Free Republic

Archaeologists working to restore Paris’s fire-damaged Notre Dame cathedral have discovered something remarkable: previously unknown tombs hidden beneath the 850-year-old Gothic church. Workers made the discovery while installing ground-level scaffolding to help rebuild the church’s fallen spire, according to a statement from the French Ministry of Culture. When they realized that there was something buried at the spot where the transept crosses the nave, the cathedral called in the Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research to investigate. What they found were several tombs and a leaden sarcophagus, probably dating to the 14th century. “The floor of the transept crossing has revealed...

Beneath the gold onion domes of the Danilov Monastery a few miles south of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin’s chief shaman explains why Russia is hell-bent on destroying Ukraine. “If we see [Ukraine] as a threat, we have the right to use force to ensure the threat is eradicated,” Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill recently preached to his church’s 90 million faithful followers. “We have entered into a conflict which has not only physical but also metaphysical significance. We are talking about human salvation, something much more important than politics.” The wartime coalition between Putin and his patriarch is called symphonia, an...

Jason Kenney's 'statement is completely false and, in fact, misinformation,' Nathaniel Pawlowski said in response to Kenney's justification for why Nathaniel's father has been locked up for more than a month. CALGARY, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) – The son of Canadian Christian Pastor Artur Pawlowski alleged that Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is lying about the reasons his dad is still behind bars. “The double standard and hypocrisy is clear as day. Artur is right now being presumed guilty, so we no longer have the presumption of innocence in Alberta. Thanks to Jason Kenney,” said Pawlowski’s son Nathaniel while speaking at a prayer...

(Church Leaders) A pastor in Jacksonville, Fla., was arrested on Wednesday, March 9, and charged with capital sexual battery in a case where the abuse dates back at least 30 years, according to authorities. Two other church members, Jerome Teschendorf (68) and Vernon Williamson (85), were arrested on the same charge as Paul Dyal (78), founder and pastor of The Jacksonville Assembly of the Body of Christ. “It should be noted that through the course of the investigation we have identified and spoken to numerous victims and witnesses,” said the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO). “As a result, investigators believe there...

The gunman who killed his three daughters, a chaperone who was supervising his visit with the children and himself in a Sacramento County church was known to have struggled with mental health issues, officials said. New details also reveal that David Mora Rojas, 39, also used a "ghost gun" in the shooting. Mora Rojas also overstayed his visa after entering California from his native Mexico on Dec. 17, 2018, on a non-immigrant visitor visa, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Alethea Smock told The Associated Press.

'I’ve called for Canada to be put on that list, and I think we need to consider all of the options that are available.'(LifeSiteNews) – Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said that Canada needs to be put on a list of nations that are “religious liberty violators” due to the continued jailing of Canadian Christian pastor Artur Pawlowski. “The United States keeps a designation of folks who are religious liberty violators,” Hawley said to Rebel News at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida this past weekend, after being asked about Pawlowski. “I’ve called for Canada...

Gutersloh (DPA/LNW)-Due to violations of the corona regulations, the police in Gutersloh interrupted a nightly service with around 100 people on Saturday. According to the police, around 100 adults and children of a religious community had met in a residential building for common prayer. About half of those present had neither been vaccinated, recovered nor tested and had to leave the house, said a police spokesman. In addition, the applicable rules of the Corona Protection Ordinance, such as distance and mask requirements were often not complied with...

SACRAMENTO, CA — There was a massive police response to a reported active shooter at a church in the Arden area of Sacramento County Monday evening. The scene is near Wyda Way and Ethan Way — the site of ‘The Church in Sacramento.’ Police have provided few details. Although, scanner reports indicated ‘multiple people down.’

There are times when a church attendance plateau is a victory. I believe many churches are in a season of stagnation, and it’s not all bad.But first, a few caveats.Stagnation is not the goal, but a plateau can point to a future growth climb. Also, churches can be in denial about declines. Leaders should never ignore problems.The first step on the plateau is to recognize where you are. Unfortunately, churches and leaders can tend to lack self-awareness. Don’t call declines a plateau. The definition of being on a plateau is an extended season of not growing or declining. Be self-aware....

What do mask mandates, global shutdowns, and gender-neutral “theybies” have in common? They’re all new ideas, born of a new America — and they’ve come at a cost. The decline of our country escalated with the Covid pandemic and Biden’s presidency. Family and friends are encouraged to snitch on one another, pledging loyalty not to each other, but instead to the state. Lockdowns and constant fear-mongering have caused suicide and overdose rates, even among children, to skyrocket. Inflation is at an all-time high, and America is once again kowtowing to China. It’s difficult to look at the Brave New World...

Two Tennessee theft suspects are accused of asking an elderly woman in church to “pray” with them as they stole her wallet, according to police. The Clarksville Police Department (CPD) is investigating the incident that took place at the Hilldale Baptist Church sanctuary on Feb. 9 around 6 p.m. Video footage of the incident shows the female suspects approaching the 78-year-old victim sitting in a pew and engaging her in conversation. One suspect “requested the victim pray with her,” public information officer Scott Beaubien wrote in the video’s description. “While they were praying, the second female rummaged through the victim’s...

Last week, I was visiting with my step mother and were discussing Covid and it's impact on life. My step mom said that after the Covid shut down, that 30% attendance has dropped 30% at her church , although there is no live streaming any more. She said that they used to have two services--one for the old and one for the young, but now they have merged them into a single service. Apparently the young people desire LOUD music, so the church's way of accommodating the older people is to hand out ear plugs. I did attend this church...

Archbishop Richard Smith cast the truckers and protesters objecting to vaccine mandates as the rebellious and hard-hearted, angry mob that wanted to kill Jesus, both groups forming 'a convoy of resistance.' EDMONTON, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) — If there was a shred of hope in our Catholic hierarchy left, a recent homily from the Archbishop of Edmonton annihilated it. Our Canadian Catholic leaders are completely out-of-touch with reality. They don’t know the people they are meant to shepherd. They don’t even seem to attempt to understand the working class. They are elitists, as dogmatic and hypocritical as Pharisees. The reading for Sunday...

Ottawa basilica cancels Masses due to Freedom Convoy protestThe Freedom Convoy ensnarling the nations’s capital has led to the cancellation of Masses in churches near downtown Ottawa.But despite St. Patrick Basilica Parish cancelling all five Sunday Masses and closing church doors on the second weekend of demonstrations, Msgr. Kevin Beach praised the majority of those in the truckers’ convoy that descended on Ottawa protesting vaccine mandates for their civility.“The truckers are amazingly well-behaved, well-organized, and it looks like well-financed,” said Beach. “It’s all these other folks who are joining in to vent their own disagreement with the government.”St. Patrick’s, located...

A federal judge on Monday ruled that the Air Force must pay more than $230 million to survivors and victims' families of the 2017 shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Driving the news: U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez in July ruled that the Air Force holds 60% of the responsibility for the shooting in the Texas church because it failed to enter the shooter's criminal history into a federal background check database used for gun purchases. More than 25 people were killed in the shooting.Rodriguez on Monday ordered the Air Force to pay millions, which will compensate more than 80 family...

Church worshippers were in total shock as a policeman interrupted the mass service at St. Bernadette’s Catholic Church in Mount Hawthorn Perth, Australia on Thursday evening.

One person was killed and two others were wounded in an Aurora, Colorado, church shooting Friday night just after 8 p.m. The Denver Post reported that the incident occurred at the Iglesia Faro De Luz Church in Aurora, located at 538 N. Olathe Street.

Church worshippers were in total shock as a policeman interrupted the mass service at St. Bernadette’s Catholic Church in Mount Hawthorn Perth, Australia on Thursday evening.“It is highly regrettable that the police felt themselves obliged to intervene during a religious service in one of Perth’s Catholic parishes in order to enforce the mask-wearing mandate,” Catholic Archbishop of Perth Timothy Costelloe said in a statement according to news.com.au.“The celebration of the Eucharist is the central act of Catholic worship and is sacred to all Catholics,” he added. (snip)“Police responded to a report from a member of the public of people not...

"It is getting worse," David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors, told Christian Headlines.... Chinese Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping "knows that he cannot stamp out" the nation's Christians, Curry said. There are an estimated 96 million Christians in China, the report says. "And so he is slowly strangling Christian faith, and he's doing it with high-tech surveillance. They watch, and they track everybody in what they're doing – through facial recognition and other things. Imagine if the IRS owned every camera in every restaurant on every street in America. We would be very concerned that the IRS has...

A church in southwest Oregon is suing the city where it's located over a strange new local ordinance that limits the number of times per week the institution can serve free meals to needy residents. What are the details? St. Timothy's Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Brookings, Oregon, last week, arguing the city violated the church's constitutional right to religious expression by barring it from serving the community, NPR reported. For more than 75 years, the church has been serving its local community, often by providing services to people...