Free Republic

The bloodshed in Tanta and Alessandria is a brusque wake-up call for Pope Francis on the eve of his trip to Egypt. The attacks in the Middle East, as in Europe, are not natural disasters, preventable through ecumenical meetings, like the one that Pope Francis will have on April 28th with the Grand Imam di Azhar, but  episodes which remind us of the existence in the world of deep ideological and religious divisions that can only be healed by returning to the truth. And the first truth to remember, if he doesn’t want to deceive himself and the world, is...

The US Embassy in Cairo issued a security alert to US citizens on Tuesday, indicating that they should avoid identifiable places of worship for the next two weeks following recent terrorist attacks on Palm Sunday that targeted churches in Alexandria and Tanta and left at least 45 people dead and over 100 injured. These attacks signified one of the deadliest days of violence against Christians in Egypt in years, which led President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to promptly declare a three-month state of emergency, saying the measure was necessary to efficiently wage war on terror. On Tuesday, a statement from the...

A large church in Alabama is one step closer to creating its own police force, a move that seems to be without precedent in the U.S. The state's Senate has approved legislation that would give church police officers the same powers other law enforcement officers have in Alabama. After being approved by Alabama's Senate on a 24-4 vote, the bill now heads to the state House of Representatives, where an identical bill was sent to the Public Safety and Homeland Security committee in February. Both chambers' legislation specifically names Briarwood Presbyterian Church, a Birmingham megachurch that "says it needs its...

A Muslim woman says that 'a man who doesn't beat his wife isn't a man.'

The pro-abortion congresswoman from San Francisco cites Gospel of Matthew to support more government spending for children (those who are already born) April 11, 2017 by Admin 3 Comments Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) politicized faith at a rally in Los Angeles on Sunday.Pelosi used Christianity as her defense for Democratic proposals during a political rally about ending childhood poverty. Pelosi mentioned that it was Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, which culminates with Easter the following Sunday.“I didn’t know this until recently, that when the Gospel of Matthew, ‘what you have done for the least of my brethren, you...

Timothy D. Lusch is an attorney and writer. His work has appeared in Saint Austin Review, New English Review, and Chronicles, and at CatholicExchange.com and Crisis.com. He blogs at www.pityitspithy.com. Ed. Note: This is the first in a three-part series on the Catholic Church and Islam.

SANTA CRUZ, Guatemala — Bishops in the United States and Mexico have released new statements on the immigration issue that reflect their growing opposition to President Trump’s immigration policies. On March 22, the Administrative Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released a “pastoral reflection,” entitled “Living As A People Of God In Unsettled Times.” The document is significantly less hostile to opponents of amnesty for illegal aliens than similar statements issued prior to Trump’s election victory, indicating a change not of policy but of tactics on the part of the bishops’ conference. Before the election, bishops routinely...

WASHINGTON (ChurchMilitant.com) - U.S. bishops, who administer some $2 billion a year in federal aid to social programs, are teaching that welcoming foreigners is a higher duty of government than protecting their own citizens. A recent study by Pew Research showed immigrants are committing the majority of felonies. The study found: 61% of all felony arrests in 2014 involved non-U.S. citizensNearly two thirds of all felony arrests in 2014 occurred in five judicial districts bordering Mexico In spite of this evidence showing the danger posed to U.S. citizens by illegal immigrants, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a...

In what would be a highly unusual omission, President Trump has not asked to meet Pope Francis during the president’s visit to Italy next month for the Group of Seven summit, sources said. Trump, who Francis suggested was “not Christian” if he wanted a wall on the Mexican border, is due in Sicily on May 26-27 for a meeting of the heads of the world’s richest nations. The two men have diametrically opposing positions on immigration, refugees, climate change and unbridled capitalism. Trump called the pope’s criticism of his plan to build the Mexico wall “disgraceful.”

Is a conflict of interest behind some of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ strong criticisms of President Trump’s immigration policy, in particular his two temporary travel bans? That’s the question being raised by a number of experts in foreign policy and Catholic charitable work, including a former adviser to President Bush and a leading figure in conservative Catholic media. These critics are pointing out that in Fiscal Year 2016, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) received more than $91 million in government funding for refugee resettlement. Over the past nine years, the USCCB has received a total of $534,788,660...

After centuries of lying low, Islam has reemerged as an existential threat to civilization. Its vast, decentralized army of maniacs seems unstoppable. Inevitably, driving trucks through crowds of innocent pedestrians will give way to chemical, biological, and even nuclear attacks. But the cult does have an Achilles heel: it depends on its followers believing that the unbalanced seventh century cut-throat Mohammad literally spoke for God. Destroying that belief destroys the enemy.A weapon that could help accomplish this is in our hands. Back in WWII, Hollywood took America’s side against the enemy. Imagine if it did so again, and if the...

We visit Cardinal Burke in his apartment, very close to the Vatican City. One of the first things the guest sees entering the house is a portrait of Pope Francis, who presides over the hall.  Raymond Leo Burke was born in Wisconsin on June 30, 1948. In 2003 he was named archbishop of Saint Louis, Missouri, one of the oldest and most prestigious dioceses in the United States. Given his international prestige as a canonist, in 2008 Benedict XVI appointed him Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature, in which he remained until Francis comissioned him with the Order of Malta....

Some Australian bishops have offered different opinions about how broadly the seal applies, as the Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse focuses attention on the matter.MELBOURNE, Australia — A far-reaching national inquiry into institutional child sex abuse in the Church in Australia is fueling debate on whether the law should be changed to force priests to divulge information received in the confessional. The ongoing Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has been examining what role, if any, the seal of confession played in the cover-up of child sex abuse within the Church, as well...

Why is there confusion in the Catholic Church over Amoris Laetitia, and what consequences does it have for Church unity? I argue here that the confusion is ultimately over two de fide dogmas of Christian faith and that one consequence of the confusion is de facto schism within the Catholic Church. When de fide (“of the faith”) is used in Catholic theology to designate a doctrine, it signifies a truth that pertains to Divine Revelation. The term Divine Revelation refers to truths by which God chose to reveal himself and his will to humanity in order to reconcile the world...

There has been an uproar over events at the Catholic University of Louvain, which has suspended and finally dismissed one of its philosophy professors, Stéphane Mercier, for having written in a note for his students that “abortion is the murder of an innocent person.”The matter is not surprising, seeing the track record of this university which is nonetheless endowed with the title of “Catholic,” the hospital of which has for some time been openly practicing euthanasia procedures, “from 12 to 15 per year,” according to the rector of the twin Flemish university of Leuven, the canonist Rik Torfs.But what is...

President Erdoğan of Turkey has announced that he will read Muslim prayers in Agia Sophia in Constantinople on April 14, Holy Friday, one of the holiest days of the year for the Christian faith—a move that has provoked the Greek and broader Orthodox world. Furthermore, he has claimed that Kemal Ataturk’s order to transform Agia Sophia from a mosque into a museum is a fake, reports AgionOros.ru. The Agia Sophia (“Holy Wisdom) church is one of the greatest and most important churches for Orthodox Christians, serving as the seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople from the time of its construction...

Join with Fellow FREEPERS to Pray for our PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP/VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE and AMERICA: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. 'And this is the Confidence that we have in Him, that, if we Ask Anything According to His Will, He Heareth us.' 1 John 5:14 Religion Forum Threads Labeled [Prayer] are Closed to Debate of Any Kind. Psalm 119:144 Your Righteous Testimonies are Everlasting, And Your Decrees are Binding to Eternity.

The President will pray together with members of his party and the religious leaders in Istanbul. The event falls two days before the referendum, to garner the Muslim vote. Transformation of the ancient Christian basilica into a museum rejected. Erdogan: Kemalism is dead.Istanbul (AsiaNews) - The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan is preparing to go to pray next Friday April 14 in Saint Sophia in Constantinople, the church declared a museum by the father of Republican Turkey Kemal Ataturk in 1934. Erdogan will not be alone: ​​He will be accompanied by representatives of his party AKP (Muslim extraction) and religious...

Patriarch Younan and other Catholic leaders said Donald Trump's decision was hastyTwo prominent Catholic leaders in Syria have criticised the US missile strikes against their nation, wondering why they occurred before investigations into the origins of chemical attacks reported earlier this week. President Donald Trump said Syrian President Bashar Assad “launched a horrible chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians” and “choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children.” “No child of God should ever suffer such horror,” he said, announcing that he had ordered the strike against the air base from which he said the chemical weapons attack...

(RNS) The Vatican’s point man on family issues and a U.S. cardinal who is close to Pope Francis have both blurbed a new book by a Jesuit priest and popular author that calls on the Catholic Church to be more respectful and compassionate toward gay people. They called it “brave, prophetic, and inspiring” and a “much-needed book.” Such positive language from such senior church leaders is extraordinary and another sign of how Francis is reorienting the church toward a more pastoral focus. “Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect,...