Free Republic

…Those who take the side of Israel at times will go to the extreme of almost idolizing Israel, where Israel can do no wrong, and praising every move that Israel makes without considering the fact that Israel is not a country run by God-fearing people, nor is it a country that looks to God for direction. On the other side, there are those in the Church who go to the other extreme and blame Israel for every bad thing happening in the world today. Many of these people are calling to boycott Israel in all areas including cutting relations with...

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...

[Catholic / Anglican Caucus] The Jargon-Filled Synodal TrajectoryWhen Pope Leo XIV spoke from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on the day of his election he said: “we want to be a synodal Church.” The significance of this depends, of course, on how Pope Leo understands synodality. The notion of a Church that is One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic – and now Synodal – isn’t clear to most, because synodality is a largely unknown concept. Its meaning will emerge as Pope Leo guides the “synodal path” with the help of the General Secretariat of the Synod. That secretariat’s latest contribution to...

It’s no secret that over the past 60 years U.S. Christian apologists have witnessed a dramatic cultural sea change. In the past, we could assume two things: the general belief in reasonable objective truths, and a baseline cultural familiarity with what’s in the Bible. All that shifted with the appearance of Gen Z, which Barna Group has dubbed “the first truly ‘post-Christian’ generation.” - Shifts in the Apologetics Landscape: 1. Students are asking questions about God at a younger age than before. 2. Nonbelievers now have equal access to young people. 3. There has been a move from objective to...

[Catholic Caucus] German bishop suggests guidelines for blessing same-sex ‘couples,’ divorced and ‘remarried’Bishop Georg Bätzing recommended implementing heretical 'blessings' for 'divorced and remarried couples, couples of all gender identities and sexual orientations.'Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, president of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK), recommended implementing the conference’s official guidelines for the “blessings” of same-sex “couples,” the divorced and civilly “remarried,” and other irregular unions in his diocese this week.The Diocese of Limburg published Bätzing’s recommendation to implement the heterodox “blessings” in its official diocesan journal on July 9. The bishop’s recommendation follows April announcement from the German Bishops’ Conference and...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Strickland: Follow-up to my statement on Bishop-elect HennenMany faithful Catholics have expressed concern over my recent comments regarding Pope Leo XIV’s appointment of Fr. Thomas Hennen as Bishop-elect of Baker. I write now not to backtrack, but to clarify and deepen what must be said – for the sake of the flock and for the integrity of the Church.A bishop is a shepherd, yes – but also a watchman. And if the watchman sounds the alarm only once the wolves are already among the sheep, many souls will be devoured. The shepherd’s call must go out when...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Strickland: When wolves wear vestments – the synodal siege within the ChurchThe Cross is still here. The Eucharist is still here. But we are surrounded by hired men who abandon the sheep – or even worse, mislead them into the thorns.Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,There are moments in the Church’s history when the sheep must look up – not because of storms from the world, but because the shepherds themselves have fallen silent … or worse, have joined the wolves.St Paul once warned the Church in Ephesus with piercing clarity:“I know that, after my departure, ravening...

[Catholic Caucus] The Mercy of Withholding the EucharistThe Church has never and will never change her teaching on the unworthy reception of Holy Communion—she can't. But our Bishops must change their 60's-rooted praxis of allowing it to happen.It is a strange feature of our times that when a priest fulfills his sacred duty it becomes news. Such is the case with Fr. Ian Vane, who rightly refused Holy Communion to British MP Chris Coghlan after Coghlan’s public support for assisted suicide. Such an action by a priest should be common—as common as “Catholics” who promote evils while maintaining a public...

Vatican II’s Own Words Thoroughly Rebuke the Vatican II RevolutionIf Pope Leo XIV actually applied the words of the Council as set forth below, he could use Vatican II to justify the complete overturn of the Vatican II revolution that has plagued the Church and world for six decades. Here's how that could be accomplished: In his famous “1974 Declaration,” Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre left no doubt about how he viewed the Council at which he had played an important role:“We hold fast, with all our heart and with all our soul, to Catholic Rome, Guardian of the Catholic Faith and...

[Catholic Caucus] Catholics kneel to receive Communion on tongue at Mass with Charlotte bishop, other bishops presentCatholics at a bishops' conference Mass said their intent was to 'show a reverent resistance' to the anti-traditional agenda of Bishop Michael Martin.CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (LifeSiteNews) — Traditional Catholics showed up en masse to kneel to receive Holy Communion on the tongue at a Mass with Bishop Michael Martin, OFM, of the Diocese of Charlotte and about a dozen other bishops present.At a concelebrated Tuesday Mass for the Atlanta Province Bishops Conference held at the Cathedral of St. Patrick in Charlotte, North Carolina, almost...

[Catholic Caucus] Rip Down the Pride FlagTwenty years ago few could have imagined that the last stronghold of truth, the Catholic Church, would have fallen to the LGBT lie of "Love is Love."Many years ago, I decided to attend daily Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Each morning on my way to Mass, I would drive past a house that flew the flag representing pride in all the different sexual identities that fell under the LGBTQ (this was pre-IA+ times) banner. I didn’t take much notice of it at the time,...

[Catholic Caucus] Why Ambiguity Was the Most Lethal Weapon of Vatican II’s ArchitectsEvery single ambiguity of Vatican II tended to undermine Catholic teaching in precisely the way against which the pre-Vatican II popes emphatically warned. This is not mere coincidence. Moreover, the presence of so much ambiguity fundamentally undermines the Catholic Church’s role as truth-teller. The Church obviously knew how to speak clearly and unambiguously on all of the matters that have become so contentious after the Council.In his 2024 book Flee From Heresy: A Catholic Guide to Ancient and Modern Errors, Bishop Athanasius Schneider provided the following question and...

[Catholic Caucus] Dr. Kwasniewski and the Honest TruthClose the Workshop: Why the Old Mass Isn’t Broken and the New Mass Can’t Be FixedI imagine very few millennials grew up as traditional Catholics. For most of us, it was a tangled process, or rather conversion, that led from the kitsch and thin Catholicism of our youth—“And if the devil doesn’t like it he can sit on a tack. Ouch!”—to that rich, distant land of Tradition. It took until my late teens before I attended my first traditional Latin Mass. I was sold right from the Asperges. “Eureka!…or whatever that word is...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Kasper again pushes ‘women deacons’ as ‘helpful pastorally’The much misrepresented 'female deacons' of the early Church were not in fact deacons as understood today, and were certainly not ordained to any ministry.Cardinal Kasper has again promoted female deacons, claiming they are “theologically possible and could be helpful pastorally.”“Personally, I believe that opening the permanent diaconate to women is theologically possible and could be helpful pastorally.” So said Cardinal Walter Kasper in a new interview with Rheinische Post.Kasper, now aged 92, has been one of the most influential prelates in the Church of late, particularly so during the...

...according to data from the National Survey of Religious Leaders, which is hosted on the Association of Religion Data Archives. The team that put that instrument together included a series of questions that probed how clergy thought about God, the Bible, and various aspects of religious beliefs that offer a fascinating peek behind the curtain into the personal faith of religious leadership in the United States. .. the share of evangelicals who believed in Adam and Eve as literal historical people was only 80%, which was slightly lower than Black Protestant clergy at 89%. Meanwhile, Catholic priests and mainline pastors...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Burke: Doctrinal and Moral Corruption ‘Directly Related’ to Abuse of the LiturgyRecalling the warnings of popes and saints, Cardinal Burke said neglect of liturgical law and tradition has paved the way for widespread confusion about faith and morals.Cardinal Raymond Burke has appealed to Pope Leo XIV to lift the restrictions on the pre-1970 liturgy, stressing that respect for liturgical tradition is critical for the Catholic Church’s mission and that doctrinal and moral corruption shows itself in “divisions and factions” that lead to liturgical abuse. Speaking via video link to a London conference celebrating 60 years of the...

[Catholic Caucus] If the US bishops want a Eucharistic revival, they should stop attacking tradition(Corpus Christi for Unity and Peace) — On June 19, 2025, Catholics will celebrate Corpus Christi, a feast dedicated to the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.Established in 1264 by Pope Urban IV, Corpus Christi invites the faithful to adore Christ through Mass, processions, and adoration. This feast comes at a critical time for the U.S. Church, where belief in the Real Presence is faltering, partly due to a flawed 2019 Pew Research survey.Additionally, a growing number of bishops are deterring the faithful from...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Schneider: "The TLM enables doctrinal clarity."Drawing from his own experiences under Soviet persecution, Bishop Schneider encouraged Catholics to be willing to suffer and persevere for the sake of the Catholic Faith and the traditional liturgy (pre-Vatican 2), despite facing “liturgical exile” or persecution within the Church. Strikingly, the prelate’s message was one of hope and joy, exhorting the audience to suffer for the Catholic Faith with joy, confidence, and zeal. After all, we have not entered the Barque of Peter “to escape out of it” but to keep the faith under the banner of Christ the King.Bishop...

[Catholic Caucus] Traditional Catholicism’s Enemies Routinely Fail These Three Common Sense ChecksAll of this is like a Monty Python skit except that it is only humorous to the enemies of God and His Catholic Church. God has permitted the crisis in the Church to reach this point to which those who persecute Traditional Catholics are unmistakably wrong.Although we pray that the tide will turn with Pope Leo XIV, one of the most astoundingly bizarre realities in the world today is that Traditional Catholics are persecuted by the putative leaders of the Catholic Church. The crime committed by Traditional Catholics is...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Schneider asks Pope Leo XIV for full freedom for the Traditional Mass“The traditional liturgy is a work of the Holy Spirit. It can be persecuted, but not destroyed,” affirmed Monsignor Athanasius Schneider during an interview organized by the apostolate Know, Love, and Live Your Faith, in which he answered questions for over an hour about the state of the traditional liturgy, the doctrinal crisis in the Church, and the new pontificate of Leo XIV.The Traditional Mass, a “perennial” and persecuted liturgyMonsignor Schneider began by referring to the climate of “continued persecution” against the Traditional Mass in various...