Free Republic

Now comes the amazing news from the brother that the new Pope is a genuine White Sox fan, as are all the kindly old school priests and sisters south of I-55, on into Indiana and Michigan. That’s a huge point in his favor and it appears he frequently voted in the Republican primaries in Illinois (that state does not have specific party registrations)…. Apparently, Pope Leo XIV has no hostility to the Latin Mass, while Pope Francis hated it. His public comments also indicate he has no interest in pushing the homosexual agenda or ordaining women. These are all things...

After just two days and four secret ballots in the Sistine Chapel, the College of Cardinals elevated Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost to the See of Peter as Pope Leo XIV—an outcome that underscores the doctrinal rifts at the heart of Christendom and the enduring reasons for our divide. Although Catholics and Protestants often use similar words and phrases, the meanings they attach to those terms are profoundly different. Here are ten doctrinal fault lines that explain why true unity remains out of reach: while we can—and should—show mutual respect, we cannot pretend these convictions don’t exist. It’s the perfect moment...

Make no mistake: a Pope from Chicago terrifies me. But I have cause for some hope, which I will share. Pope Francis was, in the surprisingly well-chosen words of the New York Times, "ostentatiously humble." Fully recognizing the irony of a Catholic critiquing the Pope for lacking humility, I also mean to acknowledge that from that humility it took me a long time to give up on Pope Francis. For the longest while, I tried to learn what I could from him, becoming frustrated only after he made it stunningly care that his flock was not the billion and a...

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church does not get paid what many consider a traditional salary. Instead, the Vatican provides for the pontiff's needs, from housing, food, transportation and other expenses in the form of stipends and allowances. The Vatican, referred to as "the world's smallest country," is sustained by "an economy that relies on a combination of donations, private enterprises, and investments to generate revenue," according to Investopedia. Pope Francis declined any sort of salary when he took office in 2013, The Economic Times reported back in February, adding that the pontiff at the time had a net...

Sparks fly during interview between Rochester mayor and News10NBC anchor ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Things turned personal after News10NBC sought a response from Mayor Malik Evans Wednesday regarding a one-on-one interview with Border Czar Tom Homan. At a public event to announce the “Party in the Park” lineup, Mayor Evans was available for off-topic questions afterward, according to his assistant. However, when approached, the mayor was less than eager to engage. “Brett has a question. I don’t talk to him, he’s a loser,” Evans said. News10NBC’s Brett Davidsen asked Evans if he had seen his interview with Homan, to where he...

PATERSON, N.J. ( — A Paterson police officer has drawn attention for wearing a Palestinian flag patch on his official uniform, raising questions about the appropriateness of displaying foreign national symbols while in service with a U.S. based law enforcement agency. Officer Adeeb Iqnies, who has served with the Paterson Police Department for three years, appeared in a video interview proudly displaying the Palestinian flag and speaking about his heritage. “I’m a Palestinian who loves my country as well as Palestine,” Iqnies said.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Officers Cameron Girvin and Christopher Reese were working the midnight traffic patrol shift late Friday night when they noticed a car with an expired inspection sticker and attempted to pull it over. After the driver of the blue Hyundai Sonata failed to stop, the officers continued to follow the vehicle into a townhouse complex near the intersection of Lynnhaven Parkway and Wendfield Drive, in the Green Run area, according to Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate . Both officers approached the car after it stopped and asked the driver to get out, Neudigate said. The man,...

Explanation: It was a night of 100,000 meteors. The Great Meteor Storm of 1833 was perhaps the most impressive meteor event in recent history. Best visible over eastern North America during the pre-dawn hours of November 13, many people -- including a young Abraham Lincoln -- were woken up to see the sky erupt in streaks and flashes. Hundreds of thousands of meteors blazed across the sky, seemingly pouring out of the constellation of the Lion (Leo). The featured image is a digitization of a wood engraving which itself was based on a painting from a first-person account. We know...

A Ferguson, Missouri, police officer was critically injured outside the city’s police station during protests on the 10th anniversary of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown... Ferguson police chief Troy Doyle said Officer Travis Brown suffered a severe brain injury Friday after being knocked to the ground.... Police also didn’t intervene when the protesters began shaking the fence outside the station. But he said that when they broke a section of fencing, he sent out the arrest team. The suspect who charged at Travis Brown knocked him backward with his shoulder, and the officer hit his head as he tumbled...

Local police encountered attempted-assassin Thomas Crooks just moments before he tried to kill former president Donald Trump — but failed to stop the gunman despite the clear threat, according to a report. After rallygoers spotted Crooks on the roof of a manufacturing plant just 130 yards from the stage where Trump was speaking just after 6 p.m. Tuesday, police were notified and one officer climbed a ladder to investigate, law enforcement officials said on the condition of anonymity. There the officer encountered Crooks, who pointed his AR-style rifle at them.The officer then backed down the ladder, and Crooks immediately took...

Thanks to a tip from a friend, I came across a recent story from citizen journalist Tony Seruga that was highly suspect, and very concerning—uniforms, cruiser decals, and radios from the New York Police Department were disappearing, in significant numbers. Now, Seruga is reporting that the missing law enforcement gear and supplies isn’t a mystery that’s exclusive to the Big Apple, but apparently happening across the nation: Tony Seruga @TonySeruga While I have hundreds of long time trusted contacts between NYPD and LAPD, I am getting messages from LEOs across the U.S. that uniforms, equipment, cruisers (even a SWAT truck)...

The family of a 23-year-old US Airman who was fatally shot by a Florida sheriff's deputy retained prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump. Roger Fortson was shot and killed inside his apartment on Friday when an Okaloosa County Sheriff's deputy responding to a disturbance call "reacted in self-defense after he encountered a 23-year-old man armed with a gun." "We demand accountability for those responsible for his death," Crump said in an email to Newsweek. "And we stand in solidarity with Roger's family and friends as they navigate this unimaginable loss."

When 61 law enforcement trainees graduated last month from Fairfax County’s Criminal Justice Training Academy, including county police officers and some from smaller departments in Fairfax, each received a certificate signed by the academy’s director, county police Maj. Wilson Lee, who is Chinese American. Lee, whose given name is Lee Wai-Shun, signed the certificates in Chinese, as he typically does. Among those who received certificates March 7 were three new officers from the Herndon town police force — the first trainees from that department to attend the academy since Lee took command more than a year ago. When Herndon Police...

— A suspect is being charged in the killing of a Greensboro police sergeant, according to the Greensboro Police Department. Jamere Justice Foster, 18, of Winston-Salem, is being charged with felony first-degree murder, misdemeanor larceny and conspiracy to commit larceny.

...the team was watching a house that might have been connected to a weekend shooting and when officers followed a car that left the home, someone inside the vehicle opened fire. The officer, who was grazed by a bullet, was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital and is expected to be OK. The officer was spotted being wheeled into the hospital with a bandage on his head/neck area. "If there are subjects...

Majority Democrats on a Senate committee on Thursday abandoned their work, which was targeting conservatives on the Supreme Court, when GOP members suggested subpoenas for the staff of leftist Justice Sonia Sotomayor... Senate Judiciary Committee “punted” on votes scheduled regarding the issuance of subpoenas for GOP donors Leonard Leo and Harlan Crow. Sen Dick Durbin, D-Ill., has accused the two of “stonewalling” an investigation into the high court “that seeks to determine whether two Republican-appointed justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, acted with any impropriety,” the report said. The confrontation was launched when ProPublica said they helped facilitate trips for...

Before anyone goes nuts, this money did NOT go to the GOPe or Mitch McConnell etc. Instead it went to the very strong conservative Leonard Leo, who is the co Chairman of the Federalist Society, the organization that reviewed and strongly recommended President Trump's excellent judicial nominees. The money went to the Marble Freedom Trust, a strongly conservative PAC headed by Leonard Leo. The money came from one Berre Seid, a Chicago based electrons mogul/billionaire. Naturally the liberal heads are exploding everywhere. Its fun to watch the crazy Chris Hayes suffer a massive meltdown over this stunning donation to conservatives....

CNN — A Pennsylvania killer who escaped from prison nearly two weeks ago has been spotted again, this time with authorities warning he is “possibly armed with a weapon.” Danelo Cavalcante was sighted in Chester County’s South Coventry Township, about 20 miles north of the prison he escaped from, according to an alert sent to area residents from Chester County 911 on Monday night. “The Pennsylvania State Police are receiving reports of escaped convict Danelo Cavalcante in the area of Ridge Rd/Coventryville Rd/Daisy Point Rd in South Coventry Township possibly armed with a weapon,” the alert read. “Residents in the...

Amid a surge in youth-driven violent crime in the nation’s capital, newly elected attorney general for the District of Columbia Brian Schwalb is laser-focused—on his political enemies. Reports suggest that Schwalb is investigating, of all people, Leonard Leo, the longtime chairman of the Federalist Society. Leo is an odd target for a probe, since his supposed malfeasance is financial self-dealing related to nonprofits registered in other states. If those allegations are substantiated, they would constitute federal tax and wire-fraud crimes—infractions far outside the jurisdiction of D.C. authorities. Stranger still, the precipitating complaint against Leo for alleged “dark money” shenanigans was...

*** “The sheriff is supposed to be protecting the public from evil,” the chief law enforcement officer for Barry County, Michigan, said during a break in the National Sheriffs’ Association 2023 conference in June. “When your government is evil or out of line, that’s what the sheriff is there for, protecting them from that.” Leaf is on the advisory board of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, founded in 2011 by former Arizona sheriff Richard Mack. The group, known as CSPOA, teaches that elected sheriffs must “protect their citizens from the overreach of an out-of-control federal government” by refusing...