Free Republic

“Church” without sacraments and priests? On the desacerdotalization of the German Church The following article by Michael Charlier appeared in German at his website on November 3, 2022. It is translated for Rorate Caeli.The diocese of Mainz has published by circular letter the liturgical form for a "death blessing," which would be able to be given by lay people. It is apparently intended to replace the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick/Last Rites, which has been completely abandoned in many places and the administration of which is reserved to the ordained priest. After kath.net published a theological critique...

"I was a 40 year Democrat and I'm voting for Lee Zeldin."

...On Thursday evening Rumman Chowdhury, listed on LinkedIn as a Twitter director of machine learning ethics, posted a photograph of her failing to sign in to her Twitter email, with an error message revealing: "Your password was changed less than an hour ago." She later added: "It's already started—just had the honor of being thanos snapped." Chowdhury is referencing a scene in 2018 Marvel movie Avengers: Infinity War, when protagonist Thanos snaps his fingers, causing half of all life in the universe to disintegrate. Has it already started? Happy layoff eve! pic.twitter.com/0AcaQjGJvm — Rumman Chowdhury (@ruchowdh) November 4, 2022 Daniel...

The state’s medical board, whose members are appointed by the governor, has barred doctors from prescribing gender care to new adolescent patients.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is calling out former President Trump for not spending more of his $100 million war chest to boost Republican Senate candidates ahead of next week’s midterm elections. “I will say by the way I wish Trump was spending some of his money,” Cruz said. “Trump’s got $100 million and he’s spending almost none of it to support these candidates.” Cruz also accused Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) of withholding critical political dollars from “pro-Trump” candidates, while funneling money into races where “moderates” and Trump critics are running. “It would be nice if Trump would spend...

Democrat losing their mind over this campaign ad.

Today, House Judiciary Republicans released a new report, “FBI Whistleblowers: What Their Disclosures Indicate About the Politicization of the FBI And Justice Department,” detailing a rampant culture of unaccountability, manipulation, and abuse at the highest level. The thousand-page report builds on various whistleblower disclosures describing the FBI’s Washington hierarchy as “rotted at its core” with a “systemic culture of unaccountability.” The report also highlights how the FBI has weaponized the federal government against its political opponents, illustrates how FBI leadership shows a political bias against conservatives, and enumerates instances where senior officials have pressured agents to reclassify cases as domestic...

Department of Justice officials have reportedly discussed the possibility of appointing a special counsel to oversee the investigations related to former President Donald Trump should he opt to run again for the nation's top job in 2024. Though they are waiting for the midterm elections to pass before making major public moves, the DOJ is reportedly bringing on additional experienced prosecutors and preparing for a potential slew of indictments against major figures in Trump world, CNN reported, citing "sources familiar with the matter." "Now federal investigators are planning for a burst of post-election activity in Trump-related investigations," CNN reported. "That...

A Hungarian official has welcomed Christian scholarship students from around the world to Budapest and stressed the importance of helping persecuted Christians. Hungary wanted to support all communities in need worldwide, not only Christians, Tristan Azbej said in Budapest last Thursday, Hungary Today reported. However, Christians hold a special place in the hearts of Hungarians, he added. Azbej is the Hungarian State Secretary for the Aid of Persecuted Christians and is responsible for the Hungary Helps Agency. “Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world. More than 300 million Christians are persecuted and discriminated against because of their faith,”...

New York’s neck-and-neck race for governor has suddenly gotten the attention of prominent national democrats — for all the wrong reasons. Party bigwigs appear to be in panic mode, critics note, flooding the 2-to-1 Democratic enrollment Empire State with big names like Bill, Hillary, Joe and Kamala in the final stretch to Tuesday’s election as Gov. Kathy Hochul has rapidly lost ground to Republican challenger Rep. Lee Zeldin. “New York Democrats are smashing the glass and pulling the fire alarm,” state Republican Party Chair Nick Langworthy said Friday. “These are all terrible signs for the Democrats,” political consultant Bradley Tusk...

When Naftali Bennett took over Israel’s premiership from Benjamin Netanyahu in June of 2021, the Likud leader was famously derisive and dismissive of his successor, questioning the legitimacy of his government and promising to return to power quickly. Some commentators criticized Netanyahu then for his apparent lack of decorum, noting that previous transfers of power had been more courteous. Now, a little more than a year later and with Netanyahu set to return to the premiership, a new detail has emerged from that handover. Channel 12 news on Friday published a photo of a note that was left for Bennett...

An influential Orthodox Jewish business group with a history of backing powerful New York Democrats is crossing party lines to endorse Rep. Lee Zeldin over Gov. Kathy Hochul in the race for governor. Saying Hochul “failed” to make key changes to New York’s controversial bail laws and reduce crime, Duvi Honig, CEO of the Wall Street-based Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce, told The Post that New York needs a governor that exhibits an “unwavering stand on violent crime” — and Zeldin is the man for the job. “Violent criminals endanger local businesses and institutions, jeopardize the lives and livelihoods of...

More than 1100 licensed priests in the Church of England have indicated that they are willing to conduct same-sex marriages if they become legal. The survey was conducted by the Campaign for Equal Marriage in the Church of England over the course of the last month. In a statement announcing the results, the chairman of the organisation, the Revd Nigel Pietroni, said: “It is clear from the feedback after Living in Love and Faith that the majority want the current situation to change.” The list of signatories is being kept private, but the names were cross-checked against clergy databases, and...

An in-depth look into the apparent bias against True The Vote by Judge Hoyt in a Civil Hearing. On Monday, True The Vote’s Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips were taken into custody after a Contempt Hearing in the Konnech v True The Vote defamation case, which after reading the transcripts, had very little to do with defamation at all. Both Catherine and Gregg refused to leak the name of the third Confidential Informant that was in the hotel room when Gregg Phillips was being shown the PII located on a Konnech database in China, and as a result, were sent...

The campaign to pull corporate advertising from Twitter, following its purchase by SpaceX founder Elon Musk, is being led by a network of left wing dark money activists with ties to prominent Democrat politicians and mega donors. An advocacy group formed in 2020 called Accountable Tech is organizing the pressure campaign, which has thus far succeeded in having the likes of Pfizer, Audi, General Mills, and other corporations pull their advertising expenditures from the platform.

The European Medicines Agency says a new wave of COVID-19 infections will hit the continent in the coming weeks as we move towards winter. The EMA held a press conferenc in the Netherlands where officials said the pandemic is not over and that the Omicron variant continues to mutate and therefore to cause concern. "Last week one of these new Omicron variants that is called BQ.1 has been identified in at least five countries in the European Union and European Economic Area," explained Dr. Marco Cavaleri, Head of Health Threats and Vaccines Strategy. "According to the ECDC BQ.1 and each...

Human rights advocates are denouncing Twitter owner Elon Musk's decision to fire the social media platform's human rights department. Musk on Friday terminated thousands of Twitter employees, roughly half of the company's workforce of 7,500. Many of the now-former employees say they were given no notice before being abruptly let go via email. Musk is facing multiple lawsuits due to the mass firing, which potentially violated a California labor law. Workers with responsibilities that included content curation, machine learning ethics and communication were among those fired this week, according to Reuters. Former Twitter employee Shannon Raj Singh, who was the...

On Sunday, October 23, Patriarch Kirill consecrated the Annunciation Cathedral of the Diveevo Convent and called upon the faithful to pray for the secession of hostilities to St. Seraphim of Sarov, whose name is inseparably linked to the history of the Convent. "Today our Fatherland is going through a test caused by Russophobia, by the evil views, evil thoughts and evil will aimed at Russia. There is an idea right now is the high time to do away with Russia altogether. And why so? Because our view of the world, of God, of mankind is contrary to their, because it...

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Covid-19 vaccination coverage has stagnated in half of African countries, while the number of doses administered monthly declined by over 50% between July and September. Although Africa is far from reaching the year-end global target of protecting 70% of the population, modest progress has been made in vaccinating high-risk population groups, particularly the elderly. "The end of the Covid-19 pandemic is within sight, but as long as Africa lags far behind the rest of the world in reaching widespread protection, there is a dangerous gap which the virus can exploit to come roaring...

The World Health Organization says the number of new weekly COVID-19 cases worldwide decreased to 2.3 million last week. The waiting game continues. State epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan told The Chronicle on Thursday that she is “optimistic” about the winter as signs remain elusive of a surge in California caused by emerging subvariants such as BQ.1 and XBB. Case numbers and the test-positivity rate in the state have plateaud, though hospitalizations are creeping up. But worries about the new strains are everywhere: Santa Clara County health officer Dr. Sarah Cody expressed concern about the “grandchildren of omicron,” and new...