Free Republic

President Trump on Wednesday floated the idea of issuing every American adult a $5,000 “dividend” check if his party kept control of the House and Senate in November — an extraordinary offer that would cost more than $1 trillion and likely would require congressional approval. “It will be called the Trump dividend,” he said at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas. He added a caveat: The money must be spent in the United States, though he did not say how the government could track where private citizens used the funds. He offered few additional details about the idea. How could...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Burke affirms Mary as Co-Redemptrix despite Vatican’s rejection Cardinal Raymond Burke reaffirmed the Blessed Virgin Mary's role as Co-Redemptrix after the Vatican claimed in November that it's 'always inappropriate' to use the title.Cardinal Raymond Burke publicly reaffirmed the Blessed Virgin Mary’s traditional title of Co-Redemptrix during a conference on Sunday at the Cathedral of Saint Bavo in Haarlem, the Netherlands.The remarks, reported by The Catholic Herald from a copy of the original talk issued by Burke’s office, mark a notable intervention in the debate that followed the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s (DDF) November 4,...

[Catholic Caucus] The Holy See Legitimizes Panentheism: A Heresy Against the Creator A new Vatican document praises panentheism, a heresy that blurs the essential distinction between Creator and creation. This seemingly subtle theological shift actually strikes at the very foundations of Creation, Original Sin, Redemption, and the necessity of Christ’s Cross. Panentheism: When God and Creation Are No Longer DistinctOn August 21, the International Theological Commission published a document entitled “Caring for Our Common Home: A Responsible and Fraternal Response to the Trinitarian God.”This document sets out the context in which theological texts have been produced at least in recent...

[Catholic Caucus] Catholicism’s Surrender to Maoism: Beijing Chooses Communist Bishops. Rome Says Yes. Beijing has chosen a new Catholic bishop who promoted Communist ideology, participated in Maoist political “re-education,” and dismissed reports of persecution against Catholics in his own diocese. Rome approved him anyway. The consecration of Paul Liu Honggang, argues Gaetano Masciullo, is a shocking example of what the Sino-Vatican agreement has produced: The Communist regime chooses, and Rome goes along with it.The diplomatic farce of the Vatican’s Ostpolitik has reached a new, desolate peak. Last August 31, Paul Liu Honggang was consecrated bishop of Datong. The appointment had...

[Catholic Caucus] Leo XIV summons world’s bishops to entrench ‘heretical’ Amoris Laetitia Pope Leo considers the highly controversial Amoris Laetitia a guiding text for the Church, elements of which many consider to be heretical.Pope Leo XIV has called upon the presidents of the world’s Episcopal Conference to meet in Rome in October in order “to examine and discuss the teachings of Amoris Laetitia and how to proclaim the Gospel to families today,” according to a report from Vatican News. Earlier this year, Pope Leo praised Amoris Laetitia as a guiding text for the Church and signaled his intention to honor...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo approves his seventh bishop for Chinese Communist ‘Catholic’ church The Vatican reported that the new bishop of Datong was appointed ‘under the framework of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China.’A bishop of Datong was consecrated in China today with the approval of Pope Leo XIV under the controversial Vatican-China deal. Pope Leo XIV appointed Paolo Liu Honggang Bishop of Datong in Shanxi, China, on August 10, “following the approval of his candidacy under the framework of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China,”...

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy asked members of Congress in a letter on Wednesday to give Amtrak the green light to rename Penn Station, setting up the possibility the nation’s busiest train hub could be rechristened after President Donald Trump. The federal government has led the effort to rebuild the dilapidated station since last year, when Trump stripped control of the project from the MTA and turned it over to Amtrak. White House officials have since floated the idea of renaming Penn Station, which is owned by federally run Amtrak, after Trump. Duffy’s request came in a letter to Senate...

[Catholic Caucus] Pagan Aztec war dance takes over LA Catholic cathedral sanctuaryThe sacrilegious ‘Aztec Mass’ event featured pagan Aztec music and war dances with immodest performers near the altar of the Los Angeles cathedral.The Archdiocese of Los Angeles allowed the performance of a “Misa Azteca” (“Aztec Mass”) concert, which featured pagan Aztec music, dances, and poetry in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels last month.The sacrilegious June 27 event, held in the mother church of the largest archdiocese in the United States, combined the sacred music of the Catholic Mass, such as the solemn “Kyrie” chant and the...

[Catholic Caucus] Faithful Catholics confront pro-LGBT ‘All Are Welcome Mass’ in San DiegoMassResistance held a Rosary rally against an LGBT 'Pride Mass' in San Diego, California, earlier this month.Contrasting messages from San Diego Catholics: Traditional Catholics outside (left) vs radical message inside (right) during the St. John the Evangelist Church's "pride" Mass.For many years, faithful Catholics have endured a disturbing pro-LGBT turn in many of their churches. But lately, in some places, that has gone completely overboard. And many Catholics have had enough of it.The Hillcrest neighborhood of San Diego is the most “LGBTQ+” area in town. One would hope...

Cardinal Koch falsely claims ‘no salvation outside the Church’ only applies to CatholicsEven the salvation of those remaining outside the Church ‘through no grave fault of their own’ is effected through the graces of the Catholic Church.Cardinal Kurt Koch has erroneously claimed that the doctrine “no salvation outside the Church” only applies to Catholics who already believe the Catholic Church “points the way” to salvation.In an interview with Koch the day following the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) episcopal consecrations, German theologian Jan-Heiner Tück asked the cardinal why extra ecclesiam nulla salus (“no salvation outside the Church”) has become...

NASA's chief administrator confirmed that the space agency has taken images of objects which can only be described as UFOs. Jared Isaacman, who took the helm in December, said real imagery captured from space could not be explained away as a comet or other natural phenomenon. While he stopped short of calling it proof of alien life, he was confident that the ultimate conclusion would be that the universe is full of extraterrestrial life, which humans have not yet discovered. The NASA administrator told podcast host Jack Gordon: 'We have captured imagery, and this is what President Trump is very...

Pope Leo’s newspaper publishes article claiming ‘there is no devil,’ original sin in Book of GenesisL'Osservatore Romano published an article by theologian Marinella Perroni claiming Genesis contains no devil and no original sin, arguing that tradition exegesis ‘is reduced to sex.’A new essay in the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano examining the Book of Genesis argues that the narrative does not deal primarily with the devil and original sin, in contrast with the traditional interpretation.On July 4, L’Osservatore Romano – the official newspaper of the Holy See – published an article by Italian theologian Marinella Perroni, according to whom in the...

Hillary Clinton warned that the Supreme Court’s Republican majority is “turning the clock back” with some of its recent decisions, including the “nonsensical” ruling earlier this week that gives the president the authority to fire members of independent federal agencies. The former secretary of state pointed to the “mental gymnastics” that the high court performed when it backed President Donald Trump in his case against Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission, whom he fired without cause. The ruling on Monday overturned a 1935 precedent that had protected agency independence. “I mean, it is a nonsensical —...

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday ​the United States was getting along ‌very well with Iran and that recent meetings in Qatar went well. "The denuclearization of ​Iran is moving along well," Trump ​told reporters. "They've had very good meetings, and ⁠we'll see." The U.S. and Iran ​held technical talks in the Qatari capital of ​Doha on Wednesday as they seek to agree on the flow of shipping through the Strait ​of Hormuz and secure a lasting ​ceasefire, a source with direct knowledge of the talks ‌and ⁠an Iranian official said. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff met...

Synodal Rome Co-Organizes Antichrist Conference That Brings Together Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs for the Sake of “Fraternity”Before Vatican II, such an event would have been inconceivable.The Synodal Church’s Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue is currently co-hosting (June 23–24) a conference titled Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains and Sikhs in Europe: Building Fraternity through Dialogue and Collaboration, and yes, it is as antichrist and anti-Catholic as it sounds.The opening remarks of “Cardinal” George Jacob Koovakad, Prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, provided yet another startling illustration of the profound gulf separating the religion practiced and promoted by the post-conciliar hierarchy...

Stay up to date with live coverage of the Trump administration and national politics Thursday as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies before the House Oversight Committee as part of their investigation into late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The interview, which will not be open for the public, is happening at an office in Chappaqua, New York, the city where the Clintons have a house. Former President Bill Clinton will give his testimony Friday. Questions are slated to begin at 11 a.m. EST. SNIP The House Oversight Committee briefly paused a deposition of Hillary Clinton after Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.)...

Donald Trump has doubled down on his attacks on Rob Reiner after the Hollywood star and his wife were apparently murdered. The President appeared to blame Reiner and Michele's killings on the liberal director's 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' in a Monday post on Truth Social. Hollywood celebrities and Republicans pushed back on his statement, with some calling it 'disgusting and vile.' But the President seemed undeterred in his criticism of the late director. When pressed by a reporter in the Oval Office about his previous statement, he said: 'Well, I wasn't a fan of his at all. He was a deranged...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Trump administration to enforce a policy aimed at limiting transgender rights that would restrict sex designations on passports to “male” and “female” based on sex assigned at birth. The justices granted an emergency request filed by the administration, which is seeking to reverse a policy introduced during the Biden administration that allowed people to put “X” as a gender marker or self-select male or female. "Displaying passport holders’ sex at birth no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country of birth—in both cases, the Government is merely attesting to...

Washington — American farmers are having a tough year, in no small part because of President Donald Trump’s trade war. Now, the White House is gearing up to extend them a multi-billion-dollar bailout, sources tell CNN. Surging costs and foreign retaliation from tariffs have hurt the US agriculture industry — as have immigration-related labor shortages and plummeting commodity prices. Farm production expenses are estimated to reach $467.4 billion in 2025, according to the Agriculture Department, up $12 billion from last year. Farm bankruptcies rose in the first half of the year to the highest level since 2021, according to US...

President Donald Trump was asked in the Oval Office on Monday if he would consider pardoning convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, after the Supreme Court said it would not hear her appeal. CNN’s Kaitlin Collins asked Trump, “The Supreme Court is back, and they rejected today an appeal by Ghislaine Maxwell to overturn her conviction. That means her only chance of getting out of prison is a pardon. Is that something you’re—” Trump interjected, “Who are we talking about?” Collins clarified she was talking about Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice, replying, “Ghislaine Maxwell.” “You know, I haven’t heard the name in so...