. John the Faster, Patriarch of Constantinople (feast: 2 September)...

This an excerpt is from Against False Union by Dr. Alexander Kalomiros (Seattle, WA: St. Nectarios Press, 1990 [1967]), pp. 53-55 as posted on www.orthodoxinfo.com /small> XXVIII. ECCLESIOLOGY The commotion about union of the churches makes evident the ignorance existing as much among the circles of the simple faithful as among the theologians as to what the Church is. They understand the catholicity of the Church as a legal cohesion, as an interdependence regulated by some code. For them the Church is an organization with laws and regulations like the organizations of nations. Bishops, like civil servants, are distinguished as...

The extensive media coverage of the passing of Pope John Paul II might have left readership of this newspaper "poped-out," and not without reason. Media attention was intensive and around the clock. The Vatican broke all precedents and was very forthcoming about the pope's condition. It used to be that a pope was in good health until he died. But John Paul II changed all that, and in the process showed us how to live, how to grow old with dignity, how to persevere in weakness and feebleness, and then how to meet death with courage - for all the...

New York, May. 03, 2005 (CNA) - Planed Parenthood has launched a campaign to motivate all of its members and supporters, nominal Catholics and non-Catholics, to send letters to the editor, requesting that Pope Benedict XVI reconsider his “backward views” and change his opinion on sexual morality. Pope Benedict XVI must be encouraged to “reconsider his dangerously outdated stances on birth control, abortion and sexuality in order to help move the Catholic Church into the 21st century,” reads a memo issued by campaign manager Eve Fox. “The new Pope's positions on these crucial issues pose a terrible danger to the...

As the church's period of mourning for Pope John Paul II comes to a close and the election of a successor is complete, media analysts can begin to get a full picture of how this historic and influential papacy was covered. The late Pope John Paul II received positive, praise-filled media coverage after his death, according to the Media Research Center. While he led the church, however, the slant of news coverage varied depending on the issue in question. While one of the most widely reported of Pope John Paul II's accomplishments for the past three weeks has been his...

Pope Benedict XVI was elected by an overwhelming majority of his fellow cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, possibly rallying an impressive 100 out of 115 votes, Italy's La Repubblica has reported. The exact number of votes in favour of Joseph Ratzinger will likely never be known, as records of the four ballots of this week's conclave have been sealed and can only be opened upon order of the pontiff himself. But citing Vatican sources, La Repubblica said the German-born Pope won the support of far more cardinals than the strict two-thirds majority needed to be elected. Pope Benedict was...

Habemus Papam! That's Latin for "We have a pope!" With those words the College of Cardinals announced that the world's Catholics have a new spiritual leader, former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. As the Vatican's chief defender of theological doctrine, it's no surprise he's already being condemned as a "traditionalist" and a "hardliner." Of course, if some of the modernizers had their way, a new pontiff would be announced with the declaration, "We got pope!" Or maybe "The pizzy is in the hizzy!" Then Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake would bump and grind a bit before His Holiness...

by Fr. Frank Pavone Other Articles by Fr. Frank Pavone The New Pope 4/19/05 God always blesses His Church with the type of leader it needs at each time in history. That was true with John Paul II, and it is true with Benedict XVI, formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. His role as the head of the Church's doctrinal office, the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, may seem to some a far cry from what he now has to do as the Universal Pastor of the Church. Some see enforcing doctrinal orthodoxy as perhaps in tension with reaching out,...

London's Sunday Times would have us believe that one of the leading contenders for the papacy is a closet Nazi. In if-only-they-knew tones, the newspaper informs readers that German-born Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was a member of the Hitler Youth during World War II and suggests that, because of this, the "panzer cardinal" would be quite a contrast to his predecessor, John Paul II. The article also classifies Ratzinger as a "theological anti-Semite" for believing in Jesus so strongly that – gasp! – he thinks that everyone, even Jews, should accept him as the messiah. To all this we should say,...

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today welcomed the election of German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as the new pope, Benedict XVI. Under his leadership in Germany and Rome, the Catholic Church made important strides in improving Catholic-Jewish relations and atoning for the sin of anti-Semitism. Cardinal Ratzinger has been a leader in this effort and has made important statements in the spirit of sensitivity and reconciliation with the Jewish people. Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National director, issued the following statement: "We welcome the new Papacy of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. From the Jewish perspective, the fact that he comes from Europe is important,...

RUSH: We have microphones in the Vatican. Let's JIP it. CARDINAL / TRANSLATOR: My dearest brothers and sisters. (cheers) My dearest brothers and sisters. (cheers) My dearest brothers and sisters. RUSH: He's speaking in a bunch of different languages, for those of you in Rio Linda. There's nothing wrong here. CARDINAL: I announce to you a great joy. (cheers) We have a pope! (cheers) The most eminent and most reverent Lord Joseph (chimes) of the holy Roman Catholic church, Cardinal Ratzinger! (roars) RUSH: So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. From Germany, the new pope is Joseph Ratzinger. He...

¡Habemus Papam!Folks, I knew he was "papabile," and knew he could make a great Pope, but wow! I am elated.¡Ad multos annos, Benedictus, PP XVI, Pontifex Maximus!It is a great and agreeable surprise that the former "Panzer" Cardinal is now the new Holy Father. What his election portents for the Church is continuity and consolidation of the work of Pope John Paul the Great. We can expect continued, strong doctrinal clarity, leadership, and discipline, as well as the continued authentic interpretation of Vatican II. All-in-all, steady as she goes for the Ship of Peter. The initial coverage from the mainstream...

Statement by The Lutheran World Federation – A Communion of Churches, upon the election of Pope Benedict XVI At the election of Pope Benedict XVI it is appropriate for Christians to be united in prayer that God may bless, strengthen and guide him as a heavy mantle of responsibility is now being put upon him. History has shown in so many ways the impact of the Roman Pontiff on the direction of events both in church and in society. At the present time we see especially the urgency of processes of reconciliation across religious, ethnic and economic divides. The main...

<p>Never having been made a cardinal, retired Archbishop John R. Quinn of San Francisco will not be participating in the conclave that will elect a successor to Pope John Paul II. But the 76-year-old Quinn thinks that some of the electors could literally take a page from his book in choosing the next pope.</p>