Free Republic

New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India says marriage annulment granted by church courts has no legal sanctity and those remarrying after obtaining such a decree would commit an offence. The July 4 observation from the apex court will have far reaching and serious consequences for Catholics in India, who get their marriages annulled by diocesan ecclesiastical tribunals. A bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice D Y Chandrachud made this observation while hearing a petition filed by Clarence Pais, a Bengaluru-based Catholic lawyer, who sought legal sanctity for divorce decrees granted by church courts. Pais had pleaded...

Recent major court rulings may affect the work of the Church in the southern American state, says bishopFederal court decisions in three cases in late June will directly impact the work of the Catholic Church in Mississippi. On June 30, US District Court Judge Carlton Reeves blocked the implementation of H.B. 1523, also known as the Religious Accommodations Act, hours before it was to go into effect July 1. Earlier that week, the US Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a proposed law that would have required abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. Turning away...

Christians in Russia won’t be allowed to email their friends an invitation to church or to evangelize in their own homes if Russia’s newest set of surveillance and anti-terrorism laws are enacted. The proposed laws, considered the country’s most restrictive measures in post-Soviet history, place broad limitations on missionary work, including preaching, teaching, and engaging in any activity designed to recruit people into a religious group. To share their faith, citizens must secure a government permit through a registered religious organization, and they cannot evangelize anywhere besides churches and other religious sites. The restrictions even apply to activity in private...

St Augustine rest home was fined €6,000 after it stopped doctors from giving a lethal injection to a 74-year-old womanJudges in Belgium have fined a Catholic nursing home for refusing to allow the euthanasia of a lung cancer sufferer on its premises. The St Augustine rest home in Diest was ordered to pay a total of €6,000 after it stopped doctors from giving a lethal injection to Mariette Buntjens. Days later, the 74-year-old woman was instead taken by ambulance to her private address to die “in peaceful surroundings”. Buntjens’ family later sued the nursing home for causing their mother “unnecessary...

In Philadelphia, in what now is called Independence Hall, is preserved a Chippendale style chair crafted in 1779 by the cabinetmaker John Folwell, with a sun on the horizon carved at the top. For nearly three months in 1787, George Washington used this chair during the sessions of the Federal Convention. According to James Madison, whose feet would have dangled from it since, at 5’4” he was ten inches shorter than Washington, Benjamin Franklin mused: “I have often in the course of the session looked at that sun behind the President without being able to tell whether it was...

I learned of this site today at the irreplaceable One Peter Five by Steve Skojec [ http://www.onepeterfive.com/ ]. The site follows the Drudge format, with a page of links to stories and websites. This will be of most interest to Catholic Conservatives faithful to the Magisterium.

Five years ago I warned readers that folks on the left do not care one whit about your religious liberty. Four-and-a-half years ago, Pope Benedict voiced particular concerns about "certain attempts being made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms, the freedom of religion". Four years ago, the US Bishops launched the first annual Fortnight For Freedom,  running from June 21—the vigil of the Feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More—to July 4, Independence Day. This event, once unnecessary but now imperative, seeks "to highlight the importance of defending religious freedom" in America. Unfortunately, the situation for...

     Metropolitan Amvrosios of Kalavryta has expressed his joy that the UK is leaving the European Union, reports the Аgionoros.ru portal. In his view, this event will shake the foundations of the European Union which in fact is “a German protectorate”: “Today Greece and the EU at large are under German occupation! They have enslaved us not by means of weapons, as it was in the Second World War, but through this abominable economic war”. Metropolitan Amvrosios has stressed that the external forces, “allied with mendacious Greek politicians who obey them, have put Greece on the verge of disaster”....

Job 23:14 He will Perform that which is Appointed for me, And Many Such Things are with Him.

I am sorry to all "gays." I am sorry that Pope Francis said the words "who am I too judge" and because he did not understand that the media would leave out the first part and only concentrate on the second. I am sorry that this made you think that it is okay to continue on in a life choice that will result in your spending an eternity cut off from God, in Hell. I am sorry to "gays" that the Pope has called you "gay." You see, you are not "gay" any more than you are a one-eyed, one-horned,...

Many commentators tried to implicate Christians in the aftermath of the mass shooting in Orlando. But might it not be true that Western secularists have more in common with Isis than Christians?The two realities of Islamic extremism and Western consumerism are like shadowy doppelgangers showing up each otherÂ’s bankruptcy. Consider:I. ISIS and secularists have both created aggressive sexual playgrounds for men.At first glance, the two foesÂ’ attitudes toward sex look utterly different. In the West, the Sexual Revolution strains against any restriction on sexual expression. That loose attitude toward sexuality is one of the signs of decadence in the...

Much has changed in America in this last year... even since the last few months and weeks even! The hope and joy that once filled American has turned to great despair and dread concern for many of its inhabitants. My dear friends, as I look at America at present I truly believe that this will be our last true 4th of July we will celebrate and remember as a nation as regarding our founding. Whoever is to be elected in this coming presidential election nothing good will come of it at all. We as a nation are on the Titanic...

Upholding a lower court ruling, the Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled that the Law Society of Upper Canada was justified in denying accreditation to Trinity Western University, an evangelical school whose students are required to pledge to avoid sexual activity outside of marriage between a man and a woman. Comparing the pledge to rules against interracial dating, the court ruled found the pledge “deeply discriminatory to the LGBTQ community” and ruled that “public interest in ensuring equal access to the profession justified a degree of interference with the appellants’ religious freedoms.”

Chinese Catholics continue to question the reversal of Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin of Shanghai, who has indicated his support for the government-backed Catholic Patriotic Association, after serving four years of house arrest for publically renouncing his membership in the same group. Cardinal Joseph Zen, the retired Bishop of Hong Kong, has questioned whether Bishop Ma's reversal can be taken seriously. Other Chinese Church officials have said that he made his new statement under pressure. Father Gianni Criveller of the Pontifical Missions observes: "I believe that the question of whether Bishop Ma has written the article or not is misleading, because...

If this 4th of July George Washington, John Adams, Benjamin Rush and the rest of our Founding Fathers were to come back from the grave and testified against America for her national departure from our founding, the majority of American’s would NOT hear them and would fully reject them. I truly believe Americans would be fully enraged by their words of condemnation and rebuke and seek to destroy and slander them 24/7 on all the media news outlets and then have them stoned. We as a nation are too far gone morally to restore this nation and the majority of...

The world is abuzz with talk of Brexit—the British vote to leave the European Union. Britain’s reclamation of its independence is now prompting talk that other nations might exit the EU—the Netherlands, Denmark, Greece, Italy, and a dozen more. Over on this side of the Atlantic, the Brexit initiative has renewed discussion about the U.S. exiting the UN.What you won’t hear about is any discussion of Exslam—exiting Islam. No one seems to want to suggest that it might be a good idea for Muslims to consider leaving Islam. That’s curious because Islam figures prominently in the Brexit decision. It’s...

Donald Trump has maintained and even increased his favorability numbers among white Protestant Republican voters in the past few weeks, a recent Gallup poll shows. The numbers stand in stark contrast to the latest ABC News-Washington Post poll showing his loss of support in the past few weeks among several other key voting blocs, including Hispanics and African-Americans. The Gallup poll found that Trump’s favorability among “highly religious” white Protestant Republicans increased to 66 percent this month from 57 percent in the window between February and the end of May. The 9-point gain is reflective of attitudes among evangelical Republicans,...

The Supreme Court’s decision not to hear a case challenging a Washington state law that forces a family-owned pharmacy to dispense emergency contraceptives is an “ominous sign” for those who value religious freedom, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said. “If this is a sign of how religious liberty claims will be treated in the years ahead, those who value religious freedom have cause for great concern,” Alito said Tuesday in a critical dissent. Alito was joined in his dissent by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Clarence Thomas, falling one justice short of the four needed for the...

A breakaway traditionalist Catholic group accused Pope Francis on Wednesday of spreading confusion and errors about the faith, joining a chorus of conservative criticism over his perceived lax doctrine and emphasis on mercy at the expense of morals. A statement from the schismatic Society of St. Pius X suggested that a new attempt at reconciliation with Rome had stalled, or that the society itself was divided over next steps and decided at least to take a hard line against Francis. The statement, issued after a meeting of the society’s superiors, said its members weren’t primarily looking for a legal resolution...

Matt Barber, one of the founding members of the #NeverTrump faction, has said he's glad he attended the gathering of evangelical leaders in New York City last week to meet with Donald Trump. The founder and editor of BarbWire.com was an early and enthusiastic supporter of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in the Republican presidential primary. But he recently wrote about his experience in The Big Apple for his website, noting the experience has moved him away from #NeverTrump to #MaybeTrump: For better or worse, this election has come down to two people: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Anyone who...