Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] Why Did Pope Francis Restrict the Latin Mass?Without basis, without charity, Pope Francis and his advisors stripped that venerable gem away from Catholics almost entirely.Many of the actions of the late Pope Francis, no matter their intention, caused division, confusion, and pain amongst Catholics, especially those most immersed in the traditional teachings and customs of the Catholic Church. One of the most glaring examples of this division, confusion, and pain came in the form of Traditionis custodes. In 2021, Pope Francis issued a motu proprio heavily restricting the celebration of the vetus ordo — the form of the...

France's budget rollout this week came on the day after Bastille Day also in the middle of the summer. It was a shocking and controversial budget but not entirely unexpected. France faces the challenge of compliance with fiscal rules of the European Union and compliance with the increase in NATO defense spending as demanded by US President Donald Trump... If the opposition join forces to censure the government in response the road to new elections is opened where the opposition may be able to maintain or even gain legislative strength... The troops in Senegal pulling out at the request of...

https://x.com/doge/status/1946345134724886702Department of Government Efficiency@DOGEGreat partnership and collaboration with the @CMSGov team to help eliminate $14B in duplicative Medicaid and ACA enrollment. After identifying the correct databases and validating datasets, the CMS and DOGE teams were able to uncover 2.8 million Americans improperly enrolled in multiple programs.CMS will be working with states to delete duplicative enrollments and ensure that NO individuals lose their one, lawful health insurance policy. As a result of this effort, beneficiaries will now receive the appropriate level of care without placing undue burden on the American taxpayer.DrOzCMS@DrOzCMS·Jul 17CMS found 2.8 million Americans enrolled in two or more...

Dyan Cannon who was married briefly to Cary Grant and had his only child was on the Johnny Carson show. She said she knew Stanley Fimberg ( her second husband ) was the one for her the second time she had a date with him. So Carson asked her what was so different about Fimberg, since he Carson had gone on a couple of dates with her before too. That made her break into continuous laughter that didn't stop for quite a while. Wonder what was so funny about the idea of hooking up with Carson. Very funny and less...

NATO allies will buy arms, then give them to Ukraine, President Trump said.SNIPMr. Rutte said that at least eight NATO countries were ready to pay for the arms and praised Mr. Trump for helping Ukraine obtain “what it needs.”“But you do want Europeans to pay for it, which is totally logical,” Mr. Rutte said.President Trump said on Tuesday that the United States was not considering sending long-range missiles to Ukraine and that he did not think Ukraine should target Moscow, the Russian capital.SNIPMore Ukrainians were killed in June than in any other single month so far in the three-year war,...

Republican Congressman Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07) is leaving his Democrat challengers in the dust as he builds momentum heading into the 2026 election. Mackenzie has already out-raised the entire Democratic field combined, a clear sign that grassroots donors and conservative backers are rallying behind his America First, pro-growth agenda that mirrors President Donald Trump's. While Democrats scramble to find a viable contender, Mackenzie is strengthening his war chest and proving himself to be the one to beat in this key battleground district. In the second quarter, Mackenzie raised an impressive $800,000, ending the period with nearly $1.2 million in campaign cash,...

NEW YORK (RNS) — When the Rev. Winnie Varghese, 53, took a seat on the broad steps of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, as the late afternoon sun beat down across New York City, there were tears apparent in her eyes. “What a beautiful responsibility it is to have to think about how to care for people and how to care for community,” Varghese told RNS outside the cathedral on Monday (July 14), on the heels of being named the church’s new dean. “How do you get your head around it, you know? “St. John the Divine...

44-year-old Ronald Joseph pleaded guilty to aggravated rape of a child... A Haitian illegal immigrant living in a taxpayer-funded shelter in Massachusetts has confessed to raping and impregnating his 14-year-old daughter. On July 11, 44-year-old Ronald Joseph pleaded guilty to aggravated rape of a child, per Fox News. Joseph had been living in a government-run hotel shelter in Marlborough, Massachusetts, where he repeatedly sexually assaulted his daughter between 2023 and 2024. He was not arrested until January 2025 and has been held without bail since then. The abuse was reported by the shelter’s then-manager, Jon Fetherston. Middlesex District Attorney Marian...

Rev. Mark Sandlin is the senior impastor at Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, a small PCUSA congregation in Greensboro, NC. The church describes itself as “an inclusive community, experiencing, exploring, appreciating, celebrating the spiritual foundation of existence” while also “affirm(ing) the presence of that which has been traditionally called God in human life.” Sandlin received his M. Div. from Wake Forest University’s School of Divinity, is the co-founder of The Christian Left, and writes at The God Article. Most of his theological beliefs were whispered to him by the devil himself, however, as he is easily the most progressive PCUSA...

President Trump on Saturday evening set the internet ablaze after he floated prosecuting Barack Obama and the Deep State thugs involved the Trump-Russia collusion hoax. ODNI Tulsi Gabbard declassified a December 2016 presidential briefing revealing Barack Obama knew the Trump-Russia collusion narrative was a hoax. CIA Director John Ratcliffe recently announced that a new CIA report revealed former FBI Director James Comey, CIA Director John Brennan, and DNI James Clapper worked together to purposely corrupt the Trump-Russia investigation in 2016 before Trump entered office. The three corrupt Obama officials even included the Steele Dossier in their quest to “screw Trump”...

JOHNNYSWIM is an American folk-pop duo comprised of married couple Abner Ramirez and Amanda Sudano Ramirez. They met after a church service in Nashville and founded the band in 2005. The duo gained prominence with their 2014 album Diamonds and when Chip and Joanna Gaines selected their song “Home” as the theme for Fixer Upper, sparking a 20-year friendship. They also have a show, At Home on the Road, on the Magnolia Network. Like the Gaines, the Ramirezes are professing Christians. Abner has stated in an interview with Relevant magazine: “I believe in Jesus. I believe in the Holy Spirit....

San Dieguito United Methodist Church is a progressive UMC congregation in Encinitas, CA. Led by Rev. Dr. Mark Maddix, they pride themselves on being a “welcoming and inclusive community” that endeavors to “think critically, love authentically, and serve passionately.” Rather than believing the bible is inspired and inerrant, they instead “view Scriptures through the lens of church tradition, human reason, and lived experience.” This low view of scripture perhaps explains a recent church service, where rather than have their usual worship set consisting of songs that praise the Lord and give him glory, they invited a Beatles tribute band to...

Just posted another song for your enjoyment. On The Run by myself and a great guitarist named Richard Callahan. With the energy of Project: Vanguard. But better form.

800 pages, thousands of entries, and almost a million words. The Domesday Book, England's earliest surviving public record. Amidst a grave crisis, William the Conqueror embarked on an extraordinary bureaucratic endeavor: the Domesday Book. Dr Stephen Baxter uncovers the immense scale of the 1086 survey, detailing who owned what across England down to the last pig. But why did William do it and what did it mean for the kingdom that he had just conquered? The Intriguing Mystery Of William The Conqueror's Domesday Book | 51:49 Chronicle - Medieval History Documentaries | 811K subscribers | 9,669 views | July 19,...

New disclosures from a Tulsi Gabbard-led working group point directly to the top, as the legacy of "Hope and Change" begins a plunge to the ocean floor Barack Obama entered national politics with a smile that looked like Hope and Change. Amid rumors of family discord and disarray within the political party he once led, his face has hardened. He lately looks bitter, resentful, exhausted by the act. In the wake of reports released by fellow Hawaiian and former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard, he also has a new problem. It once seemed a lock that Obama would be remembered as the...

The Democratic Party’s newest star, Zohran Mamdani, was welcomed into the center of political power in America and the world this week, shepherded by “Democratic socialists” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Pramila Jayapal. After winning the Democratic primary to become New York City's next mayor, Mamdani is being nationalized. “Anybody that’s staying out at this point and not endorsing this incredible, dynamic leader is missing an opportunity,” Jaypal told reporters about his Washington, D.C., visit in an effort to get the Democratic Party to endorse Mamdani and his political platform. ”It’s hard not to be won over…it’s really inspiring.” But Mamdani’s ideology...

Cherokee Federal - $700 million for services through a no-bid contract for unaccompanied minor children through the DHHS - ORR. Despite raising case after case of trafficking, HHSORR leadership and the contractor allowed children to be trafficked on their watch and the taxpayers continue to fund it. Repeatedly, the program prioritized speed over safety,” White said. “HHSORR and Cherokee Federal, the prime contractor, created a ‘strike team’ to remove children faster, ignoring warnings that came from case managers that children were being trafficked. The entire executive leadership at Health and Human Services knew about it as well as the Office...

How can it be that in 2025, some leftists are still pretending that Russian collusion is a theory that hasn't been disproven? That it's not "fully digested"? There's still hope, even if "clarity never came." Such was the case with Keith Gessen, contributing writer for New Yorker magazine, who was reviewing a book bout the CIA, "The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century," written by Tim Weiner (no relation to Carlos Danger aka Anthony Weiner). Waves of Trump derangement flowed from Gessen in his Wednesday screed, "What Will Become of the C.I.A.?." The subtitle gives us a hint of...

The WNBA has enjoying an historic surge in popularity and revenue over the past year for a litany of reasons. Now the players are hoping to cash in with a new collective bargaining agreement. Unfortunately for the players, that doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon. Talks have stalled between the WNBA and the players' union, leaving the threat of a lockout or a strike on the not-too-distant horizon if a new CBA can't be hammered out soon. Amid the stalled talks, the WNBA players decided to protest the league's unwillingness to bend to their demands. At the WNBA All-Star...

Several First Nations leaders have walked out of a meeting with Mark Carney, as an event the Canadian prime minister hoped would assuage their concerns over his Building Canada Act instead left many with growing concern that it would violate their rights. Carney has spent recent weeks promoting the act, which passed last month as part of Bill C-5 and which he says is a key part of his campaign promise to ensure Canada’s economy is less dependent on the US under Donald Trump, who has repeatedly threatened huge tariffs. The legislation sets out a framework for major building projects,...