Free Republic

At the General Congregations, the so-called pre-conclave, the cardinals gathered in the Vatican are currently discussing the state of the Church and the profile of the next pope. What "skills" will the next head of the 1.4 billion Catholics need? And what issues will the cardinals be particularly concerned with when they soon retreat to the Sistine Chapel for the Papal election, the Conclave? "I believe that the issue of abuse will already play a role in the preliminary discussions, the so-called pre-conclave," German child protection expert Hans Zollner told the news agency Kathpress in Rome based on conversations with...

Shiva Bagheri, a dance and fitness instructor, community organizer and activist leads a dance celebrating the accomplishments of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a recently formed task force seeking to root out waste, fraud, bloat and corruption in the Federal Government. This performance took place at a rally in Beverly Gardens Park in Beverly Hills, Calif. on April 27, 2025.

Fifth-generation ranchers Charles and Heather Maude make their living raising cattle and hogs on the wide plains of western South Dakota. Since 1907, Charles’s family has been on the land where they now farm thousands of acres.

Mark Carney's Liberal Party has won enough seats in the House of Commons to form a government in Canada. However, CBC News projects they will fall short of the majority they wanted. Carney is set to remain prime minister, having only assumed the role in early March following Justin Trudeau's resignation

Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre lost his own seat in Parliament in Monday’s election, but he has not resigned as leader of the party and some prominent Conservatives have spoken up to defend his position. “There is no doubt that Pierre Poilievre and his team ran an incredible campaign,” former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer said in a post on social media platform X on Tuesday. Scheer noted that while the Conservatives came up short of forming a government, they won “the highest vote percentage in modern Conservative history” and “the most amount of total votes for our party,...

[Catholic Caucus] May it be a Minimal Papacy: For a Pontificate of the Essential, with no more Personalism, Narcissism, and DespotismCamillo Langone Il FoglioApril 24, 2025Limited to its essential tasks. The head of the Church is not the Pope, but Christ. Let the new Pontiff's motto be John the Baptist's words about Jesus, “He must increase, I decrease.” May it be a minimal Papacy. A Papacy like the Minimal State theorized by liberal philosopher Robert Nozick, that is, limited to its essential tasks. Few things, but done well. Not only because the vain loudness of an overwhelming Papacy, and an...

Explanation: Sometimes, the sky itself seems to smile. A few days ago, visible over much of the world, an unusual superposition of our Moon with the planets Venus and Saturn created just such an iconic facial expression. Specifically, a crescent Moon appeared to make a happy face on the night sky when paired with seemingly nearby planets. Pictured is the scene as it appeared over Zacatecas, México, with distinctive Bufa Hill in the foreground. On the far right and farthest in the distance is the planet Saturn. Significantly closer and visible to Saturn's upper left is Venus, the brightest planet...

The United States and Ukraine are on the verge of signing a mineral deal after months of fraught and chaotic negotiations, although a last-minute snag still needs to be ironed out. Ukraine's prime minister said First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko was flying to Washington on Wednesday to sign the deal, which is central to Kyiv's efforts to mend ties with President Donald Trump and the White House as the U.S. president tries to secure a peace settlement in Russia's war in Ukraine. ... However, a snag arose as Svyrydenko’s plane headed to Washington, with U.S. officials reportedly demanding that...

[Catholic Caucus] After 12 years of Francis, faithful Catholics must not recognize the election of a hereticIf the cardinals elect a known heretic, who is clearly ineligible to become pope, then they will surely invite God’s wrath as never before in the Church’s history. In his introduction to LifeSite’s recent article about eight cardinals who may succeed Francis, Bishop Joseph Strickland alluded to the role of the Catholic Church in recognizing whether or not the man elected by the conclave is truly the pope: As St. Robert Bellarmine and others have taught, a heretic cannot be the head of the...

Federal employees can once again wear political apparel to work. Trump's administration rescinded prior guidance that prohibited campaign or political clothing. Federal employees are still prohibited from engaging in political activities while on duty. On Wednesday, employees at the Social Security Administration received an email informing them of a change in guidance on wearing political apparel at work. The email, viewed by Business Insider, said that the Office of Special Counsel has returned to its previous policy that "does not prohibit wearing or displaying campaign or election-related items in the workplace after Election Day." The email went on to note...

NHS staff have been told that converting to Islam would be the "best decision you'll ever make" in a guide made by the organisation's Muslim Network. *snip* It was written by and handed out to staff, according to GB News, and addresses the reader as "convert".

Renewal and Restoration in the Church: An Open Letter to the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church(The document below may be downloaded as a PDF here.)An Open Letter to the Cardinals of the Holy Roman ChurchYour Eminences:The following document emerged from discussions over the past year among theologians, pastors, and canonists, who had been encouraged to produce this document by a senior cardinal. Originally our thought had been to seek for signatories—knowing, as we do, how many notable figures in the Catholic Church are in agreement with or sympathetic to the points made herein—but in view of the suddenness of...

A leading Trump administration attorney says the U.S. Department of Justice dismissed several cases against pro-life activists filed by the Biden administration and vowed to prosecute perpetrators responsible for vandalizing churches and pro-life pregnancy centers in the wake of the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. In an appearance on "The Glenn Beck Podcast" Saturday, Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon identified protecting "the rights of people of faith throughout the United States, whether they're in federal agencies or not" as one of the key aspects of the...

Pritzker’s remarks drew an instant contrast with fellow 2028 prospect Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who calls for the party to seek conciliation over conflict. Millions of Democrats have spent months telling pollsters they want a more aggressive Democratic Party. Pritzker’s no-compromise message just made him the standard-bearer for the party’s disaffected masses.

Members of President Donald Trump‘s Cabinet applauded Elon Musk during Wednesday’s meeting after the president alluded to his imminent departure from the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk’s special government contract is set to expire next month, but he announced on a Tesla shareholders call last week that he would scale back his work with DOGE to one or two days a week until he departs. ...

A Pennsylvania man has been arrested and charged with intentional desecration of a venerated object after allegedly polluting with urine the holy water at Saint Patrick Catholic Church in York. Jesse John Sokoll, 50, has previously been accused of stealing and subsequently crashing a classic car. According to York Dispatch, Sokoll has no fixed address. According to authorities, Sokoll entered the church through the side entrance on the afternoon of April 14 and proceeded to walk down the aisle between the pews. Authorities said that Sokoll entered the vestibule opposite of the altar and that he rifled through the church’s...

@RandPaul Tune in now - I’ll be live on the Senate floor soon talking trade and tax policy.

Deuteronomy 13:17 " And there shall cleave not (Or, be no personal profit) of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers;" 2 Corinthians 6:17 "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the LORD, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." 1 Peter 2:11 " Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;" Jude...

Another small Christian college is shuttering. St. Andrews University announced it would close its Laurinburg, N.C., campus on May 5, 2025 after the spring semester ends. “This outcome follows years of effort to preserve our presence in this community while delivering an affordable, high-quality education and meaningful student experience. Despite those efforts, we have reached a point where financial sustainability is no longer attainable,” Dr. Tarun Malik, St. Andrews campus president and provost, said in a statement about the closing. The president sought to assure students it would support them in finding teach-out opportunities at other universities, such as Brevard...

CORUSCANT — Despite rampant allegations regarding the appearance of a dark-robed figure engaging in nefarious activities on various star systems, the media maintained that there was no evidence that indicated the demon-horned man with Sith tattoos all over his face and body and wielding a red-bladed lightsaber was a member of the Sith. Journalists sought to debunk reports that the shadowy figure had terrorized multiple people by Force-choking them and zapping them with purple lightning, saying this alleged "evidence" was circumstantial at best and likely just hearsay. "Just because he has a red lightsaber and Sith tattoos doesn't make him...