Free Republic

Biden administration climate czar John Kerry holds $1 million stake in Chinese private equity fund, Hillhouse China Value Fund, tech company blacklisted for human rights abuses and major shareholder of solar panel firm connected to Uyghurs labor abuses. Human rights groups and U.S. lawmakers have accused LONGi of sourcing raw materials from companies using forced labor in Xinjiang, a region the Chinese government abusing the Uyghur population and other ethnic minorities. Hillhouse is also a funder of a tech firm connected to Beijing’s surveillance of Uyghurs, a revelation last week leading Republican senators urging Biden to fire Kerry over ethics...

A Warning to the Carmelites of FairfieldLast month a couple of the nuns of the Fairfield Carmel were seen attending Mass at the FSSP apostolate, our parish in the ancient centre, Santissima Trinita dei Pellegrini. These are the sisters who have become famous throughout the Traditional Catholic world for their attempt to live the Teresian Discalced Carmelite life in the most authentic and faithful way possible.Puzzling as it may have been for strictly cloistered nuns to be out and about, it was cleared up a few days later with an article announcing that the Fairfield Carmelites are about to undergo...

The Christian cold war will mean an increase in church splits, takeovers, and other power struggles as people choose sides on existential questions, including theology.Along with the rest of the country, American Christianity is in the middle of a cold war. As this war heats up, it will mean church splits, takeovers, fights over denominational resources, and other power struggles as the Donald Trump era has increasingly brought clarity and pushed people to choose sides on existential questions.The Southern Baptist Convention, the United States’ largest Protestant denomination, is one key example of this dynamic affecting American Christianity as a whole....

A Muslim mob in northern Nigeria’s Kano state hacked to death a church leader and burned down his home, church and a Christian school to avenge the murder of a woman allegedly committed by a young man falsely believed to be a Christian convert, according to reports. The Rev. Yohanna Shuaibu of New Life Church, who was the chair of the Christian Association of Nigeria in the Sumaila Local Government Area and lived in Massu village, succumbed to multiple machete wounds last Friday, Morning Star News reported. “The Muslims felt the young man who killed the woman in a fight...

Former Olympic swimming star Klete Keller pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge stemming from the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. During a brief appearance in federal court in Washington, he pleaded guilty to a single charge of obstructing an official proceeding, a felony with an estimated sentencing range under federal guidelines of 21 to 27 months. In return, the government dropped one other felony charge and five misdemeanor counts. His attorney, Edward MacMahon, told the judge that Keller "is trying to make amends for his terrible mistake," is embarrassed, and "wants to start his life over." Prosecutors...

A U.S.-based persecution watchdog says it has documented more than 100 incidents of Christian persecution in China between July 2020 and June 2021 as the country's communist regime seeks to forcefully convert independent religious groups into mechanisms of the Chinese Communist Party. A significant trend throughout the past year was an increase in church raids, says a report published by International Christian Concern. It notes that "not only were churches shut down or demolished, but pastors and church attendees were often arrested.” One example of this crackdown happened earlier this month when more than 30 officials from the CCP, including...

I recently heard a sermon that gave me deep concern. It was on 1 Peter 4:12–13, a text that predicts serious suffering for Christian believers. Peter, who was crucified upside down by the “civil” authorities of Rome, wrote: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” Peter was writing to Christians under persecution for not worshiping the Roman emperor, who...

Costa Rican priest suspended, sent for psychological treatment for celebrating Latin Novus OrdoFr. Sixto Eduardo Varela Santamaría celebrating Mass, in an undated photo. (Image courtesy of the author) A Costa Rican priest says he has been suspended, removed from his parish, and sent to psychological treatment by his bishop who is angry with him for celebrating the reformed liturgy in Latin and ad orientem.Fr. Sixto Eduardo Varela Santamaría, who until very recently was the Chancellor of the Diocese of Alajuela, had been celebrating the Mass since 2019 for a community of hundreds of faithful who are devoted to the Catholic...

Catholics in China Told to Celebrate Communist Party and Forgo Marian PilgrimageCHINA — Catholic dioceses across China hosted celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) this year, while pilgrimages to China’s national Marian shrine were forbidden.“Every community, every diocese has done congresses, performances, theaters, and even pilgrimages to the places of the Communist Party history,” Father Bernardo Cervellera, a missionary priest and journalist who closely covered the Church in China for the past two decades as editor-in-chief of AsiaNews, told CNA.Bishop Joseph Li Shan of Beijing hosted a watch party at the bishop’s residence for...

BREAKING: Antifa assault families and children at Christian prayer event in Portland park Antifa, carrying shields and weapons, attacked a group of Christians, including young children, who were congregating in Portland. A large group of Antifa carrying shields and melee weapons attacked a group of Evangelical Christians congregating for a prayer and worship event at the waterfront in downtown Portland, Ore. Video recorded at the scene showed children and families running away as black-clad Antifa militants tore apart the sound equipment and assaulted attendees with pepper spray and projectiles. --snip-- Shocking video recorded at the violent event show dozens of...

Communist authorities in China arrested five Christians from a house church in Shanxi Province because they attended a Christian conference in Malaysia last year where Pastors Tim Keller and D.A. Carson were speakers. The five Christians are from Xuncheng Reformed Church in Taiyuan city and were arrested and detained on Monday for taking part in “KL2020 Gospel and Culture” conference hosted by a Chinese Indonesian Pastor Stephen Tong, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern reported. Two of the church members were arrested when they went to pick up their church co-worker, Zhang Ligong, as he was being released after...

Some thoughts on the attempted assassination of Hatun Tash in Speakers Corner, the changing composition of the UK, and what preaching the Gospel looks like under persecution.

It may not seem like a massive development in terms of dealing with the scope of everything that’s been talked about here today, but it will equip law enforcement to see more things through to charges in this country.” —RCMP Cpl. Anthony Statham.. An Internet censorship bill will be useful in prosecuting bloggers and Facebook subscribers, an RCMP specialist said Monday night. Bill C-36 will “see more things through to charges,” a webinar was told. “Law enforcement has to have the ability to use the law effectively,” said Cpl. Anthony Statham of RCMP’s British Columbia Hate Crimes Team. Statham complained...

Real estate titan Tom Barrack was arrested on Tuesday morning on federal charges tied to illegally lobbying Donald Trump for the United Arab Emirates, according to the Department of Justice. A seven-count indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Barrack, Matthew Grimes and Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, also known as “Rashid Al Malik” and “Rashid Al‑Malik,” a citizen of the United Arab Emirates, with acting and conspiring to act as agents of that nation between April 2016 and April 2018, according to the Department of Justice. The indictment said the charges are related to advancing...

YouTube removed an entire radio show from its platform this week, hosted by popular Christian author and social commentator Eric Metaxas, citing violations of their community standards. Metaxas – author of biographies on the lives of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther, and William Wilberforce, among many other books – announced the news to his social media pages on Tuesday. “It’s happened,” he wrote on his Facebook page. “Despite our going FAR out of our way to comply with their arbitrary ‘community standards’, YouTube decided to remove every single video we’ve ever done on the Eric Metaxas Show off their platform.” The...

Catholic priest who has spoken out about clergy abuse faces removal as Richmond Bishop with petition to the Vatican RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Virginia priest could be removed from the priesthood. He continued to blog about the Catholic Church sex abuse scandals even after the Catholic Diocese of Richmond Bishop ordered him to keep quiet.8News first began digging into this story back in early 2020. Father Mark White at first obeyed an order to stop blogging. However, he restarted the online conversation once COVID hit and in-person church services halted. That has now prompted Bishop Barry Knestout to...

I think it was the great Bible prophecy teacher Jan Markell that said, “Things are falling in place, not falling apart.” Here are events that seem to be falling in place. One, concerning the decline of America at the end of the age to allow the rise of one-world government: on July 1, 2021, the conservative pro-liberty group Brighteon wrote: “Today in America, every pillar of sustainable civilization is being ripped to shreds: The rule of law, the family, logic and reason, the First Amendment, and even the very concept of due process.” “It’s all part of an effort to...

BREAKING: Bishop Callahan CANCELS Fr. AltmanBishop William J. Callahan, the bishop of La Crosse, Wisconsin, today issued a decree removing Fr. James Altman as pastor of St. James the Less. Fr. Altman has suspected for some time that his removal was forthcoming, but plans to fight the order. Fr. Altman cares for his 90-year-old parents at the parish rectory of St. James the Less. It remains to be seen if Bishop Callahan will forcefully remove them from the rectory.TAKE ACTION: Contact Bishop Callahan at 1608-788-7700 or at dbrannon@diolc.org and let him know how you feel about him removing Fr. Altman...

[Catholic Caucus] Concelebration: A new battleground in the liturgy wars?Concelebration is a control-freak’s dream.Pope Francis concelebrating Mass with many others in Mexico July 6, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — The celebration of priests together, when two or more priests celebrate one Mass, has long caused controversy. For decades after the Second Vatican Council, priests have felt under pressure to take part in “concelebrated” Masses instead of celebrating their own Mass, perhaps without a congregation. Concelebration is now being enforced in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, ending the long tradition of large numbers of priests celebrating individually at side altars. Now, concelebration is...

The Una Voce Federation has taken out an advert in the mass-circulation Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica, appearing today, Sunday 4th July.The English text is as following (for other languages see here):Living the faith, living the future:The Extraordinary Form of the Roman RiteDeclaration of the International Federation Una VoceThe International Federation Una Voce (FIUV), founded in 1965, brings together associations of the lay faithful attached to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman rite (the Traditional Latin Mass).In 2007, the Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum recognised the vitality of the traditional liturgy, the freedom of priests to celebrate it, and of the...