Free Republic

A plan paving the way for consecrations from 2014 is expected to be backed by bishops and clergy, but the vote among lay members could be much closer. ..Ahead of the vote, synod members will debate the latest compromise proposal for parishes that reject the changes. The vote is being seen as the first major test for the next Archbishop of Canterbury, the Right Reverend Justin Welby. The current bishop of Durham is expected to speak during the debate and urge the synod to support the introduction of women bishops. Approval is also supported by the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury,...

In the old west Snake oil salesman peddled elixirs that allegedly cured everything from acne to gout, but in fact these “miracle cures” were simply watered down whiskey or worse. Con men used elaborate ruses, such as the scheme used in the movie, The Sting, to swindle their marks and steal their money. There are many e-mail and internet scams that attempt to wrest money and information from those who are greedy or simply unsuspecting and naïve. There are many ways to deceive, mislead, dupe and betray in order to pilfer another’s assets. But, some of those assets are far...

Court Halts Contraceptive Mandate for Christian Publisher Tyndale Sat, Nov. 17, 2012 Posted: 04:34 PM EDT A federal court ruled on Friday in favor of Tyndale House Publishers in a lawsuit against the Obama administration's contraceptive coverage mandate.U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton granted a preliminary injunction to stop enforcement of the mandate – which requires employers to cover contraception, sterilization and abortifacient drugs in their employees' health insurance plans – against the Christian publishing company."Although there is arguably a public interest in the uniform application of the ACA (Affordable Care Act) and the contraceptive coverage mandate there is...

My mom went in for a check-up and she's not doing well. She is 80 and a two-time cancer survivor. Please pray for her, my family, my sister & her family. Thank you.

This website summarizes work connected with digitizing Shroud photographs taken by Giuseppe Enrie in 1931, enhancing the digitized images to improve details, translating the enhanced images “gray scale data into depth data”, generating a sequence of up to 625 images of each of these, and combining these images with a Holoprinter to produce holograms (3D images) of the Shroud. It also summarizes my study of these holograms and discovery of heretofore unseen details, which confirm many previous findings and reveal some suprises.

~excerpt~ Some say we need to push full steam ahead, that the policies in place just need more time. Some say we need to get back to Capitalism. Some say back to the Constitution. Still others say back to the basics of a Republic…those ideals that the Founders had for securing individual freedom. U.S. Congressman Ron Paul’s farewell speech pointed out some interesting observations about freedom and liberty that I hope you take a look at. Rush Limbaugh discussed this on his show today and agreed with Rep. Paul, but added that the key is that this is not a...

The Metropolitan of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department of External Church Relations for the Russian Orthodox Church, and a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Moscow, Bishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk, has written a letter of congratulations to Right Reverend Justin Welby, Bishop of Durham and nominee as Archbishop of Canterbury. Consider its contents: Dear Brother and Lord Bishop, I would like to extend to you wholehearted congratulations on your election as Head of one of the oldest episcopal chairs founded by St. Augustine of Canterbury in the 7th century.You have been entrusted with the spiritual guidance...

Members of the LDS Church are familiar with the charge that Mormonism isn't a Christian faith. They hear it often enough, but they really don't understand why people think that. "We are Christians," Mormon President Gordon B. Hinckley insisted. "We have the name of Jesus Christ right in the name of our Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We follow Christ. We worship Him. We love Him. He is the center of all we do"("Inspirational Thoughts," Liahona, June 1999, 3; 2 Nephi 25:24-29). In the summer of 2005 we asked Mormons in Nauvoo, Illinois to take a...

From Damon Whitsell – Do you guys and gals like my new song I wrote today for my dear freind and very brave Anti-Islam Counter-Jihadist named VeraVera? I first wrote the music and need to record and produce soon. You like? (Your comments are open and requested below). You, being subscribers and visitors to one of my sites, are one of the first ones to see this online except for her. The song is really hers but I am sure she will let me record and distribute it soon. So if you like it, or if you don’t, please comment...

 Tomorrow, Mark Thompson takes over as the new President and CEO of The New York Times. Thompson is a practicing Catholic who believes "that the truths of the Christian faith are objective truths, rather than being entirely subjective."The position is primarily focused on running the business aspects of the Times. Thompson turned the British Broadcasting Company into a global online media powerhouse, and the Times management feels that he could do the same here.The New York Times Company announced on August 14th that Thompson would become its new President and CEO. Thompson left the position as director-general of the British...

The election news last week wasn’t all bad. Last Tuesday represented the total failure of a multi-year leftist effort to move Evangelical voters left. According to the exit-poll data, not only did Evangelicals turn out for Mitt Romney at percentages that exceeded George W. Bush’s and John McCain’s share of the Evangelical vote, they also constituted a record-high share of the overall electorate. Alas, it wasn’t enough, but this turnout prevented a defeat from becoming a rout. It’s hard to overstate the extent of the progressive failure here. Ever since the triumph of the “values voter” in 2004, the Left...

The new Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby is taking over a Church in “spiritual and institutional crisis” leaders representing 31 million African Christians warned tonight.A group of Bishops and senior clerics from Nigeria and Kenya issued a call for the Archbishop of Canterbury effectively to be replaced as leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion by an elected chairman. Meanwhile the Anglican church in Uganda offered Bishop Welby its support but warned the Church is “fractured” over questions such as homosexuality and the interpretation of the Bible. The remarks come following a meeting of Anglican leaders from around the world in...

October 31, 2012 marked the 495th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther’s bold stand for truth was strengthened through his knowledge that the Scriptures are the solid, immovable rock upon which the whole church should base all its doctrines and faith. In time other men and women of faith joined Luther in embracing the biblical principles of the Reformation— Grace alone, Faith alone and Scripture alone. THEN AND NOW Looking at the spiritual bankruptcy within much of the organized church today, especially the false doctrines and deceptions being promulgated by Bible-denying clergy and theologians, it is obvious that another...

If the religious makeup of the GoP candidate didn't matter to many FREEPERs, why is the religious make-up of certain voter demographics of sudden interest to many of these same posters? In three post-election days, I've seen five FR threads on what Evangelicals did -- or didn't do -- at the polls...and yet NONE on what Catholics did. Why the lopsided attention? Given that Catholics supported Obama by a 50-48 percent margin, wouldn't that be at least as relevant -- if not more? [Note: Going into the election, Pew Forum found that Latino Catholics were supporting Obama 73-19%, so even...

Foundress and first superior of the Sisters of Charity in the United States, b. in New York City, 28 Aug., 1774, of non-Catholic parents of high position; d. at Emmitsburg, Maryland, 4 Jan., 1821. Her father, Dr. Richard Bayley (b. Connecticut and educated in England), was the first professor of anatomy at Columbia College and eminent for his work as health officer of the Port of New York. Her mother, Catherine Charlton, daughter of an Anglican minister of Staten Island, N.Y., died when Elizabeth was three years old, leaving two other young daughters. The father married again, and among the...

Bishop of Durham Justin Welby, a former oil industry worker, is set to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury. It is thought the 56-year-old will be named on Friday as the replacement for Rowan Williams, who steps down in December after 10 years in the post. Bishop Welby became a bishop only a year ago when he took up the Church of England's fourth most senior post. Downing Street sources have confirmed the next archbishop will be formally announced on Friday morning. On Tuesday, leading bookmakers stopped taking bets on the succession after a run of bets on Bishop Welby....

President Barack Obama won a slim majority of votes from self-identified Catholics, according to exit polls conduct by CNN. The polls shows that 50% of voters who identified themselves as Catholics voted for Obama, and 48% for Republican nominee Mitt Romney. The CNN poll did not distinguish between active and lapsed Catholics. Protestant voters swung heavily toward Romney, the CNN polls showed, with 57% choosing the Republican and only 42% voting to re-elect Obama. The initial reports on the CNN exit polls did not distinguish among the different Protestant denominations. Among voters who said they had no religious affiliation, Obama...

Economic issues seem to be dominating the 2012 campaign, but a quiet electoral revolution is brewing. The "religious vote" is on the move -- and it's not going leftward. Disgusted by the Democrats' embrace of the abortion industry and the homosexual agenda, plus the reckless spending and the Democrats' initially leaving God and Jerusalem out of the party platform, the rightward march may turn into a stampede on Nov. 6. Building on the Tea Party-fueled GOP tsunami in 2010, "values voter" activists are in hyperdrive. The Rev. Billy Graham, while not endorsing a candidate, is featured in full-page ads urging...

Remember, Remember Published Monday, November 5, 2012 A.D. | By Donald R. McClarey The idiotic anti-Catholic celebration of Guy Fawkes Day , observed each November fifth, was effectively ended in America during the Revolution, in large part due to George Washington.  Here is his order on November 5, 1775:As the Commander in Chief has been apprized of a design form’d for the observance of that ridiculous and childish custom of burning the Effigy of the pope–He cannot help expressing his surprise that there should be Officers and Soldiers in this army so void of common sense, as not to see...

Back when I was in my Anglican interim, I loved commemorating Guy Fawkes Day. A haunting little historical nursery rhyme, bonfires, the burning of effigies, and children in raggedy clothes with ash-blackened faces accosting householders, begging A penny for the Guy!—what’s not to love? I had a vague notion of the historical events behind the festivities, and knew that Shakespeare had referenced them in his haunted (and contemporaneous) masterpiece, Macbeth. Mostly, though, what I knew about Guy Fawkes day was that some bad guy named Guy had tried to blow up the English Parliament, but the plot was foiled and...