Free Republic

<p>Western Civilization in the 21st century is marked by religious pluralism, where people from all over the world have been able to come to various nations in Europe and North America to freely exercise their religious beliefs. That religious pluralism has also manifested within Christianity itself over the past five centuries.</p>

On Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his now world-famous 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther’s complaints about the Roman Catholic practice of selling indulgences (the forgiving of sins) launched the Protestant Reformation, forever altering the cultural, political, religious and artistic landscape of Europe and the world. As we approach the five-hundredth anniversary of this earth-shaking event, there’s no better place to explore Luther and the Reformation than his native Germany.

Catholics praying Hail Mary removed by Police from Brussels Cathedral during "Reformation Celebration" It must be one of the most shameful episodes of our shameful hierarchy of atrocious bishops.  In Brussels Cathedral, the 500 years of the hideous acts of heresiarch Luther were celebrated. What did a small group of serious Catholics do? They pleaded Our Lord for forgiveness, by invoking the aid of Our Lady in the Ave Maria. The result? These brave Catholics were forcibly removed from the Cathedral by the Police, certainly called by Cathedral staff.  Removed. By the Police. For praying to Our Lady. In a Catholic church....

FROMBORK, Poland – Nicolaus Copernicus, the 16th-century astronomer whose findings were condemned by the Roman Catholic Church as heretical, was reburied by Polish priests as a hero on Saturday, nearly 500 years after he was laid to rest in an unmarked grave. His burial in a tomb in the cathedral where he once served as a church canon and doctor indicates how far the church has come in making peace with the scientist whose revolutionary theory that the Earth revolves around the Sun helped usher in the modern scientific age. Copernicus, who lived from 1473 to 1543, died as a...