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Pope Francis, Wayward Shepherd In the first year or two of Pope Francis’s pontificate, conservative-minded Catholics made heroic efforts to place the perplexing ways of the new pope in continuity with the thought and deeds of his immediate predecessors. It was said that he had been a forceful critic of liberation theology, at least in its Marxist expressions, that he was a man of traditional piety, that he spoke about the machinations of the Evil One with surprising regularity, and that his style — brash, critical of established ways, anxious for dialogue with the modern world — was a refreshing...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Argentina on Wednesday told the International Monetary Fund that Buenos Aires cannot continue servicing unsustainable debt, as the IMF encouraged it to enact efficient restructuring policies. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and Argentine Economy Minister Martin Guzman exchanged views at the conference in Vatican City hosted by Pope Francis. Guzman told the conference Argentina would under no circumstances continue servicing debt that was unsustainable and that pushed the country deeper into recession. “We are going to be very firm on that,” he said. He balked at the 9% interest rate that Argentina is scheduled to pay...

Affirm that parents have right to choose children's schoolsWASHINGTON (ChurchMilitant.com) - The U.S. bishops are supporting President Donald Trump's plan to let parents choose where to school their children. During Tuesday's State of the Union Address, Trump asked Congress to pass his tax credit scholarship plan, which authorizes states to funnel nearly $5 billion dollars towards private and religious schools. "Pass the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act," Trump urged, "because no parent should be forced to send their child to a failing government school." The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) came out Wednesday in support of Trump's initiative...

Feb 5, 2020 / 12:40 am (CNA).- A California state university has this week agreed to revise its policies and pay more than $240,000 in fees after a federal court last summer found that the university had discriminated against a student pro-life group and had used mandatory student fees to fund only university-favored views. In 2017, legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a lawsuit on behalf of the pro-life student group Students for Life, after California State University–San Marcos denied the group access to funding paid for by mandatory student fees that should have been available to all student...

[Catholic Caucus] Sacrilege: Vatican Allows Pro-Abort Argentine President to Receive Communion Shows favor to secular official, contempt for Church law VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - Pro-abortion legislation is a top priority for Argentinian President Alberto Fernández, who received the Eucharist with his concubine in St. Peter's Basilica recently at the hands of a Vatican official. Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, administered the Eucharist to President Fernández and Fabiola Yáñez, his mistress, on Jan. 31.  Fernández civilly divorced his wife Marcela Luchetti in 2005 and began his affair with Yáñez, 22 years his junior, in 2014.  The...

[Barf Alert] Population Control Advocate Jeffrey Sachs Attacks Trump Administration at Vatican Gathering Speaking at a Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences event, Sachs claimed the U.S. is operating with ‘thuggery’ and ‘complete lawlessness,’ and warned President Trump’s re-election would be ‘absolutely dangerous.’ The American economist Jeffrey Sachs has used the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences to launch a scathing attack on the Trump administration, accusing it of threatening multilateralism by bullying other nations and saying President Trump’s possible re-election in November would be “absolutely dangerous.” Sachs, a regular participant at the academy and a papal adviser on sustainable development...

Join Freepers throughout the world to pray for PRESIDENT TRUMP and VICE-PRESIDENT PENCE and for AMERICA: All Levels of Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, Health Care Systems and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. —1 John 5:14 Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. Please join us in prayer for our nation.

ROME - European and American nationalists attending a conference Tuesday in Rome cheered Brexit, warned of left-wing “totalitarianism” and waxed nostalgic about St. John Paul II’s papacy and the “glorious revolution” that brought down communism. The second annual National Conservatism Conference had “God, Honor, Country” as its theme. Rising right-wing stars from Italy and France were keynote speakers, and conservative Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban closed out the meeting. Organizer Christopher DeMuth drew applause when he blasted the World Economic Forum, the annual gathering of political and business elites in Davos, Switzerland. The threat of authoritarianism doesn’t come from the...

Condemn critic of Orbán as lacking 'moral standards'BUDAPEST, Hungary (ChurchMilitant.com) - Hungarian bishops reacted swiftly to a Budapest district mayor who accused Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz Party of representing a "frightening formation" of "white, Christian, heterosexual" people. Mayor Péter Niedermüller, head of the Hungarian capital's Erzsébetváros district, said on a Jan. 23 talk show that "If you strip away ... hated delineations ... non-Hungarians, others, migrants, Roma — I don't know what — then there is this frightening formation left in the middle: white, Christian, heterosexual men," adding, "and there are of course [some] women among them."...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP/VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE and AMERICA: Healthcare, Government, Family, Military, Business, Farmers, Sanctity of Life, Education, Churches, and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 JOHN 5:14Religion Forum Threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

Help coming for Michigan's hard-working Iraqi ChristiansDETROIT (ChurchMilitant.com) - President Donald Trump is promising to stop the deportation of Michigan's Iraqi Catholics, who face persecution abroad. Trump announced his decision on Thursday at the Dana factory in Warren, Michigan during his visit promoting the trade deal he signed with Canada and Mexico a day earlier. The president told Dana personnel he'd made up his mind to help Michigan's Iraqi Christians, virtually all of whom are Catholic, earlier that day while en route to Michigan for his fifth visit as president. "We have some Chaldeans that are working here," said Trump....

Are the Holy See and the United Nations Too Close for Comfort? NEWS ANALYSIS: The relationship has come under closer scrutiny of late. VATICAN CITY —  When Pope Francis received in private audience United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in December, the U.N. chief trumpeted the fact that the Holy See’s concerns “coincide with the core values” of the United Nations Charter. These values consisted of reaffirming the “dignity and worth of the human person,” Guterres said in a statement, especially with regards to protecting the planet. The Holy See’s communiqué was similar, focusing on peace, the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals...

WEST WARWICK, Rhode Island - The pastor of a Rhode Island church issued a flier which said that every state legislator who voted last year to preserve the right to an abortion in state law would be denied communion. Father Richard Bucci distributed the fliers last week at Sacred Heart Church in West Warwick, the Providence Journal reported on Saturday. He also mailed them to the homes of several lawmakers. “In accord with the teaching of the Catholic Church for 2000 years, the following members of the legislature may NOT receive Holy Communion, as are all the officers of the...

“The majority of Russian citizens believe in God. I’m not only talking about the Orthodox—I’m also talking about Muslims and many others,” His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said at a reception on February 1 on the occasion of the 11th anniversary of his enthronement as Patriarch, calling a reference to God to be added to the Russian constitution. After all, the Russian national anthem, one of the state symbols of the country, contains the words, “God-protected native land,” His Holiness said. “So why can’t this be said in our constitution?” he asked. “Let us pray and...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP/VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE and AMERICA: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Religion Forum threads labeled "Prayer" are closed to debate of any kind.

Duquesne, a Catholic school of about 6,000 undergraduates and 3,000 graduate students, is the only U.S.-based university affiliated with the Congregation of the Holy Spirit.Washington D.C. — Longstanding court precedent has recognized religious schools’ right to pursue their mission in faculty employment decisions, and so the National Labor Relations Board wrongly claimed jurisdiction over Duquesne University, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has said in a decision vacating the board's recognition of a labor union for adjunct faculty. “Just like churches, schools may pursue a religious mission. Indeed, education is at the core of religious activity...

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Archbishop of York John Sentamu have apologized for a decree issued by the Church of England which said that only heterosexual married couples should have sex and that sex in gay or straight civil partnerships “falls short of God’s purpose for human beings according to scriptural teachings.” “We as Archbishops, alongside the bishops of the Church of England, apologize and take responsibility for releasing a statement last week which we acknowledge has jeopardised trust,” the archbishops said in a statement, according to Belfast Telegraph. “We are very sorry and recognize the division and hurt...

We're Going to Hear His Word! (1 Chron. 16:29, Psalm 29:2, 139:23, Phil. 4:4, 1 John 1:3-4) We're Going to hear His Word! We're going to hear His Word! Hallelujah preach it brother! We're going to hear His Word! We're Going to Hear His Word! Hallelujah preach it brother! We're going to hear His Word! We gather in Thy presence, with joy and great laud As we open, the precious ,Word of our God Dear Spirit ETERNAL, the Lord of all that's true Anoint our dear preacher, as he brings forth Thy Word We're Going to hear His Word! We're...

Dear friends, It's that time of the year when ALL America (from top to bottom) gathers together as a nation for Super Sunday! Tragically, millions of Americans will be missing out on and not attending the TRUE Super Sunday that transcends ALL time and ETERNITY! The original "Super Sunday", the day that the Savior of the world defeated Death and Hades (Sheol) and rose again from the grave ( Acts 2:22-36; 3:13-18; 4:10-12, 33; 5:29-32; 10:37-43; 13:27-37; 17:23, 30-32; 23:6; 24:14-16; 25:19; 26:68, 22-23, Rev. 1:18); is now the day of the week that His redeemed gather together to hear...

Leftist San Diego Bishop to Counsel Catholics on How to Vote Bp. Robert McElroy to deliver lecture on 'Candidates, Consciences' Feb. 6 SAN DIEGO (ChurchMilitant.com) - Bishop Robert McElroy, who once called faithful Catholics opposing homosexual behavior a "cancer" in the Church, will be presenting a lecture on how Catholics should vote. McElroy will present his address, titled "Candidates, Consciences and Faithful Voting" on Thursday, Feb. 6, little more than two weeks after Pope Francis exhorted U.S. bishops to teach Catholic voters how to properly discern how they should vote.  But, with an eye to McElroy's liberal record, faithful San Diego Catholics are bracing...