Free Republic

Copilot said Here’s a clear, scholarly, and surprisingly fascinating look at the little word “is” in the New Testament — and whether the Greek ever means “represents.” No tools were needed here; this is straight linguistic and exegetical analysis. 6. The Conclusion When you synthesize these passages, the result is unmistakable: • Jesus teaches a literal Eucharist (John 6). • Jesus gives a literal Eucharist (John 13). • Paul interprets a literal Eucharist (1 Cor 10–11). • The early Church universally accepts a literal Eucharist.The symbolic only interpretation simply does not fit the grammar, the narrative, the theology, or the...

Diocese of Rome announces Christian-Muslim gathering at Grand MosqueThe Vicariate of Rome has announced that the Grand Mosque of Rome will host an interreligious gathering titled “Cristiani e musulmani in dialogo alla Grande Moschea” on Thursday, May 7, 2026, at 5pm. The move has prompted debate over what is proper conduct in interfaith and ecumenical meetings.The event is jointly organised by the Centro Islamico Culturale d’Italia and the Diocese of Rome. Catholic participants will include Auxiliary Bishop Marco Valenti of the Northern Sector, Mgr Marco Gnavi, responsible for the Office for Ecumenism, interreligious dialogue and new cults, and Prof Wasim...

The Vatican’s Feting of the First Female Archbishop of CanterburyRather than aiding Christian unity, Rome's exuberant welcome of Sarah Mullally is likely to be a stumbling block to reaching it.Pope Leo XIV receives Sarah Mullally, the first female Anglican archbishop of Canterbury, in the library of the apostolic palace, April 27, 2026 (Photo: Vatican Media)The word “scandal” comes from the Greek skándalon, via the Latin scandalum, meaning a “stumbling block” — something that causes another to fall, especially in matters of faith and morals.It was a term Pope Leo XIV returned to several times on Monday in his address to...

Pope Leo meets with ‘archbishop’ of Canterbury, prays she will be ‘fruitful’ in her ‘service’‘I pray that the same Holy Spirit will remain with you always, making you fruitful in the service to which you have been called,’ Pope Leo told female Anglican ‘Archbishop’ Sarah Mullally. Pope Leo XIV has received the female “archbishop” of Canterbury in a private audience.On Monday, Sarah Mullally was received by the Pope as the highlight of her visit to the Vatican.LifeSiteNews CEO and Editor-in-Chief John-Henry Westen noted in a post on X that the Catholic Church does not recognize the ordinations of the Anglican...

Italian bishop backs imam’s presentation of Islam inside Catholic parish churchArchbishop Giovanni Intini attended an April 15 event at an Italian parish where local Imam Khaled Bouchelaghem delivered what journalist Andrea Zambrano called an ‘Islamic catechism. An imam delivered a presentation of the Islamic faith inside a Catholic parish church in Brindisi, Italy, with the participation of the local bishop.On April 15, the parish of San Lorenzo in Brindisi, southern Italy, hosted an event titled “Do You Know Islam? Let us explore together the pillars, the meaning of life, and the celebrations of the Islamic faith,” in which Imam Khaled...

I’ve spent much of my life reading and studying religious and philosophical texts. I’ve perused the works of Plato, Aristotle, Confucius, Cicero, Marcus Aurelius, Anselm, Aquinas, Descartes, Kant, Hegel, etc. I love such texts and the ideas that these great thinkers share. What all of these figures have in common is a certain calm, a measured manner of sharing what they have learned. And consequently, one reads their texts in a sort of abstracted way. I have wonderful memories of reading great books while sitting by the Seine in Paris when I was a doctoral student: thinking, wondering, reflecting.And then...

It was July in 2016, and Holland was in the northern Iraq city of Sinjar. He had arrived with a BBC film crew about three months after ISIS, the murderous jihadist group, had tried and failed to retake the town after massacring members of the Yazidis, an ancient religious and ethnic minority in Iraq. Holland knew something about ancient history. He was an award-winning British historian who had written popular books about ruthless Spartan and Roman leaders he called the “apex predators” of the Greco-Roman world. They lived by the Athenian dictum: The strong do what they can and the...

Something extraordinary happened in France in the year 2025: more than 10,300 adults were baptized into the Catholic Church — the highest number recorded in the past 20 years.This unprecedented surge is even more striking because of the demographic of the new converts: mostly Gen Z adults between 18 and 25 who did not grow up in practicing families.According to the French Institute of Public Opinion, more than 50% of the population in France identifies as atheist.MSGR. GUILLAUME DERVILLE Director of the Fontblin Priestly Center, France These are genuine conversions, not something superficial. And I ask myself: where does this...

Pope Leo honors new female pro-abortion ‘archbishop’ of CanterburyTo pretend that this is somehow a blessed vocation and praise Mullally in it and invoke God's blessing and the inspiration of the Blessed Virgin Mary on it is unspeakably evil.Pope Leo XIV has issued a congratulatory letter to Sarah Mullally – the first woman ever appointed “archbishop of Canterbury” and a vocal supporter of abortion and the LGBT agenda. In the letter, Leo praises Mullally’s “weighty” responsibilities, and explicitly invokes the Blessed Virgin Mary as a source of “inspiration” for her new role.The March 20, 2026 message, published on the Vatican...

To the average observer, “dispensationalism” sounds like academic jargon. To its adherents, it is a roadmap of the end times. It teaches that history is divided into distinct “dispensations”... In this scheme, we are currently in a “parenthesis” that will end with a secret “Rapture” and seven years of blood-soaked tribulation in the Middle East, culminating in Jesus’ return to fight a war. But here is the problem: This two-stage return of Christ contradicts 2,000 years of Christian orthodoxy. The Nicene Creed, the foundational statement of faith for nearly every Christian tradition, affirms that Christ “shall come again, with glory,...

(LifeSiteNews) — In an extraordinary White House proclamation issued on the Feast Day of St. Joseph, President Trump identified the earthly father of Jesus as the “Terror of Demons” and called for young men to emulate him, urging them to “embrace faith, get married, start a family, and raise the next generation of proud, freedom-loving, God-fearing American citizens.” “Saint Joseph—the earthly father of Jesus Christ and one of the most revered figures in the Bible … was a model father, husband, and worker, as well as a living embodiment of Christian virtue,” began the president. “He spent his life working...

Italian bishops’ head attends Ramadan event, raises concern over zero catechism enrollmentsCardinal Matteo Zuppi expressed concern over a lack of catechism enrollments while also taking part in a public Ramadan event in the city.On March 4, Matteo Maria Zuppi, archbishop of Bologna and president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, commented on the fact that no children had enrolled in catechism classes in three central parishes of the city, attributing the situation to flawed housing policies and excessively high rents. One day earlier he had participated in a public Ramadan street iftar alongside important political authorities.“Thank you, salam alaikum,” Zuppi said...

Leo XIV: "Not Our Task to Build a Christendom"Today, Leo XIV received a delegation from the ecumenical 'World Council of Churches', reports Oikoumene.org.The delegation included the German lay bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, the Armenian archbishop Vicken Aykazian, the Baptist preacher Merlyn Hyde Riley, and the Protestant preacher Jerry Pillay.According to Pillay, Leo XIV stressed "the need for visible Christian unity, recognising the challenges this presents even within the Roman Catholic Church due to the existence of different and diverse views".Pillay said that Leo XIV affirmed that, "while our task is not to build a Christendom yet Christians must work together in...

Unwise people will say to a parent who has had the marrow ripped out of their souls, having a child die on them, "I understand what you're going through." Oh, you understand? -- that you are feeling discomfort at this situation; but if you were my peer, if you also lost a child, you would never say "I understand", you would have the sense to shut your face and say NOTHING, after you own experience of personally having to fend off all the goody-two-shoes "sympathetic" people who are actually morbidly afraid of death and so have to "stim" (self-stimulate) emotionally...

Grant had roots in both Baptist and Assemblies of God congregations, and went on to seminary to prepare for ministry. While there, he was introduced to the Church Fathers, who had a very different view of Baptism than the one he’d grown up with. Seeing that they treated it as a sacrament made him wonder if his view of Communion was also out of step with historic Christianity. After serving seven years in ministry, as both a children’s and student pastor, Grant ended up coming home to the Catholic Church.

Justin Li grappled with questions about justice, morality, and the meaning of life. Li became a believer through a campus Bible study shortly after he began attending its meetings. Li worshiped in an evangelical church that held contemporary services shaped by joyful, fast-paced praise songs. But the upbeat worship music, coupled with his busy work schedule, “made his heart even less quiet,” said Li. Then he stumbled upon Ancient Faith Radio, a digital network of broadcasts offering Eastern Orthodox liturgical music and teaching. The melodies he listened to were simple, solemn, and contemplative. “It felt like another world,”. Li began...

Human fraternity is an urgent necessity, Pope writes in Zayed Award messageIn a message for the International Day of Human Fraternity and the awarding of the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity, Pope Leo XIV paid tribute to “what is most precious and universal in our humanity: our fraternity, that unbreakable bond which unites every human being, created in the image of God.”Both the day and the award recall the Document on Human Fraternity, signed on February 4, 2019, by Pope Francis and Sunni Muslim leader Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al Azhar in Egypt, during Pope Francis’s apostolic journey...

[Catholic Caucus] Leo XIV and the Unfathomable Evil of Promoting False Christian UnityIn a Jan 25, 2026 homily, Pope Leo XIV spoke on the unity of all Christians: “Yes, we share the same faith in the one and only God. We are one! We already are! Let us recognize it, experience it and make it visible.” There must be a return to true Catholic teaching.<As a convert to Catholicism, I still recall the way in which the Church’s teaching about sanctifying grace and mortal sin fundamentally changed the way I thought about life. Looking back at the copy of Baltimore...

Guest Article: The Crisis of Modern EcumenismThe modern ecumenical movement, particularly in its post-conciliar manifestation, has adopted a dangerous illusion: that the various Christian denominations represent equally valid paths to God, differing merely in accidental rather than essential characteristics. This irenic approach, pursued with increasing fervour since the Second Vatican Council, fundamentally misunderstands the nature of the Church established by Christ; the Catholic Church, built sub Petro et cum Petro. Pope Pius XI, in his 1928 encyclical Mortalium Animos, provided a prophetic critique of this very tendency, warning against a false irenicism that would compromise the integrity of Catholic...

Pope Leo says different Christian faiths are ‘already one’<Pope Leo's claim directly contradicts Catholic teaching that Christian unity is grounded in shared faith, the sacraments, and governance.Pope Leo XIV concluded the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity by declaring that different Christian faiths are already “one.”“We are one! We already are! Let us recognize it, experience it and make it visible!” Leo said in his Sunday homily on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul at the Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls in Rome.As Vatican News put it, he stressed how “different Christian religions share the same...