Free Republic

A photograph that accompanied the top headline on the Drudge Report at one point Monday looked very familiar to me. It showed two tiny feet peeking through the fingers of a hand, and I thought at first that it was a typical anti-abortion photo that marchers carry at pro-life marches. In fact, it was a photo of Amilia Taylor, born four months ago at 22 weeks gestation, weighing only 10 ounces. She is believed to be the only baby born at less than 23 weeks to have survived. Amilia now weighs four pounds, and doctors are preparing to release...

Christmas 1981: A Candle That Burned Bright for Freedom 25 Years Ago    PAUL KENGOR It's difficult to explain how much the world has changed in 25 years — and for the better. Those who lived through December 1981 would be well served to pause and give thanks for the differences. view from Wawel Hill, Cracow, Poland In December 1981, much of the world lived in totalitarian darkness. This was captured at the time by Freedom House, the group begun by Eleanor Roosevelt and today headed by freedom fighter Nina Shea. Freedom House published its map of global freedom, which...

Sometimes sincere people concerned with protecting innocent human life will express sentiments along these lines: "Animal rights advocates are eager to protect all kinds of animal life, but seem to ignore the most important animal of all, the human animal. Terrine of Foie Gras They are willing to save the whales, but abort the humans. Protecting animals can never be as important a task as protecting young humans from abortion, embryonic stem cell research or other forms of experimentation." Such a viewpoint, though fundamentally correct, should not be taken to signify that animal abuse in our society is an...

n 1223, St. Francis of Assisi inaugurated a pious practice that in places today has become so common that many think that it always existed. This great saint, as he was traversing the rolling hills of central Italy one December to proclaim the Gospel, noticed that few of his countrymen were taking the mysteries of the faith seriously. Many were not preparing for Christmas at all. Of those who were getting ready to celebrate the Lord’s birth, they looked at it as an event tied exclusively to the past. The mysteries of the faith had become sterile. The central persons...

In 1223, St. Francis of Assisi inaugurated a pious practice that in places today has become so common that many think that it always existed. This great saint, as he was traversing the rolling hills of central Italy one December to proclaim the Gospel, noticed that few of his countrymen were taking the mysteries of the faith seriously. Many were not preparing for Christmas at all. Of those who were getting ready to celebrate the Lord’s birth, they looked at it as an event tied exclusively to the past. The mysteries of the faith had become sterile. The central...

Do Catholics Believe in Purgatory?    FR. WILLIAM SAUNDERS I hardly hear purgatory mentioned anymore. I have even heard some Catholics say we do not believe in it since Vatican II. What is the right teaching? On Sept. 17, 2002, our late beloved Pope John Paul II stressed the need to pray for the Souls in Purgatory. He said, "The first and highest form of charity for brothers is the ardent desire for their eternal salvation ... . Christian love knows no boundaries and goes beyond the limits of space and time, enabling us to love those who have already...

The truth about the technical challenges and scientific hurdles for embryonic stem-cell (ESC) therapies is finally getting out.   The truth, of course, is that there are no human embryonic stem-cell therapies even in clinical trial, let alone ready for therapy, and there have been no major treatment models in animals, either. Adult stem cells, however, have already been successful in treating more than seventy different diseases in actual human beings.  Readers of First Things are well aware that the main objection to current methods of embryonic stem-cell research is that they involve the destruction of living human embryos,...

Protestants don’t see why Catholics who come to disagree with essential teachings of the Church don’t just leave. The answer is symbolized by the sanctuary lamp. They do not leave the Church because they know that the sacramental fire burns there on the ecclesiastical hearth. Even if they do not see by its light, they want to be warmed by its fire. The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is a magnet drawing lost sheep home and keeping would-be strays from the deathly snows outside. The Church’s biggest drawing card is not what she teaches, crucial as that...

Judaism’s Sexual Revolution: Why Judaism (and then Christianity) Rejected Homosexuality    DENNIS PRAGER When Judaism demanded that all sexual activity be channeled into marriage, it changed the world. The Torah's prohibition of non-marital sex quite simply made the creation of Western civilization possible. Societies that did not place boundaries around sexuality were stymied in their development. The subsequent dominance of the Western world can largely be attributed to the sexual revolution initiated by Judaism and later carried forward by Christianity.This revolution consisted of forcing the sexual genie into the marital bottle. It ensured that sex no longer dominated society, heightened...

Satan and the Millennium PETER KREEFT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABSTRACT: Religion (which includes commandments) and “spirituality” (which doesn’t) are increasingly the major combatants in our culture. The meaning of life, according to just about every single page of the Bible, is spiritual warfare. This is also what life is according to all the saints, even the most gentle. Saints are spiritual warriors, not “nice” people. There is a war on. So let’s get on with it, whup the Devil, and win the world. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Harry (not his real name, but a real person) was an amateur philosopher and professional fishing guide. We...

Seeking an Ethical Option to Embryonic Stem Cell Research    REV. THOMAS BERG There might be an ethically acceptable alternative for obtaining embryonic stem cells, says a bioethicist. Legionary of Christ Father Thomas Berg, executive director of the Westchester Institute, a Catholic ethics think tank located in suburban New York, sees hope for a process known as altered nuclear transfer. He gave an overview of the status of stem cell research in this interview with ZENIT.Q: What is the ethical problem with embryonic stem cell research? Father Berg: The problem is that the methods currently used to obtain these cells...

When Father Solanus Casey died in Detroit in 1957, all he left after 86 years on this earth were a small crucifix, an old pair of sandals, several religious pictures, a wooden statue of St. Anthony, some dog-eared religious books, a knot of heavily darned socks and a framed, 40-year-old picture of his family. Bl. Solanus Casey (1870-1957) But he left another rich legacy — a long list of curious "favors" to an equally long list of devoted believers. Father Solanus Casey had come to Detroit to be a Capuchin friar. During his years as a priest he spent...

Walter Ciszek (1904-1984) Before there was an Armistice Day, Walter Ciszek was born on November 11, 1904, and lived through a crucified century. Death came gracefully in 1984 on the feast of the Immaculate Conception. In boyhood he was a bully in a gang on the gritty streets of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, and Ciszek’s Polish immigrant father dragged him to the police station, hoping to put him into a reform school. Everyone thought he was joking when the eighth grader announced that he would enter the Polish minor seminary. The seminarian swam in an icy lake and rose before dawn...

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D. After I gave my testimony, one of the senators asked a pointed question. "Father Tad, by arguing against embryonic stem cell research, don't you see how you are trying to impose your beliefs on others, and shouldn't we as elected lawmakers avoid imposing a narrow religious view on the rest of society?" A lot of hot-button topics are being debated in our state legislatures these days, topics of great ethical and bioethical importance, ranging from emergency contraception to gay marriage. These debates address important issues for the future of our society. Lawmakers face the daunting...

Home Theology or embryology?    REV. TADEUSZ PACHOLCZYK Embryonic stem cell researchers typically marshal several arguments to encourage public approval and funding for their research, which requires the direct destruction of five to seven day old human embryos. A life lesson from Mr. Rogers One argument runs like this: "Well, that's your feeling about embryos, your narrow religious viewpoint, and you shouldn't impose that on me. Your sentiments about embryos are different than mine, and we're all entitled to our own sentiments and opinions." Pervasive argument This pervasive argument has embedded itself in the modern American mind to a...

Planned Parenthood Celebration Jolted by Abortion Survivor    TED HARVEY She sings the anthem to applause, then her secret is revealed to stunned silence. Gianna Jessen I want to share with you an awesome experience I had in the Colorado House of Representatives on May 8. It is a humbling experience to look back and realize that God used me to play a role in His divine orchestration. I was leaving the House chambers for the weekend when our Democrat speaker of the House announced that the coming Monday would be the final day of this year's General Assembly. He...

With so much talk lately about the Gospels, I wonder, who wrote the Gospels and how do we know? To answer this question we must first be clear on how the Gospels were formed and what constitutes authorship. Citing Vatican II's Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum), the Catechism has a very succinct presentation on the formation of the Gospels (cf. No. 125-127). The foundational premise is that Holy Mother Church has firmly and with absolute constancy maintained and continues to maintain, that the four Gospels [Matthew, Mark, Luke and John], whose historicity she unhesitatingly affirms, faithfully hand...

This May will mark the 25 th anniversary of the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II. It took place on May 13, 1981 in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. Only a few weeks earlier, on March 30, Ronald Reagan had survived an attempted assassination in Washington. There are some remarkable similarities between the two crimes. Their would-be assassins both appeared to be lone gunmen acting on personal motives. They were within six or seven yards of their victims when they opened fire. The bullets entered both bodies, moved toward the hearts, and either stopped or passed within a few...

People often argue that countries are poor because they have too many people and not enough resources. If there are too many people, then each newborn is a threat to every other human being and population control policies are needed. But this logic just doesn't hold for Africa. Ideas have consequences, and the idea that the world is overpopulated leads to certain inescapable conclusions. If there are too many people in the world, then each newborn is a threat to every other human being. If these babies are threats, then it would be acceptable to eradicate the threat. Now,...

Freedom of speech is a great thing. Unfortunately, it comes at an unavoidable price: When citizens are free to say what they want, they’ll sometimes use that freedom to say some pretty silly things. And that’s the case with the 12 claims we’re about to cover. Some of them are made over and over, others are rare. Either way, while the proponents of these errors are free to promote them, we as Catholics have a duty to respond.1. “There’s no such thing as absolute truth. What’s true for you may not be true for me.” People use this argument...