Free Republic

Archbishop-elect Alexander Sample speaks with John-Henry Westen, LifeSiteNews' editor-in-chief WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 29, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - As the Obama administration and the U.S. Bishops remain locked in battle over the HHS mandate, the question on the minds of many observers is: what lengths are the bishops willing to go to to oppose the mandate? The prelates LifeSiteNews spoke to after the Vigil Mass for Life in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 24th indicated that they intend to do everything they can to oppose the mandate, including risking imprisonment if necessary. "I would be willing to go to jail in defense of religious...

What the Church will oppose to the attacks against it, how believers should protect their shrines, whether it is necessary to toughen punishment for insulting religious feelings, what migration policy is preferable and what the main threat for Russia is. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia answers these and other questions in exclusive interview to Interfax-Religion correspondents Alexey Sosedov and Valentina Trubetskaya.Your Holiness, we will remember the last year for numerous anti-church actions. What conclusions did the Church make in this connection, what did it bring out of this experience?- "What has been will be again, what has been...

CLIFF KINCAID: The New York Times reports that, at Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s recommendation, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops voted “unanimously” to [continue investigating the cause] of Dorothy Day, even though “[s]he had an abortion as a young woman and ... flirted with joining the Communist Party.” President Obama called Dorothy Day a “great reformer in American history." Cardinal Dolan is described as conservative and has strongly criticized Obama’s attacks on religious liberty and federal intrusions into church affairs. He nevertheless invited Obama to the Al Smith Dinner.... Obama received 54% of the Catholic vote in 2008 and 50%...

Andy Stanley is pastor of a megachurch in Atlanta and is considered a leader in Evangelicalism, often speaking at Willow Creek Community Church functions and other interdenominational gatherings. His father is Charles Stanley, a famous Southern Baptist megapastor in the same city. Andy grew up in his daddy’s church but drifted away from his daddy’s Baptist roots. Baptists might humorously say that when his daddy baptized him, he did not hold him down long enough or deep enough! In 2010, a survey of U.S. pastors found Stanley to be the 10th most influential living preacher. In January of 2009, he...

McCain Suggest A Pro-Life Catholic Could Have Won In 2012 Update; "The Catholic Bandita" AT THIS LINK headlines "best wishes to Sarah Palin as she leaves Fox news". An interesting take as full support to Sarah is given as a person but not politically because of her endorsement of Rand Paul in his senate race. I would be confident the political support would return if Sarah ran though. *************************************************************** Original post; If Sarah Palin's latest Tweets and the announcement of her next speaking engagement are examined it is very clear that the religious aspect of her focus has, at least...

Let’s quickly recap how disgusting the behavior of the Islamist Turkish government has been in the case of the murder of Bishop Luigi Padovese.Bishop Luigi Padovese was the Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia and President of the Turkish Bishops’ Conference. The Bishop’s driver and murderer, Murat Altun, had claimed to be Catholic, but prior to a trip to Cyprus, the Turkish government warned the Bishop that his driver was an Islamist and potentially dangerous. The Turkish government was worried about the murder of the Pope resulting in a major international incident.The Bishop chose to stay home to protect the Pope...

Jack Koency, an 86-year-old California man, was one of nearly 1.5 million surviving World War II veterans. He was neither terminally ill, nor bedridden, nor immobile. His neighbors remember him as quiet and good natured. Koency died at the hands of Elizabeth Barrett, an acquaintance of his. She served the decorated war vet a cup of yogurt in which she ground up a lethal dose of Oxcontin with two other medications. Barrett, a social worker, pled guilty a fortnight ago to so-called “assisted suicide.” She could have received up to three years in state prison for her role in Koency’s...

Isaiah 45:24 In Jehovah is All my Righteousness and Strength.

The Geneva Convention’s classification of military chaplains as noncombatants has traditionally been interpreted in the United States to mean that chaplains normally do not carry weapons. This often puts them in precarious positions when they are in war zones. Over four hundred chaplains have been killed in the line of duty. Catholic chaplains are especially exposed to dangerous situations by their obligation to administer Absolution and Anointing. They have received every kind of decoration for valor, and seven have been awarded the Medal of Honor. All four chaplains awarded the Medal since the Civil War have been Catholic. Among them,...

This cartoon published in The Sunday Times (subscription-only) would be offensive at the best of times. That it has appeared on Holocaust Memorial Day is doubly so.Penned by Gerald Scarfe (the cartoonist behind Pink Floyd’s The Wall), the caption reads: “Israeli Elections… Will Cementing Peace Continue?”A hideous looking PM Benjamin Netanyahu caricature builds a wall cemented with blood, crushing Palestinians including women and children.Israel’s security barrier (of which the vast majority is a fence and not a wall) is meant to protect Israeli civilians against Palestinian terrorism. In any case, the imagery of this cartoon amounts to a blood libel...

The 40th March for Life is being held today in Washington DC. Here’s the Facebook page. Lifesite News has a schedule of today’s events. Organizers say today’s rally in the nation’s capital may bring more anti-abortion activists to the streets than last year’s estimated 400,000. Pope Benedict XVI tweeted out his support for the march early this morning...

Two years ago I engaged in an extensive public discussion about whether New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Catholic, could, in light of his living arrangements, participate in holy Communion. I argued that he could not. As far as I know, those living arrangements remain unchanged, but, it appears that Cuomo has, since that discussion, respectfully refrained from approaching for holy Communion. In this regard, at least, the governor is not aggravating his conflicts with Catholic belief and discipline. But I also warned then that the ecclesiastical consequences of Cuomo’s pro-abortion activism must eventually be faced. That day seems...

The magnificence of life is really too wonderful too describe. But I found this description some years ago which summons reverence by its very ability to baffle the mind:MIRACLE OF LIFE- Consider the miracle of the human body. Its chemistry is just as extraordinarily well tuned as is the physics of the cosmos. Our world on bothsides of the divide that separates life from lifelessness is filled with wonder. Each human cell has a double helix library of three billion base pairs providing fifty thousand genes. These three billion base pairs and fifty thousand genes somehow engineer 100 trillion neural...

Jonathan Cahn, author of ‘The Harbinger’ and pastor/rabbi of Beth Israel Messianic Congregation of Wayne, NJ, gives the key note address at the Presidential Inaugural Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC. 01/21/13

Bishop Ignacio Carasco de Paula ROME, January 24, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The head of the Pontifical Academy for Life described the pro-life marches and events being held across the US this week as an historic witness to the sanctity of human life and an important example to the world. “These marches for life that are taking place across the United States are very important, not only for the country, but for the whole world,” Bishop Ignacio Carrasco de Paula told the Catholic News Agency (CNA) yesterday. “These events which favor human life without limits, from conception until the end, have...

In my book, When the Crosses are Gone, I warn that when a culture abandons thinking and logic in favor of feelings and emotions, it is doomed to destruction. Although emotions are a very important part of the human psyche, when they control every aspect of life, morality becomes a victim. Today, there is widespread agreement that morality in America is deteriorating with breathtaking speed. On one hand, we face a belligerent and intimidating lobby that desires the breakdown of biblical morality. On the other hand, a docile public-as well as church leadership-is terrified to stand up for truth lest...

[Episcopal News Service] The Very Rev. Gary Hall, dean of Washington National Cathedral, was among those who joined Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) on Capitol Hill Jan. 24 as she announced the introduction of a bill to renew the U.S. ban on assault weapons. Hall, who was the first person to speak after Feinstein began the press conference at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, said he has spoken in the pulpit, in the media, with fellow faith leaders and “people in my own church” against gun violence. “Now we have come to the end of the preaching part of our work...

Alexis de Tocqueville once observed that “Every generation is a new people.” Demographers reckon a generation at 20-25 years, so that means that every 20-25 years, a lot of folks need a lot of things explained to them that their parents and grandparents take for granted. No big deal, we just do it. But on the internet, it seems that every month is a new generation, so that means that about once a month, questions arise that many of us have treated numerous times in the past. Problem is, these allegedly novel questions shoot through cyberspace with amazing speed,...

The report ranks the most and least “Bible-minded” cities by looking at how people in those cities view the Bible.... Regionally, the South still qualifies as the most Bible-minded. The top ranking cities, where at least half of the population qualifies as Bible-minded, are all Southern cities. This includes the media markets for Knoxville, TN (52% of the population are Bible-minded), Shreveport, LA (52%), Chattanooga, TN (52%), Birmingham, AL (50%), and Jackson, MS (50%). Other markets in the top 10 include Springfield, MO (49%), Charlotte, NC (48%), Lynchburg, VA (48%), Huntsville-Decatur, AL (48%), and Charleston, WV (47%). The least Bible-oriented...

A CATHOLIC adoption agency has been warned it will lose its charitable status unless it changes its policy towards gay couples. The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (Oscr) investigated the practices of St Margaret’s Children and Family Care Society in Glasgow, after a complaint from the National Secular Society, and found the charity was operating in breach of the Equality Act 2010. The society gives priority to prospective adoptive parents who have been married for at least two years and wish to adopt within the framework of the Catholic faith. The Oscr ­report stated that: “[Because] marriage is not...