Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican under Pope Leo XIV grants Latin Mass in Texas a two-year extensionThe Vatican has granted St. Margaret’s parish in San Angelo a two-year permission to continue offering the Latin Mass despite Pope Francis’ restrictions.The Vatican has granted a Traditional Latin Mass in Texas a two-year extension, the first such reprieve from Traditionis Custodes under Pope Leo XIV.“I’m grateful to @Pontifex and to the Dicastery for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments for allowing the TLM to continue to exist in our parish church, extending permission for another two years,” announced Father Ryan Rojo on Friday.The extension...

Fr. James Martin compares LGBT books for children to Jesus’ parablesThe Jesuit priest was responding to the Supreme Court's decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which sided with parents who have religious objections to explicit material in schools.Heterodox Jesuit priest Fr. James Martin compared kids reading LGBT books to Jesus sharing parables in a recent X post and in an essay at his website, Outreach. Martin did so while arguing against the rights of parents to prohibit their children from reading books in school that promote same-sex “marriage” and other content contrary to the Gospel.Martin was reacting to the Supreme Court’s...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican announces new votive Mass ‘for the care of creation’The new text of the Mass will be issued Thursday, and comes on the back of Pope Francis' special focus on climate change issuesThe Vatican is set to publish a new Mass text called the Mass “for the care of creation.”In a press note issued June 30, the Holy See Press Office announced details of a press conference on Thursday which will be the launch pad for a new Mass.“There will be a press conference to present the new form of the Mass ‘pro custodia creationis,’ which will be...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Zen celebrates Latin Mass, leads Eucharistic procession for Corpus Christi in Hong KongCardinal Joseph Zen led a Latin Mass and Eucharistic procession in Hong Kong, showing Chinese Catholics' resilience and sending a message to both Beijing and Pope Leo XIV.Cardinal Joseph Zen celebrated the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) and led a Eucharistic procession for Corpus Christi.On June 22, 93-year-old Zen, the retired cardinal-bishop of Hong Kong, led a procession through the streets of Hong Kong after celebrating the Latin Mass for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.“We celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, a feast the Church established...

[Catholic Caucus] Sanctuary Profaned: Ideology Takes the Altar in San DiegoSan Diego (USA) - Friday, June 20, 2025, a Eucharistic celebration was held in the cathedral of the Diocese of San Diego (United States of America), presided over by Bishop Michael Pham on the occasion of World Refugee Day. An event that, while seemingly intended as a political statement, turned into a grave liturgical abuse and a profanation of the sacred.During the Holy Mass, which was also broadcast by the media, it became clearly evident that individuals were present in the sanctuary who were not only non-Catholic, but even women...

[Catholic Caucus] Tradition and VocationsMy small parish gave birth to a priestly vocation in less than seven years. How did we do it? It’s not rocket science. It’s called the Tradition. And this includes the source and summit of Tradition: the holy Mass.A young man, who was converted away from a worldly and hedonistic lifestyle by exposure to the traditional Latin Mass, quite logically figured out that his continued conversion would more likely than not be best supported by such continued exposure. We offered what he was seeking: daily traditional Mass and spirituality. He flourished and cemented his commitment to...

The modern state of Israel often stirs intense debate, especially among Christians navigating its place in biblical prophecy and today’s geopolitics. Some equate the modern government of Israel with the biblical Israel of old, demanding unwavering support — a conversation that has been trending on social media as of recent, due to a fiery Tucker Carlson/Ted Cruz face-off. Others veer into antisemitism, demonizing Jewish people as a whole.Both extremes miss the mark. Scripture, particularly Romans 9–11, offers clarity: the modern Israeli government is not biblical Israel, but God’s covenant with the Jewish people endures, and hatred toward them is sin....

[Catholic Caucus] Fr. James Martin blasphemously compares Pete Buttigieg’s homosexual ‘parenting’ to the Holy TrinityBased on the Church's teaching against homosexual acts and same-sex 'marriage,' the Church does not permit same-sex 'couples' to adopt children.During the second episode of his “The Spiritual Life” podcast, featuring openly homosexual former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, heterodox Jesuit priest Father James Martin sacrilegiously compared Buttigieg’s “fatherhood” to the Blessed Trinity.On the June 24 podcast, Buttigieg described his “fatherhood” to his two adopted children, whom he is raising with his “husband” (the full exchange is viewable below from 34:31-37:52), prompting Martin to compare his...

Catholic Zionism differs from the forms of Protestant Zionism that require a literalist exegesis of Revelation 20:2, which describes a thousand-year period of Messianic rule during which Satan is “bound” and his power restrained. Catholic Zionism does not see the creation of Israel in 1948 as inaugurating the end times. The death and resurrection of Jesus did that. Catholic Zionism does not support an “apocalyptic” showdown in the Middle East… Catholic Zionism shares one central feature of Protestant Zionism, however: It affirms that the promise made to Abraham in Genesis matters in our time. The foundation of the State of...

Under Iran’s theocratic regime, Christians – especially converts from Islam – already face severe restrictions and opposition. The country is number nine on the World Watch List, and Iranian believers are often viewed as Western-influenced ‘threats to the state’. Persecution includes long prison sentences for ordinary house church members for the vaguely worded charge of ‘acting against national security by connecting with ‘Zionist’ Christian organisations’. With tensions now erupting between Iran and Israel, experts warn that Iranian Christians will be even more targeted with suspicion and repression. “Instead of protecting the people, the Iranian government is now arresting anyone caught...

[Catholic Caucus] Jesuit university in Chile hosts ‘pride prayer’ event, blesses LGBT rainbow flagCiting Pope Francis and Fiducia Supplicans, Jesuit priest Father Rodrigo Garcia, who heads the university's student ministry, said he did not view the ceremony as controversial. Alberto Hurtado University, a Chilean Jesuit institution, recently held a “pride prayer” ceremony in which students of “diverse sexual orientations,” along with a pride flag, received a blessing.The event, said to be the first of its kind at any university in Chile, was just one of the many scheduled on campus for the university’s “Pride Week” planned this June, and has...

Police have identified the gunman who opened fire outside CrossPointe Community Church on Sunday, during a morning service attended by about 150 people. As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, a 31-year-old man on Sunday opened fire outside the CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne, Michigan. Churchgoers first noticed the gunman driving erratically in the parking lot, and as he exited the vehicle, several parishioners noticed he was wearing a tactical vest and wielding a rifle. Police Chief Ryan Strong, in a press conference, revealed, “A parishioner struck the gunman with his vehicle as the gunman shot the vehicle repeatedly. Strong later...

Horrific footage from a church service's livestream showed the moment that frantic families started running for their lives when an active shooter opened fire. CrossPointe Church in Wayne, Michigan, was hosting its Sunday morning mass when the suspect, described by police as a white man, 31, suddenly rammed his Ford F-150 truck into the building and started shooting bullets at the terrified congregation inside. Deputy Chief Finley Carter III with the Michigan Police Department said the suspect's identity wasn't being released at this time, and they are still investigating a motive. The department confirmed the unnamed suspect was killed at...

I’m Not a Theologian—Just a Believer Paying Attention I don’t have a seminary degree. I haven’t written commentaries or preached from pulpits. I’m just a believer who’s been walking with the Lord long enough to know when He starts pressing something heavy on the heart. And for years now, I’ve sat with a question that many American Christians ask: Where is the United States in the book of Revelation? It’s not there—not directly. Not clearly. Not as a central player. And the follow-up question almost always comes: Then what happens to us? How do we go from being the most...

[Catholic Caucus] ‘Save the Latin Mass’ rally planned at Detroit cathedral following crackdownFaithful Catholics will gather for a “Save the Latin Mass” rally on Saturday, June 28 outside the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit, Michigan.The prayerful protest follows a decision by Archbishop Edward Weisenburger to ban the Latin Mass at all but four churches in the archdiocese.Weisenburger has also prohibited ad orientem liturgies, even though nothing in Traditionis Custodes or any Vatican II or subsequent documents forbid the priest facing the altar during Mass.READ: Detroit archbishop shuts down most Latin Masses, bans ad orientem worshipSaturday’s rally will...

(Fresno, California: the hometown of Free Republic. Fresno: "ash tree")Exodus 21 And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. 2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. 3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. 4 And his sister stood...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Strickland: Statement on the appointment of Bp. Shane Mackinlay as Archbishop of BrisbaneWhile we owe filial respect and obedience to the Holy Father in matters properly within his authority, this appointment raises serious pastoral and doctrinal questions.Editor’s note: The following was originally published on Bishop Joseph Strickland’s X account on June 18, 2025.(LifeSiteNews) — With deep concern for the faithful of the Church, I feel compelled to address the recent appointment of Bishop Shane Mackinlay as Archbishop of Brisbane by His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.While we owe filial respect and obedience to the Holy Father in matters...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Burke: Doctrinal and Moral Corruption ‘Directly Related’ to Abuse of the LiturgyRecalling the warnings of popes and saints, Cardinal Burke said neglect of liturgical law and tradition has paved the way for widespread confusion about faith and morals.Cardinal Raymond Burke has appealed to Pope Leo XIV to lift the restrictions on the pre-1970 liturgy, stressing that respect for liturgical tradition is critical for the Catholic Church’s mission and that doctrinal and moral corruption shows itself in “divisions and factions” that lead to liturgical abuse. Speaking via video link to a London conference celebrating 60 years of the...

[Catholic Caucus] Heterodox Jesuit parish publishes blasphemous image of Trinity as female with LGBT ‘pride’ flagThe bulletin for St. Joseph and St. Therese churches in Seattle featured a mockery of Andrei Rublev's 15th-century Holy Trinity icon depicting three women sitting by a 'pride' flag.A Jesuit-run Catholic parish marked Holy Trinity Sunday by publishing a blasphemous icon depicting the Blessed Trinity as women that included an LGBT “Pride” flag.The first page of the parish bulletin for St. Joseph and St. Therese churches, dated June 15, Holy Trinity Sunday, featured a mockery of Andrei Rublev’s 15th-century Holy Trinity icon depicting three women...

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A left-wing activist group known for putting its political opponents on a “hate map” with chapters of the Ku Klux Klan advised Justice Department prosecutors at a “hate crimes symposium,” newly unveiled documents show. America First Legal obtained the documents via a Freedom of Information Act request and provided them first to The Daily Signal. “All Americans should be shocked, appalled, and terrified that the Biden Justice Department was taking advice from a hate-filled, morally bankrupt organization like the Southern Poverty Law Center,” Ian Prior, senior counselor at America First Legal, told The Daily Signal in...