Free Republic

(Reuters) - Once solidly Irish, Italian and Polish, the U.S. Roman Catholic Church, the largest Christian denomination in the country, has become increasingly Hispanic in recent years. Like other mainline denominations it is also losing members to competing faiths such as evangelical Protestant churches. Following are some facts and figures about the U.S. Catholic population, which will greet Pope Benedict when he visits the United States from April 15 to 20. - According to a recent nationwide survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 23.9 percent of the adult U.S. population identifies itself as Catholic. This tallies...

Serious evangelical dialogue with Roman Catholicism finds it virtually impossible to avoid the issues raised by the institution of the papacy. These issues were central in the sixteenth-century division, and they remain problematic for modern discussion as well. It is hard for many Catholics in the West to understand the serious concerns evangelicals have regarding the papacy, since they often think of John Paul II as a benevolent and kind gentleman who warmly radiates love for Christ and non-Catholics. In a special commentary on the Feast Day (1971) honoring St. Peter and St. Paul, the Vatican radio declared, “The Church...

THE PROTESTANT Churches of the Reformation are proper Churches, the newly elected chairman of the German Roman Catholics Bishops’ Conference told the weekly magazine Der Speigel. Protestants 'are proper Churches' In a Feb 16 interview Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg also criticized the Catholic Church’s traditional ties to the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), questioned the necessity of clerical celibacy, and deviated from the Church’s stated views on childcare. Conservative members of the Bishops’ Conference were quick to distance themselves from the archbishop’s comments, while others claimed his words had been distorted and there were no plans to abolish mandatory celibacy...

The ex-lover of a former spokesman for the Catholic Church was rushed into an abortion by the man and his mother, the High Court was told yesterday. Moyra Bremner, a writer, said she was "horrified" to return from a holiday to India in 1989 and hear that her daughter, Siobhan, then aged 26, who had become pregnant by Austen Ivereigh, had gone through with the abortion. "I felt even more horrified when I heard that Austen and his mother had taken her. I felt that they had rushed her into it," Mrs Bremner said. She added that she had "absolutely...

DID I REALLY LEAVE THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH? The Journey into Evangelical Faith and Church Experience William Webster This article was first published by Moody Press in the book titled, Roman Catholicism: Evangelical Protestants Analyze What Divides and Unites Us in 1994. In light of the recent reversion of Francis Beckwith to Roman Catholicism I felt that perhaps the testimony of one who was Roman Catholic and is now a convinced evangelical Protestant might prove helpful to some. The arguments presented here as to why I could never become a Roman Catholic, based on the truth of Scripture and the...

The Roman Catholic Church has called for women to be allowed to give birth to human-animal hybrids created in the laboratory. Embryos injected with animal cells, or chimeras, should be treated as human beings where they have a preponderance of human genes, the bishops say in a sumbission to a Government committee. And there should be no ban on implanting such hybrid embryos in the womb of the woman who supplied the original egg, they say in their submission on the Draft Tissue and Embryos Bill. “Such a woman is the genetic mother, or partial mother, of the embryo; should...

MEXICO CITY: US lawyers for a former altar boy plan to grill Mexico’s top Roman Catholic clergyman next month as part of an effort to sue him in a California court over claims he protected a suspected pedophile priest. Cardinal Norberto Rivera faces an Aug 8 deposition in Mexico City, one of the world’s largest Catholic dioceses, Jeffrey Anderson, the plaintiff’s lawyer, said on Tuesday. Rivera and Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony are named in a US civil suit filed by Joaquin Aguilar Mendez in Los Angeles. Mendez says a priest named Nicolas Aguilar raped him in Mexico in 1994...

Archbishop Pius Ncube, an outspoken critic of authoritarian Zimbabwean President Mugabe, is being taken to court for allegedly conducting an affair with a secretary, a married woman. The outspoken critic of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, Archbishop Pius Ncube, is being taken to court for allegedly having an affair with one of his secretaries. The lawsuit, filed yesterday by the husband of the woman in question, Mrs. Rosemary Sibanda, asks for the equivalent of $160,000 as compensation for emotional damages and the loss of companionship. In reaction to the filing of charges against the cleric, the Archbishop’s lawyer said that the...

3">Roman Catholic apologists are going about the land presenting seminars and talks in parish halls and church buildings, all designed to 1) confirm the faithful in their allegiance to Rome and the Papacy, and 2) invite the "separated brethren home to Mother Church." While the number of RC apologists has grown exponentially over the past decade, the one gentleman who has been out-front, or maybe better, in light of the article we will be reviewing, "up-front," the longest, is Karl Keating, president of Catholic Answers. In a recent article in the December, 1996 edition of This Rock magazine, Keating introduces...

NOTEThis Thread Is Offered As A Companion Thread To Islam, Protestantism and Divergence from Catholicism The Papacy and Islam by Richard Bennett and Robert J. Nicholson New Partnership with MuslimsIn his message to the predominately Muslim nation of Kazakhstan twelve days after the horrors of September 11 th , 2001, the Pope declared, "'There is one God'. The Apostle proclaims before all else the absolute oneness of God. This is a truth which Christians inherited from the children of Israel and which they share with Muslims: it is faith in the one God, 'Lord of heaven and earth' (Lk.10:21), almighty...

Believe it or not, it took no more than five minutes to debate the translation proper. Word from the floor is that "no more than a handful" of objections were raised, most of which were eventually withdrawn... Everything was handled in 45 minutes, word is that it was relatively easy, and not a single adaptation was contested. (You can thank the return of "Christ has died" for that.) In the name of the Committee on the Liturgy and himself, Bishop Trautman recommended that the translation be approved. And the vote was taken....

Hysteria Central October 2005 Michael O'Brien is an accomplished Catholic novelist. His strength is fiction. In The Catholic World Report (April), he ventures into nonfiction, specifically political science, and what he writes turns out to be fiction as well. He writes about "The New Totalitarianism" that is already here or on its way because of "hate" crimes legislation and same-sex "marriage." The NOR has spoken out against active homosexuals (even calling them fags, rump rangers, and light in the loafers), and as a result subscriptions have been canceled. And the NOR has spoken out against "hate" crimes legislation and same-sex...

The tiny church was packed to capacity this morning as Maronite Bishop Mansour and Latin Bishop Hubbard, accompanied by 2 chorbishops, and priests from both rites processed down the aisle to the strains of Toe Bashlom (Come in Peace, O Good Shepherd). The celebrants were accompanied by a Knights of Columbus color guard. ( I nearly levitated at the sight!) A local tv station sent a film crew and the Albany Diocese's newspaper was represented by their chief staff writer, her husband and a photographer. Some observations to enhance this recounting of today's event. I happened to meet The Evangelist's...

The title of the Big-Boys.com piece is "I Gotta Get Me One of These!" If you're into airplanes at all, one look at the video for this 6' long jet-powered F-14 Tomcat in full test-flight mode will have you uttering similar sentiments. http://www.big-boys.com/articles/f14model.html This is AWESOME!

SPOKANE, Wash. -- The bankruptcy filing of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane raises the prospect that some or all of the 82 parishes could be sold to pay victims of sexual abuse by priests. It could also prompt Catholic schools to close; Catholic cemeteries to be sold and the bodies disinterred; and charities tied to the Catholic church to scale back their work. That has outraged some Catholics who wonder why they must pay for the depredations of a few pedophile priests. "Do 90,000 innocent people deserve to be punished for the sins of those few," said Robert Hailey,...

Baptist church 'fake pope' sign attracting attention, criticism By JEANNINE F. HUNTER, hunter@knews.com April 13, 2005 NEWPORT, Tenn. - Two days after being posted, a church marquee message that questions the purpose of the papacy is still attracting attention in this small community. "What I am trying to do is to let people know there's only one way to heaven through Jesus Christ," said the Rev. Cline Franklin, pastor of Hilltop Baptist Church. "There's no need for help. God sent his son, Jesus Christ. We're all priests if we're saved. I don't need to go to anybody else to pray."...

<p>We hope to serve ... earlier initial state of consciousness AT 7:30 a.m. we celebrated of Mass with the Pope he is breathing, labored or slightly...</p> <p>Pope had in mind young people...</p> <p>This is difficult ...</p> <p>Pope seemed to refer to young people when he repeatedly seemed to say "I've been looking for you and now you've come to me... "</p>

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope John Paul's condition was "very grave" on Friday, the Vatican said in a statement, adding that the Pontiff had suffered shock and cardio-circulatory collapse. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the Pope had been given the Holy Viaticum -- communion reserved for those close to death -- and had decided himself not to go to hospital for treatment. The statement said the Pope had received cardio-respiratory assistance on Thursday and on Friday morning was still "conscious, lucid and tranquil."

VIDEOS: (Windows Media Format) - First Test taxi - VIDEO1(3.4MB) - First Video of Takeoff - VIDEO2 (2.1MB) - Long video of flying - VIDEO3 (29.2MB) - Video of the Crash - VIDEO4 (4.6MB) B-52 Specs: Builder: Gordon Nichols Contributing Team Members: Lance Bell (Co-constuctor, plans) Neil Dare (Undercarriage systems design and build) Dave Biddington (Engine pod design and moulding) Bob Everitt (Tail cone and rear armament construction) Wingspan: 23' Length: 23' Speed: Range: Dry Weight: 297 lbs Fueled Weight: 330lbs (inside the CAA 150kg limit) Fuel Capacity: 22 litres Jet A1 Kit Manufacturer: N/A Kit Availability: N/A Servo/Usage List:...