Free Republic

Vatican calls for representatives of ‘other religions’ in next phase of synodal implementationNew Synod guidelines call for representatives of 'other religions' in local ‘assemblies’ and leadership roles for lay Catholics as part of an ongoing ‘transformation’ of Church governance.The Vatican has issued new guidelines for the next stage of the Synod of Synodality calling on dioceses to involve representatives of other religions, deepen permanent synodal structures, and evaluate broader leadership roles for lay Catholics.On July 27, the General Secretariat of the Synod published a new 19-page document entitled “Recollecting,” providing bishops and diocesan synodal teams with detailed instructions for preparing...

The US military says it intercepted multiple missiles launched by Iran, marking the first reported Iranian attack on an American target since President Donald Trump declared over the weekend that he would halt strikes following two weeks of fighting. “Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces launched multiple ballistic missiles from Iran in an attempted surprise attack on US forces based in the Middle East,” Central Command (CENTCOM) writes on X, adding that “all Iranian missiles were successfully intercepted.”

[Catholic Caucus] Liturgical Reform Case Study: the Catholic City of BaltimoreCarefully written histories can serve as antidotes to grand narratives pushing particular agendas. As the old saying goes, “the devil is in the details,” suggesting that pesky facts can undermine self-congratulatory stories of progress. Hanael Bianchi’s A Liberal Revolution: The Implementation of Vatican II in the Archdiocese of Baltimore (Os Justi Press, 2026) raises numerous points to challenge the heroic narrative of Vatican II and in the process, poses timely questions for American Catholics still living in a Church that often seems teetering on the brink of collapse. Advocates of...

French police detained a man on Monday after he attacked three women with knives near Porte de Clichy in Paris, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told reporters. The man attacked the three women, who were aged 19, 24 and 36, with two kitchen knives, severely wounding two of them, Nunez said, adding that their lives were not in danger. One was hit in the lower back, another in the abdomen. District Mayor Geoffroy Boulard said one of the women was pregnant, according to The Times, a British publication. Video aired on social platform X and verified by Reuters showed a man...

“Street of Dreams,” the new single from U2, is a perfect piece of Christian joy. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the band’s formation in 1976, and in the popular culture it’s hard to name many superstars who have so powerfully preached the gospel. “Street of Dreams” is recognizably Catholic. The video was shot in Mexico City, with the band performing their new song atop a school bus graffitied by Mexican artist Chavis Mármol. Images included a statue of the Virgin Mary, a street procession including a large cross, and a huge picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Comments...

As COVID cases and deaths began to soar in the spring of 2020, America desperately needed a trustworthy public-health leader. Instead, we got Dr. Anthony Fauci — and now his diary entries from that time are showing just how incredibly unworthy of the nation’s trust he truly was.Time and again, his private notes contradict what he was telling the world at the very same time, and the stories he’s spun up since to protect his unearned reputation.For starters, he insisted time and again that the “lab leak hypothesis” was a wacky conspiracy theory, that the virus had jumped naturally from...

Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Iraq reported drone attacks in their territory Monday amid a lull in US air strikes against Iran, after nearly two weeks of fighting between both sides. The Israel Defense Forces said Monday morning that it shot down two drones over the Jordan border, near the Dead Sea, adding that the drones did not cross into Israeli territory. Their origin was under investigation, the army said. Saudi Arabia’s defense ministry, meanwhile, said it shot down drones aimed at petroleum targets, some in its eastern province and others in the capital Riyadh. It said the drones had...

I found this product listing on Amazon. Imagine marketing "Black Trash Party" items.Amazon claims to delist "hate" symbols and products. Do these not quality?Amazon also markets White Trash Party Tramp Stamps.

The Washington Free Beacon has done some exceptional reporting on Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s past connections with the Muslim Brotherhood. Between March 23 and April 6, 2019, he headlined four private luxury yacht fundraisers for an Islamic nonprofit organization linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. One of those events hosted a speaker who has urged Muslims to “stand with” terrorist outfits Hamas and Hezbollah and stop “condemning antisemitism and condemning terrorism.” Left-wing Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed headlined a series of luxury yacht fundraisers for an Islamic nonprofit linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, including one that took place on “one...

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals handed the Trump administration a bit of another win on Tuesday, unanimously affirming D.C. District Judge Carl Nichols' denial of a preliminary injunction in a case regarding President Trump's March executive order on election integrity I don't mean to undersell it, but I'm calling it "a bit of" a win because it's procedural — one that does not hold that the EO is lawful (or unlawful). Instead, the appellate court agreed with the district court's determination that the plaintiffs in these consolidated cases (Democrat Party organizations and leaders) were premature with their suit —...

Gov. Kathy Hochul leads her Republican opponent Bruce Blakeman by just 4 percentage points, according to a bombshell new poll. Just 47% of those surveyed said they’d back the Democratic incumbent, compared to 43% who supported the Nassau County executive, with 10% of registered voters undecided, the poll, conducted by a pro-Blakeman super PAC found. Only 38% of respondents said they viewed Hochul favorably — and 58% unfavorably — in a survey of 2,000 registered voters conducted by pollster Red Oak Strategic for the “Strong and Safe” super PAC. Meanwhile, only 39% of voters approved of Hochul’s job performance compared...

A Westlake man has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison for throwing rocks and ignited debris at California Highway Patrol officers trapped underneath a freeway overpass during a violent anti-immigration law enforcement protest last year, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. Ismael Vega, 42, was also ordered to pay $253,415 in restitution. Vega pleaded guilty on April 29 to one count of obstructing, impeding and interfering with law enforcement during civil disorder and was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison. During the evening of June 8, 2025, Vega was part of a large group of protesters...

An immigrant-led business group is gearing up to sue New York City over Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s controversial plan to open five taxpayer-funded supermarkets — claiming the $70 million project will create unfair competition for nearby stores, The Post has learned. As the far-left mayor announced new details of his plan this week — including a 30% discount on basic items like produce, meat, milk, cheese and bread – the Multicultural Business Coalition’s board voted to file a lawsuit in the coming weeks to block the pricey initiative, the group’s chairman Frank Garcia told The Post. “The mayor doesn’t seem to...

Police arrested a trio of teen boys as part of a vicious attack on a California family at a luxury Maui resort that the victims say was motivated by race. The violent brawl broke out around 10 p.m. on July 17 at the Kaanapali Alii resort in West Maui, where local officers responded to a disturbance involving roughly 30 people near the property’s pool that left at least one victim with a bloody head wound. Seven visitors from California, ranging in age from 17 to 62, told police they were assaulted after a group of young people allegedly threw chairs...

Mandates ended in April. An outbreak arrived in June. The reversal is still spreading across the force one service at a time.The Navy is once again requiring flu shots for a wide range of sailors and civilian employees, quietly reversing course three months after the Pentagon made the vaccine optional across the force.New guidance released Friday in a Navy administrative message, or NAVADMIN, restores the requirement for recruits headed to boot camp, sailors in officer training pipelines, certain deploying sailors and reservists, health care workers and some civilian employees. It takes effect immediately, and covered personnel must be vaccinated by...

A leaked intelligence document from Pakistan central intelligence indicates that expanding United States troop concentrations near the Persian Gulf provide capabilities for a sudden limited invasion of southern Iran. A leaked intelligence document originating from Pakistan central intelligence agency and shared with Arab media indicates that the concentration of United States military forces in the Middle East provides President Donald Trump with operational capabilities to execute a sudden invasion of southern Iran. The intelligence assessment, compiled from direct military observations and electronic surveillance, indicates that American naval, air, and ground deployments near Iranian territory expand daily. This force build up...

Bill Gates argues that COVID-19 exposed major weaknesses in global pandemic preparedness but warns the next crisis could be even more dangerous. He points to engineered viruses, climate change and faster vaccine development as key challenges, while calling for stronger surveillance, diagnostics and global response systems before the next outbreak begins.

"Red, White and Blue" is a song written and performed by American country music artist Loretta Lynn. It was was recorded at Bradley's Barn studio in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, and released as a single in March 1976 via MCA Records. "Red White And Blue" (Loretta Lynn, 1976)

A new long-range airliner soared high over California on Monday before finally touching down in France on Tuesday morning after flying for more than 24 hours straight from Australia, Qantas Airways announced. Built for the carrier’s Project Sunrise, the cutting-edge Airbus A350-1000 is designed to fly passengers nonstop from the east coast of Australia to London and New York — a “world first,” according to the company. Per public flight records, the aircraft departed from Melbourne at 5:30 p.m. on Monday and passed directly over Los Angeles and Las Vegas on Monday afternoon after crossing the international date line. It...

Federal agents are arresting spouses of Americans, tech workers and others whose visas have expired, including many who have active applications to stay in the country. The Trump administration has begun arresting foreign citizens with expired U.S. visas as they travel through airports, including spouses of Americans, according to documents obtained by The New York Times and interviews with immigration lawyers — a tactic that opens up a vast new pool of people for deportation. Immigration agents in plain clothes have whisked away targets at check-in counters and arrival gates, with enforcement actions in at least 15 airports in recent...