Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop has forced Latin Mass onto the streetThe traditional Mass "outside the walls", in front of the chapel of the hospital in Saint Germain en Laye, will take place every Sunday this summer.A parishioner was asked about this:If I've understood correctly, next Sunday 9 July you'll be continuing your celebration of a traditional mass in front of the hospital chapel in Saint-Germain-en-Laye?Germain de Paris: Absolutely, and not just on Sunday 9 July at 11am, but on every Sunday in July and August, and of course on Tuesday 15 August, the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.Why...

[Catholic Caucus] Francis, Pontiff for Life. But Without a Successor “of His Own”“Still alive,” in his own words, after his latest hospital stay, Jorge Mario Bergoglio is doing all he can to discourage those who are counting on his imminent exit from the stage. But what is happening in the twilight of this pontificate does not at all foreshadow a succession congenial to him.A month before Easter, Francis brought five new cardinals onto the council of nine who are supposed to help him govern the universal Church. All close to him, one more so and another less, and at the...

[Catholic Caucus] The Vatican’s irresolute response to the threat of German schismIn an interview posted today, Cardinal Pietro Parolin expressed opposition to the German bishops’ decision to offer blessings for same-sex unions. So far, so good. But the reasons that the Vatican Secretary of State gave for that opposition are troubling.Cardinal Parolin said that the German episcopal conference “cannot make such a decision that involves the discipline of the universal Church.”Well, first of all, the German bishops did make that decision. The German bishops voted 38-9 in favor the statement passed by the Synodal Path, “Blessing ceremonies for couples who...

[Catholic Caucus] Rome Seeks ‘Dialogue’ as Bishops Act on Gay BlessingsPope Francis remains silent on heretical resolutions as errant priests escape sanctions As Pope Francis remains silent on the potential schism rocking the Catholic Church, German bishops have begun to implement the resolutions on blessings for same-sex unions and women preachers passed by the Synodal Way. Priest 'blessing' a lesbian couple in Germany "I can encourage all couples in our diocese who cannot or do not want to get married in a church, but still want their relationship to be blessed by the church, to contact us," Bishop Franz-Josef Bode,...

Catholic Twitter Reacts Hotly as USCCB Sets ‘Woke’ Tone in Viral Synod TweetThe USCCB has asked commenters to ‘let us know’ what Catholics think of these synod buzzwords.Nothing stirs the religious passions like talk of “accompaniment” and “inclusivity,” am I right? That’s what you might think if you were reading the USCCB’s Twitter account yesterday. Here’s what they tweeted: A list of buzzwords? Come on. We’re Catholics. We have some of the coolest words ever to be uttered. Words like aspergillum, which sounds like a dangerous fungus but is actually a vessel used for sprinkling holy water during special...

Prominent US bishop leads Catholic group prayerfully protesting Communion for pro-abortion politiciansBishop Joseph Strickland has regularly joined Catholics outside meetings of the USCCB, praying the rosary with them on his knees. Bishop Strickland praying in Baltimore BALTIMORE, Maryland (LifeSiteNews) – Faithful Catholics were joined by Tyler’s Bishop Joseph Strickland during the U.S. bishops fall meeting recently, as they gathered in the city to prayerfully protest against the “scandal” of the bishops not protecting the “integrity of Church teaching on worthy reception of the Eucharist.”While the United Sates Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) gathered in Baltimore November 15 through 18, for...

The Silence of the ShepherdsFailure to condemn evilIn pre-World War II Germany, most Protestant and Catholic Church leaders remained silent and failed to speak out against the truly non-Christian policies implemented by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. Denouncing these fellow ministers and priests as vendors of "cheap grace," German Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer helped to found the Confessing Church, whose adherents refused to compromise their Christian beliefs even under threat of persecution and martyrdom. Adolf Hitler Even though Adolf Hitler was baptized Catholic, he was honest enough to recognize that the policies he promoted clearly placed him outside...

US Bishops urge Catholics to form an ‘ecological conscience’The Bishops of the United States encourage American Catholics to take part in the month-long Season of Creation by responsibly forming their “ecological conscience”.By Devin WatkinsAs the Season of Creation got underway on Tuesday, US Bishops released a statement on the need to participate in the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, which was held on the same day.The Day of Prayer kicked off the Church’s annual Season of Creation which runs through 4 October, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology.In their statement...

BREAKING: Abp. Viganò Speaks in Support of “Coalition for Canceled Priests”Editor’s Note: Catholic Family News is honored to help circulate the following press release from the Coalition for Canceled Priests and subsequent statement of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò in support of the lay-run initiative, whose principles and mission statement are available here.*****LOMBARD, IL, June 24, 2021 — The former Papal Nuncio to the United States and Vatican Whistleblower, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, released the following letter of support to faithful Catholic priests who have been persecuted without cause by their Bishops. The surprise communication from the beloved prelate was read...

The Lies and Reality of the USCCB VoteAs I’ve been saying ever since the letter trying to squash the forming of a document on “Eucharistic Coherence”, the loud crowd is in the minority. There is no “split down the middle.” Let’s look at the vote on drafting that document: 168 yea, 55 nay, and 6 abstentions. The club that wants to give Communion to whoever walks up to receive didn’t even retain their supposed 67! I don’t know why a bigger deal hasn’t been made about that, but more than one person who supposedly signed said they didn’t at all....

Bishop apologizes to fired LGBT Catholic educator at theology gatheringAfter eight years serving as the director of religious education at a Catholic school in Pennsylvania, Margie Winters was fired in 2015 because of her marriage to a woman.Her story is similar to those of a number of other Catholic educators in the U.S., fired because their relationships violate the church's teaching against same-sex marriage. But on June 4 this year, Winters received something different: a clerical apology for the way she was treated.As part of a discussion during the annual gathering of the College Theology Society, held virtually, Bishop John...

[Catholic Caucus] Signatories on letter opposing USCCB vote on ‘Eucharistic coherence’ include 5 cardinals, 6 archbishops (and 57 bishops)The signers of a May 13 letter which pressed the U.S. bishops’ conference to suspend its conversation on “Eucharistic coherence” include 47 diocesan bishops, five of whom are cardinals, along with 21 auxiliary bishops. Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington. CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain.The letter, sent May 13 to bishops’ conference president Archbishop Jose Gomez, urged that “all Conference wide discussion and committee work on the topic of Eucharistic worthiness and other issues raised by the Holy See be postponed until the...

Bishops press Gomez to halt Communion debateA group of more than 60 bishops has written to Archbishop Jose Gomez this month, pressing for the U.S. bishops’ conference leadership to suspend discussion of the subject of Eucharistic coherence ahead of the USCCB’s June meeting, despite a recent letter from the Vatican’s doctrinal office counseling the bishops to continue discussing the matter. Discussion on the topic was scheduled in March through the ordinary USCCB procedure for setting meeting agendas.Archbishop Jose Gomez, Cardinal Base Cupich, Cardinal Wilton GregoryShareThe letter was signed by several U.S. cardinals, including Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington, Cardinal Blase...

Billionaire BishopsUS bishops flush with taxpayer cashBishops have been grabbing for government money with both hands while sitting atop billions of dollars.On Feb. 4, the Associated Press released a thorough report showing how U.S. bishops raked in $3 billion in taxpayer money — originally meant to help small businesses weather the China virus lockdowns.The scandal is that the bishops really didn't need the money. For nearly two decades, bishops have been consolidating diocesan finances in an effort to keep their money away from sex abuse victims.After almost 20 years of assuring Catholics and the world that clerical sex abuse was...

Last year, as riots raged across the country, America’s liberal bishops hesitated to condemn the mob. Far from fretting over the inflammatory rhetoric of Black Lives Matter, some of the bishops repeated it. Bishop Mark Seitz of the Diocese of El Paso, Texas, joined in the protests and held up a “Black Lives Matter” sign. Seitz told the press that after his participation in the protests he received a phone call from the pope. “He said he wanted to congratulate me,” Seitz said. Jesuit magazine America condemned Catholics for not joining Seitz: “[M]any Catholics seem too timid to listen and...

US Bishops oppose excluding undocumented immigrants from censusBishop Martin Dorsonville, chairman of the USCCB’s Commission on Migration, issues a statement voicing the Bishops’ opposition to the Trump administration’s plans to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census.The Bishops of the United States have renewed their opposition to Donald Trump’s plan not to include undocumented immigrants in the decennial population counts that will determine the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives. On July 21 the President presented a Memorandum instructing the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to exclude irregular immigrants from the state-population totals that are produced by the 2020 Census...

<p>The worldwide situation is serious.</p> <p>The underlying illness causing the situation is also serious.</p> <p>But the attitude of most bishops in most affected countries is simply despicable, repugnant, deserving all our contempt and disdain. Not content with having thrown the faithful for decades to the care of sexual abusers, now, in the moment of greatest need, they simply abandon us.</p>

[Catholic Caucus] US bishop suspends last rites in response to coronavirus pandemic The Catholic Church holds that persons who are extremely ill or near death are in great need of spiritual assistance. SPRINGFIELD, March 31, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — The bishop of Springfield, Massachusetts, has temporarily suspended last rites in all instances in his diocese in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Bishop Mitchell Rozanski’s directive followed a United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) memo on March 27 reaffirming Church teaching that only priests could administer the sacrament, Catholic News Agency reported.  Rozanski wrote to his priests March 25 that he...

Ukrainian bishops fraternally correct German bishops for abandoning Catholic sexual morality  Bishop Radosław Zmitrowicz, head of the Ukrainian Episcopate’s Commission for the Family. KIEV, Ukraine, February 10, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Ukrainian Catholic bishops have delivered a fraternal correction to the bishops of Germany for their “synodal path” that, among other things, promotes changing Catholic sexual teaching on contraception, masturbation, and homosexuality. According to Polish newsmagazine wPolityce.pl, the Ukrainian Episcopate’s Commission for the Family, headed by Bishops Radosław Zmitrowicz and Jan Niemiec, sent a letter on Thursday to the German bishops’ own Commission on Marriage and the Family, headed by...