Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] “Blessing Gives Strength to Love”: German Bishops’ Conference Releases Authorized Pastoral Guidelines on Imparting Blessings to Homosexual CouplesIt’s as if they were just waiting for the perfect moment—the moment when the last obstacle to their plan would be removed, and no one could stop them. The German original may be found here. -PAK“Blessing Gives Strength to Love”:Blessings for couples who love each otherHandout for pastorsResolution of the Whole Conference [of German Bishops], April 4, 2025 [released April 23]“The Church wishes to proclaim in word and deed the message of the God-given dignity of every person. This message guides...

“‘Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, “You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.” But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black’” (Matthew 5:33–36). In the regular business of life, people use vows and oaths—at marriage ceremonies,...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business; End to Sex Slavery; Healthcare, 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 5:14)Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

Daily Readings from the USCCBAnd it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:30–31Two of Jesus’ disciples had been discussing the events of the past week as they walked the seven-mile journey along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They previously...

The Death of Pope Francis: The End of An Era? - by Roberto de Mattei At 7:35 a.m., on April 21, 2025, Easter Monday, Jorge Mario Bergoglio's soul separated from his mortal body to present itself to the Divine Judgment. Only on the day of the Last Judgment will we know what the sentence of the supreme tribunal to which each of us must one day present ourselves was for Pope Francis. Let us pray today for the suffrage of his soul, as the Church publicly prays in its novendials, and, precisely because the Church is a public society, let...

Pope Francis’s Sharp Left Turn Toward HeresyJorge Mario Bergoglio became the 266th successor of St. Peter and the head of 1.4 billion Catholics on March 13, 2013. His pontifical persona as Pope Francis, taken in honor of St. Francis of Assisi — the patron saint of ecology and animals — warmed the hearts of both Catholics and Protestant,s and even non-Christians.But Francis’s honeymoon with faithful Catholics lasted just four months. While flying back from an apostolic visit to Brazil on July 29, 2013, a reporter asked him if there was a “gay lobby” in the Vatican.Francis’s reply was shocking: “If...

[Catholic Caucus] The Vatican is now in Utter Chaos, As It Was Foreseeable by The WandererArgentinaApril 23, 2025Shortly after the death of Pope Francis, the Vatican was a hornet's nest, in every sense of the expression. In other words, it was and is chaos. It could not be otherwise when those who are at the head of the most delicate mechanisms of the Church are useless people placed there at the whim of the tyrant. The first major problem faced is the location. Bergoglio's decision not to reside in the Apostolic Palace, because he was very humble as we all...

🇺🇸Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem 🇮🇱(4/23/25)[Prayer]Names and Titles of God the Holy Spirit (The One Who Does Battle For Us) 2 Chronicles 20:14-1714 Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation; 15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is...

23 April 2025 Easter Wednesday St.Adalbert Church in Prague, Czech Republic Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: C(I).First readingActs 3:1-10I will give you what I have: in the name of Jesus, walk!Once, when Peter and John were going up to the Temple for the prayers at the ninth hour, it happened that there was a man being carried past. He was a cripple from birth; and they used to put him down every day near the Temple entrance called the Beautiful Gate so that he could beg from the people going in. When this man saw Peter and John on...

Now this is funny what I'm going to tell you. .... All the theologians tell us we ought to keep the 10 commandments. They all do. Billy Graham, everybody. And then we say, what about the 4th commandment. Oh, they say the commandments were nailed to the cross. ...... You can't have it both ways. Let's be a little honest. Let's not lie. The commandments are eternal. There's only one commandment that talks about times. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath...

“‘It was said, “Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce”; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery’” (Matthew 5:31–32). Jesus no more approves of divorce than did Moses (cf. Matt. 19:6). Adultery, another reality God never condoned, is the only reason under the law that allows for dissolving of a marriage, with the guilty party to be put to death (Lev. 20:10). Because Jesus mentions this here and again in Matthew 19:9,...

Join with fellow FREEPERS across the world to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology, Religious Freedom and the Media. "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

Nalin Haley, the son of former U.S. presidential candidate Nikki Haley, was received into the Catholic Church on Palm Sunday. “As parents, Michael and I always prayed that our children would have a faith and relationship with God,” Nikki Haley posted on social media Sunday. “Today we were so proud to support Nalin in his faith journey as he was confirmed into the Catholic Church, completed RCIA, and received his first holy Communion,” she said of her son. Nikki Haley, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and South Carolina governor, was born and raised in the Sikh faith...

Not even months into his new pontificate, Pope Francis declared, to a group of young people in Paraguay, “Go out and make a mess.” A puzzling remark from the Successor of St. Peter. As the years of his papacy went on, we witnessed what he meant. Year after year, he kept his promise. And the Church descended into an unprecedented chaos. Recall St. Augustine’s classic definition of peace: the tranquillitas ordinis (the tranquility of order). During Pope Francis’ reign, there was nothing of order and certainly no tranquility. Upheaval followed upheaval; shock gave way to more shock; ambiguity was compounded...

Could Cardinal Parolin be validly elected pope?For Cardinal Parolin, the Vatican II 'renewal' is to be brought about through compromise with the proponents of liberalism and naturalism, rather than by combatting these errors.Pietro Parolin is widely regarded as one of the leading candidates who may be elected at the next conclave. Parolin was named a cardinal by Francis in 2014 and has been a member of his influential Council of Cardinal Advisers since that year. He played a prominent role in Francis’s radical revolution and has been a strong supporter of “synodality”, which he sees as a continuation of Vatican...

The Barack Obama of the Roman Catholic Church Has DiedThe twelve-year reign of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis, as the head of the Roman Catholic Church began shortly after the strange and still-unexplained resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, and seven weeks into the second term of Barack Obama as president of the United States. It was fitting that Obama was president during the first four years of Francis’ papacy, as Francis was the Barack Obama of popes: just as Obama did as president of the United States, Pope Francis worked to weaken, instead of strengthen, the institution he was leading,...

Pope Francis Dies at 88 Marking the End of a Tumultuous and Divisive PontificatePope Francis’ death this morning marks the end of a modernising and seemingly benign pontificate for most of the world, but for those who have followed it with any closeness, a time of turmoil, disruption and deep division.Elected on a mandate of reform, Francis set out to make the Church less self-referential and more mission oriented, closer to the faithful and the peripheries, and more relevant to the times. In many ways he achieved this: those who would never give the Catholic Church a second glance, perceiving...

[Catholic Caucus] About the Conclave: Unusual Specific Names You Read About Will Have Been Selected to Deceive You and Manipulate the ProcessNews pages and newspapers are filled today with reports on who are those most likely to succeed Francis as the next Roman Pontiff. While Romans have for centuries cautioned outsiders that, "he who enters [the conclave] as pope, leaves as a Cardinal," this is not exactly what we have in mind.What we do have in mind is what happened in the 2013 conclave, a conclave that should have never taken place and was caused by the absurd and indefensible...

Daily Readings from the USCCBJesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” John 20:17Mary of Magdala was one of the first persons to whom Jesus appeared. She was deeply devoted to Him, especially because of the great mercy He offered her when He forgave her manifest sins and expelled seven demons from her. After He had done that, Mary became a devout follower and was one of...

The Vatican has released images of Pope Francis being laid out in an open coffin ahead of the Confirmation of the Death of the Pontiff ceremony. Francis died Monday after suffering a stroke that led to irreversible heart failure following a weeks-long hospitalization with pneumonia. He was 88. The pontiff’s body had been placed in the coffin late Monday, with Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Vatican camerlengo — the “chamberlain” who essentially acts as head of the Vatican between the end of a papacy and the start of the next — reading the official declaration of death aloud in an intimate...