Free Republic

The American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature host an annual conference dedicated to the academic study of religion. This year it met on November 22-25 in Boston. The Living Church attended panels that included Anglican theologians, as well as one about Protestant relic collecting. The Rev. Dr. Molly James, an Episcopal priest and interim executive officer of the Episcopal Church, gave a presentation on membership trends and the future of the Episcopal Church. “The data bears out what we hear everywhere: We are declining. We have fewer people. The only thing that might surprise you is...

[Catholic Caucus] Catholics in Leo’s former diocese urge him to reverse ‘scandalous’ rejection of Co-Redemptrix titleMore than 100 Catholics in Peru wrote to Pope Leo denouncing a ‘harmful’ and ‘truly scandalous’ Vatican document that attacks Our Lady’s titles of ‘Co-Redemptrix’ and ‘Mediatrix of All Graces.’Catholics in Pope Leo XIV’s former diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, are petitioning him to “reconsider” what they condemn as a “truly scandalous” and “harmful” document issued by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) that opposes the Marian titles of “Co-Redemptrix” and “Mediatrix of All Graces.”The petition includes the signatures of more than...

Since the fall in Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve disobeyed the Lord’s one command, God has been on a mission to redeem what has fallen. The Lord has been fighting ever since the fall to win us back to Him. Through the Scriptures God has revealed to us His blueprint on how He intends to fulfill His ultimate plan of redemption for all creation. The book of Genesis defines early on how God plans to redeem all that has fallen. To redeem all that has been lost God chose a man, Abraham, who would be a father to a...

In a troubling trend, police in Minnesota, Ohio, Florida, Arizona, and Louisiana have arrested a number of church leaders in separate cases for failing to report alleged child abuse. The wave of cases, which have arisen in the last month, raises questions about church and ministry accountability and their legal and moral obligations to protect children in their care, specifically by alerting civil authorities when leaders suspect abuse. This basic duty has been a fixture of American law for well over half a century. Since 1967, every state has enacted some form of mandatory child-abuse reporting law. But in nearly...

[Catholic Caucus] US Bishop Celebrates Traditional Mass with Youth in OhioAuxiliary Bishop Robert Reed of Boston is celebrating a Mass in the Roman rite at the SEEK Conference 2026 in Columbus, Ohio, today.The Mass will be held at 2:15 p.m. at St Patrick's Church, with the liturgical assistance from the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP).The SEEK Conference is organised by the FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) group. Several thousand young Catholics are expected to attend.

[Catholic Caucus] Memento mori: the Kim family and Micah’s witness to the worldI, like many other Catholics, follow the social media accounts of priests, writers and lay people for clarity, humour, and the quiet reassurance that I am not alone in how I see the world.Paul J. Kim is one such account. His content is light yet profound, catechetical without being heavy, and funny without being flippant. With shared East Asian roots, his family Korean American and my father Hong Kong Chinese, I found in the Kims a comfortable familiarity and an aspirational faith lived with joy, orthodoxy and warmth....

The incoherence of the Charlotte diocese’s ban on altar railsBishop Michael Martin has issued new diocesan guidance banning the use of altar rails during Holy Communion in the Diocese of Charlotte.In a pastoral letter dated 17 December, Bishop Michael Martin affirmed that the “normative posture” for receiving Holy Communion in the United States is standing, following a bow of the head as a sign of reverence. The letter instructs parishes that currently use altar rails, kneelers, or prie-dieus for the distribution of Communion to discontinue the practice, with any temporary or movable fixtures to be removed by 16 January 2026.“The...

[Catholic Caucus] The Traditional Mass a Topic at the January Consistory?Nicola Spuntoni, in an article published in Il Giornale on December 16, reveals that the Pope, who has convened an extraordinary consistory for January 7 and 8, will be sending the cardinals a letter before Christmas outlining the three-point agenda for this consistory: their participation in the governance of the Church, synodality, and the liturgical question.It goes without saying that, on this last point, the status of the Traditional Latin Mass after Traditionis Custodes will not be the only topic of discussion, but it is clear that it will be...

Backdrop On October 31, 2025, Pastor Gary McKibben and I conducted a livestream titled Per Aspera Ad Astra—Latin for “through hardship to the stars”—a phrase famously embraced by Jack Parsons, one of the godfathers of America’s early space program. In that discussion, we traced the modern rocketry enterprise back to Parsons and his notorious, explosion-prone circle of engineers at Caltech and JPL, sometimes nicknamed the “Suicide Squad.” Yet Parsons’s obsession extended far beyond propulsion and pyrotechnics. By the mid-1940s, he was deeply immersed in the ritual occultism of Aleister Crowley and Crowley’s system of Thelema, attempting to merge technological ascent...

As we approach 2026, it seems to me that something happens every day that appears to be related to Bible prophecy. I often catch myself wondering what’s next. Will 2026 bring: The Rapture? The Rise of the Ten Kings? The Battle of Gog of Magog? A digital ID in the U.S. A covenant with many for seven years of peace in the Middle East. The judgment of God on America over Pres. Trump’s efforts to appease Muslim intolerance of other religions by dividing Israel. Democrats retaking the House and/Senate in the mid-term elections. More wars and rumors of wars. More...

American Christianity includes more than 200 denominations. One of the fastest growing is the orthodoxy of Woke. Woke Christianity is the single greatest threat to the modern church since the first century. There are two ways to tell if your church or religious organization has gone woke. First, what’s missing? And second, what replaced what’s missing? If sound biblical preaching about sin, salvation, Jesus’ virgin birth, and other teachings are absent, that’s not woke; it’s just weak. But if those essentials were replaced by Critical Race Theory (CRT), tolerance, and a watered-down social Gospel, a woke cancer is growing. The...

Friend or no friend, America’s history with the Jewish people goes back farther than either the Trump or Biden administrations. In fact, the country’s very foundation is based on the Jewish Scriptures. For instance: The three branches of the U.S. government were extracted from Isaiah 33:22: “For the Lord is our Judge [judicial branch], the Lord is our Lawgiver [legislative branch], the Lord is our King [executive branch].” The Liberty Bell’s inscription is taken from Leviticus 25:10: “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land and unto all the inhabitants thereof.” Three of America’s Founding Fathers (Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John...

NEW DELHI — A Hindu extremist mob in northern India assaulted two Christian couples and an attorney for several hours, accusing them of forced conversion. In Haryana state’s Titoli village, 5 miles from the city of Rohtak, the mob forced one of the Christians, a pastor, to set fire to a heap of Bibles while the Hindu extremists recorded videos that immediately went viral, resulting in 32 complaints to the police. Pastor Jehovah Das, 65, and Vinod Masih, 42, along with their wives, had been invited to a Christian family’s home in the village to pray and bless the arrival...

The expansion of so-called drag churches in the United States once again opens a deep and necessary debate about the limits between freedom of expression, religious practice, and ideological imposition. Recent statements by a drag performer during a religious service—presented as an act of “spirituality,” self-exploration, and personal liberation—clearly illustrate how certain sacred spaces are being deliberately transformed into stages for identity-based activism. The central problem is not merely the existence of these churches, but the messages being conveyed within them, especially when, as seen at the beginning of the video, children are present. The concern is legitimate: how will...

DIGITAL ID CARDS: "France and Germany have digital IDs, and they have record immigration" (Dr Renee Hoenderkamp) ⛔️NO to compulsory Digital ID - not in your manifesto and not wanted A national digital ID system, pushed using the excuse of "immigration control," threatens everyone’s freedom, privacy, and safety

Every year there comes this time of year where folks gather together and celebrate. Celebrate what you might ask. Well, Christmas, Holidays, Family, Friends, Life, or whatever else folks these days celebrate. There's always the handful of people who are left out however. The isolated. The excluded. The ostracized. The scrooges. The depressed. The loners. Those down on their luck. Etc. And let's face it, it's not just a handful anymore - there are a lot of people out there who are barely hanging on in life. Whether it be for health reasons, financial reasons, destroyed relationships, addictions of all...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo’s new bishop of Tucson supported Communion kneeler ban, Latin Mass restrictions Pope Leo XIV on Monday named Monsignor James A. Misko, the vicar general of the Diocese of Austin, Texas, as the next bishop of Tucson, Arizona.Bishop-elect Misko will be consecrated and installed as the eighth bishop of Tucson on February 20, 2026, the diocese announced December 22.As vicar general of Austin, Misko enforced the suppression of multiple Traditional Latin Masses (TLM) and the ban on Communion kneelers, while also urging the faithful to get the abortion-tainted COVID jab.Misko, 55, will succeed Archbishop Edward Weisenburger, now...

Scripture told us to expect a Jewish return to the land before a national turning to Messiah. That “return in unbelief” can help evangelicals resist the new antisemitism, avoid romanticizing any government, and pray more biblically for Israel and her neighbors. Not long ago, a secular Israeli friend tried to explain why, after building a successful life in North America, he was still thinking about going “back home” to Israel. He is not religious. He is not part of a settler movement. He is weary of war and politics. Yet he told me, almost apologetically, “I don’t even know why....

Dozens of NFL players urge Trump, Congress to protect Nigerian Christians from persecutionMore than 60 current and former NFL players are calling on Washington leaders to take action against anti-Christian terrorism in Nigeria, including Tony Dungy, Kirk Cousins, and others.In an era where professional athletes have too often succumbed to amplifying woke ideology and promoting leftist causes, it is refreshing to see NFL players channel their religious beliefs and courageously stand up for initiatives that make a difference for Christ.Earlier this week 60 high-profile current and former NFL players and coaches co-signed a letter calling on leaders in Washington, D.C....

[Catholic Caucus] Diocese of Charlotte will require seminarians to spend extra ‘pastoral year’ teaching, living as laityCHARLOTTE, North Carolina (LifeSiteNews) — The Diocese of Charlotte under Bishop Michael Martin, OFM, plans to add an extra “pastoral year” to its seminary formation that will require seminarians to work in Catholic schools full-time while largely living as ordinary laymen, beginning the next academic year.The changes to priestly formation, announced in a December 15 email memo obtained by The Pillar, will require seminarians to spend an additional “pastoral year” in between their required philosophy and theological studies, teaching full-time at local middle or...