Free Republic

Brutal TV ad takes on Catholic bishops for silence on abortion: ‘You’re either a coward or a Judas’Randall Terry bluntly states in a presidential campaign ad, ‘Bishops, if you don’t warn your flock that voting for Democrats is a vote to kill Jesus in the womb, you’re either a coward or a Judas, taking 30 pieces of silver to betray innocent blood by your silence.’In the closing days of the 2024 election, a brutal new ad by the Randall Terry presidential campaign takes direct aim at the nation’s Catholic bishops for failing to boldly speak out against abortion and a...

[Catholic Caucus] German bishop says women ‘preach’ in his diocese after Vatican puts brakes on women deaconsCalling for female deacons, Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck told journalists on Tuesday that ‘unless we change’ existing structures within the Catholic Church, ‘we will no longer have priests in our parishes … very soon.’While Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernàndez declared Monday that the prospect of a female diaconate in the Catholic Church is “not mature,” Germany’s Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck called for a “new answer” for the role of women in the Church, adding that he has commissioned women within his diocese to “preach” and provide “guidance”...

[Catholic Caucus] Archbishop Viganò: The silence of bishops is as big a scandal as Bergoglio himself'What scandalizes and fills us with horror is not as much the series of monomaniacal provocations of Bergoglio, who has now proven his rebellious and apostatic nature, so much as the cowardice of the entire Episcopate,' wrote Archbishop Viganò.Editor’s note: The following statement has been taken from an X post made by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò originally published on September 17. The statement is a continuation of his September 13 statement in which he accused Francis of apostasy for telling a group of young people...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop John Stowe to Receive New Ways Ministry’s “Bridge Building Award” for LGBTQ+ EffortsNew Ways Ministry is proud to announce the presentation of our Bridge Building Award to Bishop John Stowe, OFM, Conv., in recognition of his compassionate ministry, courageous witness, and inspiring leadership on behalf of LGBTQ+ Catholics.The award will be presented at a ceremony on Friday, November 15, 2024, where Bishop Stowe will deliver remarks and a reception will follow. (More details on the time and location of the event are below.)Bishop John Stowe, OFM, Conv.Bishop Stowe was named bishop of the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky...

[Catholic Caucus] In San Diego, Bishop Apologizes to LGBTQ+ Community During Pride MassIn a hopeful sign for LGBTQ+ ministry, six parishes in the Diocese of San Diego celebrated an “All Are Welcome” Mass this summer. At the liturgy, a local bishop apologized to the LGBTQ+ community on behalf of the church and encouraged greater love and inclusion.The Mass, hosted by St. John the Evangelist Church’s LGBTQ Ministry, was held during Pride Month in June. Bishop Ramón Bejarano, an auxiliary bishop in the diocese, presided over the liturgy, joined by seven priests and two deacons as concelebrants.Beginning in song with the...

[Catholic Caucus] Francis-appointed bishop to offer pro-LGBT Mass for heterodox group advised by Bishop StoweBishop John Iffert of Covington, Kentucky will preside over a Mass in his diocese for the dissident support group Catholics Embracing ALL God’s Children.Bishop John IffertA bishop appointed by Pope Francis in 2021 to lead the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky will offer an LGBT Mass later this month for an organization associated with heterodox Bishop John Stowe.On August 28 at 7 p.m. at St. Joseph’s Church in Cold Spring, Kentucky, Bishop John Iffert will say Mass for a dissident Catholic “support group” named Catholics Embracing ALL...

[Catholic Caucus] Latin Mass order takes legal action after bishop orders the community out of dioceseThe Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer are now suing Bishop Michael Gielen of the Diocese of Christchurch over his sudden decision in July to evict them from the diocese.Latin Mass offered by the New Zealand community of the Sons of the Most Holy RedeemerCHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (LifeSiteNews) — A traditional Mass community of priests is taking legal action against the local diocesan bishop who ordered their eviction from his diocese upon receipt of a Vatican investigation. Local news media recently reported that the New...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Strickland: ‘Silent shepherds’ are betraying Christ with their apathy'I fear time is running out, and that we are fast approaching a time when the cord of Mercy may be withdrawn from Heaven, and in its place, the rope of Justice shall swiftly descend,' writes Bishop Strickland. Featured Image 'The Taking of Christ'Caravaggio“As he was yet speaking, behold a multitude; and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus, for to kiss him. And Jesus said to him: Judas dost thou betray the Son of man with a kiss?”...

[Catholic Caucus] New Zealand: Transalpine Redemptorists Kicked OutBishop Michael Gielen of Christchurch, New Zealand, has forced the Transalpine Redemptorists, who celebrate the Mass in the Roman Rite (the TLM), to leave the diocese.The decree of 14 July also removes their priestly faculties within the diocese. It is effective immediately: "Any ministry [...] will be unauthorised and liturgical celebrations will be illicit - that is, outside the rules of the Church."There are wishy-washy accusations of "spiritual and psychological abuse" and "unauthorised" exorcisms against the Redemptorists.Former Bishop Robert McGuckin of Toowoomba, Australia, carried out an Apostolic Visitation in November 2023. Subsequently, the...

[Catholic Caucus] “Queering” the Catholic ChurchAn article published in The Stream last March featured this headline: “Pope Francis Must Choose: LGBTQ Ideology or Children.” A few days before “Pride Month” began, Francis announced his choice, quietly but blatantly.When the Vatican celebrated World Children’s Day in late May this year — a holiday it created — a male drag performer danced in front of children, who even saw the performer’s posterior deliberately exposed to them.The performer, Carmine De Rosa, said on social media that the Vatican invited him to perform and knew what his act contained: “I would like to point...

[Catholic Caucus] Four Heroes of Hypocrisy: How the President of the German Bishops Will Present HimselfThe Diocese of Limburg, Germany, headed by Georg Bätzing, the President of the German Bishops, has invented four figures for its presence at the 'Katholikentag' in Erfurt from 29 May to 2 June.The 'Katholikentag' is a festival-like national gathering of 'Catholics' in Germany that takes place about every 2-4 years.Bätzing's four heroes are: Fantastic Rainbow, Dr Future, Captain Liberty and PaxMan (all names originally in English). Participants in the Katholikentag can have their picture taken with them.The characters are drawn by an illustrator who trained...

[Catholic Caucus] Francis' Darling in La Plata Resigns after less than a Year (Update)Francis has accepted the resignation of Gabriel Antonio Mestre, 55, who was appointed Archbishop of La Plata, Argentina, less than a year ago.In La Plata, an important archdiocese only 60 km from Buenos Aires, Mgr Mestre succeeded Tucho Fernández, whom Francis appointed Prefect of the Dicastery for the Destruction of the Faith.No further details were given by the Vatican, but a scandal is looming in the background.In 2017, Francis made Gabriel Mestre, then 48, a bishop and appointed him to Mar de Plata, a city in Argentina...

[Catholic Caucus] Three Broken Canons in the New CodeJust as in the days of Christ, it was the scribes and Pharisees (obsessed with the law instead of the Gospel) who crucified Christ. So also today, canon lawyers now crucify the Catholic Church by legalism. It’s not that Canon Law is the problem. Canon Law was originally set up to be at the service of the Gospel, not a replacement of it. But it is being manipulated by corrupt bishops to promote an anti-Gospel in many American dioceses. We will look at three of the worst abuses of the new Code...

[Catholic Caucus] German bishop attacks Church teaching for upholding ‘only man and woman,’ demands changes to CatechismPro-LGBT Auxiliary Bishop Ludger Schepers of Essen insisted that ‘something has to change’ in the Church regarding sexuality and that the ‘Catechism must say different things than it does now,’ in the latest heterodox remarks from the German hierarchy.A German bishop criticized Catholic teaching for “assuming there is only man and only woman” and demanded that the Church change its infallible doctrine on sexuality in the latest heterodox comments from the German hierarchy.Bishop Ludger Schepers, an auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Essen, who...

Bishops, borders, and the (bully) pulpitI have several objections to Bishop Mark Seitz’s recent claim that Texas officials’ efforts to secure the border are “transparently political”.“Texas Bishop Taking on Greg Abbott Gets Pope Francis’ Protection” is the curious title of an April 30th article in Newsweek. Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso needs “protection” from Greg Abbott? Are there Texas state troopers surrounding his house? Is he in imminent danger of arrest?There are bishops in the world in imminent danger of those things and worse. A retired bishop in Mexico was just released by his kidnappers. Bishops in Africa face...

[Catholic Caucus] ‘Servant of Freemasonry’: Viganò rebukes bishop who approved pagan ritual before Mass at cathedralThe archbishop said a ''shamanic ceremony' 'desecrate(d) the Cathedral of the Diocese of Superior (WI) on the very day on which the Holy Chrism is consecrated.'(LifeSiteNews) — Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò issued a stinging rebuke of an American bishop who allowed a pagan ritual to be performed inside his cathedral earlier this month. In a X post published last Friday, Viganò condemned the ceremony as a “sacrilegious act.” He referred to the prelate who permitted it as a “squalid official of the ecumenical religion.”“The shamanic...

[Catholic Caucus] Austria: Bishop Promotes a "God of Diversities"Homosexual activist Wilhelm Krautwaschl, 61, aka Bishop of Graz-Seckau, Austria, is promoting a prayer to a hitherto unknown idol which he calls "god of diversity" and who created "not only man or woman - no", reports Kath.net.During Lent, his diocesan bureaucrats sent propaganda texts by email or WhatsApp.On 7 March, the text was entitled "Under the Rainbow", written by a certain Marlies Prettenthaler-Heckel, a "theologian" paid as a "consultant" for the diocesan pastoral office. Her text is as follows:"God of diversity / You make everything so beautifulThere is not only blue or...

[Catholic Caucus] A German Bishop: Words and Deeds Can Contradict Each OtherHomosexual [pseudo] blessings are the beginning of a further "development of doctrine", Monsignor Helmut Dieser, the Bishop of Aachen, Germany, told Katholisch.de (19 March).The term "development of doctrine" is often used by heretics to mean "betrayal of the faith."Monsignor Dieser says that with the text 'Fiducia Supplicans', Francis has made it clear "that action does not have to reflect doctrine one-to-one". He overlooks the fact that this is the definition of hypocrisy.For him, 'Fiducia Supplicans' indicates "indirectly" that the doctrine has a potential for "further development" [he means: disintegration]....

German Bishops Wade into Party PoliticsNot content to only promote heresy, now German bishops are bringing their non-Catholic sensibility to the realm of politics.American English speakers are familiar with the axiomatic question Is the pope Catholic? Applied instead to the bishops of Germany, the answer isn’t obvious. The recent announcement of a commission for “queer” pastoral care is the latest in a long line of heretical ventures from Luther’s homeland. From a theological perspective, there is little to add to assessments like Dr. Regis Martin’s here. However, when these heterodox bishops venture into the realm of secular party politics, they...

[Catholic Caucus] US bishops attend secretive pro-transgender conference organized by heretical New Ways MinistryMore than a dozen prelates, including heterodox Kentucky Bishop John Stowe, joined the New Ways Ministry event, though the bishop who oversaw the USCCB’s condemnation of transgender surgeries wasn’t invited.More than a dozen Catholic bishops met recently for a closed door pro-transgender conference at Jesuit-run St. Louis University, organized by the heretical, pro-LGBT New Ways Ministry.The move comes as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is working on formalizing a universal policy in line with the doctrinal note published by the doctrinal committee of the bishops’...