Free Republic

Do Catholics Really Worship the Virgin Mary?Editor’s Note: It is my pleasure to reintroduce my great-grandfather Hugo Klapproth and his “new” book, Letters to a Protestant Friend (Available Here). Full disclosure: The book is new only to English-speaking readers living 130 years after it was published in the original German here in St. Paul, Minnesota. Apart from being a thoughtful historical sketch, this little book also makes a considerable contribution to Catholic apologetics. As a convert from Lutheranism and a professional newspaper editor, Hugo Klapproth’s apologetical arguments to his Lutheran friend are some of the most effective I have ever...

Man who threw Pachamama in Tiber fires back after prof says he ‘damaged’ Catholicism Alexander Tschugguel said he remains “convinced that Christ’s saying will always be true, ‘No one comes to the Father except through me.’” VIENNA, Austria, February 7, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Alexander Tschugguel, the young Austrian founder of the Saint Boniface Institute who threw the Amazon Synod’s Pachamama idols in the Tiber river last October, has fired back after a professor of dogmatic theology accused him of falling behind the Second Vatican Council. “I’m convinced that Christ’s saying will always be true, ‘No one comes to the...

A former victim of a syncretistic religious ceremony in Brazil warns, “The Church must be very clear about the occult influences that form the basis of many of these native practices.” In 1968, Jane Porter, a British Catholic, was living as an undergraduate student in Brazil but after contracting an illness, she fell victim to a “false” healing carried out by an indigenous, pagan religion in a “Catholic” setting. The effects, she says, led to “far greater suffering” lasting for decades. In this interview with the Register, Porter recounts her traumatic experience and expresses her concern that the Amazon Synod’s...

"The way of all peace is to scale the mountain of Self. Loving others makes the climb down easier. We see all things darkly until love lights the lamp of the Soul."The above words form the first tenet of Novus Spiritus. Within them lies the basic philosophy of the Society, namely: Life is a long journey of discovery, wherein each person must meet - and love - themselves, overcome their own fears, and learn the truth about loving. It is a process of perfecting the innate, God-given beauty of the Soul.   A B O U T   S Y L V I A   B R O W N E ,   F O U N D E R  In April 1986, Sylvia...

Unbelief in Our Culture Is More Serious Than Most Imagine – A Reflection on the First Commandment Msgr. Charles Pope • September 28, 2015 • But, frankly, all of us should be concerned at the rise of unbelief in our culture, whether it is atheism, agnosticism, indifference, or the rampant secularism that relegates God to a marginal place. We should be concerned because unbelief on a wide scale (as we are seeing today) is not only unhealthy for a culture, it is dangerous to it.This danger is fairly obvious when one considers that, in the end, unbelievers think they answer...

CFN update: June 6, 2014 Francis and four points of Apostate Action Islamic prayers to be held at the Vatican by John Vennari This Sunday, June 8, Pope Francis will allow for the first time in history Islamic prayers from the Quoran to be recited at the Vatican. The service is said to be in the cause of Peace in the Middle East (see report below). Members of Judaism will be part of the interfaith gathering as well. This radical initiative is scandalous on at least four counts: 1) The Prayers of Islam worship a false god; not the true...

FOREWORD The present study is concerned with the complex phenomenon of “New Age” which is influencing many aspects of contemporary culture. The study is a provisional report. It is the fruit of the common reflection of the Working Group on New Religious Movements, composed of staff members of different dicasteries of the Holy See: the Pontifical Councils for Culture and for Interreligious Dialogue (which are the principal redactors for this project), the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. These reflections are offered primarily to those engaged in pastoral work so that they...

Lesson 34: The First Commandment "Come let us praise the Lord with joy:  let us joyfully sing to God our savior.  Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to Him with psalms.  For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.  For in His hand are all the ends of the earth:  and the heights of the mountains are His.  For the sea is His, and He made it:  and His hands formed the dry land.  Come let us adore and fall down:  and weep before the Lord that...

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen said in 1974, “We live in a sensate age. We are no longer governed by Faith, we are no longer governed by reason. We are governed by feelings.” The outpouring of naked emotion at the death of Pope John Paul II proves these words true. It is expected that Catholics worldwide would grieve and pray for the departed Pontiff, as it is a fitting expression of filial piety. But the effusion over John Paul II was a good bit more. Cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and laity vied with each other to canonize him as “John Paul...