Free Republic

LulaWatchFocusing on the Latin American Left"The Lula government, as we knew it, is over." This is how an Epoca magazine editorial summarized Brazil's current political crisis. This undeniably serious crisis raises many questions about the future of the president and his administration.Veja magazine says that "Lula is trying to save the government and his legacy" while several members of the government are calling this time a "period of political agitation" in a climate of apprehension and instability.Until recently, this crisis seemed to have peaked with the resignation of the president's chief of staff, José Dirceu, usually seen as the government's...

Today I fulfill a longstanding promise of providing my readers with a collection of pontifical texts concerning private property. The tumultuous situation of the times had led me to other themes. Now, however, I have the satisfaction of making these golden teachings - so neglected in certain Catholic publications - shine once again by giving them publicity.Private property is being presented more and more - in this epoch of hypertrophied concern about the social as a disagreeable and anachronistic privilege to which only a few egotists, insensitive to the misery surrounding them, have obstinately attached themselves.Is that the thinking of...

The recent forced starvation of Terri Schiavo shocked America. Was it an exception, or will it be the turning point for a more general acceptance of euthanasia sweeping our nation? To shed light on Terri’s case and oppose the sin of euthanasia, six members of Tradition Family and Property Student Action visited Towson University in Maryland on Monday, May 9. From two tables – one in front of the University Union and another within the building – TFP Student Action passed out hundreds of flyers and took surveys, collecting students’ opinions on euthanasia, the right to life, and Terri’s killing....

Once again, protests have been proven effective. After receiving an avalanche of protest emails, petitions and calls eBay has changed its policy and will now refuse to sell consecrated Hosts and other sacred objects. In an email sent to protestors, Kaelee of eBay’s Community Watch Team writes: “we have concluded that sales of the Eucharist, and similar highly sacred items, are not appropriate on eBay. We have, therefore, broadened our policies and will remove those types of listings should they appear on the site in the future.” The controversy began in mid April, when someone seeking to capitalize on the...

Fatima Home Visitation coordinator Byron Whitcraft delivered over 40,000 petition cards to the exact spot where Our Lady appeared in Fatima. On March 20, two members of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP), went on pilgrimage to the site of the 1917 apparitions of Our Lady in Fatima, Portugal, to deliver over 40,000 petition cards collected through the TFP’s America Needs Fatima Home Visitation Program. America Needs Fatima began taking its supporters’ petitions to Fatima shortly after they began their Home Visitation Program (to read about the America Needs Fatima Home Visitation Program, go...

Most candid souls will admit that the world is in spiritual pain. Continual disregard of Fatima's warning will doom generations to spiritual bankruptcy. This is especially true in the disregard for the First Saturday devotions. The America Needs Fatima campaign is making a special effort to help Catholics remember. Our Blessed Mother has given us the means to heal and restore order, harmony and peace with a simple solution of prayer and penance, and following the Five First Saturday's specific instructions. The America Needs Fatima staff is promoting this devotion in a 425,000 prayer-card campaign. Five individual cards have been...

Catholic University hosts sacrilegious display against the Blessed Mother, offending students, faculty and Catholics nationwide Something extremely alarming and shameful occurred at the University of Dayton, where Our Blessed Mother was depicted in an exhibit amid pictures of prostitutes and pornography.1 The sacrilegious display, "Heartlands," by Derek A. Cracco, an assistant professor of art at the University of Alabama, was on public display in the Rike Center Gallery of the University of Dayton from February 22 to March 11. Ranking among the ten largest Catholic universities in the country, the University of Dayton, founded by the Society of Mary in...

If someone hung a picture of your mother amid images of prostitutes and pornography, would you be upset? Would you protest? I’m sure you would. In fact, the Blessed Mother is being insulted in this fashion at the Catholic University of Dayton, where an “art” exhibit in the Rike Center Gallery depicts “Mary amid images of prostitutes, pornography and firearms that has shocked some students and professors…” (Dayton Daily News, 03-07-05) Even worse – the University of Dayton is one of the nation's ten largest Catholic universities, founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, whose particular mission is to...

TFP Student Action in Action at CPAC 2005 TFP member Cesar Franco talks to a student at CPAC 2005. On February 17-19, five young members of TFP Student Action attended the 32nd annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), held at the Ronald Reagan Building in downtown Washington D.C. Their participation included a protest against those who would claim same-sex marriage is an unresolved issue.The largest gathering of conservatives in the country, CPAC 2005 was hosted by 68 of the most prominent conservative organizations in Washington. Nearly 4,500 conservative leaders, politicians, intellectuals and university and high school students came to meet...

The case of Terri Schiavo has been riveting public opinion for some time now. However, recent events have forced the issue into the foreground. Terri’s time may be running out. If her husband, Michael, has things his way, Terri’s feeding tube will be wrenched from her on Friday, February 25 at 5:00 pm, resulting in her starvation and death. Right now, Terri’s parents are praying and fighting in court to keep her alive. The American TFP is part of a groundswell of reaction and is petitioning Gov. Jeb Bush and others to intervene. Catholic teaching is very clear on the...

For those in need of special graces, one secure way to obtain them is the Miraculous Medal. As the name implies, devotees experience nothing short of miracles when they have recourse to this great treasure of the Church. The America Needs Fatima campaign has just launched a nationwide drive called Miracles for America to get free Miraculous Medals and novena cards in hands of tens of thousands of Americans. Campaign director Robert E. Ritchie hopes to distribute 200,000 blessed medals soon. The medal originated in 1830 when Our Lady appeared to Saint Catherine Laboure. This devout religious was entrusted with...

When the Supreme Court extended an injunction against the enforcement of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), it also guaranteed the access by innocent children to on-line porn. Internet pornographers were handed a victory and the opportunity to corrupt American youth with no fines or consequences. In answer to the decision, America Needs Fatima is launching a new emergency campaign called Protect Kids from Porn. Starting in early September, the campaign has as its immediate goal the distribution of tens of thousands of protest flyers aimed toward protecting society’s most vulnerable members. Each brochure has two petitions, one addressed to...

FAITH UNDER FIRE 'Saint Bill Clinton' ignites religious rage Artist uses ex-president's 'holy' image to market T-shirts, lunchboxes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: September 19, 2004 10:34 p.m. Eastern By Joe Kovacs © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com Americans have a wide variety of views regarding former President Bill Clinton, but a Kentucky artist's depiction of the former commander in chief as a Catholic-style saint is heating those opinions to new levels across the nation. The portrait, titled "Saint Clinton," is the creation of Scott Ritcher, a 34-year-old graphic designer who is now marketing T-shirts, posters, magnets, coffee cups, coasters and even lunchboxes with a picture...

Is There Still Free Speech in Poland Today? The entry of Poland into the European Union was supposed to have ushered in a new era of democracy, tolerance and freedom to the former Soviet Bloc nation. Gone forever was the totalitarian past of Communist regimes.Such hopes are now apparently premature. The threat of a cultural revolution threatens to impose new laws and customs upon Catholic Poland. Especially targeted is Catholic morality which opposes abortion and same-sex “marriage.”Fortunately, proponents of this new “morality” have met with numerous setbacks. The first such setback was in the field of abortion. With their new-founded...

Twitching with rage and disbelief, a pro-homosexual student approached one TFP Student Action member and said, “Why are you here? This is a liberal university.” Visibly shaken, he continued: “You’re in the wrong place. People on this campus disagree with you.” To this the TFP member nodded: “Yes, that’s exactly why we came – to let the other side be heard.” The TFP had gone to George Washington University in Washington, D.C. to defend traditional marriage as part of a continuing effort on college campuses. News of their presence spread like wild fire. Within minutes of their arrival, homosexual activists...

On Monday, April 22, nine members of TFP Student Action traveled to the College Park campus of the University of Maryland to collect surveys and pass out flyers in defense of traditional marriage. In 4 hours, Student Action collected more than 150 surveys, asking the opinion of students on homosexual “marriage,” and passed out nearly 2,000 “Stop Same-Sex Marriage” flyers. These flyers refute the scientific arguments used by the homosexual movement to push their agenda. Radical Moral Relativism Perhaps the most striking and pervasive aspect of those on campus in favor of same-sex “marriage” was their radical moral relativism. According...

It is extremely challenging for conservative college students to pop the bubble of political correctness that surrounds them, and when they do speak, you seldom hear about it. But I have good news for you. More and more students are refusing to take assaults on family values sitting down. For example, on April 15, a young group of College Republicans at Shippensburg University, Pennsylvania, organized a day of support for traditional marriage. Looking for reinforcements, the College Republicans invited members of TFP Student Action to join in their efforts. Shippensburg College Republicans had a table inside the CUB Great Hall...

To say that the campaign at the University of Delaware on Monday, March 29 was exciting would be an understatement. It wasn't only exciting; it was one of TFP Student Action's best campaigns since we started opposing the homosexual agenda on college campuses. As we headed toward the campus, I looked in the rear view mirror of the 15-passenger van and saw nine members of TFP Student Action. Expectations were high and they were ready for a full day of campaign. Although some confessed they had "butterflies in the stomach," they were determined to overcome the "butterflies." And they did....

For nearly five decades the left has been trying to impose a socialist and confiscatory land reform on Brazil. From the beginning, the so-called Catholic left, and particularly the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops (CNBB), has been the leading proponents and the most important driving force of that policy. With strong links to this Catholic left, the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva made land reform one of its main goals. For this purpose it designated Miguel Rossetto from the Workers Party's most radical wing as the Minister of Land Reform. The party also gave the government posts...

Bets Are Off in Louisville When a group wants to have a voice, the more its voice is heard the better. One would imagine that better yet is if that same voice is heard… and reheard. However, that was not what happened at the organizing meeting of the Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) at St. Agnes Church in Louisville, Ky. Area Catholics were taken aback by some of the practices of an organization that demands transparency of the nation's bishops. John de Friend attended the founding meeting on May 6. His experiences were quite revealing. He reports that the gathering...