Posted on 02/10/2026 6:07:57 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
A quiet cold war is happening across America — one that many Americans might not be aware of if they’re not tuned into the changes underway in America’s Christian communities.
On one side is the religious right’s use of scripture and faith to justify and defend President Donald Trump’s agenda — and growing Christian nationalist sentiment. On the other side is the reshaping of the American Catholic Church, under Pope Leo XIV.
Through new appointments, orders to his bishops to speak out about immigration, and public comments critiquing the direction of the US under Trump, the pope is setting up his bishops and priests to be evangelizers, to be vocal about human dignity, and to be a counterweight to the authoritarian and nationalist tendencies of the right.
While the church has long played a role in US politics, Pope Leo’s interventions, according to Christopher Hale, a Catholic writer and political activist who writes the Letters from Leo Substack, represent something new.
In the absence of a well-organized “religious left” in America, he told me, Leo’s moves to reform and shake up the American Catholic Church are reinvigorating a “Catholic left” to engage in the moral struggles of the 2020s, specifically around immigration and creeping authoritarianism.
(Excerpt) Read more at vox.com ...
Government school teachers are far more likely to molest children than Catholic priests, and Catholic priests are no more likely to molest children than clergy of other religious denominations, including yours.
You seem to have a thing for choir boys. Odd.
On Free Republic, when it comes to religion, there is an unstated presumption that we are supposed to be born again Christians.
Catholics are regularly attacked here.
Mormons are regularly attacked here.
Lutherans, Methodists, and some other Christian denominations are criticized as well.
I try to stay out of those arguments , because I am not a born again Christian, and I do not understand the theological arguments against other religions besides evangelical Christianity.
My take on things is that I think there are good conservatives of any faith, and even no faith. Free Republic is, or I thought it was , a secular conservative site.
After the killings of Americans at the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Pennsylvania on September 11th, the idiot news media people asked “why do they hate us Americans?” “Which of our actions caused them to do this?”
That was unforgivable.
Now we good people are supposed to see if we are “guilty” of the terribly misguided leftist political action by the new Pope.
I am well qualified to comment upon politics. I believe he is not.
He should stay in his lane.
I have been silent and kind up to now.
Certain posters certainly seem to presume that ... and respond violently and vilely when their presumption turns out to be incorrect. In doing so, they give aid and comfort to the anti-American communist left.
The best thing to do is pray for their repentance and conversion.
The social justice crowd within the Catholic Church is doing that all by itself. Trying to blame others is absurd.
LOL. Every Catholic knows the Catholic left has taken over the church pushing social justice while ignoring a lot of the gay nuns and priests pushing the agenda because hey, that makes you look away from their perversions... this includes alas a lot of the older bishops.
The only thing that is keeping a lot of Catholics in the church is Mother Angelica's TV station
What this pope is doing will just push more good Catholics into churches that worship Christ and show how we ordinary folks can serve God in our daily duties.
It’s challenging people across the board forcing pastors in Evangelical churches to respond.
The ICE related events as shocking as the assassination of Charlie Kirk last year was to churches IMHO.
> The Catholic Church is now run by atheists, as proven by their stance on climate change.
Indeed. I thought the church wasn’t supposed to get involved in politics, because that’s what climate change is all about. Well, it gets worse but we won’t talk about that here.
> Only an atheist believes man could destroy the earth.
True. We could ruin it for ourselves with nuclear weapons but the planet would eventually heal itself, it would take generations to survive to appreciate it.
-SB
Gosh … thanks for that insult.
> Mormons are regularly attacked here.
With damn good reason. There are no prophets after Jesus. Anyone who claims to be is running a cult.
> I try to stay out of those arguments, because I am not a born again Christian, and I do not understand the theological arguments against other religions besides evangelical Christianity.
The arguments are petty. Break it down. If a church follows the Bible they are good. If they don’t they are evil. I was baptized properly on May 1, 1976. Full immersion. I do not consider myself born again. I consider myself a Christian. It took me 30 long years to actually find a church I would attend again and even there I’m finding things I don’t like and I haven’t heard any inspiring sermons yet. I get the new music but how about doing a hymn once in a while?
I discovered them at a Charlie Kirk memorial service. Damn inspiring message then.
I have one more church to try. A Baptist church. If it’s hurray for everything I’m out. This is between me and Jesus and I don’t need an audience.
-SB
-SB
Actually, the Church is growing thanks to the younger generations and they are proving to be quite conservative. We’ll see how things play out.
I guess Vox didn’t notice a pope pre Trump were supporting the LGBTQWTF agenda, the Islamic conquest, and tacit support of abortion.
Ridiculous. Vatican Council II did that 7 decades ago.
Sad, but so true. I almost left the Church…but after a bit…I realized that Jesus is the real Priest, and also the Sacrifice. How could I leave? No. I didn’t leave.
Only the weak cafeteria Catholics vote for Democrats. They aren’t as smart as they think they are.
Which is usually the majority of Catholics.
All the Christian churches are moving to the left and it has nothing to do with MAGA.
Steeped in Critical Theory, oppressor vs oppressed.
You have to run it by Eb, Free Republic’s own Catholic theologian. I was berating Catholic Services profiteering from illegal immigration to find he had my comments removed, so he “outranks” this mere mortal on matters concerning The Church.
True that. My parish is a mix of boomer retirees and young trad Catholic families. The trad Catholic families are growing as the boomers pass on. It will be interesting to watch the transition. We have a Latin Mass contingent that is growing. Our kids were all homeschooled and the oldest are now homeschooling their children…it’s wonderful to watch. I’m excited about the future of the Church as this is happening in many parishes in my area, especially over the last five to six years.
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