Free Republic

Accosted by a voter who questioned her promise to cancel college debt, Democratic presidential contender Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass) rebuffed his contention that bailing out the debtors was unfair to people like himself who worked and saved to pay his children's college expenses. "Look, the fairest principle for organizing society is that each person should contribute according to his ability and each person should be rewarded according to his need," Warren asserted. "You were able to work two jobs and could afford to pay your kids' way. Not everyone has as much energy or willingness to sacrifice. These less able...

Munich Resistance: German Catholics Must Stop Paying Church Tax Traditionalists rally a 'terrible army with banners' to combat synodal path MUNICH (ChurchMilitant.com) - Catholics protesting in Munich are accusing the German Bishops' Conference of deploying their multi-billion-euro income from the state-imposed "Church tax" to subvert traditional Catholicism in Germany and across the globe.  At a silent prayer rally in the center of the Bavarian city on Saturday, an international coalition of more than 130 prominent lay Catholics called on the German bishops to end the "dissimulation and deception" being introduced into the worldwide Catholic Church by the Trojan horse of the so-called "synodal path." Critics say the two-year German "synodal path," which began on...

[Catholic Caucus] BREAKING: Viganò comes out of hiding to protest German bishops’ ‘synodal path’ of destruction In first public appearance since McCarrick report in 2018, Archbishop Viganò participates at Munich prayer event January 18, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – In his first public appearance since going into hiding over a year ago, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò joined other prominent Catholics in Munich today in prayer and protest against the German Episcopal Conference and its President Cardinal Marx. The Vatican whistleblower joined Catholic laity to oppose the German prelates’ plan to embark on a “synodal path” that critics say would create a...

Catholic laity protest Cdl Marx, call him to repent for leading German church down schismatic ‘synodal path’ 'Cardinal Reinhard Marx you have shown yourself to be a wolf...hear now the words of Christ: Repent, and believe in the Gospel!' MUNICH, Germany, January 18, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – An international coalition of lay Catholics mobilized in Munich today to silently pray in “firm protest against the German Episcopal Conference and its President” Cardinal Marx on account of the prelates’ plan to embark on a “synodal path” that critics say would create a “new church” that departs from Catholic teaching on priestly celibacy,...

Cdl Marx: Spreading ‘fear of hell’ undermines Gospel The German cardinal also said that 'sometimes one has to say: stop the religion!' January 10, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Cardinal Reinhard Marx – the archbishop of Munich-Freising and the head of the German Bishops' Conference – just made a statement, in which he argued against spreading fear, saying: “wherever someone spreads fear – of hell or whatever else – the Gospel cannot have an effect.” He added with regard to the topic of religion and its relation to peace that “sometimes one has to say: stop the religion!” Marx spoke these...

[Catholic Caucus] Cdl Marx: Homosexual couples can receive ‘blessing’ from Church Marx said that homosexual couples can receive 'a blessing in the sense of a pastoral accompaniment.' January 6, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the head of the German Bishops' Conference, stated in a recent interview that homosexuals belong to the Church’s “sacramental community” and has defended “blessing” homosexual couples. On December 23, 2019, Cardinal Marx gave an interview to the German magazine Der Stern in which he said: “I insist: we welcome homosexuals, they belong to the Church, also to the sacramental community.” Marx said that homosexual...

[Catholic Caucus] "More Than I Would Have Expected" - Marx About Abolishing Celibacy at Synod he Amazon Synod's delegates are discussing abolishing priestly celibacy „more than I would have excepted,“ Munich Cardinal Marx told journalists in Berlin (Katholisch.de, October 16).Marx that mariage-priests [who contradict the Gospel] and [invalid] female deacons are “not only” wanted by the Germans but also by “many” Latin American prelates.Retired Bishop Erwin Kräutler who calls baptism a "symbol of colonialism," recently estimated that two-third of the Synod's bishops want to abolish celibacy.This is no surprise as these bishops were chosen among the Church's most anti-Catholic and...

In October 1917, Lenin's Bolshevik Party seized power and inaugurated the first communist workers' state, founded on the principles of Karl Marx's “Das Kapital.” Almost immediately, the race was on to turn antiquated, almost feudal imperial Russia into a communist utopia. It was a tall order in Russia: the vast majority of the population of the nascent Soviet state were illiterate peasants, for whom the traditions and tenants of Orthodox Christianity were the sole cultural and spiritual bedrock. Replacing it with the more complicated economic and social principles of Marxism took ingenuity, dedication and ruthlessness. The state embarked on a...

[Catholic Caucus] The Rhine-Tiber Two-Step II: Electric Boogaloo Earlier this month, I wrote a commentary on an alleged conflict between the Vatican and the German Church over their proposed “binding synodal process” on issues “arising from the clerical abuse crisis: clerical celibacy, the Church’s teaching on sexual morality, and a reduction of clerical power.”It was reported by CNA in early September that the decision of the German bishops to proceed with their proposed synodal assembly (which would have major input from an uber-progressive lay group known as ZdK) “comes despite a warning from Pope Francis to the German bishops that they must remain in...

[Catholic Caucus] After Cardinal Marx visits Vatican, Germany's 'synodal way' up for bishops' vote Fulda, Germany, Sep 23, 2019 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- The German bishops are set this week to vote upon statutes for a “binding synodal process,” days after Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the German bishops’ conference, held talks about the plans with Pope Francis and Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.On Monday, the German bishops began a three-day plenary session in Fulda, which will conclude Sept. 25. Sources close to the conference told CNA that the bishops plan to debate a “substantially unchanged” draft...

Looking for Schism in All the Wrong Places Pope Francis boldly declared last week that he’s unafraid of “pseudo-schismatics”: a clique of (mostly American) rigorist prelates and journalists whom Francis regards as a kind of loyal opposition to his papacy. But why should he have been afraid to begin with? A pseudo-schismatic is, by definition, not a schismatic. Pontiffs need no more fear pseudo-schismatics than exorcists need fear little boys who dress up as Harry Potter for Halloween—or, as the Holy Father might call them, pseudo-sorcerers.Or maybe I’ve misinterpreted him. Francis could have meant to call them wannabe schismatics. Maybe...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Marx Meets With Pope Francis and Cardinal Ouellet About German Synodal Plans The Sept. 19 meetings followed a public exchange between the German hierarchy and the Vatican over the draft statutes for a ‘Synodal Assembly.’ VATICAN CITY — Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the German Episcopal Conference, has held talks with Pope Francis and Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, about the German bishops’ plans for a “binding synodal path.” The meetings, held in Rome Sept. 19, followed a public exchange between the German hierarchy and the Vatican over the draft statutes for a...

Cdl. Marx defies Vatican: German ‘synod’ will go ahead despite plan being called ‘not…valid’ September 17, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Cardinal Reinhard Marx has fired back at the Vatican after it informed him the German bishops’ plans for a “binding synodal path” are “not ecclesiologically valid,” saying the German bishops’ plans, which include addressing issues of priestly celibacy, the role of women, and sexual morality, will be “helpful” to the Church. “Countless believers in Germany consider [these issues] to be in need of discussion,” Marx wrote to Cardinal Marc Ouellet of the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops. More than 200,000 Catholics...

[Catholic Caucus] Disintegrating Church: Germans Tell Vatican Off Disintegrating Church: Germans Tell Vatican Off Few people know that the rich German bishops are organizing their own Amazon Synod which they call “Synodaler Weg” – “Synodal Way.” Its goal is to push for so-called reforms. However, days ago, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the head of the Congregation for Bishops, timidly wrote to the Germans telling them that their “Synodal Way” was dealing with matters that were not up for discussion in a particular Church, but touched matters that regarded the universal Church. However, the German bishops were all but amused by Ouellet’s...

[Catholic Caucus] German bishops to green light binding ‘Synodal Assembly’ Berlin, Germany, Sep 5, 2019 / 12:02 pm (CNA).- The German bishops are pressing forward with a controversial synodal program, creating a new Synodal Assembly in partnership with an influential German lay group. The decision to proceed comes despite a warning from Pope Francis to the German bishops that they must remain in step with the whole Church.In March of this year, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising and head of the German bishops’ conference, announced that the Church in Germany would embark on a “binding synodal process”...

Democratic presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt) praised the Chinese government for making "more progress in addressing extreme poverty than any country in the history of civilization. While it is unfortunate that millions had to die in order to achieve these results, we shouldn't let bourgeois prejudices totally blind us to the positive aspects of their accomplishments. Sometimes harsh methods are required to do hard tasks." "If a country as backward as China was decides to sacrifice tens of millions of people now so that hundreds of millions may prosper later, can we really say that a wrong has been...

Ninety years ago, late August, 1929, the U.S. Beatrice Daily Sun (Beatrice, Nebraska), proclaimed, “MOSLEMS SATE BLOOD LUST. Even Little Children Die By Knife in Jehad” (Aug. 29, 1929; p.8). This brief report conveyed with grisly accuracy the Arab Muslim ...depredations.... ..... In stark contrast to the evocative drawings of Palestinian Jewish artist Nachum Gutman, less than a week after the 1929 jihad carnage ended on August 29th, “Morning Freiheit”, the New York City-based, official Communist party Jewish [Yiddish] language newspaper, published the first of two vicious Der Stürmer-like cartoons (Sept. 4, 1929; the second appearing Sept. 19th) condemning the...

Why is Communism relevant today? Ignorance! Just ask around. You may be shocked to find that nearly no one under twenty-five has ever heard of Stalin, whose genocide exceeded Hitler's by a factor of five. Communism is being repackaged in this atmosphere of ignorance. Films like “Motorcycle Diaries” and “Young Marx” portray Che and Marx as wise, prophetic figures fighting for mankind's betterment. Idealistic youth is responding enthusiastically in their need for heroes. If you travel abroad, say to India or South America, you can see full-scale marches complete with red banners and portraits of Stalin. How do you get...

Ukraine's Constitutional Court has upheld a law that equates communism to Nazism and bans the dissemination of its symbols, a law that has prompted angry protests from Moscow. In the July 16 ruling published on its website, the court said the "communist and Nazi regimes" used similar methods of "implementing repressive state policies." The legislation was passed by Ukrainian lawmakers in May 2015. That law paved the way for the removal of all communist monuments not related to World War II and renaming public places and landmarks bearing Soviet names. Since then, dozens of statues, plaques, and other monuments --...

‘Fraud’: 3rd German bishop rejects ‘synodal path’ to revisit sexual morality, celibacy May 24, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – In March 2019, after a delay of thirty minutes, an obviously exhausted Cardinal Reinhard Marx announced to the world that the German bishops, in the final minutes of their spring assembly, had “unanimously” approved a “synodal path” for revisiting the Church's teaching on sexual morality, clerical power, and celibacy. However, as LifeSiteNews then was already able to find out, that alleged unanimity was only due to the fact that several bishops had abstained from voting. One of them, as it turns out, was...