Free Republic

A group of twelve former Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate have successfully escaped the Vatican crack-down. They re-appeared in a slightly modified habit in Italy, writes the newspaper Il Mattino (January 5). The pious women are based in the shrine Santuario del Buon Consiglio of Frigento. Since December 28 they are working in a radio and publishing house which formerly were managed by the Sisters. The Vatican forced them out of their religious vows but has no power against pious women who form a community in order to serve the Lord. The Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate have been headed...

If you ask most Indians in what kind of society they want to live, they’ll tell you they want to live in a free and tolerant India. Indians want to live in harmony as Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and as members of any religion of their choosing. They don’t want to be accused of being anti-nationalist because of their diverse identities and beliefs, or of participating in fraudulent conversions when they practice and share their faith as enjoined in the constitution. Christians want to celebrate Easter and Christmas in peace, in the same way Muslims want to celebrate Ramadan and...

Reprinted from the Gatestone Institute.Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. Luc Ravel, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Strasbourg “went against the grain of Church leaders in France who have largely remained politically correct,” says a report, because he criticized “the demographic shift in France, saying Muslims are having far more children than native French and slammed the widespread ‘promotion’ of abortion.”  He said, “Muslim believers know very well that their birthrate is such that today, they call it … the Great Replacement, they tell you in a very calm, very positive way that, ‘one...

Christianity has been growing at a fast rate in the last couple of decades in Iran, that has caused the Islamic government a lot of concern, according to Mohabat News, an Iranian Christian News Agency. A high profile Islamic seminary official, Ayatollah Alavi Boroujerdi, stated "accurate reports indicate that the youth are becoming Christians in Qom and attending house churches." Another most senior Islamic Shi'ite cleric, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi has repeatedly expressed his concern over the spread of Christianity among the youth in the country. He and his other colleagues blame foreign influence for the conversion of young Iranians to...

"'The Boss Baby' sequel money is going to go a long way because of Trump," the Baldwin brother says. Stephen Baldwin is a rare Donald Trump supporter in Hollywood, so he knows how polarizing a figure the president can be. Hence, the actor was an obvious choice for a new TV show where he travels across the U.S. talking to Americans about the state of the union nearly a year into the presidency of a former reality TV star. The show, Great American Pilgrimage … The GAP, is one of the more popular ones on RT, a Kremlin-backed network...

The Supreme Court has now heard the arguments in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, a case that pits gay rights against religious rights. But a ruling is not expected until June 2018. That gives us plenty of time to ask ourselves, “Would I lose my livelihood because of my religious convictions? Am I willing to suffer for my faith?” In America, an increasing number of Christians have answered yes to that question, including Jack Philips of Masterpiece Cakeshop. People like this should be commended for their steadfastness and should serve as examples to the rest of the Church: We show love...

Needy Christians are forced to replace religious images with pictures of the president to get aid. “They think God is their saviour,” an official said. “After our cadres’ work, they’ll realise their mistakes and think: we should no longer rely on Jesus, but on the party for help”. According to some sources, the number of Christians exceeds that of party members.Beijing (AsiaNews/SCMP) – Yugan County, a poor rural area in the southern province of Jiangxi Province, has undertaken a campaign to replace religious faith with faith in the party. To achieve this, the local government is asking people to replace...

How the grandparents of today’s Christian victims of ISIS were Editor’s Note: The following review was written by Raymond Ibrahim, a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. The book reviewed is Year of the Sword: The Assyrian Christian Genocide, a History (published by the Oxford University Press, 2016), by Joseph Yacoub, an Honorary Professor of Political Science at Catholic University of Lyon. A significantly shorter version of this review first appeared in the Middle East Quarterly, Fall 2017. This important contribution to genocide studies documents how the world’s oldest Christian communities—variously referred to as Chaldeans, Syriacs, and Arameans,...

Many nations have been victimized by Islamic supremacism and jihadist campaigns, but Yazidis – an ancient ethno-religious community indigenous to northern Mesopotamia – seem to be one of the main and continued victims of this genocidal ideology.Even though Yazidis are ethnically Kurdish, they are a distinct religious community with their own unique culture.The recent invasions of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria have finally brought this persecuted people to the world’s attention. But genocidal massacres, ethnic cleansings and forced conversions against Yazidis by Muslims did not start with the advent of the Islamic State. Yazidis, a peaceful community opposed...

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick recently filed a grievance against the National Football League, accusing all teams of colluding to deny him a place on a team because he kneeled during the national anthem. As was true with Michael Sam, the openly gay player and activist who claimed after he was drafted and released that owners didn't want him, Kaepernick isn't playing because he's not worth signing. Period. So what is it that keeps Kaepernick in the media spotlight? They like him. Multimillionaire celebrities who wear Che Guevara T-shirts and socks that depict the police as racist pigs...

Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Israel and Egypt in December, relaying a message of U.S. concern over persecution of Christians in the Middle East.“One of the messages that I will bring on the president’s behalf to leaders across the region is that now is the time to bring an end to the persecution of Christians and all religious minorities,” he declared in a Wednesday night speech. The vice president also announced that the U.S. would halt its funding to United Nations’ efforts to aid persecuted peoples, instead vowing to funnel all future efforts through direct foreign aid.

North Korean Choi Kwanghyuk is one of the lucky ones. The 55-year-old managed to escape from the work camp where he was sent after being targeted and persecuted by the government for his Christian faith. “We couldn’t raise our voice during a service, we couldn’t sing out loud during a worship … that was hard,” Choi told Fox News through a translator. “Also, we had to hide so that other people could not see us.” Despite having to hide his faith in plain sight while living in North Hamgyong province, Choi was still compelled to bring religion to others when...

The American media would have you believe there is a concerted effort among Christians in America to discriminate against gay Americans. "No gays allowed," they claim small Christian business owners are saying. It is a fiction created to avoid dealing with the facts. The fact is I am unaware of any Christian business that refuses to serve gay customers, but I am aware of many gay activists targeting Christian small businesses for persecution.The latest issue is also the one where the left has most dramatically overplayed its hand. Jack Phillips, a baker in Denver, CO, has been compared to a...

Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed. (Isaiah 66:5)Isaiah predicted that the larger, more staid and respectable congregation, whose religion was active, busy and very aggressive, but which wasn’t individually spiritually searching, would inevitably persecute those whose religion was acceptable to God, approved of the Holy Ghost. Your Brethren hated You… Why did they hate them? It is an age old Biblical pattern which...

A Boise State University professor recently learned what happens when you challenge left-wing social narratives on college campuses. Scott Yenor, a tenured professor, has been under siege on campus after publishing articles with The Heritage Foundation and The Daily Signal about feminism and the transgender movement. In those articles, Yenor explained the similarity in philosophy between the early feminists and modern transgender movement and how they aim at undermining traditional family values. He wrote in a Daily Signal article on Aug. 2:

When Palo Alto High School sophomore Jackson Druker wore his red "Make America Great Again" hat to school last year, he said he was bullied, harassed and even physically assaulted. Students took his hat and stepped on it. Others cursed at him. One student punched him in the back of his head, he said. Another told him "I literally want to shoot you right now if you don't take off that hat," he said during a class presentation on the experience. Druker's account with online schoolwork-management system Schoology was hacked and his contact information changed to hillaryclintonlover3@gmail.com, he said.

At Oxford, where the motto is, “The Lord is my Light.” Members of the Christian Union (CU) were banned from attending a freshman fair at the University of Oxford for fears that incoming students might face “potential harm” and feel unwelcome. According to Breitbart London, the university wanted to keep the freshers’ fair a “secular space” after concerns were raised by “student welfare representatives.” This was a strange turn of events for an institue established under Christianity. An internal e-mail explained the university’s reasoning: "We recognise the wonderful advantages in having CU representatives at the Fresher’s Fair, but are concerned...

A North Korean defector opened up about the underground church he led and the secretive life he and other Christians had there. He also revealed that despite being offered freedom for renouncing their religion, believers in the notorious prison camps refuse to do so. Choi Kwanghyuk, who now lives in L.A., told The Christian Post in an email interview through the help of a translator with International Christian Concern on Thursday that he first learned about Christianity when he went to China to search for food. There, he was connected with a Christian missionary and began studying the Bible. Eventually,...

A gay coffee shop owner in Seattle decided to kick out a group of Christian anti-abortion protesters, going on an expletive-laden, extremely offensive rant that was recorded and posted on Facebook. The group, Abolish Human Abortion, appeared not to be bothering anyone.  They weren't in the shop to proselytize or hand out literature.  They just wanted a cup of coffee. What they got was an obscene, even blasphemous rant from an unbalanced store owner. Daily Caller: The owner heatedly tells the Christians to leave his shop immediately in a video posted to Facebook by Abolish Human Abortion, Christian group...

It turns out those who vehemently demand Christians be tolerant of their views and lifestyles, and force Christians to perform services under threat of legal retaliation are — and I can’t believe I’m writing this — intolerant of Christians, and refuse to provide services for them. In a recently released video from the group Abolish Human Abortion, a pro-life advocacy group, a gay coffee shop owner can be seen berating, insulting, and forcing the removal of the Christian group because of their beliefs. Caytie Davis and her fellows had been handing out pro-life pamphlets that targeted the homosexual community for...