Free Republic

A profile of a progressive leader in the Catholic Church working for racial and LGBTQ justiceThe Reverend Bryan Massingale stands at the front of a small conference room on Fordham University’s Rose Hill Campus in the Bronx. He is teaching a course on African American religious ethics and begins the day’s lesson with a question: “What have religious ethicists said about Black love?” It is December 2019 and we are in Duane Library where he teaches. He continues without interruption: “White supremacy impacts the way we love.” Some of the students are quickly typing notes on their laptops, others nodding...

Catholic Composer Pens Song For Pride Month Because ‘We Are Called To Love’ A renowned American Catholic composer and concert musician has written a refrain in celebration of Pride Month, in an effort to honor of the inherent dignity of LGBTQ people. David Haas, a composer of contemporary Catholic liturgical music whose pieces are sung in parishes across America, told HuffPost he wrote the refrain on Sunday as a “gift” to his friends in the LGBTQ community who will be involved in Pride activities this month, and for Catholic and Protestant clergy who minister to them.

[Catholic Caucus] Openly gay priest claims Pope Francis affirmed his homosexuality in private phone call January 3, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – An “out” gay priest who rejects the Church’s teaching on homosexuality shared his personal reaction to a phone call he claims he received from Pope Francis in which the Pontiff reportedly affirmed him as a homosexual priest.     In an article published by New Ways Ministry – a pro-LGBT Catholic organization that has been condemned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops – the openly homosexual priest also explained why he finally chose to make public the phone call.  Fr. James Alison,...

A United Methodist Church congregation in Texas with approximately 2,800 members has voted to leave the mainline denomination because of its debate over homosexuality. Grace Fellowship UMC of Katy voted Dec. 15 to leave the UMC due to the divisive debate on whether to amend the Book of Discipline to remove language calling homosexuality “incompatible with Christian teaching.” Jim Leggett, the founding pastor of Grace Fellowship, told The Christian Post in an interview Monday that his congregation wanted “to remove ourselves from the dysfunctional fighting going on in the United Methodist Church so that we can fully devote our energies...

Fr. Pierre Valkering wins appeal, allowed to say Mass privately againAMSTERDAM (ChurchMilitant.com) - The Vatican has reinstated a homosexual Dutch cleric dismissed by his bishop for violating his priestly vow of celibacy. Father Pierre Valkering told Dutch radio earlier this month that the Congregation for the Clergy has granted his appeal, six months after Bp. Jozef Marianus Punt of Haarlem-Amsterdam removed him as pastor of Vredeskerk Peace Church. The longtime LGBT activist said his dismissal was overturned owing to procedural errors. "According to the ruling, it was unclear exactly what Valkering had done wrong, the evidence against him was insufficient,...

As Democrats champion anti-discrimination protections for the LGBTQ community and Republicans counter with worries about safeguarding religious freedom, one congressional Republican is offering a proposal on Friday that aims to achieve both goals. The bill that Utah GOP Rep. Chris Stewart plans to unveil would shield LGBTQ individuals from discrimination in employment, housing, education, and other public services — while also carving out exemptions for religious organizations to act based on beliefs that may exclude those of different sexual orientations or gender identities. Stewart’s bill counts support from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Seventh-day Adventist...

The St. Pauli church in the multicultural Swedish city of Malmö has unveiled a LGBT-themed altar painting featuring same-sex couples to celebrate advent. The painting, entitled Paradise, depicts two same-sex couples along with transgender individuals and is based on the 16th-century painting Adam and Eve by German master painter Lucas Cranach, Swedish newspaper Expressen reports. Artist and photographer Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin, the creator of the painting, initially attempted to donate it to Skara cathedral which refused it stating it was too overtly political. Sofia Tunebro, the head pastor of St. Pauli, welcomed the painting labelling it “pure joy” and added:...

While many are still reeling from recent revelations that Chick-fil-A has opportunistically traded the Christian principles upon which it was founded for “woke,” pro-LGBT social justice causes, the head of the Hallmark Channel —famous for its family-friendly Christmas movies— indicated that Hallmark will likely begin to produce holiday films which include gay characters and themes. This year, Hallmark's legendary “Countdown to Christmas” will feature two dozen new, original movies produced by the channel. They will be shown 24 hours a day during the weeks leading up to Christmas. Bill Abbott, CEO of Hallmark parent Crown Media Family Networks (CMFN), said...

Fr. James Martin touts blasphemous image of Jesus as a homosexual Warning: This article shows blasphemous images. November 24, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – In sending out a tweet about the Gospel reading from Friday’s Mass, Fr. James Martin, SJ chose to share a painting drawn from a series of blasphemous homoerotic works depicting the life of Jesus as if he were a gay man. “Gospel: Today Jesus drives the money-changers from the Temple (Lk 19). NT scholars say this was one of the main events that precipitated his execution,” tweeted the Jesuit. “Yet Jesus is not cowed by opponents. Another...

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has denounced anti-gay discrimination as reminiscent of Nazi-era persecutions and evidence of a "culture of hatred" that has re-emerged today. Francis made the comments in a wide-ranging speech Friday to an international penal law association. He said some public officials speak about persecuted groups the same way Adolf Hitler referred to Jews in the 1930s. He said: "These are actions that are typical of Nazism, that with its persecution of Jews, gypsies, people with homosexual orientation, represent an excellent model of the throwaway culture and culture of hatred."

ENGLAND, November 4, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – The Catholic diocese of Salford in north-west England has become the latest of multiple Catholic dioceses around the United Kingdom to begin hosting “LGBT+ Masses.” In Salford, as in the other dioceses, the LGBT+ Masses enjoy the support of their respective local bishops. Advertisements for the Masses have become widely available in churches and on various official parish and diocesan websites. Many of these advertisements are emblazoned with the rainbow flag or popular Catholic images such as crosses or the Sacred Heart filled with the rainbow colours. Several of the groups involved in organizing...

Philip de Grey-Warter has resigned from the Church of EnglandThere are concerns in a Cornish town that a new church, which meets for the first time next week, is “extremist” and “homophobic”. The Vicar of Fowey has resigned in order to start a new Anglican church in the town, under the auspices of an organisation which has been dubbed right wing. The Rev Philip de Grey-Warter has resigned as Vicar of Fowey and Priest-in-Charge of Golant after 17 years to “plant” a new church community, Anchor, under the auspices of GAFCON, a controversial global movement of conservative Anglican clergy. Mr...

Student government refuses to condemnLast Thursday, an unauthorized sign with the words, “There is Queer Blood on Homophobic Hands,” was placed outside DeBartolo Hall and widely shared accross social media. The sign contained many articles from the Irish Rover and the Observer which reflect Catholic doctrine regarding human sexuality, implying that the authors of these were responsible for the deaths of “queer” people nationwide. Most shockingly, the sign’s message was painted in blood red, and the names of the articles’ writers were all circled in blood-red paint, drawing hostile attention to individual members of the Notre Dame community. Among the...

Contested United Methodist Church (UMC) Bishop Karen Oliveto recently spoke on transformational leadership at Yale Divinity School. The primary thrust of this talk was the need for a community focus in the UMC. She also took questions about the current state of the denomination. Oliveto attempted to avoid controversy in her comments, though her personal views were visible. When asked about the decline of the UMC in recent years, she obliquely blamed, “All the infighting we’ve been doing” as well as, “an erosion of the grace that’s foundational to who we are.” This idea of an “erosion” of what Methodism...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis: Clericalism linked to fixation on sexual morality Vatican City, Sep 26, 2019 / 10:25 am (CNA).- In a meeting with Jesuits in Mozambique earlier this month, Pope Francis said that clericalism is a direct result of rigidity and linked to a fixation on sexual morality.“One dimension of clericalism is the exclusive moral fixation on the sixth commandment,” Pope Francis said according to the Jesuit-run journal La Civilta Cattolica transcript published online Sept. 26.“We focus on sex and then we do not give weight to social injustice, slander, gossip and lies. The Church today needs a profound...

The Supreme Court should hold that the federal statute which prohibits employment discrimination “because of sex” prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and against transgender individuals. When the Supreme Court returns from its summer recess, among the first cases it will hear will be three that raise the important question of whether federal law prohibiting employment discrimination protects LGBTQ individuals. Until 1964, no federal law prohibited employment discrimination. The landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 changed this by forbidding employers from discriminating based on race, sex or religion. There have been many attempts to amend the law to expressly prohibit...

A married father-of-two from South Carolina who founded one of the nation's largest conversion therapy programs has come out as gay and strongly denounced the widely discredited practice. McKrae Game, 51, the former leader of Hope for Wholeness, came out of the closet in June, nearly two years after he was fired from the faith-based conversion therapy ministry. He is now trying to come to terms with the harm he inflicted on LGBTQ people when he was advocating for religious efforts to change a person's sexuality.

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg blasted Vice President Mike Pence and other Christian politicians this week for adopting what he charged were un-Christian political stances. Asked by Religion News whether he would call “sinful” those Christian politicians who supported the Trump administration’s since-scrapped policy of separating families arrested after crossing the southern border illegally, Buttigieg declined to go that far. “I’ll be careful to use that word to kind of point out a speck in my brother’s eye,” the South Bend, Ind. mayor replied. “What I would say is that it’s clear that some naked sins are being at best...

40,000 sign petition rejecting Coke's LGBT agendaBUDAPEST, Hungary (ChurchMilitant.com) - The world's largest and oldest soft drink maker has withdrawn its advertising campaign promoting homosexuality in Hungary after conservative politicians and an online petition called for a nationwide boycott of its products. Coca-Cola had posted provocative posters of gays and lesbians against a rainbow background and drinking coke with slogans such as "Zero Sugar, Zero Prejudice" and "No sugar, no superstition." The ads were displayed in the capital Budapest on train stations and bus stops. Over 40,000 protestors signed a CitizenGO petition asking the mayor of Budapest and other authorities...

Songs of Praise has screened the show's first ever gay wedding as part of a drive to modernise the programme. Presenters of the BBC One show have vowed that they are “not afraid of controversy” as they broadcast a wedding which is currently banned in the Church of England. The Sunday afternoon show, which has been running since 1961, was traditionally a “sort of hymn sandwich”, presenter of more than three decades Pam Rhodes said. But now, which a magazine format an on screen cast which includes soprano Katherine Jenkins and JB Gill, the former frontman of boy-band JLS, the...