Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis says God loves homosexuals ‘as they are’ in new memoirIn his new memoirs, Pope Francis defended the controversial 2023 text Fiducia Supplicans and also appeared to suggest that there is no need for conversion away from the homosexual lifestyle.Pope Francis with New Ways Ministry, October 2024.Expanding his defense of the 2023 document approving blessing of same-sex couples, Pope Francis attested that such blessings are for “people” but “not the relationships.”“It is the people who are blessed, not the relationships,” said Pope Francis of the blessings authorized by the controversial document Fiducia Supplicans.Francis’ comments, found in his...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis accuses young Catholic priests who like the Latin Mass of ‘mental imbalance’Pope Francis has renewed his oft-repeated criticisms of young Catholics devoted to the Latin Mass, accusing them of practicing 'backwardism' and of 'sectarian worldliness' in his new wide-ranging memoir 'Hope' released Tuesday.Pope Francis has issued fresh criticism of devotees of the traditional Mass, accusing them of practicing “backwardism” and of “sectarian worldliness.”“From a sociological point of view, it is interesting to consider the phenomenon of traditionalism, this ‘backwardism’ that regularly returns each century, this reference to a supposed perfect age that each time is another...

Pope Francis named Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego as the archbishop of Washington, D.C., this week, a leader with a reputation for taking a progressive stance on hot-topic issues within the Catholic Church. The Vatican announced on Monday McElroy's appointment as the new archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., to replace the retiring Cardinal Wilton Gregory. As McElroy has made headlines over the years with his views on abortion, LGBT rights and immigration, the following pages highlight four things to know about Cardinal McElroy. Supports communion for pro-choice Catholic politicians The election of Democratic President Joe...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Cupich: Put aside preconceptions and listen to LGBTQ peopleHis master speaksThe synodal approach to church life that Pope Francis is encouraging has greatly assisted me. It has forced me to rethink how I serve in the church and how I minister to those I serve. Perhaps the most important insight I have gained is that church leaders should be wary about presuming too much about people. We do better when we listen to others before we speak or make judgments about them. Given our years of education and preparation in the seminary and the deference that people...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis’ remarks on sex abuse ring hollow after appointing McElroy as DC bishopWhile Pope Francis may call for better protection of the young and vulnerable, his elevation of Cardinal Robert McElroy as Archbishop of Washington, D.C., demonstrates that his actual regard for them is somewhat different to what his words suggest.Pope Francis with Cardinal McElroy (L), Cardinals Tobin & Cupich, on Oct 10, 2024.While Pope Francis decried any form of neglect or maltreatment of children on Wednesday, numerous commentators have opined that by appointing Cardinal Robert McElroy to the Archdiocese of Washington, Francis shows he has no...

[Catholic Caucus] Chicago: Blase Cupich Wants Homosexual AdoptionHomosexual activist Blase J. Cupich, Cardinal of Chicago, a close friend of homosexual activist Robert McElroy, now Cardinal of Washington, has published an article on the website of homosexual activist James Martin, a Jesuit.In the article, Blase J. Cupich calls for "putting aside our preconceived ideas and really listening" in order to approach "people in a variety of life situations" [e.g. paedophiles, racists, abortionists, green politicians,...].Playing on emotions, the homosexual activist speaks of 'many encounters' he has had over the years with activists who promote homosexual sins.According to Cupich, these people '[rightly] feel...

[Catholic Caucus] McCarrick Successor McElroy: Francis’s Response to Trump?Back in 2018 during the “Summer of Shame,” the successor to (Cardinal) McCarrick was Donald Wuerl. The latter claimed he knew nothing of McCarrick’s crimes crying to heaven, but many were skeptical, and with good reason. He initially denied knowledge, and then admitted he did, in fact, know. After the Vatican assured us that they would speedily get to the bottom of the McCarrick scandal, a man aligned with McCarrick and his agenda was appointed in 2019: Wilton Gregory, shortly thereafter Cardinal. The next year, the McCarrick report was released by the...

ROME — Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich has warned of “prophetic” denunciation by the U.S. bishops if President-elect Donald Trump tries to deport illegal immigrants. In an interview this weekend with the Argentinian daily La Nación, Cardinal Cupich said that the bishops “are going to have to be prophetic and denounce any abuse of human dignity that may occur” during the Trump presidency, especially regarding immigrants. “We are going to be vigilant and we are going to defend the human dignity of immigrants,” he stated.

ROME — The newly appointed Catholic archbishop of Washington, DC, said Monday that President Trump’s plans for deporting illegal immigrants is “incompatible with Catholic doctrine.”“At the same time,” he continued, “we are called always to have a sense of the dignity of every human person. And thus, plans which have been talked about at some levels of having a wider indiscriminate massive deportation across the country would be something that would be incompatible with Catholic doctrine.” (snip)The cardinal did not elaborate on which elements of Catholic doctrine he believes prohibit the deportation of migrants who enter a country illegally.

ROME — Pope Francis has named progressive San Diego Cardinal Robert McElroy — a vocal Trump-basher — as the next archbishop of Washington D.C. Shortly after Trump’s first-term inauguration in 2017, then-bishop McElroy urged an audience of social justice warriors to disrupt Trump’s efforts to fulfill his campaign promises. In a 20-minute address to the U.S. regional meeting of the World Meeting of Popular Movements, McElroy said that “President Trump was the candidate of disruption. He was the disrupter.”

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis Is Still a Very Public Rupnik FanDuring his address to the Roman Curia for the exchange of Christmas greetings on 21 December, Francis briefly left the text of his speech to refer to a painting by Father Marko Rupnik that he has in his studio.He had already referred to it on two other occasions, notably in 2023 when he recorded a short video message for the XVI Mariological Congress "The Mariology of Pope Francis" in Aparecida, Brazil.On 21 December, Francis said: "There is a picture that I have in my study that represents precisely the Synkatabasis...

[Catholic Caucus] Kentucky bishop cites Francis in letter defending Mass for pro-LGBT groupBishop John Iffert's saying of the Mass for the dissident pro-LGBT group comes just a year after he made headlines for canceling two priests in his diocese who offer the Traditional Latin Mass.A Francis-appointed Kentucky bishop who canceled two Latin Mass priests last year is defending his decision to offer an “LGBT Mass” for a dissident organization backed by neighboring heterodox Bishop John Stowe of Lexington, who serves as its ecclesial adviser. On August 28 at St. Joseph’s Church in Cold Spring, Kentucky, Bishop John Iffert of Covington...

[Catholic Caucus] New 🌈 Cardinal: "Church Was Unjust Against Adulterers" - "Only Polygamy Is Adultery"Prohibiting divorced people who live in adultery from sacrilegiously grabbing Communion is "a huge, enormous injustice," homosexual activist Jean-Paul Vesco, Bishop of Algiers and since Saturday a Cardinal, believes.He admitted to LifeSiteNews.com (December 12) that "it is the position of the Church" that such adulterers are indeed adulterers: "If you don't come out of this sin of adultery, well, you can't receive the sacraments.""But for me, adultery is when you have two people in your life at the same time."And: "To say adultery in all situations...

[Catholic Caucus] EXCLUSIVE: Cardinal Radcliffe defends controversial 2013 text on homosexual actsSpeaking to LifeSite's Vatican correspondent at the sidelines of the consistory, Cardinal Radcliffe defended his controversial 2013 text in which he likened same-sex activity to Christ's gift of self in the Holy Eucharist.Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe OP sought to clarify and defend one of his most controversial writings on homosexuality, in which he likened same-sex activity to Christ’s self-gift, and added that the Church needs to have a more general principle of “welcome” for LGBT people.Speaking in an interview with LifeSiteNews on the day before he was created cardinal December...

ROME — Pope Francis has proclaimed a special jubilee pilgrimage for gays and all LGBTQ+ people, Italian media announced this weekend. For the first time, a specific Jubilee event will be dedicated to Catholic homosexuals and LGBT people, noted the Italian daily, Il Messaggero, despite the Catholic Church considering homosexual acts to be intrinsically disordered. On September 5, Catholic members of the LGBTQI+ community will be hosted by the Jesuit Church of the Gesù, in central Rome, for a vigil service. The Jubilee 2025 initiative is sponsored by Jonathan’s Tent, an Italian pro-LGBTQ organization founded in 2018 by Catholic priest...

[Catholic Caucus] German Bishop: Church Teaching on Homosexuality Depends on "the Times"What the Church's documents say about homosexuality "is time-related and must be reviewed in the light of the insights we have today from a moral-theological and ethical perspective," Auxiliary Bishop Ludger Schepers, 71, of Essen, Germany, told Dw.com (December 4) [implying that revelation is the same as the zeitgeist of 1968].A homosexual [and a pedophile?] "is the way he or she is now, that's just the way it is".What happens at the level of the universal Church, such as at the ex-synod, is for Schepers "not always clear, especially...

[Catholic Caucus] Kentucky prelate calls lack of election response from American Church ‘disappointing’In the month or so since former President Donald Trump was elected to occupy the White House for a second term, the majority of American bishops have either not commented on the election publicly, or issued a generic statement about the importance of civility, unity, and democracy.That extends to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, where – outside of responses to Trump’s stated plan for mass deportations – not much has been said. Bishop John Stowe, in a recent conversation with Crux, said that reality isn’t surprising...

HARTFORD, Connecticut - An extraordinary minister of Holy Communion who identifies as “transgender” said that Archbishop Christopher Coyne of Hartford, Connecticut, told him that he supports the so-called “LGBTQ community” and that he agreed to change the archdiocese’s transgender policy for students to be “more positive.” “Following my visit with Pope Francis, I was able to meet with our new Archbishop Christopher Coyne,” a gender-confused man going by the name “Lynn” Discenza wrote in a November 20 article published by LGBT activist group New Ways Ministry. St. Patrick-St. Anthony in Hartford, a Franciscan parish, recently held a Mass in anticipation...

Mahony calls on US bishops to denounce ‘chilling’ Trump plan for mass deportationsFacing what he calls the “chilling and frightening reality” of President-elect Donald Trump’s plan for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants in the United States, Cardinal Roger Mahony is encouraging America’s Catholic bishops to raise their voices.“The pending ominous initiative to round up and deport some eleven million undocumented immigrants across the country is a chilling and frightening reality,” Mahony, the archbishop emeritus of Los Angeles, told Crux, noting the impact deportation policies will have on mixed families in the United States – those where some family members are...

[Catholic Caucus] Chaos Management: Bergoglio's Fatal Ties to MadridIn mid-October, a video emerged showing a parish priest from Madrid, Spain, in a bar in Chueca - Madrid's gay district - bragging about the size of his friend's private parts.The priest's name is Rev. José Castro Cea. As a result, Cardinal José Cobo of Madrid recommended that the priest "take some time off". The plan was for Castro to fly to the United States.But that is only the last part of the story.Sometime around 2016/2017, Father Elías Royón SJ, Francis's Spanish informant, told Bergoglio that Cardinal Carlos Osoro of Madrid was...