Free Republic

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin has banned Rep. Patrick Kennedy from receiving Communion, the central sacrament of the church, in Rhode Island because of the congressman's support for abortion rights, Kennedy said in a newspaper interview published Sunday.

Washington – The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, today responded to the “Manhattan Declaration” produced and released by 145 evangelical, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian leaders indicating that they will not cooperate with laws that conflict with their beliefs, including those recognizing same-sex couples. The document also references the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) as a threat to religious liberty. Yet ENDA – which prohibits workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity – broadly exempts religious organizations. The declaration also argues that religious groups that receive public funds...

Although provoked by the indulgences peddled by Johannes Tetzel, the very first proposition which Luther offered for public debate in his Ninety Five Theses put the axe to the root of the tree of medieval theology: "When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said 'Repent,' he meant that the entire life of believers should be one of repentance." From Erasmus' Greek New Testament, Luther had come to realize that the Vulgate's rendering of Matthew 4:17 by penitentiam agite ("do penance") completely misinterpreted Jesus' meaning. The gospel called not for an act of penance but for a radical change of mind-set...

I Corinthians 10:1-13 1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. 6 Now these things...

.....A closer look at Belgium, the laboratory of Europe, shows, however, that the country lacks more than patriotism. It also lacks democracy, respect for the rule of law, and political morality..... ....I am not sure what happened next, however. Maybe word had reached the leadership of the Christian Democrat Party that Herman, a brilliant economist and intellectual, was considering leaving politics; perhaps they made him an offer he could not refuse........ Our paths crossed at intervals until 1990, when the Belgian Parliament voted an extremely liberal abortion bill. The Belgian King Baudouin (1930-1993), a devout Catholic who suffered from the...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin has banned Rep. Patrick Kennedy from receiving Communion, the central sacrament of the church, in Rhode Island because of the congressman's support for abortion rights, Kennedy said in a newspaper interview published Sunday. The decision by the outspoken prelate, reported on The Providence Journal's Web site, significantly escalates a bitter dispute between Tobin, an ultra orthodox bishop, and Kennedy, a son of the nation's most famous Roman Catholic family. "The bishop instructed me not to take Communion and said that he has instructed the diocesan priests not to give me Communion," Kennedy...

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - November 22 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep." - Hosea 12:12 Jacob, while expostulating with Laban, thus describes his own toil, "This twenty years have I been with thee. That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee: I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night. Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes." Even more toilsome...

By His Grace Bishop BASIL (Essey) Mary the Theotokos is very close to my heart, and, I am certain, close to the hearts of all who love her Son, Jesus. I can hardly think of her name without tears. When God, in the fullness of time, because of His great love for His creation, sent His Only-Begotten Son to save us sinners, He chose to do so in a way that is at once simple and tender, and profound, beyond our comprehension. He came to find a bride. And God the Father, who is above all and in all and...

Shallow and Profound "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" —1 Corinthians 10:31 Beware of allowing yourself to think that the shallow aspects of life are not ordained by God; they are ordained by Him equally as much as the profound. We sometimes refuse to be shallow, not out of our deep devotion to God but because we wish to impress other people with the fact that we are not shallow. This is a sure sign of spiritual pride. We must be careful, for this is how contempt for others...

Conservatives shouldn’t just allow same-sex marriage. They should insist on it. The conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks made that argument in a 2003 column, and the liberal Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. recalled his words when he was in Providence on Nov. 8 to speak at the Central Congregational Church. Brooks’ argument is worth revisiting now that Governor Carcieri, a conservative Republican and Catholic who opposes same-sex marriage, has vetoed a bill that would give domestic partners the right to claim the bodies of — and make funeral arrangements for — their loved ones. The bill passed...

Learning the Language of God A reflection on the Gospel reading from Thursday, November 19th (Luke 19:41-44), by Mother Maria-Michael Newe, OSB. In the Gospel it says, "As Jesus drew near to Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it saying, 'If this day you only knew what makes for peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes.'" I think there is a window open in which God comes to us and we can either accept or reject Him. The response we give is due to our attachments or detachments. Sometimes when we're so attached to something we...

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs was ordered by the Obama apparatchiks to express displeasure at the decision by Israel to build houses in the East Jerusalem suburb of Gilo. But Gibbs failed to disclose that the land on which Gilo was built, as with other suburbs in "disputed" parts of East Jerusalem, was home to many Jews who were driven out in 1948 by the British officered Arab Legion of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. It was not liberated by Israel, and the land restored, until the June, 1967 Six Day War, nineteen years later. King Hussein of Jordan had...

My friends, I ran into Sarah Palin a week or so ago. Well, not the Sarah Palin — and not comedian Tina Fey, either. Temporarily away from my mission work and visiting old friends at an Irish parish, I was enjoying the (rare) sunshine after Mass, greeting parishioners as they left church, when I noticed a young mother pushing her daughter in a baby carriage. Her child — like all children — was radiant to me, with a shock of orange hair and a smile of beautiful wonderment at just about everything. Her head rolled back and forth as if...

The Catholic Doors MinistryPresents A TREASURE OF3,125CATHOLIC PRAYERS The world's largest, most popular and most linked to collection of Catholic prayers on the internet. On March 25, 1999, Pope John-Paul II, the spiritual leader of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, called upon the world's 404,000 priests to teach the faithful how to pray. In obedience to the holy Pontiff, "The Catholic Doors Ministry" has put together hundreds of Catholic prayers to compile "A Treasure Of Catholic Prayers." The first file below, "HOW TO PRAY," serves as a tool to teach effective praying to the faithful so they may...

The Rosary 1417. Attending a Catholic Church one evening I was disgusted by the rigmarole called the Rosary. What is that Rosary? The Rosary is a special form of devotion to Mary. One takes a set of beads, divided into five sections, each section consisting of one large bead and ten small ones. Holding the large bead, one says the Our Father, and on each of the small ones, the Hail Mary. Between each section or decade the Gloria is said. While saying the prayers, one meditates or thinks of the joys, or sorrows, or glories of Christ's life and...

November 22, 2009                                     The Solemnity of Christ the King Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading 1Dn 7:13-14 As the visions during the night continued, I sawone like a Son of man coming,on the clouds of heaven;when he reached the Ancient Oneand was presented before him,the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship;all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.His dominion is an everlasting dominionthat shall not be taken away,his kingship shall not be destroyed. Responsorial PsalmPs 93:1, 1-2, 5 R. (1a) The LORD is king; he is robed in majesty.The...

The Priesthood and the Mass Theologian Notes the Priest's Privileged Role By Father Mauro Gagliardi VATICAN CITY, NOV. 20, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI proclaimed, as everyone knows, the Year for Priests (June 2009-June 2010), on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the "dies natalis" of the holy Curé d'Ars. The purpose is "to deepen the commitment of all priests to interior renewal for the sake of a stronger and more incisive witness to the Gospel in today’s world"[1]. St. John Mary Vianney, besides concretely representing a supreme model of the priesthood, always proclaimed with clarity and incomparable emphasis the...

The world is under attack on numerous levels. But Christians live, not under demonic attacks, but under God's grace. When you go to sleep at night, thank God for His protective grace. When you wake up in the morning, thank God for His fatherly mercy watching over you.

In the various Christian traditions Marian doctrine and devotion take shape in manifold and diverse ways. Since the Second Vatican Council the Church has striven to promote a new and more careful study of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, in the mystery of Christ and of the Church; to encourage theological faculties in the pursuit of knowledge, research, and piety with regard to Mary of Nazareth. The Mother of the Lord is understood as a "datum of revelation" and a "maternal presence" always operative in the life of the Church. [1] The history of theological reflection witnesses...

One of the more commonly shared experiences of Protestant converts to the Catholic Church is the discovery of verses “we never saw.” Even after years of studying, preaching, and teaching the Bible, sometimes from cover to cover, all of a sudden a verse “we never saw” appears as if by magic and becomes an “Aha!” mind-opening, life-altering messenger of spiritual “doom”! Sometimes it’s just recognizing an alternate, clearer meaning of a familiar verse, but often, as with some of the verses mentioned below, it literally seems as if some Catholic had snuck in during the night and somehow put that...

When I was in 6th grade I got in trouble for cussing.  In an effort to clean up my language, I asked my teacher what the worst thing was you could call someone.  "Repulsive," he replied. I have always remembered that word, but have used it sparingly.  What I am about to report is, indeed, repulsive.  Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, released a statement yesterday morning -- "Gay Activists Bully DC Priests."  The instrument being used to bully is a Web site, ChurchOuting.org, which encourages people to report any priest, gay or straight, who may be "romantically involved," but...

Monday and Thursday mornings, 11/23 and 26Kohen--Genesis 28:10-12Levi--vs. 13-18Yisra'el--vs. 19-22 Strday 11/28--Shabbat Parashat VaYetze'MORNING Kohen--Genesis 28:10-22Levi--29:1-17Shelishi--29:18-30:13Revi`i--30:14-27Chamishi--30:28-31:16Shishi--31:17-42Shevi`i--31:43-32:3Maftir--32:1-3Haftarah--Hosea 12:13-14:10 EVENING Kohen--Genesis 32:4-6Levi--vs. 7-9Yisra'el--vs. 10-13

THE Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has taken the first steps towards receiving Anglican converts en masse. Archbishop Vincent Nichols, its leader, has appointed a panel of bishops to plan the recruitment of entire Church of England parishes. The move, effectively to “poach” Anglican congregations disenchanted with their church’s liberal drift, came as Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, held a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican. Speaking after their meeting, Williams denied that the Pope’s offer to allow members of the Church of England to convert while preserving many of their traditions was “a kind...

Thanksgiving Street I knew a man whose name was Horner Who used to live in grumble corner; Grumble corner in crosspatch town And he never was seen without a frown. He grumbled at this, and he grumbled at that, He growled at the dog. He growled at the cat. He grumbled at morning. He grumbled at night, And to grumble and growl was his chief delight. He grumbled so much at his wife that she Began to grumble as well as he. And all the children, wherever they went, Reflected their parents discontent. If the sky was dark and betokened...

The leader of a billion Roman Catholics meets the leader of 80 million Anglicans at a moment of historic crisis between the two Communions and they spend all of TWENTY MINUTES together. Here is the official communiqué from the Vatican: This morning His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI received in private audience His Grace Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury. In the course of the cordial discussions attention turned to the challenges facing all Christian communities at the beginning of this millennium, and to the need to promote forms of collaboration and shared witness in facing these challenges. The discussions also focused...

WILMINGTON, Del.-- The Catholic Diocese of Wilmington is obligated to pay retirement benefits to six priests who are confirmed pedophiles, church officials argued in a bankruptcy court filing Thursday seeking permission to keep making the payments. After filing for bankruptcy last month, the diocese agreed not to make payments to priests accused of sexual abuse without court approval. That agreement was made after objections were raised by attorneys for alleged abuse victims who now sit on a creditors committee. Attorneys for the diocese now seek authorization to provide pensions, housing costs and medical coverage to six confirmed child abusers. They...

Obama is all about idol worship. He has a slew of idols he bows down to and prays before. Obama believes if an idol is good enough for him, it is also good enough for our entire nation. He is forcing his idols down the throats of all Americans, come hell or high water. God took the Children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage. Egypt was a nation dedicate to idolatry and was the first Kingdom mentioned in Revelation 17:10. "And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet coms." Egypt was...

Now it's true that there's a lot more to Islam than you'll glean from the likes of bin Laden. But it's also true that there's a lot more to it than strictly individual, spiritual struggle. What UNC may be trying to tell students about Islam is "hey, there's no reason we can't all just get along." And if that's their message, they're not promoting understanding of Islam so much as they're whitewashing it. Don't get me wrong. I don't think the story of the Middle East is a simple tale of noble Americans and Israelis fighting evil Muslims who insanely...

They raise their voices, they shout for joy; from the west they acclaim the LORD's majesty. Therefore in the east give glory to the LORD; exalt the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea. From the ends of the earth we hear singing: "Glory to the Righteous One." (Isaiah 24:14-16a)

Featured Term (selected at random):CANONICAL AGE The age of reason, fixed by canon law, when a person is permitted or required to receive the sacraments. It differs for various sacraments. For penance and the Eucharist it is commonly assumed to be at the age of reason. For religious profession and holding certain ecclesiastical offices the canonical age if further specified and widely varies. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

When I look at the world of today, I am appalled. Luckily enough, I'm also a Lutheran and know what cure there is. I'll tell you about it. My grandfather was rather "well off". Rich enough to hire people to take care of his summer houses in different parts of the country (Sweden), but instead he chose to work on those estates whenever having a little of time off, not out of a miser's love for money, but because the love of how it feels to be truly independent. Church attendence in my part of the world isn't something you'd...

Presentation Of The Blessed Virgin MaryFeast, November 21(Novena, November 12-20)1. Mary, Mother of God, tradition tells us that when you were three years of age, your parents, Joachim and Anne, took you to the Temple in Jerusalem to fulfill their vow. The holy couple offered you to God by the ministry of the priest in charge, who invoked the blessing of God upon you and your parents. How fervently your mother and father thanked God for having given you to them and begged Him to accept the offering which they were making! They then left a small offering of...

Sign The Declaration! Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family. We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are: --the sanctity of human life --the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife --the rights...

The holy peninsula of Mount Athos reaches 31 miles out into the Aegean Sea like an appendage struggling to dislocate itself from the secular corpus of northeastern Greece. For the past thousand years or so, a community of Eastern Orthodox monks has dwelled here, purposefully removed from everything except God. They live only to become one with Jesus Christ. Their enclave—crashing waves, dense chestnut forests, the specter of snowy-veined Mount Athos, 6,670 feet high—is the very essence of isolation. Living in one of the peninsula's 20 monasteries, dozen cloisters, or hundreds of cells, the monks are detached even from each...

  Folks, after several false stars, we continue now with our exploration of Jewish and Christian themes with an examination of Christian and Jewish similarities convergences and divergences on the subject of prayer. I found the subject matter vast, fascinating, but somewhat complicated. I apologize because this brief study will hardly do any justice to the subject but I hope it will serve as a starting point for further, deeper study and reflection on this matter. Also, please, note that I had to further subdivide this subject into three posts. Otherwise it would’ve become long, boring, and unwieldy. I expect...

Friday, November 20, 2009 Pics - 22,000 Youth in Eucharistic Procession through Kansas City at NCYC Cardinal DiNardo gave the keynote at today’s session of the National Catholic Youth Conference in Kansas City, while Kansas City, Kansas Archbishop Joseph Naumann led Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction at Sprint Center. Kansas City – St. Joseph Bishop Robert W. Finn then led 22,000 High School students through his See City from Sprint Center to the Kansas City Convention Center. At some point, I should probably explain why there is an Archbishop of Kansas City who isn’t the Bishop of...

'It is Finished!' "I have finished the work which You have given Me to do" —John 17:4 The death of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment in history of the very mind and intent of God. There is no place for seeing Jesus Christ as a martyr. His death was not something that happened to Him— something that might have been prevented. His death was the very reason He came.Never build your case for forgiveness on the idea that God is our Father and He will forgive us because He loves us. That contradicts the revealed truth of God in...

Abwoon D'Bashmaya - The Lords Prayer in Aramaic - YouTube Shlom Lech Maryam-Ave Maria in syriac/aramaic ماجدة الرومي - YouTube Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that Jesus, His Blessed Mother and the Apostles were born and lived in the Holy Land. The common parlance of their days was Syriac-Aramaic. Hebrew was the liturgical language of the Temple. I recently attended a Hafli - a Lebanese feast, much like a wedding but without the bride and groom. The organizing committee brought in a band that played Middle Eastern (contemporary) songs and the highlight of the evening was a belly...

Our Catholic liturgical year follows a rhythmic cycle. It points us toward beginnings and ends and, in so doing, emphasizes an important truth that can only be grasped through faith. This is the Thirty Fourth or last Sunday in the Western Church year and we celebrate the Feast of the Solemnity of Jesus Christ the Sovereign King. Then, no sooner than we have celebrated the last Sunday of the Year, the feast of Christ the King, we will celebrate the First Sunday of Advent, and begin the time of preparation for the great Nativity of Our Savior. Our Catholic Christian...

Pontius Pilate would feel very much at home in our culture. His cynical question — “What is truth?” (Jn 18:38) — captures the prevailing mindset of our day. It provides a three-word summary of relativism — the view that objective truth does not exist, that there is not objective “right” or “wrong” about human behavior. Relativism refuses to limit or define human behavior. All is relative and depends on the situation, the culture, the person, etc.Although often depicted as a courageous rebellion against forces of intolerance and persecution, relativism is really cowardice. Because truth requires something of us. Pontius Pilate...

Prior to the opening of formal conversations between officials of the Holy See and leaders of the Lefebvrist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), which began on Oct. 26, the mainstream media frequently misrepresented these discussions as a negotiation aimed at achieving a compromise that both sides can live with. That was to be expected from reporters and commentators for whom everything is politics and everything is thus negotiable. Alas, similar misrepresentations came from “Vatican insiders” who suggested that the teaching of the Second Vatican Council was under joint review by the Holy See and the SSPX, which only made...

"Grieve not the Holy Spirit." - Ephesians 4:30 All that the believer has must come from Christ, but it comes solely through the channel of the Spirit of grace. Moreover, as all blessings thus flow to you through the Holy Spirit, so also no good thing can come out of you in holy thought, devout worship, or gracious act, apart from the sanctifying operation of the same Spirit. Even if the good seed be sown in you, yet it lies dormant except he worketh in you to will and to do of his own good pleasure. Do you desire to...

“Too many churches have forgotten about saving souls. That's because the pastors and ministers are only thinking about how many women and men they can sleep with inside and outside of the church, and how much money they can steal from God's people," said Armstrong. He also pointed out that pastors and ministers are misleading their congregations by teaching more about prosperity (material things) than about having a personal relationship with God.Dallas, TX (PRWEB) November 16, 2009 -- National Talk Show Host Reuben Armstrong and Essence Magazine # 1 best selling author of “Snakes in the Pulpit” has put T.D....

Thanks to technical problems, I wasn’t able to comment on Rowan Williams (”Archbishop of Canterbury” in the Henrician usurpation tradition, as Gerald Warner calls him) lecturing the Vatican on the virtues of women priests. I’m glad he did, because it is high time that the Church of England stopped apologising for this innovation. Anglicans have women priests; Catholics and Orthodox don’t. End of story, so far as corporate reunion is concerned. “Oh, but the Roman Catholic Church will certainly ordain women one day,” Dr George Carey once told me. No it won’t. Why do Anglicans find this so hard to...

H/T In Hoc Signo Vinces for news of the Bad vestments blog. Here is the Vision Statement:This site is dedicated to subjecting particularly awful Christian liturgical vestments to the ridicule they so richly deserve.Submissions are welcomed and can be e-mailed to websterglobe at juno dot com.

www.catholicnewsagency.com USCCB: Senate health care bill 'morally unacceptable' Washington D.C., Nov 20, 2009 / 08:02 pm (CNA).- As the Senate prepares for the discussion of its health care reform bill this weekend, several bishops have sent the Senators a letter on behalf of the USCCB, calling the current version of the health care bill both “a huge disappointment” and “morally unacceptable.”The letter, signed by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, Chairman of the Committee on Pro-life Activities; Bishop William F. Murphy Diocese of Rockville Centre, Chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development and  Bishop John Wester, Chairman of the...

Top Stories for Thursday, November 26th, 2009: The Basilica of St. Thomas the Apostle, Chennai, India. According to tradition, St. Thomas the Apos­tle traveled to India in 52 A.D., and was martyred and buried here in 72 A.D. Since then his tomb has been venerated by the faithful, and a succession of magnificent churches have been built over it since at least the sixth century. The present basilica was constructed from 1893-1896 under the direction of Captain J.A. Power, a retired officer of the Royal Engineers and a parishioner. Says Bishops Must Unify Catholics By PAUL LIKOUDISBALTIMORE — In...

November 21, 2009                                   Memorial of the Presentation                                    of the Blessed Virgin Mary Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 11 Mc 6:1-13 As King Antiochus was traversing the inland provinces,he heard that in Persia there was a city called Elymais,famous for its wealth in silver and gold,and that its temple was very rich,containing gold helmets, breastplates, and weaponsleft there by Alexander, son of Philip,king of Macedon, the first king of the Greeks.He went therefore and tried to capture and pillage the city.But he could not do so,because his plan became known to the people of the citywho rose up in battle against him.So...

Part Three:  The Will of God Eighth Commandment Table of Contents     In both versions of the Decalogue, the wording of the Eighth Commandment is the same: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (Exodus 20:16; Deuteronomy 5:20). Throughout the Old Testament, the full meaning of this commandment includes both the prohibition against telling a lie and the precept of telling the truth. Thus, “Lips that tell the truth abide firm forever; the tongue that lies lasts only for a moment. Lips that lie are abhorrent to Yahweh; dear to Him those who speak the truth” (Proverbs 12:19, 19:22).The...

Featured Term (selected at random):WAKE A watch or vigil. The term was originally applied to the all-night vigil in Anglo-Saxon times before certain major holidays. By the sixteenth century it was used of the holiday itself, and of the fair held to honor a local saint. In some countries, e.g., Ireland, a wake is the watch over the body of the deceased before burial. And more commonly a wake is the period, one or two days before the funeral, when mourners may visit the body of the deceased and offer their condolences to the bereaved. THe Church now provides for...