Free Republic

Quran is "Word of God" and Muhammad "chosen by God" - says Italian bishops’ school material. The publication, Schede per conoscere l’Islam (“Sheets for Understanding Islam”), was prepared by the CEI and the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI). It comprises 11 teaching sheets intended for use in Catholic religious instruction in Italian schools. They were presented at Palazzo Borromeo in Rome on October 21, at an event attended by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi.Sheet 2 describes Muhammad as “chosen by God to carry His message and to establish and guide the new community of believers.” It also presents him...

TRADITIONALISTS, THE LAST PARIAHS - Never Before: Traditional Pilgrims Blocked from Entering Saint Peter's The move was announced to Christian Marquant (of Paix Liturgique), during the liturgical conference that precedes the pilgrimage every year. From our friends at Messa in Latino:Christian Marquant: "The Pope Denied Us Saint Peter's, Believing the Mass Was Instrumentalized Last Year"Reported by Enrico Messa in Latino, October 23, 2026*The President of the Association Paix Liturgique, who has devoted his life to the defense of the Mass of all ages, concluded our meeting with direct, clear, and incisive words.*---...Turning to an examination of the ecclesial situation,...

[Catholic Caucus] The Modernist Gospel of Lived Experience: Rome Rediscovers the Heresy Condemned by St. Pius X At Leo XIV’s Vatican, theology is now said to emerge from people’s experiences. St. Pius X exposed this inversion of Catholic faith 119 years ago.The Modernists Are Finally Saying It Out LoudSometimes the Modernists make their intentions so obvious that one wonders why they bother dressing them up in theological jargon.During the October 14 Vatican press conference marking the tenth anniversary of Amoris Laetitia, Fr. Stanislaus Chu Ilo, a Nigerian theologian at DePaul University, offered this remarkable explanation of the theological revolution currently...

Leo XIV’s excommunication backfires: SSPX lists multiple priests who just joined them ‘While Rome plans a procedure for priests wishing to leave the SSPX, many priests from diocesan clergy and religious communities continue, around the world, to draw closer to the Fraternity or to join it,’ the SSPX noted.The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) on Friday posted a list of diocesan and religious priests around the world who have joined the Society, undeterred by penalties or the Vatican’s declared excommunications. “After the ordinations, diocesan priests continue to turn toward Tradition,” the official international SSPX Twitter account wrote in a...

Sir Kier Starmer has come under fire for representing a notorious hate preacher in court. The leader of the opposition represented Abu Qatada at a hearing in 2008. While he was a leading KC (King's Counsel) barrister, Starmer was one of a number of human rights lawyers who represented Qatada in hearings. Sir Keir’s spokesperson has told The Telegraph that it was his job as a lawyer to represent people he doesn't agree with and has described the allegations as "desperate attacks from a Tory party that has given up on running the country." Qatada arrived in the UK on...

[Catholic Caucus] Leo: The Church Should be an “Open House” that “Listens Without Judging” The Church as founded by Christ listens only to God, not to man, but the Bishop of Rome has a different idea. Pope Leo has said that he wants the Church to be an “open house” that “listens without judging.” In his prayer video for October 2026, he said:“May your Church be an open house, a safe space where everyone has a place — a community that accompanies and never excludes; that listens without judging; and that draws near without fear.”Unfortunately, Leo has erred again. This...

[Catholic Caucus] McElory bans the installation of communion rails in the churches of the Diocese of WashingtonCardinal Robert McElroy, Archbishop of Washington, has ordered that no communion rails be installed or reinstalled in the churches of the archdiocese, in a new liturgical controversy in the United States over kneeling communion and traditional forms of reverence before the Eucharist.The alleged directive was initially reported by journalist Christine Niles of Stella Maris Media, following a recent meeting with priests. To date, the Archdiocese of Washington has not issued a formal decree or official communication regarding this measure.No communion rails or temporary kneelersThe...

Bishop Schneider: ‘Remarkable number’ of Church leaders have ‘lost the faith’The fruits of the loss of faith among clergy are a ‘tremendous general confusion, obfuscation, darkness regarding doctrine, morals, and liturgy,’ Bishop Athanasius Schneider said. Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Astana, Kazakhstan, said that a “remarkable number of high-ranking clergy” have “lost the Catholic faith.”“They want another Church: half-Protestant Church, half worldly, adapted to the impression of the world,” Schneider told Catholic writer and podcaster Matt Gaspers during a larger discussion about the Second Vatican Council and the Society of St. Pius X.“There are a remarkable number of them over the...

Vatican official praises Lutheran text as model for Christian unity ahead of 2030 commemorationThe 'Confessio Augustana,' written by the Protestant theologian Philip Melanchthon and presented in 1530 to Emperor Charles V, is one of the founding texts of Lutheranism.Statue of Martin LutherShutterstockThe secretary of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity has said one of the founding texts of Lutheranism offers a model for rediscovering common ground among Christians ahead of a planned ecumenical commemoration in 2030.On January 22, Archbishop Flavio Pace made the remarks in an interview with Vatican News published on the occasion of the Week of...

The Diabolical Insanity of the Vatican’s New Book About Methodist and Pseudo-Catholic DialogueThe Vatican recently published a short book about the progress of ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Methodists, "We Believe in One God". This recent work of diabolical disorientation ought to be a wake-up call for all serious Catholics to unambiguously denounce the false ecumenical movement that has thrived for sixty years.As reported by OSV News, the Vatican publishing house recently released a short book about the progress of ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Methodists, We Believe in One God: Sixty Years of Methodists and Catholics Walking Together:“Celebrating almost...

Bishops in Germany, Switzerland are supplanting Church teaching with secular ideals: priestIn Germany and in Zurich, the bishops have rendered the observance of the Sixth Commandment optional by exempting Church employees from living according to Catholic teaching.Pope Leo the Great impressively told the faithful of his time: “Christian, recognize your dignity and, now that you share in God’s own nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning.” The current canon law says the same thing in CIC, can. 209: “The Christian faithful, even in their own manner of acting, are always obliged to maintain communion with the...

[Catholic Caucus] New Orleans Catholics afraid during immigration sweeps can miss MassThe Archdiocese of New Orleans has said that Catholics who are fearful for leaving their homes can miss Mass amid immigration raids while U.S. Border Patrol agents fan out across the city in the second week of an immigration enforcement operation.Archbishop Gregory Aymond granted the dispensation for Catholics who are "rightfully afraid to participate in Mass.”The dispensation will be valid "until the individual Catholic determines it is safe to attend Mass again or this dispensation is revoked or amended," Aymond said in a letter Monday to New Orleans' Catholic...

The Liturgy of the Ages and the Pastoral OptionIn recent months, we have heard a great deal about traditional liturgies being canceled in certain dioceses. Of course, this is nothing new. The tenacity of certain bishops, however, in eliminating not only these liturgies but also the groups devoted to preserving and transmitting the Catholic liturgical treasure cannot fail to worry us.First, it must be said that the core of the heated debate surrounding the right of the Traditional Latin Mass to exist is not liturgical in nature. A certain vision of the evolution and state of the world over the...

The U.S. Conference Of Catholic Bishops Needs To Stop Apologizing For IslamIslam’s inherent disdain for non-Muslims must not intrude on the pieties of interfaith harmony, according to the USCCB.Earlier this month, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) published “Islamophobia: A Guide for U.S. Catholics on Anti-Muslim Bigotry.” Showcased on the USCCB website with a lovely Islamic design cover, this 15-page booklet exhorts Catholics to “address the disturbing phenomenon of anti-Muslim sentiment in our times.”Introduced by the co-chairs of the National Catholic-Muslim Dialogue (NCMD) — Bishop Elias Lorenzo of Newark and Imam Kareem Irfan — the USCCB declares dire need...

[Catholic Caucus] New Georgetown University president: ‘I reject the Church’s teachings on homosexuality’‘Every Catholic educator should vigorously oppose what this man embraced,’ Patrick Reilly of the Cardinal Newman Society told LifeSite. ‘Jesus told Peter to feed His sheep, but Georgetown is leading lambs to the slaughter.’The incoming president of Georgetown University has said he repudiates the Catholic Church’s teachings on homosexuality. He also appeared to criticize the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.The nominally Catholic, Jesuit university in Washington, D.C., recently announced its selection of Eduardo Peñalver as its new president, to start next year. Peñalver is currently the...

U.S. Catholic Bishops Warn of the Greatest Threat We Face: IslamophobiaTalk about poor timing! On the same day that news broke of an Islamist attack on a Catholic Parish in the Congo that left 64 dead and many wounded, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops published a 15-page booklet, “Islamophobia: A Guide for U.S. Catholics on Anti-Muslim Bigotry.”The purpose of the booklet is to warn Catholics about “the rising tide of anti-Muslim sentiment.” I’m not aware of any “rising tide” of anti-Muslim bigotry in the U.S., but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a rising tide of anti-Muslim...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Kasper says papal conclave may stall if ‘conspiratorial group’ blocks voteThe German cardinal suggested that a lack of familiarity among the cardinal electors and ‘conspiratorial groups’ could ‘delay’ the outcome of the papal conclave.Cardinal Walter Kasper has said that the upcoming conclave could take longer than the previous two and reiterated his support for the continuation of Pope Francis’ agendas.In an interview with the German Catholic outlet Domradio, Kasper was asked how long he thinks the upcoming conclave will last.“You can’t say that at all,” the 92-year-old cardinal said. “The last conclaves have all gone relatively quickly....

[Catholic Caucus] “Blessing Gives Strength to Love”: German Bishops’ Conference Releases Authorized Pastoral Guidelines on Imparting Blessings to Homosexual CouplesIt’s as if they were just waiting for the perfect moment—the moment when the last obstacle to their plan would be removed, and no one could stop them. The German original may be found here. -PAK“Blessing Gives Strength to Love”:Blessings for couples who love each otherHandout for pastorsResolution of the Whole Conference [of German Bishops], April 4, 2025 [released April 23]“The Church wishes to proclaim in word and deed the message of the God-given dignity of every person. This message guides...

Surveying the Most Anti-Catholic Elements of the International Theological Commission’s New Document on the Nicene Creed On April 3, 2025, the International Theological Commission released a document on the Council of Nicea, "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour: 1700th Anniversary of the Ecumenical Council of Nicea (325-2025)". As its preliminary note states, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández and Francis approved the document’s publication in late 2024. Although we learned from Fiducia Supplicans to expect dangerous heresies from any document approved by these two men, the new document goes well beyond even the worst expectations. As we can see from the following...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Fernández issues ‘clarification’ to Vatican document, suggests Church approval of gender mutilation in ‘severe dysphoria’ casesIn a striking departure from established Church teaching, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández has signaled that sex “change” surgeries may be morally acceptable under certain conditions. Cardinal Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) offered this perspective in a conference he delivered via video to a Theological congress organized by the Catholic University of Cologne (Germany) in mid January. But then in March, the Cardinal posted the conference as an official “clarification” of Dignitas infinita, the Church’s...