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Israel's Chief Rabbi David Lau addresses letter to Pope Francis after Pope accuses Israel of engaging in terrorism just like Hamas.Chief Rabbi of Israel David Lau addressed a letter today (Sunday) to Pope Francis in which he called on the Pontiff to retract comments made during a conversation with President Isaac Herzog last month in which he appeared to accuse both Israel and Hamas of “terrorism” in the ongoing war that started with the Hamas massacre of over 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7. During the conversation, Pope Francis said that it is “forbidden to respond to terror...

Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Pope Francis has remained largely silent on the historic ruling returning the power to restrict abortion to the states, despite church leaders from around the world applauding the decision. Catholic officials in the United States have expressed their thankfulness and joy that the precedent established by Roe v. Wade in 1973 was overturned. However, Pope Francis has not released a major declaration of support since the Court’s ruling, with some experts pointing to the Church’s cautious nature and the Pope’s more liberal tendencies as potential reasons. (RELATED: ‘Challenges...

The Catholic hierarchy, from the Pope down, must stop leading Catholics to believe they can vote for politicians who support violence in the womb.The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) held a national day of fasting and praying the rosary last Friday in response to the leaking of the draft Supreme Court decision that could nuke the Roe v. Wade precedent. Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the USCCB, and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, invited the faithful to unite in penance and prayer for the nation,...

Amidst growing accusations that Pope Francis ignored and may have even helped cover up sexual misconduct by the clergy, a defiant Francis issued a proclamation Sunday banning plastic straws and cups from the Vatican Commissary “in an effort to allow little boys in emerging nations all over the world to swim in clean plastic-free oceans without the necessity of bathing suits, which — as we all know — are hateful to God.”

The Church offers people 'the soothing remedy of prayer, almsgiving and fasting' during Lent, the Pope said Catholics should use the season of Lent to look for signs and symptoms of being under the spell of false prophets and of living with cold, selfish and hateful hearts, Pope Francis said. Together with “the often bitter medicine of the truth,” the Church – as mother and teacher – offers people “the soothing remedy of prayer, almsgiving and fasting,” the Pope said in his message for Lent, which begins on February 14 for Latin-rite Catholics. The Pope also invited all non-Catholics who...

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Catholic activist Sister Simone Campbell has suggested that senior clergy at the Vatican are more preoccupied with power than confronting issues that affect the faithful, like clerical sexual abuse. The U.S. nun, leader of the “Nuns on the Bus” campaign that has toured America during recent election cycles, spoke frankly in an interview ahead of a conference being held at the Vatican on Wednesday (March 8) to celebrate women’s contributions to peace. “The institution and the structure is frightened of change,” Campbell told Religion News Service. “These men worry more about the form and the institution than...

The first three visions of Zechariah must have comforted the remnant of the nation of Israel, as they picked through the ruined walls of Jerusalem, once known as, “the city of the Great King”. Jerusalem was in ruins, in appearance she was far from being “the Joy of the Whole earth” , “the city of our God”, rather she was like a shattered and ruined widow, sitting in the ashes of her mourning. How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess...

Women don’t have the capacity to receive the sacrament of holy orders because they lack maleness. That is the case for both the priesthood and the diaconate. Not male? No ordination.During the during his flight back to Rome from these USA, Pope Francis was asked by a female reporter if there could be women priests.Of course, the Pope said “No.” He said “No.” again, of course.Over at the non-Catholic National Schismatic Reporter (aka Fishwrap), there is a piece entitled: Francis again rejects women priests without specific reasoning“Without specific reasoning”?Here’s what Francis said: On women priests, that cannot be done. Pope...

Pope Francis was not content with merely spreading the politics of Marxist wealth redistribution in his “climate change” fairyhoax encyclical, arguably the whole reason for its creation in the first place. He also chose to reinforce its supposed legitimacy by featuring a passage from an Islamic poet, Ali al-Khawas. As reported in Breitbart News, the “climate” encyclical included a depiction of the Muslim poet as cautioning people not to “put too much distance between the creatures of the world and the interior experience of God.” The symbolism of incorporating this Islamic text into the encyclical is much more significant than...

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis was about to take a major step backing the science behind ­human-driven global warming, and Philippe de Larminat was determined to change his mind. A French doubter who authored a book arguing that solar activity — not greenhouse gases — was driving global warming, de Larminat sought a spot at a climate summit in April sponsored by the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Nobel laureates would be there. So would U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, U.S. economist Jeffrey Sachs and others calling for dramatic steps to curb carbon emissions. fter securing a high-level meeting at...

The Crafting of the 4th Century Roman Church, Doctrine, and Papacy There is no question that there were “bishops” in Rome, likely beginning in the late second or early third centuries. But these were not “bishops” as we would understand them today. Roger Collins, in his work “Keepers of the Keys of Heaven: A History of the Papacy”, New York, NY: Basic Books, a Member of the Perseus Books Group, ©2009) wrote: Not everyone is convinced that what has been called a monarchic bishop, with unquestioned authority over all of the Christian clergy in the city, was to be found...

Was The Papacy Established By Christ? (Part 1) For those who don't have much familiarity with the dispute between Protestants and Catholics over the doctrine of the papacy, I want to post two introductory articles on the subject today and tomorrow. The first article, this one, will be about the Biblical evidence, and tomorrow's article will be about the early post-Biblical evidence. Roman Catholicism claims the papacy as its foundation. According to the Catholic Church, the doctrine of the papacy was understood and universally accepted as early as the time of Peter: "At open variance with this clear doctrine of...

There is ample evidence in the New Testament that Peter was first in authority among the apostles. Whenever they were named, Peter headed the list (Matt. 10:1-4, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:14-16, Acts 1:13); sometimes the apostles were referred to as "Peter and those who were with him" (Luke 9:32). Peter was the one who generally spoke for the apostles (Matt. 18:21, Mark 8:29, Luke 12:41, John 6:68-69), and he figured in many of the most dramatic scenes (Matt. 14:28-32, Matt. 17:24-27, Mark 10:23-28). On Pentecost it was Peter who first preached to the crowds (Acts 2:14-40), and he worked the...

The Pope and Rome – Synonymous, Right? Hmm … Let’s “See” By: Msgr. Charles PopeMost Catholics understandably link the Church, the Papacy, and Rome. We are “Roman” Catholics. The Pope lives in Rome. He is the Bishop of Rome and of the universal Church. Rome, the Papacy, and the Church are solidly linked terms and almost interchangeable. To say, “Rome has spoken … ” is to say the Pope has spoken, the Church has ruled.But this connection has not always held and the popes, for various reasons, have chosen or been “forced” to live outside of Rome.Among the lesser...

Hindus Ask Pope Francis To Punish Priest Who Said Yoga Leads To Satanism, 'Kingdom Of Darkness' By Bruce Wright @bctw on February 23 2015 The pope has been asked by some Hindus to discipline a Catholic priest who equated yoga and the devil. Reuters/Max Rossi A group of Hindus is appealing to Pope Francis to intervene after a Catholic priest from Northern Ireland insinuated that the ancient discipline of yoga is tantamount to Satanism and paganism. Rev. Roland Colhoun from Glendermott parish was delivering a sermon in the village of Drumsurn on Feb. 8 dealing with the devil and exorcism...

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy met with Vatican officials that helped draft Pope Francis’ climate-related encyclical on Friday, The Associated Press reports.An encyclical, a letter from the pope addressed to faithfuls worldwide when he feels he needs to reach them, is set to be published in June and might make environmentalism a Catholic doctrine like Pope Pius IX’s encyclical about infallibility. It might also be a simple condemnation of human destruction of the environment like Pope Pius XI’s encyclical against Italian Fascists. The visit was aimed at showing the Holy See that the Obama administration share similar thoughts on...

Published on Nov 28, 2014 Pope Francis arrives in Turkey, where he is expected to denounce violence against Christians and other minorities in the Middle East. Jillian Kitchener report

VATICAN CITY, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- After speaking out against statements of Pope Francis that appear to be very lenient toward homosexuals in the church, Cardinal Raymond Burke has been removed from his position as leader of the Vatican's highest court. The pope has worked on a draft of the synod of bishops that included welcoming homosexual people into the Catholic church, to some degree. That part did not make it to the final draft, but it did stir things up in the church. Around this time, Cardinal Raymond Burke told Buzzfeed "the pope is not free to change the...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Pope Francis delivered a powerful boost of support to the Palestinians during a Holy Land pilgrimage Sunday, repeatedly backing their statehood aspirations, praying solemnly at Israel's controversial separation barrier and calling the stalemate in peace efforts "unacceptable." -snip- Palestinian officials hailed Francis' decision to refer to the "state of Palestine." In its official program, the Vatican referred to President Mahmoud Abbas as the president of the "state of Palestine," and his Bethlehem office as the "presidential palace." He pointedly called Abbas a "man of peace." -snip-

Among Catholic doctrines, those pertaining to the papacy tend to be the most misunderstood and contested by non-catholics. The following verses show the biblical basis for Catholic teaching on the primacy of Peter, the office of the papacy being established by Christ and allusions to the doctrine of infallibility. These doctrines reached their full development in the life of the Church only after centuries of contemplation and study, in councils and through the actions of the popes. And we should never forget that since the Church is likened by Christ to a “mustart seed” that grows and develops organically from...