Free Republic

Pope Francis delivered a Holy Thursday homily for a congregation of priests attending Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome in which he told them that they “can” tell adulterers to “go and sin no more,” but should not do it “with the legalistic tone of truth as definition.” Instead, he told them, they should do it with the “tone of truth as fidelity.” “I suggest that you meditate on three areas of priestly closeness where the words, ‘Do everything Jesus tells you,’ need to be heard—in a thousand different ways but with the same motherly tone—in the hearts of...

The president of the Pontifical Council for the Family [Abp. Paglia] has confirmed that Pope Francis' post-synodal apostolic exhortation devoted to the family will be published by the end of March. ... [Abp. Paglia] said the much-anticipated document, which summarizes the Pope's conclusions of the two synods dedicated to the family, will be "a hymn to love, a love that wants to take care of the welfare of the young, to be close to wounded families to give them strength, a love that wants to be close to children as well as to all mankind in need. " Well informed...

It is no secret that our culture as a whole is descending into an ever-deeper sexual confusion. Recently two examples of this were in the news.In the first article which I summarize here, a Canadian couple have chosen to raise (impose upon?) their child a “genderless” upbringing. For now, they have refused to tell any of their family or friends the sex of their child, whom they call “Storm,” and groom and dress the infant child ambiguously.I would like to provide excerpts of a much longer article here and comment as we go. As usual, the article is in bold,...

The culture war might be likened to fighting a war against a coalition of powers. Imagine WWI-style trench warfare on a long front. In the center of the enemy lines are the forces of moral relativism. These forces oppose the idea that there is a universal moral law. On one flank are the forces of the sexual revolution, including gays, feminists, adulterers, the promiscuous, and the pro-abortion folks. On the other flank are the cultural relativists, and multiculturalists. This camp opposes the ideas of truth, beauty, and intrinsic quality. It seeks to suppress the literary, philosophical, and artistic heritage of...

It's another slogan that passes for thought among the thinking-averse: "Jesus didn't say anything about homosexuality...." The rest of the sentence remains unspoken for fear that laughter might break out. "Jesus didn't say anything about homosexuality; therefore He approves of it." First of all, that's what's known as an "argument from silence;" a logical fallacy. By this rule Jesus would be made to endorse rape, cannibalism and lots of other nasty stuff. Secondly, we cannot know whether Jesus, in His brief earthly ministry, ever mentioned homosexual sin specifically (see John 21:25), so the claim can't be substantiated. But the slogan...

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY Liberty is a free agency to do a thing or not at pleasure.Rational Liberty is a freedom of doing a thing from some motive agreeable to a Moral Law which is always founded in Reason or perfect vertitude.Religious Liberty is a freedom of doing right or any Moral action or refraining from any immoral or wrong action accord to the dictates of a person’s conscience. Every rule of conscious was given an intelligent Being by his Creator who created his Mind, to govern his actions and to his curator alone every such Being is only accountable rationally expecting...

(At the link, click again for video or MP3.) -- For centuries, the idea that human beings have an inherent sense of right and wrong has intrigued political and religious thinkers. The notion of a “natural” moral law has been a key driver of much Christian political thought in the west. It has helped shape the development of religious freedom and the concept of rights, and its influence on America’s Founding Fathers was fundamental. In today’s post-modern society, however, the concept often prompts confusion and controversy. Even critics who might accept the reality of a moral law in theory wonder...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Young children must be guided from a very early age with moral law so that they will have direction as they weather life's storms and resist its temptations, Pope Benedict XVI said. "God's law must be impressed on the soul from the beginning 'like on a piece of wax,'" the pope said, citing the teachings of St. John Chrysostom at his Sept. 19 weekly general audience. Early infancy "is in fact the age that is the most important" because it marks the time when "the great directives that point to the right course to (take in)...

good or evil: who decides?Dr. Raymond DeSouza Who decides what is good or evil? The state? Society? The individual? Join Dr. Raymond De Souza as he teaches about the Natural Law and the Magisterium of the Catholic Church.Contact:Dr. Raymond De Souza http://saintgabriel.com.au PO Box 111 Western Australia 6058 Telephone:[61] 08 9202 1300  Back to Series List

The liberals who went after Roy Moore would like to do the same thing to anyone who stands up for God in the public square.When Alabama's judicial ethics panel voted to oust State Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, it provided the most vivid illustration yet of the great irony playing itself out in our day.Many in the United States legal system are engaged in an effort to destroy the very foundation on which our nation's laws are based. The Judeo-Christian system of morality has served as western civilization's legal foundation for centuries, yet today many judges believe they can...