Free Republic

Norma Shearer (121st birthday today on august 11, tomorrow, American time) said "A woman today is good, or she is bad, according to the way she does a thing - and not because of the thing itself." And “The morals of yesterday are no more. They are as dead as the day they were lived. Economic independence has put woman on exactly the same footing as man.” This is easy to disapprove of. And to be drawn to. Freedom works. Morality? Whose?

The war in Ukraine risks turning into a protracted conflict that Russia will eventually win, a leading think-tank has said.The report by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) warned that current Russian advantages and Ukrainian weaknesses are leading to a style of conflict that favours Moscow.The capture of the city means that Russia has essentially gained control of the entire Luhansk region, marking Russia's biggest victory since it captured the southern port of Mariupol in late May.Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrlo Budnov said his defence forces had withdrawn "to advantageous positions in order to gain tactical superiority" after the Russians...

The poster Simplicius76 has a large number of videos of the war, most from a Russian point-of-view.

Almost exactly a year ago, writer Katherine Dee, who blogs about internet culture and trend forecasting, predicted what she called a “coming wave of sex negativity.” Sex positivity, she suggested, had created new stigmas, including around discussing the harms of sex work and self-commodification. “People do not want to be atomized,” she wrote, adding, “Nobody wants this dystopia.” Not everything Ms. Dee foresaw — like a shift toward earlier childbearing among the upper-middle class — has come to pass, at least so far. But she nailed an emerging movement, one that now has a manifesto in “Rethinking Sex: A Provocation”...

[Barf Alert] Amazon Conference to Aid ‘Mother Earth’ Marxist cardinal heads new ecclesial body VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - Amazonian bishops have created a transnational ecclesial conference in the first, significant phase of implementing the proposals of the 2019 Amazon Synod and Pope Francis' post-synodal apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia ("Beloved Amazon"). The Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (ECA) will promote synodality, foster integral ecology, affirm Amazonian identity and respond to "the cries of the poor and of Mother Earth," announced a June 29 statement signed by CELAM (Latin American Episcopal Council) president Abp. Miguel Cabrejos Vidarte and REPAM (Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network) president Cdl. Cláudio Hummes.   Pope Francis with indigenous peoples at the Amazon Synod...

[Barf Alert] Africans warn numerical growth has to be matched by ‘tools of liberation’ ENUGU, Nigeria - A major African summit concluded on Sunday with a warning that despite the continent enjoying the Catholic Church’s highest growth rate, unless theology and pastoral practice is “translated into tools of liberation” then “the growth of the Church will only be in number.”“The kingdom of God does not grow simply in number,” said the final outcome document of the Pan African Congress on Theology, Society, and Pastoral Life. “Rather, it grows in love, faith, and hope. This growth transforms communities, cultures and traditions.”The...

Marco Tosatti: The Battle of Joseph Ratzinger  The current pontiff has resurrected liberation theologians ousted under Benedict Veteran Vatican journalist Marco Tosatti has published a fascinating book review that provides excellent perspective on the roots of the confusion in the Church embodied by the Synod on the Amazon. His source writes using the pseudonym "Super Ex" because he has formerly worked within various Church movements and has an excellent knowledge of the truth of how things stand with the hierarchy. This review presents an incisive analysis of the present situation of the Church, and above all of the battle that Joseph Ratzinger has fought throughout his life to defend the Church from her enemies who...

Protesters accuse interfaith event at São Paulo cathedral of left-wing activism SÃO PAULO - An interreligious ceremony held at the cathedral of São Paulo to support the Synod of Bishops on the Amazon was accused by critics as a cover for left-wing activism inside the Church.The Sept. 30 event was organized by the inter-religious coalition Dom Paulo Evaristo Arns Front for Justice and Peace. It was attended by Cardinal Odilio Scherer, the Archbishop of São Paulo, as well as Cardinal Claudio Hummes, the president of the Pan-Amazon Ecclesial Network, who will be the relator general for the synod.Leaders of other...

[Catholic Caucus] 47-year-old photo shows future Pope Francis with dissident priest who helped engineer Amazon synod August 30, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – A 47 year-old photograph has surfaced showing the man who would become Pope Francis standing in a small group of people, one of whom is a Brazilian Liberation-theology proponent and priest who would become laicized and who is now widely credited for being the “theologian of reference” for the upcoming controversial Amazon synod. The picture takes on significance due to the claim of the laicized priest that Pope Francis remembered their meeting in 1972 and had recently sent...

[Catholic Caucus] Viganò: ‘Christ is Absent’ From Amazon Synod Working Document Warns Instrumentum Laboris reflects 'post-Christian Catholic theology' ROME (ChurchMilitant.com) - Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò is sounding alarm over the upcoming Amazon Synod. Speaking to Dr. Robert Moynihan, founder and editor-in-chief of Inside the Vatican, Abp. Viganò said earlier this week that the Instrumentum Laboris — the synod's working document — is an alarming sign that post-Christian ideology is gathering strength inside the Church. "Where is the Christian message here?" he asked. "In fact, the figure of Christ is absent. The Synod working document testifies to the emergence of a post-Christian Catholic theology,...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Barreto: A Surprise (perhaps) Now Explained The nomination as cardinal of the Most Rev. Pedro Barreto Jimeno, Archbishop of Huancayo, Peru, in May 2018, was a capital surprise. Some compared it to a small atomic bomb. Indeed, Peru has always had only one cardinal, that of the primatial see of Lima, the country’s capital, which thus became a point of reference for the Church at the national level. Other seats such as Arequipa, Trujillo and Cusco could have aspired to this honor, given their historical and cultural importance. With all due respect to its citizens, certainly not...

The Rise of the “Amazonian” Elites In his treatise The Rise and Fall of Elites, Vilfredo Pareto proffers the thesis that “The history of man is the history of the continuous replacement of elites: as one ascends, another declines.” Unduly reductive as this contention is, Pareto attunes us to the persistent presence of elites in even the most revolutionary and populist movements. Elite, here, is not uttered with ressentiment or contempt; rather, for Pareto the term names any group that possesses consolidated influence and power. It would seem that a so-called “synodal Church” would offer an egalitarian, decentralized correction to...

As today's Democratic Party morphs into the Socialist Democratic Party A recent Gallup article entitled “Four in 10 Americans Embrace Some Form of Socialism,” by Mohamed Younis, featured the photograph above, credited to the source. Tracking the DNA of street protest movements requires reading the signage. And, understanding the results of polling requires knowing the questions pollsters ask. First, here’s the intro to the Gallup piece:

Pope reflects on changed attitudes toward liberation theology VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Time, experience and reflection have "purified" liberation theology and its attempts to make clear what the Gospel says about social injustice, Pope Francis said."Today, we old people laugh about how worried we were about liberation theology," the pope told 30 Jesuits from Central America when he met them Jan. 26 in Panama during World Youth Day."Let me tell you a funny story," he told the Jesuits. "The one most persecuted, (Dominican Father) Gustavo Gutierrez, a Peruvian, concelebrated Mass with me and the then-prefect of the Congregation for the...

Pope Francis appointee as archbishop in Peru favors liberation theology, ‘ecological’ agenda February 8, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — Less than a month after Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne tendered his resignation as Archbishop of Lima, Peru, having reached his 75th birthday, the Vatican announced his replacement as Fr. Carlos Castillo Mattasoglio, a university professor and parish priest known for his affinity with liberation theologians and his personal opposition to his doctrinally sound predecessor. The French non-official daily of the Catholic episcopate, La Croix, spoke of the nomination as “another radical change at the head of one of the most important...

Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif), chairperson of the 55-member Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), the most numerous in our nation’s history, has set the Caucus’ sights on “reversing the trauma inflicted on people of color by the Trump Administration over the past two years. We will use our tremendous power and influence to undo Trump’s evil plan to force millions of voters off of welfare and into the labor economy.” “The notion that a job is the answer to curing poverty and improving one’s life is a myth,” Bass contended. “Curing poverty has been the task of government since the 1960s’ Great...

Before saying it, I understood that the statement “I am not even worried about white folk” would shock the young brother attempting to debate me. I realized that he was doing his absolute best to engage me over significant racial matters. As I expected, my assertion caused him to suspend a point that he had been seeking to make for the past twenty minutes and fall into a deafening silence. During what I knew would be a brief pause, I interjected that “The reason that I am not even worried about white folk is that such a defensive stance contributes...

We congratulate the Syrian people and the Syrian Democratic Forces, including the Syrian Arab Coalition, on the liberation of Raqqa. The United States is proud to lead the 73-member Global Coalition that supported this effort, which has seen ISIS’s so-called caliphate crumble across Iraq and Syria. Our work is far from over but the liberation of Raqqa is a critical milestone in the global fight against ISIS, and underscores the success of the ongoing international and Syrian effort to defeat these terrorists. In January, ISIS was actively plotting terrorist attacks against our allies and our homeland in Raqqa. Nine short...

Remembering the Indian Soldiers Who Helped Liberate Jerusalem 100 Years Ago Indian Lancers guarding Turkish prisoners in Jerusalem in December 1917 Welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and thank you for the sacrifices made by your country’s soldiers who saved the Jews of the Land of Israel 100 years ago and eventually led to the Jewish state’s creation. An idyllic fenced park is located in the middle of the Talpiot neighborhood in Jerusalem, just a four-minute Waze-directed detour from Hebron Road. This cemetery, which I visited for the first time last week, is the burial site for 79 Indian soldiers...

MUNZIR HUSSEINGIRKÊ LEGÊ- A notable from al-Rashed clan Hawas al-Muflih assured that Syrian Democratic Forces would not permit the Ottoman occupation’s repetition which lasted for 400 years to be repeated.Hawas al-Muflif, the notable of al-Rashed clan in Tel Koçer town explained that the Turkish ambitions in repeating the Ottoman age by its aggression would not be fulfilled, this came in an interview with Hawar news agency about the Turkish aggression on Rojava and the Syrian North.Muflih said” we as the Arabic component condemn the Turkish state’s attacks, these acts would not undermine our will and morale from liberating al-Tabqa and...