Free Republic

The Italian Church needs to find itself in a synodal stateDo we not feel the need for a kick from the Spirit today, if only to wake us up from our torpor? asks Father Antonio Spadaro, SJ, Editor-in-Chief, La Civiltà CattolicaFrom May 24 to 27, 2021, the Italian Episcopal Conference held their 74th General Assembly. Pope Francis opened it with a prayer and a dialogue with the bishops present.The work of the Assembly, under the guidance of Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, focused on the theme: "Proclaiming the Gospel in a time of rebirth.Starting a synodal journey." In his introduction Cardinal Bassetti...

An 18-year-old woman is facing charges of attempted murder after shooting a 12-year-old boy early Tuesday morning, according to the Alachua County Sheriff's Office. Quashanti Samuel was one of multiple shooters who targeted a young boy in the 6900 block of SW 6th Place, according to an arrest report. Samuel reportedly fired first and told the others with her, who were wearing ski masks, to "shoot him in the head." The victim, who was hit "at least" five or six times, identified Samuel as one of the shooters in a photo lineup, deputies say. Samuel is charged with attempted first-degree...

The Air Force raised some eyebrows on Monday when it announced upcoming changes to its physical training test that would allow airmen to choose their own adventure for demonstrating physical prowess. The new test, which the service will begin to experiment with in January 2022, will allow airmen to choose between running, shuttle run sprints, and walking for the aerobic portion of the test. Shuttle run sprints involve sprinting back and forth between two markers about 25 meters apart. They could then choose between planks and sit-ups for the core strength measure. And for the final portion of the test...

STEVE BROWN: Also on Monday, on four occasions you described India Walton as a radical socialist. You also mentioned the word "fear" or "fearful" four times. Are you trying to make people afraid of her? BYRON BROWN: I think people themselves are afraid of her. They have heard her positions. She’s talked about cutting the police department defunding the police department at a time when crime is going up in communities all across the country including here. What I have done is modernize the police department, professionalize the police department, consistently worked to make the police department and every department...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media.I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ~ 1 Timothy 2:1-2Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. July 4, 1776 Paul Harvey – Fates of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence In His Name the nations will put their hope. Matthew 12:21 (NIV)

North Korea is creating new “social order disciplinary units” to bolster efforts to control and squash “non-socialist behavior” occurring throughout North Korean society. A source in Yanggang Province told Daily NK on Wednesday that the ruling party and Ministry of Social Security recently issued a joint order to form “new kinds of disciplinary units” to “actively respond” to “non-socialist activity” in the civilian economy amid the chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the order, North Korean authorities pointed out that the nation’s economic woes are worsening amid “intensifying schemes by imperialists to isolate and crush” the country and the...

For more than four decades, screen mavens have been eagerly awaiting the time when Steven Spielberg would bite the bullet and make a full-blown movie musical. Now he’s done it. It comes out at Christmastime. “West Side Story”? The 1957 Broadway show brilliantly adapted “Romeo and Juliet” by combining Shakespeare’s tragedy of teenage romance through two hot-button issues: juvenile delinquency and ethnic strife. So why will he get canceled? Simple. Lin-Manuel Miranda and his co-author Quiara Alegria Hudes have just been eaten alive on social media and in the pages of The New Yorker and the Washington Post for supposedly...

<p>Something is very rotten in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), which represents America’s largest Protestant denomination, and it is only a matter of time before it goes the sad way of the mainline Methodists and Presbyterians.</p><p>The rot at the core of the SBC is illustrated in three men who ought to be stalwarts of the Gospel, but who are instead leading the convention into Woke Hell. This trio includes Matt Chandler, lead pastor at The Village Church; outgoing SBC President J.D. Greear; and his successor, Ed Litton of Redemption Church.</p>

Thursday, a group of advocates called on the governor to move forward with the plan of opening controversial supervised injection site

Negative views of China among the world’s most advanced economies hover at near-record highs amid concerns about Beijing’s human rights record, according to a recent survey conducted by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center.A Pew report detailing the results of the survey of 17 advanced economies in Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region released on June 30 shows that 15 majorities—eight in 10 respondents—hold unfavorable views of China and believe the Chinese regime “does not respect the personal freedoms of its people.”“This sense is also at or near historic highs in nearly every place surveyed, having risen significantly in countries...

A new law is designed to give Pennsylvania citizens more information about what their elected officials are doing. Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday signed into law a measure requiring state government agencies, school districts, and local municipalities to post their meeting agendas on their websites 24 hours in advance for public review. They also are required to make copies of the agenda available at their meetings, listing items that will be or may be the subject of deliberation. The new law’s purpose is to enforce the “right of the public to be informed and present at their government’s proceedings,” according...

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has taken strict precautions in its preparations to mark its 100th anniversary. Beijing is heavily guarded. Knife stores are required to ask for ID and report customers’ information to the police. Restaurants in restricted areas have been forced to close their doors. The CCP is arresting people going to Beijing and blocking any social media account that might not show enough self-censorship.The CCP might look strong on the outside, but in reality, it is extremely nervous. Despite decades of tight control and brainwashing, the Chinese people are well aware that the communist system is against...

The General Assembly of Pennsylvania approved legislation that would preserve medical freedoms for Pennsylvanians by prohibiting the use of vaccine passports and limiting the powers of the Department of Health, but it was vetoed today by Gov. Tom Wolf.The bill’s primary sponsor, state Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill, a Republican and chair of the Senate Communications and Technology Committee told The Epoch Times: “This bill is mainly to protect the privacy of personal information, and it assures your freedom as a citizen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, that the government is not going to restrict your ability to live your daily lives.”Senate...

Vogue: fashion magazine or state propaganda? If you thought you knew, Tucker Carlson has exposed the periodical for the bastion of bolshevism that it is. Highlighting a profile of First Lady Jill Biden in the magazine published this week, the Fox host painted the piece as something akin to North Korean propaganda. “When it comes to authentic state media cult of personality hero worship,” Carlson declared, “the propagandists at North Korea’s Communist Party news agency look on in awe at the reporters of Vogue magazine in New York. The Vogue guys do Stalinism the old-fashioned way: they are all in.”...

The Many Saints of Newark is set nearly 40 years before The Sopranos series and tracks the rise of Tony Soprano from troubled teen to powerful mob boss... Now, as the first trailer for the prequel has finally dropped, MailOnline takes a look at who has will be playing the younger versions of the original cast members. TONY SOPRANO: Played in the series by James Gandolfini and played in the prequel by [his son] Michael Gandolfini...

We’re in crab season, here in Maryland. Some versions of Crab Imperial can be totally ‘keto friendly’, and here is one, from the long-time Maryland seafood company and restaurant ‘Phillips': http://www.phillipsfoods.com/recipes/classic-crab-imperialCrab Imperial 1 lb. Phillips Jumbo Lump Crab Meat 1 tsp. parsley 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice 1 egg 1 tsp. Phillips Seafood Seasoning 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 3 oz. Hellmann’s mayonnaise 1 tsp. melted butter Imperial Topping: 3 oz. Hellmann’s mayonnaise 1 oz. half & half 1/2 tsp. Phillips Seafood Seasoning 1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce Pinch of paprika 1/4 c. shredded Cheddar cheese 4...

The Democrats are suffering from a self-inflicted wound on the crime issue that will plague them for the 2022 mid-term Congressional elections. But now they’re hoping that their Democratic liberal allies in the media will lick those wounds clean, like loyal dogs or the witless and wriggling larvae of flies. The ludicrous and laughable claim of Biden White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki—that Republicans are defunding police–underscores this desperate fantasy of theirs. And if there were a functioning media in Washington, she would have been laughed out of town. But “functioning” might as well be an outlawed word as far as...

The Russian Foreign Ministry has said it's awaiting explanations from Berlin following a reported top-secret meeting with officials from Luxembourg over a broadcasting license for RT’s planned German-language TV channel. The media outlet is attempting to secure a license in the small central European country for a station under the provisional name RT auf Deutsch. The signal would come from a studio in Moscow, with existing sister company RT DE Productions GmbH, which is based in the German capital, providing talk shows, exclusive interviews, and news reports. Meanwhile, the plan to expand news coverage is facing a pushback from German...

One of the two Wisconsin girls convicted in the 2014 “Slender Man” stabbing will be released early from a state mental hospital, a judge ruled on Thursday. Anissa Weier, 19, filed a petition for conditional release in March, arguing that she’s no longer a threat to anyone after being institutionalized for the last three and a half years. Weier was sentenced to 25 years at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in 2017, after she pleaded guilty to being a party to the attempted murder of her sixth-grade classmate. Waukesha County Judge Michael Bohren on Thursday agreed to Weier’s petition, but...