Free Republic

Tucho’s New Document Identifies the Crisis… and Makes it Much Worse Rome knows the Catholic faith is in crisis. But in "Venite ad Me", Tucho’s new document offers a diagnosis that ignores the Vatican II revolution, and remedies that make matters worse. Robert Morrison examines the contradictions, the surprising passages on traditional liturgical sensibilities, and what the Church’s own perennial teaching says about the way forward.“Today, a specific investigation into the sudden decline of Catholicism in countries where it was deeply rooted is necessary to understand its causes and develop an appropriate pastoral response.” (Paragraph 119 from Venite ad Me)On...

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Horse-drawn carriages will be banned in New York City after the City Council approved a new bill Thursday that will end a Central Park tradition that’s endured for more than 150 years. The ban passed in a veto-proof 40-7 vote, with two council members abstaining – despite a last-minute attempt to amend the proposal and push the ban back in 2030. The ban will take hold on June 1, 2028 and outlaw horse-drawn carriages across all five boroughs. That means about 200 carriage drivers will see their livelihoods – and entire industry – vanish from the city without a trace...

PARIS — To accommodate modern French sensibilities, the NFL has announced that their first ever game to take place in Paris will include special endzone messaging by having "Allahu Akbar" painted onto the field. While not unusual for the NFL to paint social justice-oriented political messages into the endzone, such as "Inspire Change," "End Racism," and "Vote," this will be their first overtly religious message. The upcoming game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New Orleans Saints will be the first time the NFL has played a game Paris, so they wanted the message to be more suitable for the...

Trump and Mehmet Oz force Albany to face up to rampant Medicaid fraud. One major Trump Administration achievement has been exposing fraud in entitlement programs that has been hiding in plain sight. The latest targets are New York’s sham adult day care centers, which state officials are finally investigating after a push from Washington.The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Wednesday said FBI agents and New York officials raided dozens of “social” adult day care facilities. CMS also sent notices to centers warning they could be ousted from the program because it had uncovered evidence of fraud, which agency...

Undercover video captured canvassers aligned with Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-Ariz.) saying they don’t believe in asking about immigration status or actively encouraging self-identified noncitizens and felons to register and vote. All of that, of course, is completely illegal. Everyone knows that Arizona elections are incredibly corrupt. There is still a very significant Republican population in the state, and it voted for Donald Trump both in 2016 and 2024, and yet for some reason Democrats keep winning state and local offices. At a certain point we have to ask: is Democrat control of Arizona dependent entirely upon fraud? Would Katie Hobbs...

That headline might seem a bit provocative, but it’s serious. Because while the violence across Europe has been described as “student protests,” it is anything but that. In fact, it’s a calculated effort by highly organized and well-financed extreme left groups to sow anarchy across Western civilization. Here in the U.S., the hard-left Democratic Party has all but declared it’s no longer a party of working-class people and middle-class taxpayers. It’s dominated by the Democratic Socialists of America and closely allied and networked with the global movement to destroy capitalism and impose socialism. An exaggeration? Nope. According to “DataRepublican,” a...

For decades, the battle over Israel has been fought in the halls of the United Nations, across university campuses, and in the streets of major cities. But an increasingly bitter confrontation is now unfolding in a place many Christians might never have expected: inside the Church itself. At the heart of the dispute is a question that reaches far beyond Middle Eastern politics. Does the Jewish people's return to their ancient homeland represent the fulfillment of biblical promises, or has the coming of Jesus Christ changed how those promises should be understood? The answer is dividing Christian denominations, challenging longstanding...

There have been 27 attacks on commercial ships so far in October, according to the International Maritime Organization. There were 22 in March, as well as attacks on an offshore rig and two tugs, according to a list of attacks compiled by USNI News.Despite the number of attacks, ships are continuing to sail through the strait. There were 104 non-Iranian-linked vessels that sailed through between Oct. 5-11, during which there were 12 attacks, according to data from London-based maritime intelligence firm Lloyd’s List. Of those, six occurred on Oct. 11, according to the IMO.While Iran is at fault for the...

Former FBI officials Nikki Cole Floris and Bradley Benavides, according to the DOJ, falsely denied involvement in the investigations into former President Joe Biden’s son when speaking to Congress. Both surrendered Friday on arrest warrants, according to the DOJ. "Lying to Congress by anyone strikes at the heart of our democratic system, but when senior FBI agents lie to Congress believing they are above the law, it’s time to bring the hammer of justice down on them," U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said of the charges. The Justice Department claims to possess evidence that shows Benavides discussed the laptop story with...

Trump blasted the players during a Thursday campaign rally in Iowa, warning that the women’s basketball league could destroy its growing popularity by disrespecting the American flag.“What’s going on with the women’s NBA? What’s that all about?” Trump asked, according to Yahoo Sports.“They’ll destroy themselves before they get started because they just started to do good,” the president said The controversy erupted after players from the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries left the court before the national anthem during the WNBA Finals.“It’s a big deal going on. They leave the court when the national anthem’s playing. What’s that all...

La Brújula Verde reports that an iron window grille has been unearthed near a Roman house at Augusta Raurica, the site of an ancient settlement on the banks of the Rhine River in northwestern Switzerland. Five bars, two crosspieces, and rings that were likely used to attach the grille to a wooden window frame were recovered. Archaeologists also found two nails. The grill had been set in a wall made of stone and mortar that has since collapsed. The building has not yet been dated. To read about previous finds from Augusta Raurica, go to "Oops! Down the Drain."

Dracula is a Democrat. He wants. The Democrats want. He is not willing to work to satisfy his wants. The Democrats are not willing to work to satisfy their wants. Dracula feeds off of others to satisfy his wants and to exist. The Democrats feed off of others to satisfy their wants and to exist. Dracula is stealthy so he can be in society and yet take from you without getting a stake through the heart. The Democrats are stealthy so they can be in society and take from you without getting a stake through their hearts. Dracula turns those...

The reported DSA-linked planning treats the Insurrection Act as a trap that works only if Trump walks into it on their timetable and terms. Over on X, DataRepublican’s reporting on documents and recordings from the Democratic Socialists of America and allied networks lays out a calculated strategy for the run-up to the 2028 elections. The goal is sustained mass violence and street clashes designed to push President Donald Trump into invoking the Insurrection Act. Once invoked, Democratic governors and progressive organizations would treat the order itself as evidence of “fascism” and a reason to undermine federal authority. Groups including the...

Six people have died and 28 have been injured after gunmen opened fire on a funeral at a church in Jordan. It took place at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak governorate, about 110 miles south of the capital Amman. A witness told TV channel Al Mamlaka that two men - one carrying a rifle and another a ‌pistol - opened fire for several minutes. The station said the men had got out of a vehicle before attacking the funeral at Hamoud church. Local reports initially said seven people had been killed, but Jordan's public security directorate later said there...

The Battle of Iwo Jima monument in Quantico, Virginia, has suffered hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages after a man beheaded one of the statues Wednesday evening, police said. Officers responding to a report of destruction of property at the Marine Corps Base Quantico around 10:31 p.m. saw a man “actively damaging the statue with a sledgehammer” and detained him without incident, Prince William County police said. The suspect, 27-year-old Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano of Stafford, Virginia, has been charged with felony destruction of property, trespass with intent to damage, and felony injury to a monument, court records show....

Prisons are expensive. States lock up only as many people as it takes to keep voters from getting up in arms about crime, and not one more. A small used container ship can be bought for $5 million. 40-foot shipping containers cost around $1,250. Fitted with plumbing, wiring, insulation, drywall, ductwork, windows and doors, each container becomes a spartan housing unit for roughly $8,500. Bunks stacked three-high in two rows along each side, one container would sleep about 30 inmates, and still have room for a shower, toilet, and sink. A small ship holds about 250 such units, enough for...

ORLANDO, Fla. – A man was found guilty of robbery and grand theft after taking more than $760,000 in jewelry from an Orlando store and using force against an employee while trying to escape, prosecutors said. Jaythan Gilder was convicted after a trial involving the February 2025 robbery at the Tiffany & Co. store at the Mall at Millenia, State Attorney Monique Worrell’s office said. Prosecutors said Gilder posed as a representative negotiating a jewelry purchase on behalf of a professional basketball player before grabbing the merchandise. After his arrest, he swallowed the stolen earrings in an attempt to hide...

The number of Americans dining out just hit a new low. In the early days of the pandemic, restaurants went into survival mode to stay afloat. It may be safe to grab a bite to eat out of the house these days, but with fewer Americans able to afford the luxury of eating out, business is drying up again. The percentage of Americans who say they dine out at least once a week slid almost 10% between 2022 and 2026, according to a new Gallup poll. In 2019, just prior to the pandemic, more than half of people surveyed reported...

In 2012, Dr. Daniel Coupland, professor of Education at Hillsdale College, published a Martin Center (then the Pope Center) article entitled “A College Reinvents Teacher Education.” That piece described how Hillsdale’s Education Department resisted the state of Michigan’s mandate that all teacher certification programs in the state be nationally accredited. Coupland wrote that following the decision to move away from state certification, Hillsdale’s faculty “began to think about what teacher education could be without the ideological straitjacket (i.e., ‘standards’) from the state.” A glance at the standards listed on the website of CAEP (the largest national accreditation agency for education...