Free Republic

Pope Leo XIV affirmed Friday that the family is founded on the “stable union between a man and a woman,” and that the unborn and elderly enjoy dignity as God’s creatures, articulating clear Catholic teaching on marriage and abortion at the start of his pontificate. ...Leo, a member of the Augustinian religious order, has emphasized peace as a priority of his pontificate, from the first words he uttered on the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica after his election, “Peace be with you all.” In his remarks, he said the search for peace was one of the pillars of the papacy....

Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday hailed Christian communities in the Middle East who “persevere and remain in their homelands, resisting the temptation to abandon them” despite war, marginalization or persecution. “Christians must be given the opportunity, and not just in words, to remain in their native lands with all the rights needed for a secure existence. Please, let us strive for this!” he told a meeting of Eastern Catholic Churches at the Vatican. On Sunday, the pontiff called for an "authentic and lasting peace" in Ukraine, a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all Israeli hostages held by militant group...

Leo XIV defended the traditional family, unborn babies and the elderly – and that’s great. After American Cardinal Robert Prevost, who made most of his ecclesiastical career as Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru, was chosen to sit in St. Peter’s throne as Leo XIV, a question has reverberated across the world: is the new Pope woke? Seasoned conservative figures like Steve Bannon perceived the new Pope’s election as a liberal ‘coup’ to continue Pope Francis campaign to destroy the church – Bannon even equated it to the 2020 election steal. Prevost’s brother, on the other hand, has repeatedly stated that...

The Christian law firm Alliance Defending Freedom has launched a lawsuit against heads of Colorado’s Department of Early Childhood after the government organization ruled that the camp could not obtain a license to operate if they did not allow boys and girls to share bathrooms and tents. A press release from the ADF explains: Camp IdRaHaJe, which derives its name from the song “I’d Rather Have Jesus,” has served children in Bailey, Colorado since 1948 and has maintained a resident camp license in the state since 1995….Each year, 2,500 to 3,000 students attend, and the camp’s mission is to “win...

In the five years since I began writing the Twilight Patriot Substack, I’ve had occasion to mention only one pope — and that was the medieval Pope Innocent III, who appears briefly in my essay on the Magna Carta.If you’re a Catholic and you believe that these men are chosen with the aid of the Holy Spirit, then the reason for refusing to put them in political boxes should be obvious. If, like me, you’re merely an astute observer of events, then just remember how John Paul II annoyed the traditionalists by kissing the Quran as a gesture of friendship...

CV NEWS FEED // Prosecutors dropped charges May 9 against an Ohio pro-life advocate who was arrested in December for providing a Christian witness with a megaphone outside an abortion facility. CatholicVote previously reported that Zack Knotts was on a public sidewalk outside a Cuyahoga Falls abortion facility and using a megaphone to advocate for the unborn and to tell women entering the facility, “There’s hope in the Gospel of Jesus Christ for all of you.” Police then approached Knotts and ordered him to go with them, later telling him that they had received complaints of “disorderly conduct” that caused...

This may have been one of the most tumultuous papal conclaves in recent memory, with the cardinals of the Roman Church settling on what appears to be a unifying Pope, Leo XIV. It is remarkable that Robert Prevost, an American, became Pope. It long had been held that an American could never become Pope. But Vatican sources, who are impeccable, tell Newsmax he was the man to beat from the minute the conclave began. Here's what unfolded. This conclave started last Wednesday with secret meetings in the Sistine Chapel. But the discussions about replacing Francis began almost immediately after his...

Twenty-three-year-old Joshua Steel found a "great sense of peace" that he couldn't find anywhere else when he started attending Catholic Mass in Britain. Twenty-six-year-old Dan Williamson was driven to convert to the faith by an "ache" he had for something "deeper and ancient and more rich". Both are among a growing number of men aged 18-34 who are going to church in Britain compared with before the COVID pandemic, upending the long-held tenet that Christianity was in generational decline in Western nations like Britain. ..."I was looking for meaning in life," Steel said after Mass ended at St. Elizabeth of...

President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw aid relief funding from South Africa has been described by local faith leaders as a slap to God’s face. The Evangelical Alliance of South Africa based in Johannesburg — representing approximately four million Christians in South Africa — stated that the sanctions against the country, which include termination of funding for Anti-Retroviral Treatment, are a punishment on the sick and those dying from HIV/Aids-related illnesses. According to Foster Mohale, a spokesperson for the national department of health, roughly 7.8 million people in South Africa (SA) are living with HIV and 5.5 million are on...

On Thursday, a panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals partially overturned a previous ruling that found Southwest Airlines acted with religious discrimination when it fired a flight attendant who shared pro-life messages on Facebook. In 2017, Charlene Carter filed a lawsuit against Southwest, arguing that she was unfairly fired from her flight attendant position because of her pro-life stance. When the flight attendant union, TWU Local 556, decided to participate in the 2017 Women’s March, Carter shared her criticism of the decision on Facebook because of the March’s connection to pro-abortion messaging and Planned Parenthood. She sent a...

Residents of a small town in Arizona are reeling after a pastor was found murdered April 28 in his home. William Schonemann, 76, was pastor of New River Bible Chapel in New River, Ariz., where he was known as “Pastor Bill,” according to the Arizona Republic. Investigators with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office have not released much information on the case beyond confirming they discovered Schonemann’s body the evening of April 28 after responding to a report of a deceased elderly male. They have not announced any suspects, arrests or motives for the crime. The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office...

The institutions created to protect and build better lives for American children who have suffered abuse and neglect have made it much harder for religious families to adopt. In fact, the state nearly thwarted one Christian foster family’s sacrifice to build a better life for innocent kids, all because their beliefs did not align with radical gender ideology. In a new docuseries available now, Separated: When The State Takes Your Kids, the Daily Caller Original Series highlights the stories of three families who paid an awful price for refusing to participate in left-wing gender madness. The third and final episode...

POPE LEO XIV REGINA CAELI Loggia of the Blessings of St. Peter's Basilica Sunday, 11 May 2025Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday!I consider it a gift from God that the first Sunday of my service as Bishop of Rome is Good Shepherd Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Easter. On this Sunday, we always hear proclaimed at Mass a passage from the tenth chapter from the Gospel of John, where Jesus reveals himself as the true Shepherd: who knows and loves his sheep and gives his life for them.This Sunday also marks the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, which we...

[Catholic Caucus] Wisdom from Pope Leo XIII That We Hope Pope Leo XIV Will Follow Wisdom from Pope Leo XIII That We Hope Pope Leo XIV Will Follow Although some Catholics have already voiced concerns with the election of Cardinal Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV, we can at least recognize that there were several other cardinals receiving serious consideration who have been far more ostentatious in their anti-Catholicism. Time will tell whether Leo XIV will accelerate or reverse the evils plaguing the Church, but in these early days we can at least hope and pray that he will cooperate...

[Catholic Caucus] Leo XIV: the Man, the Priest, and the Bishop - Who is He? An Assessment, by RORATE CÆLI Who Is He?by Serre Verweijfor Rorate CæliMay 10, 2025Robert Francis Prevost has become Pope Leo XIV. Before May 8, 2025, most people did not know the name Prevost, but now he is the chief shepherd of over a billion Catholics. Both orthodox Catholics and modernists have been celebrating, while there have been naysayers on both sides, too. This reflects the fact Prevost was touted as a ‘compromise candidate’ and pushed by strong prelates on both sides. Both the orthodox and...

I say "sort of" because as a Church official, he has not promoted one party or the other, and as a former citizen of Illinois with its non-partisan registration, he's not officially Republican or Democrat. And since he has deliberately avoided partisan identification, it would be misleading to simply say he is a Republican. But, accounting for that inherent inaccuracy, he's a Republican. Maybe you've seen that he voted in a Republican primary; I did and initially I didn't think that much of it. But he voted as a Republican in at least the last three primaries that he voted...

Salt Lake City, Utah, often referred to as the "Mormon capital of the world," has added transgender and progress pride flags to its new slate of city flags. The city formally adopted three new city flags on Tuesday in an attempt to skirt a state law prohibiting the flying of LGBT pride flags and other non-official banners at its City Hall. In addition to its traditional Sego Lily Flag, Salt Lake City adopted three new flags to celebrate what officials called “human rights”: the “Sego Celebration Flag,” marking Juneteenth; the Sego Belonging Flag,” representing the city’s LGBT-identified residents; and the...

Dear Effeminate Pastor, Here’s Why You’re Bleeding Men by Publisher | May 7, 2025 | News ✪ Read this article ad-free and leave comments here on Substack Dear Effeminate Pastor, You stand on a stage, not a pulpit. Beneath theatrical lights, not the burning fire of truth. Draped in pastel rebellion and accessorized like a department store mannequin on discount, you glide across the platform like a self-help seminar host with a theology degree from Instagram. And you wonder, out loud, why men won’t darken your doorway. You scratch your head while lamenting from your acrylic barstool why your pews...

Forty years ago, the idea of seeing Roe v. Wade overturned in our lifetime was little more than a dream and a prayer. Those of us in the pro-life movement – including and especially Southern Baptists, through the work of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission – worked tirelessly to that end, but we did so without any assurance of seeing it come to fruition. I had the privilege of serving as the head of the ERLC for 25 years (1988-2013), and I know from personal experience the critical difference the ERLC has made not just on the vital issue...

American men’s interest magazine Esquire has been honored with its first-ever Pulitzer Prize for the publication of an article mourning the death of a “transgender” mayor who had been posting photos of local women to porn sites. The now-deceased Smiths station Mayor, F.L. “Bubba” Copeland committed suicide in late 2023 after a damning expose was released by 1819 News which published the sick details of his secret online “transgender” double-life — one that included penning erotic fantasies of murdering a local woman. Announcing the reception of the prestigious award on May 5, Esquire described their article, written by Mark Warren,...