Free Republic

Chicago, Ill., Jun 9, 2018 / 04:28 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A U.S. appellate court has ruled against a self-described Satanist from Chicago who had filed a lawsuit seeking to remove the motto “In God We Trust” from U.S. currency. The ruling, released May 31, found that “a reasonable observer would not perceive the motto on currency as a religious endorsement.” Kenneth Mayle, who describes himself as a non-theistic Satanist, filed the original lawsuit in May 2017. A lower court had dismissed the suit, and Mayle appealed. The 36-year-old told the Chicago Tribune that carrying and using money with the motto...

SINGAPORE – With President Trump and Kim Jong Un preparing to come together for a monumental summit next week, Christians here spent their Sunday praying that the upcoming meeting would contribute to lasting peace and stability throughout the Korean peninsula and rest of the world. During an early morning service at St. Andrews Cathedral, an Anglican church just miles away from the venue for Tuesday's bilateral discussion, visiting Rev. Alvin Toh urged the parish to pray that "good will and diplomacy prevail" as Trump and Kim come together to discuss denuclearization and a possible peace treaty to end the Korean...

As many as 60 Turkish imams and their families face expulsion from Austria and seven mosques are due to be closed under a clampdown on what the government has called “political Islam”. Austria’s chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, said the country could no longer put up with “parallel societies, political Islam and radicalisation,” which he said had “no place in our country”.

Latest suppression of religion in province suggests Communist Party will 'allow Catholicism to exist but not develop' The Way of the Cross at a pilgrimage site in China's Henan province has been forcibly demolished by authorities in the latest clampdown on religious freedom. Local government officials removed images of Jesus at the well-known Our Lady of Mount Carmel pilgrimage site in Tianjiajing village of Anyang Diocese at 8 p.m. on June 5. A source said authorities sent personnel one month ago to tell Bishop Joseph Zhang Yinlin of Anyang that the Way of the Cross must be dismantled, but no...

Ben Rhodes, a top adviser in the Obama White House, has just released a memoir, mostly a stack of straw but revealing one telling needle. Rhodes recalls a lame-duck Obama wistfully musing with his staff. “Sometimes I wonder whether I was 10 or 20 years too early. . . . Maybe we pushed too far. . . . Maybe people just want to fall back into their tribe.” What’s going on here? Did Obama’s fawning advisers wax in the glow — or did some sane secretary call the White House physician? Because this statement is a symptom of a serious...

DUBLIN, June 8, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – The results of Ireland’s May 26 referendum that repealed the pro-life Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution are being challenged in the country’s High Court.  The pro-abortion “Yes” side won with 66.5% of the vote. The first challenger, Joanna Jordan of Dublin, has complained that large numbers of potential “No” voters were allegedly deregistered and therefore blocked from casting their ballots.  In addition, she questioned the unexplained boost to the “Yes” side. Before the day of the referendum, polls indicated that the victory might go to either side. However, the exit polls and the...

It was 3 a.m. on April 27. Grace Ahn and her husband, Matthew, sat glued to the television in their Seal Beach home. The couple texted family members as they saw the leaders of North and South Korea, Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in smile, greet one another and walk hand in hand during a first-time meeting in Panmunjom, a truce village right in the middle of the Demilitarized Zone, which has divided the Korean Peninsula for seven decades. It was an eventful morning, which the couple marked with a celebratory brunch — cold noodles, Pyongyang-style, at their favorite Korean...

Population transfer is under way in Europe, partly to help speculators like US financier George Soros make money by “destroying” the continent, Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, said on Friday. It is necessary to openly fight Soros and his “army” and to establish that they want immigration and their ideological motivation is a multicultural Europe, Orban told Kossuth Radio. “They do not like the traditions of Christian Europe and they believe that if they mix us with other peoples, then Europe will be more liveable. They want to destroy Europe because they expect large profits; that’s just the nature of...

Archbishop Prowse criticised new mandatory reporting laws which include the sacrament of ConfessionAn Australian archbishop has warned that a new local law could penalise priests who refuse to break the seal of Confession in cases relating to child abuse. The legislative assembly of the Australian Capital Territory has expanded regulations on abuse reporting to include information divulged in the confessional. In an article for the Canberra Times, Archbishop Christopher Prowse of Canberra and Goulburn, supported the effort to protect children but said that “breaking the sacred seal of Confession won’t prevent abuse”. Archbishop Prowse said that the law would be...

In my last column on the political situation in Italy I noted reports of a breakthrough in the creation of a government based on the new populist, anti-EU parliamentary majority resulting from the stunning electoral triumph of both the Five Stars and League parties.   As the New York Times reported on May 31 (with evident deep regret): “After 88 days of impasses and negotiations, two Italian populist parties with a history of antagonism toward the European Union received approval Thursday night to create a government that has already unsettled the Continent’s political order.” Horrors!  How dare the Italian people “unsettle” the...

ROME - As fighter jets flew over Rome on June 2 to celebrate Italy’s Feast of the Republic, no doubt many observers were wondering if the country’s new populist government was going to last longer than the green, white and red trail of smoke the planes left in their wake. Amidst fireworks and parades, bishops invited faithful to pray the Te Deum - an ancient hymn usually reserved for the end of the year - for the future of their republic and constitution, which celebrate their 70th anniversaries this year. After a three-month hiatus, the boot-shaped peninsula finally has an...

By his silence, Bergolio is supporting abortion in Argentina Francis' Video Message to Argentina to Vote Against Abortion:

What Oliver Cromwell could not do, what an Gorta Mór (the Great Hunger) could not do, what hundreds of years of Anglo-Protestant persecution could not do to the Irish Catholic people — namely, rob them of their faith and morals — the one-two punch of the sexual revolution and the doctrinal-liturgical revolution in the Church have accomplished, with the more-or-less enthusiastic complicity of the Irish people themselves, clergy and laity. Joe Doyle, our 100% Irish go-to man on all questions Hibernian, has compiled a sad and sorrowful litany of this national apostasy, as well as a summary of its most recent...

Backlash from Italian LeftROME (ChurchMilitant.com) - A staunch pro-life advocate will soon chair Italy's Ministry of Family and Disabilities. Nearly three months after Italy’s much-disputed general elections, the winning coalition has finally made a deal to establish a new government. The good news for Catholics was the nomination of Lorenzo Fontana from Lega ("League") for the newly founded ministry. Corriere della Sera reported Fontana as "the minister who combats the nihilist deviation of society." Fontana defines himself as "Veronese and Catholic" and this is how his website describes his priorities: "Besides foreign policy, I take an interest in the protection...

On June 6, 1944, 150,000 Allied soldiers clambered aboard heaving landing craft and braved six-foot swells, waves of machine gun fire, and more than 6 million mines to claim a stretch of sand at a place called Normandy. Their mission was to carve out an Allied foothold on the edge of Nazi-occupied Europe for the army of more than one million that would follow them in the summer of 1944. This army would burst forth from the beachhead, rolling across Europe into the heart of Germany, liberating millions, toppling a genocidal regime and ending a nightmare along the way. But...

The principal leader of the Church of England has declared the European Union (EU) “the greatest dream realised for human beings since the fall of the Western Roman Empire”. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, made the statement in a speech to the General Assembly of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) in Serbia on Sunday. “[The EU] has brought peace, prosperity, compassion for the poor and weak, purpose for the aspirational, and hope for all its people,” he claimed. He also highlighted how there are “Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and many of no faith at all” in European now, arguing:...

Poland’s prime minister discussed Russia, Ukraine and social issues with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Monday.Poland’s transformation from communism was also discussed during a 40-minute audience with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and his family, the Polish premier said. “We had a very warm, heartfelt talk with the Holy Father … about a lot of issues,” Morawiecki said. Morawiecki said he and the head of the Catholic Church discussed helping people during times of a strong and weak economy, and about the dangers of a few individuals dominating the capital market. The Polish prime minister added that he discussed the...

WASHINGTON, June 5, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Wednesday, June 6, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), in partnership with other civil rights organizations,* will host a "NOT Trump's Iftar" fast-breaking meal (iftar) outside the White House. People of all faiths and backgrounds are welcome to take part in the iftar. Wednesday's event is designed as a counterpoint to the iftar that will take place at that same time in the White House. [*Other sponsoring organizations include CWS Immigration and Refugee Program, the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and the Justice for Muslims Collective. Other groups are expected to be...

Last year it took place in Chantilly , Virginia . But this year the Bilderberg group chose Turin for its usual annual meeting, strictly behind closed doors. Among the Italians in the list of 128 participants are John Elkann , president of FCA and Exor , the journalist Lilli Gruber , the director general of the Bank of Italy Salvatore Rossi and the secretary of the Vatican State , Cardinal Pietro Parolin. There are twelve key topics for discussion. In the first place populism in Europe , follow the challenge of disparity, the future of work, artificial intelligence. And still...

June 5, 2018 (One Peter Five) – After expressing my concerns from afar about the Vatican's proposed agreement with the China here and here, I decided to go to Rome to talk directly with senior Vatican officials. As someone who has worked with the Chinese Catholics for decades, I wanted to find out what these officials thought the Church would gain from inking an agreement with the Chinese Communist Party.  I also wanted to let them know that, in my opinion, such an agreement would be seen by Chinese believers as nothing short of a rank betrayal. So it was that...