Free Republic

NEW YORK — A major gathering of ecclesial heavy hitters focusing on the future of the priesthood concluded with a call for a reimagining of priestly formation – one that incorporates the laity and women in the process and better reflects the racial and cultural diversity within the U.S. Church. The two-day symposium at Boston College took place January 2-3 and was organized around “To Serve the People of God: Renewing the Conversation on Priesthood and Ministry,” a document first published in December 2018, which was the result of a series of seminars sponsored by the college’s Department of Theology...

The Swedish town of Örebro recorded the highest January temperature it had seen since 1858 on Wednesday.The local weather station measured a temperature of 10.3C, which was later upgraded to 10.5C following a further check. Meteorologist Nitzan Cohen told SVT Örebro the figure was "remarkable". Even still, the central southern town wasn't the warmest spot in the country on Wednesday. Norrköping and Bromma in the Stockholm area both measured 10.5C, while further south in Gladhammar the mercury reached 10.7C. Several other spots topped 10C on Wednesday, including Harstena, Hudiksvall, Kuggören, Södertälje, Oskarshamn and Adelsö. "It's very mild air but there...

SÃO PAULO, Brazil - A priest was suspended from his duties in the city of Assis, in Brazil, after blessing a homosexual union early in December. Father Vicente Paula Gomes took part at the celebration that happened on December 7 and blessed the union of two men. On Dec. 11, the Diocese of Assis issued a precautionary measure decree against him. “Considering the serious allegations against Father Vicente Paula Gomes, who has celebrated a homosexual union […], an act performed at a party hall in the city of Assis, […] I decree the suspension of order ad cautelam,” read the...

Clips tagged #Swamp BLINK? Pelosi says she'll send articles of impeachment to Senate 'soon' Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday said she would likely send articles of impeachment to the Senate soon despite winning no concessions from Republicans on allowing witnesses to testify during a trial on the House's charges against President Trump. Pence says sharing Soleimani details with Congress could 'compromise' sources Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday morning said that the Trump administration cannot reveal more information about the airstrike that killed Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani last week or any intelligence leading up to the event. Former government...

Hindu groups say donated hilltop land is their god's abode and Christians cannot use itOpposition from Hindu groups has forced the Archdiocese of Bangalore to halt a project to erect what is billed as India’s tallest statue of Jesus Christ on a hilltop in Karnataka state. The southern state's government led by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has asked for work to be suspended until a government probe establishes the ownership of the land, church officials told ucanews on Jan. 7. The problem began after Hindu groups challenged the archdiocese’s ownership of the 10-acre land plot on the Kapalabetta...

When the Vatican launched the Global Education Pact back in September, Pope Francis omitted any reference to the prerogatives of parents as the primary educators of their children.ROME, January 9, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — In a renewed and enthusiastic endorsement of globalism in 2020, Pope Francis today repeated his call for international and religious leaders to sign a “Global Education Pact” in May at the Vatican, saying it is all the more urgent in light of the sexual abuse crisis. In his annual New Year’s audience with the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, the Pope looked back at key...

CNN)The signs at Glacier National Park warning that its signature glaciers would be gone by 2020 are being changed. The signs in the Montana park were added more than a decade ago to reflect climate change forecasts at the time by the US Geological Survey, park spokeswoman Gina Kurzmen told CNN. But the glacier warning isn't being removed entirely, she told CNN. Instead, the new signs will say: "When they will completely disappear depends on how and when we act. One thing is consistent: the glaciers in the park are shrinking.

Pastor David Lynn of Christ Forgiveness Ministries was arrested on June 4, 2019 for preaching the Gospel publicly in Toronto, Canada. The neighborhood he was preaching in was Church-Wellesley Village. This neighborhood is known to be a place where many of the LGBTQ community in Toronto reside. His ministry is currently on an outdoor preaching tour throughout the 22 districts of Toronto.(snip) It is not uncommon for someone to think “open-air preaching” and “LGBTQ neighborhood” and immediately jump to thoughts of preachers condemning homosexuals to hell. However, Pastor Lynn’s preaching was some of the most loving and gracious preaching I...

A new art show opening Thursday in New York is pushing the notion that aborting an unborn baby is “normal.” ARTnews reports Jasmine Wahi, an art curator and director of Project for Empty Space in Newark, New Jersey, launched the project with artist Marilyn Minter after Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a law to ban abortions in May 2019. “Let’s do something. I’m going bats— crazy,” Minter wrote to Wahi that day. She proposed an art exhibition dedicated to promoting abortion, or “reproductive justice” as they call it. They named the exhibition “Abortion Is Normal” and recruited about 50 fellow...

Olio Nuovo will be finito by winter’s end, so be sure to look for a bottle soon. For those who deeply love olive oil, the coldest part of the year is a joyous time. Why? Because these months mark olio nuovo season. The excitement arises from what olio nuovo means: another olive harvest, another year of fresh olive oil. But the buzz also comes from the olio nuovo itself. Olio nuovo, also known as olio novello, is the year’s very first olive oil, newly pressed and fresh as can be. It stays on the shelves of better grocery stores and...

A Florida security guard is accused of threatening to kill President Trump in retaliation for a U.S. airstrike that killed Iran’s top military general last Friday. Chauncy Lump, 26, from the Fort Lauderdale area, faces federal charges of threatening to kill the president and remained jailed Thursday with bond set at $100,000, according to court documents filed Wednesday by the Secret Service. Agent Lucas White wrote that shortly after Trump announced last week that a U.S. airstrike had killed Qassem Soleimani in Iraq in retaliation for plotting numerous terrorist attacks, Lump, under the name "BlackMan vs. America," began livestreaming a...

Police stood by and watched while masked Antifa protesters physically and verbally assaulted BlazeTV contributor Elijah Schaffer during a protest Sunday in Seattle, Washington. Schaffer, host of "Slightly Offens*ve," was forcefully struck in the head when he attempted to stop a group of Antifa counterprotesters from grabbing a camera held by one of his producers. The protesters then surround Schaffer and his producer and barraged them with curses and threatening verbal abuse. Watch the video Schaffer posted on Twitter below: (Content warning: Strong language and violent content.) Watch Slightly Offens*ve's full length videos below.

West Virginia lawmakers began the new year Thursday by advancing a bill to protect babies who survive abortions from infanticide. The West Virginia House Health and Human Resources Committee approved the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, or House Bill 4007, in a voice vote, WV Public Broadcasting reports. Democrat Del. Danielle Walker opposed the bill. The legislation would require abortionists to provide reasonable medical care to a baby who survives an abortion. It requires physicians to “exercise the same degree of reasonable medical judgment to preserve the life and health of the child as a physician would render to...

G. K. Chesterton once said that one should never tear down a fence unless he knows why it was put there in the first place. In this article, I will attempt to explain some of the foundational reasons why the Church has put a fence around its beliefs regarding the nature and purpose of human sexuality. Those beliefs are summarized in a “Statement on Marriage and Sexuality” by the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States: The Orthodox Christian teaching on marriage and sexuality, firmly grounded in Holy Scripture, two millennia of Church Tradition, and canon Law, holds...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, has repeatedly said the chamber will follow the same rules and procedures as in President Clinton’s 1999 impeachment trial. “I said from the start, we need to see the arena in which we are sending our managers. Is that too much to ask?” said Mrs. Pelosi, who has withheld the two articles of impeachment since the House approved them in a party-line vote Dec. 18. Mr. Trump was impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The charges stem from a July phone call with the Ukrainian president in which he requested...

If someone else had been in the White House, this crisis could have easily turned out much differently. Sadly, most Americans have no idea that we were literally on the brink of the beginning of World War 3 this week. In fact, our population is so clueless about the rest of the world that 75 percent of all registered voters can’t even find Iran “on an unlabeled map of the globe”. We literally live in an “idiocracy” where a third of the country can’t even name a single branch of government. For most Americans, the alarming headlines about Iran will...

Q: How much responsibility does US bear for this tragedy? Trudeau: Evidence suggests this is the likely cause. Q: Do you feel US is partly responsible given they created the situation in which the missile was launched? T: That’s one of many q’s people will be thinking about.

Standing in the Kentucky Capitol on Thursday, Presbyterian pastor Rev. Wayne A. Gnatuk proudly declared his support for abortion. Gnatuk, a retired minister from the Presbyterian Church USA, joined Planned Parenthood abortion activists for a rally to criticize two pro-life bills that could help protect unborn babies in Kentucky, according to WLKY. “As an ordained minister, I am proudly pro-choice. I am also very proud that my denomination as a whole is pro-choice,” Gnatuk said. Along with his ministry work, he also is the chair of the pro-abortion Kentucky Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. Gnatuk slammed new legislation, state House...

Stars are formed within large clouds of gas and dust known as stellar nurseries. While star formation was once seen as a simple gravitational process, we now know it is a complex dance of interactions. When one star forms it can send shock waves through the interstellar medium that trigger other stars to form. Supernovae and galactic collisions can trigger the creation of stars as well. In the late 1800s, astronomer Benjamin Gould studied OB stars and found that many of them lie within a partial ring within our galaxy, titled about 20 degrees from the plane of the Milky...

Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg implicitly blamed President Donald Trump Thursday after reports indicated that Iran shot down a Ukrainian plane shortly after their military strike against the United States. Buttigieg wrote on Twitter: Innocent civilians are now dead because they were caught in the middle of an unnecessary and unwanted military tit for tat. My thoughts are with the families and loved ones of all 176 souls lost aboard this flight. Innocent civilians are now dead because they were caught in the middle of an unnecessary and unwanted military tit for tat. My thoughts are with the families...