Free Republic

                    In The Da Vinci Code,  one finds the horrible affirmation advanced by one of its  characters that Christ is not God but was deified by Constantine to advance a political agenda. This is supposedly “the greatest cover-up in history.”  From the very beginning of the Church, there have always been those who denied Christ’s Divinity.  However, there have also been saints that have gloriously affirmed Christ’s Divinity.St. Ephrem the Syrian (c.306–373) was one such saint.  In his commentary on the Transfiguration, he comments upon how Christ showed His apostles the glory of His Divinity that has been concealed...

Why Does Sony Fear Free Publicity?   “Don’t protest, you’re just giving them free publicity!”That is the advice that the anti-blasphemy protester must often endure when organizing protests in front of theaters.  The conventional wisdom is that controversy generates interest. And interest will in turn only fuel ticket sales. The best thing a Catholic can do in face of a blasphemous movie is to ignore it. Don’t go. Do nothing.   Thus, the TFP massive protests in front of theaters and especially its current efforts to organize 1,000 protests against The Da Vinci Code movie are at best well-intentioned but counter-productive.Indeed if...

Urgent Action Item!Click here to Protest Now!American TFP Protests Play About MaryWhile the Incarnation is one of the most sublime expression of God’s love for men, it is also the object of the most base blasphemies. The latest addition to this trend is a current off-Broadway play called “Mary, Like a Virgin”which will be running every Thursday until May 11. The American TFP is joining with other Catholics protesting against this outrage. It seems the musical could not be more sarcastic and disrespectful. The 90-minute “confession by the Virgin Mary” has the Most Pure Mother played by a man dressed...

America’s largest Catholic university offers minor in “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Studies,” TFP Student Action calls for peaceful protest DePaul University is apparently the first Catholic university to formally establish an undergraduate minor program in homosexuality. The new program began in January, sparking controversy and concern over the state of moral decay within higher learning. “I must say the program is shameful, especially for a university that advertises itself as Catholic. The Church teaches that homosexual vice is intrinsically evil, sinful, unnatural. To pretend the topic is open to other valid interpretations is to simply deny Catholic teaching,”...

TFP Student Action launches effort to restore modesty on Catholic campuses Feminist groups on twenty-one American Catholic Universities are planning a new assault against the Church’s traditional moral teaching, by organizing showings of the lewd play, “The V***** Monologues” in the weeks surrounding St. Valentine’s Day. (Asterisks added for modesty). TO SIGN YOUR E-CARD AND JOIN THE GROWING PROTEST, visit: http://tfp.org/student_action/php/monologues_2006.php The choice of St. Valentine’s Day is particularly offensive, since it is a feast day the Church instituted to honor three martyrs who died to defend the Faith. According to the Cardinal Newman Society1, the play is a conglomeration...

  Beside the MangerBased on a Christmas meditation by Plinio Corrêa de OliveiraOnce again, O Lord, the Feast of Thy Holy Nativity approaches. Christendom is present to venerate Thee in the manger, under the twinkling Star of Bethlehem and the refulgent light of Mary’s maternal eyes. Saint Joseph is at Thy side, so absorbed in contemplating Thee, that he does not even notice the animals which surround Thee, or the choirs of angels that part the clouds and sing visibly on high. Soon the approaching footsteps of the Three Wise Men will be heard as they bring gifts of...

Urgent Action Item! Protest Now! Taking the Leary ChallengeComedian Denis Leary has overstepped the limits many times in the past, but this time he has gone way too far, by hosting what he calls an “anti-Christmas Christmas special” on Comedy Central. The one-hour program is literally overflowing with blasphemies and profanities which include denying the virginity of Our Lady, ridiculing Catholic beliefs and a skit portraying a group of lesbian nuns.1 The American TFP web site is asking its readers to register their indignant protest, against the program’s scheduled airing on December 17.Although formerly Catholic, comedian Denis Leary has built...

When the University of Nebraska’s Studio Theatre advertised its plans to stage the blasphemous anti-Catholic play "Corpus Christi," the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property (TFP) and its TFP Student Action and America Need Fatima campaign immediately launched a prayerful protest. "Corpus Christi" portrays Our Lord and His twelve Apostles as homosexuals. Just as Our Divine Savior was abandoned, insulted and mocked during His Passion, so is He offended by the sins of men today. Yet as we recall the tragic abandonment of Our Lord, we also behold the heroic example of Our Lady at the...

Protest Corpus Christi in Nebraska!When Terrence McNally’s work Corpus Christi shows at the University of Nebraska’s Studio Theatre on December 1-3, it will generate plenty of controversy and negative publicity. Wherever it is staged, the blasphemous play, which portrays Our Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles as homosexuals, always triggers protests from deeply offended Catholics who have come to Our Lord’s defense with vibrant and moving acts of reparation.On the last night of the showing, the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) and its America Needs Fatima campaign will be holding a protest at the...

To call abortion what it is - a grave sin - on any college campus is like exposing a raw nerve or scrubbing an infected wound. At least that is the experience of members of TFP Student Action in the past, and it was no different this time at the University of Pittsburgh on Veteran's Day, November 11. At the crack of dawn, a contingent of TFP volunteers set out from their Spring Grove headquarters to Pittsburgh. The five-hour journey did not concern these young men seasoned in the art of street campaigns, eager to oppose the sin of abortion...

A Catholic theologian who opposes Church teaching on divorce and supports creating a betrothal ceremony for cohabitating couples just led a colloquium to assist US bishops with writing a pastoral letter on marriage. The colloquium, which ended yesterday, was sponsored by the US Bishops' Committee on Marriage and Family and hosted by the Center for Marriage and Family at Creighton University in Omaha. It featured theologians and social scientist and had as its theme, "Promoting and Sustaining Marriage as a Community of Life and Love." According to a press release, the colloquium was a "major step" toward developing "a pastoral...

Scandal at Saint Joseph’s University Continues under Different NameWhen you think the Holy Catholic Church cannot possibly endure further attacks or dissent from within, something painfully happens to prove the contrary. According to Saint Joseph’s University newspaper, The Hawk, a pro-homosexual event known on campus as “Rainbow Week” was renamed this year for “Unity Week” to avoid protest. “Scheduled to begin October 30, Unity Week will follow in the Rainbow Week tradition of educating and promoting acceptance of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students and faculty.” What happened on campus in 2004 shocked many Catholics, when the Jesuit University held...

"The sins which lead most souls to hell are sins of the flesh!" ~ Blessed Jacinta Marto During the week of October 10-14, students at the prominent Catholic University of Notre Dame faced another assault against traditional Catholic morality on campus: "National Coming Out Day." The weeklong event included shocking pro-homosexual activities under titles such as: * Speak Out! Sex and Gender at Notre Dame Rally * Come Out of Your Closet! * Library Exhibit: Famous LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trasgender] Individuals * The Process of Coming Out: A Panel Discussion * Gay? Fine by Me, T-shirt Day An email...

Protesters can claim one more case where protesting has proven effective. The Hollywood remake of the comedy “Oh God!” planned for this summer will not be going anywhere soon. Last fall, Hollywood announced with some fanfare the news that Jerry Weintraub Productions would be filming the remake which portrays God as a wise-cracking cranky individual full of defects and imperfections. As if that were not bad enough, the so-called Supreme Being was to be played by the avowed lesbian talk show host Ellen DeGeneres! That was before thousands of protest flyers went out nationwide. Prior to the production of this...

by Michael Whitcraft When I heard that my bishop, Most Reverend Kevin Rhoades, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was planning a procession and rosary in front a local abortion clinic, I was excited and pleasantly surprised. Due to their busy schedule and load of administrative work, few bishops would take three hours early on a Saturday morning to lead their flock in protest. While this may be understandable, it is a pity. Amid the chaos that defines modern life, we faithful are in great need of shepherds who will take definitive stands and lead us to react against evil. I thank...

Students from St. Louis de Montfort Acadmeny pose for a picture in front of Dunnottar Castle, on the east coast of Scotland. Around Scotland for Our Ladyby Paul FolleyUntil recently, it would have been rash to travel around staunchly Presbyterian Scotland handing out fliers about Our Lady. However, times have changed and what the eight of us, consisting of myself and seven American high school students from the TFP-staffed Saint Louis de Montfort Academy in Pennsylvania, proposed to do for three weeks in June 2005 was precisely that. We would start in Glasgow and work east to Edinburgh, and...

Although its proponents insist that embryonic stem cell research will cure suffering people, the bottom line is that it kills human embryos. Embryonic Stem Cell Deliriumby John Horvat IIMost have already seen the stem cell news stories. A handicapped person is shown in a wheelchair suffering from his malady. The picture changes to a laboratory where research is taking place. The message: embryonic stem cell research will cure the poor suffering person. The screen then focuses on a conservative politician who raises cruel moral objections to the procedures.It must be noted right from the start that even if embryonic...

  I Don’t Believe in Ghosts, But They Do ExistA Review of Ronald and Allis Radosh’s book:Red Star Over Hollywood, The Film Colony’s Long Romance with the LeftBy Michael WhitcraftAn old Spanish adage states: “I don’t believe in ghosts, but they do exist.” Paraphrasing this adage, an astute analyst could state: “I don’t believe in conspiracies, but they do exist.”Though refusing to see black helicopters looming around every corner, an intelligent observer will conclude that powerful forces operate behind the scenes, influencing many aspects of society. Considering the history of the past few centuries, nothing could be more logical. As...

With its entry into the European Union, Poland has suffered enormous pressure to accept same-sex “marriage” and the whole homosexual agenda. Unlike other nations, Poland has resisted. Mr. Slawomir Olejniczak of the TFP-inspired Fr. Peter Skarga Association for Christian Culture in Krakow has provided the TFP web site with an account of the great cultural battle developing there. He also discusses their actions and the defeats the homosexual movement has suffered.By Slawomir OlejniczakIn May 2003, after the referendum on Poland's entry into the European Union, homosexual organizations in our country became very active. Their main goal was to have same-sex...

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...