Free Republic

During Holy Week, as Christians recall how a public change of heart led to what we consider to be the ultimate sacrifice in a state-sanctioned execution, it is a fitting moment to reflect on how justice is carried out today. California holds the largest death row population in the nation, with hundreds of men and women still living under a sentence of death. Yet our state has not carried out an execution in years and has already begun moving toward a more humane vision of justice.

“Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” the first American pope, citing a Bible passage, told congregants in St. Peter’s Square, according to The Associated Press. “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them,” he added.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said on Thursday that the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran does not meet the Catholic Church’s criteria for a just war. “No, it does not seem to meet the conditions,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an academic conference at the Vatican Apostolic Library. When asked by EWTN News about the decision of the United States to attack Iran, Parolin referred to recent remarks by Cardinal Robert McElroy, archbishop of Washington, D.C. In an interview with his archdiocesan newspaper, The Catholic Standard, McElroy said the intervention in Iran failed to meet several...

[Catholic Caucus] Pro-LGBT Belgian bishop vows to ordain married men to priesthood, citing vocations crisisAntwerp’s Bishop Johan Bonny argued that existing exceptions allowing married priests to minister in the Catholic Church undermine Latin Rite discipline.A Belgian bishop has announced his plan to start ordaining married men to the priesthood by 2028.Bishop Johan Bonny of the Diocese of Antwerp, Belgium, published a pastoral letter on March 20 in which he outlined the practical implementation of the “Synod on Synodality” in his diocese.Addressing the issue of the low number of vocations, he said that “the question is no longer whether the Church...

Charlie Kirk and His Surprising Sentiments Toward the Catholic ChurchThere is a lot of evidence that Charlie Kirk was leading his family towards the Catholic Church; not least of all, his public call to venerate the Mother of God.The news of Charlie Kirk’s murder has had a shocking impact in the world of faith and politics. Known widely as a conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA, Kirk often appeared in the public eye as a firebrand commentator, someone eager to spar in debates over politics, culture, and the future of America. Yet, beneath the sharp-edged persona, there was...

On Wednesday, March 18, Pope Leo XIV stood before a private Vatican audience of European bishops and World Health Organization officials and delivered a message that should discomfit every lawmaker in Washington: “Universal health coverage is not merely a technical goal; it is primarily a moral imperative.”

Pope Leo XIV made a plea on March 18 for countries to offer their citizens universal healthcare, calling it a “moral imperative” that people have access to the health services they need. Previous popes have called for countries to offer universal healthcare, but calling an issue a “moral imperative” is an unusually strong term for a pope to use, indicating that something is required by Catholic teaching. “Universal health coverage is... a moral imperative for societies that wish to call themselves just,” the Pope said in a meeting with participants in a healthcare conference organised by the World Health Organization...

The Connection Between Zionism, Religious Liberty, and Anti-Catholic BigotryIs it now forbidden to question Zionism without being branded “antisemitic”? Drawing on the words of World Zionist leader Nahum Goldmann himself, this investigation exposes a growing effort to redefine dissent as hate—while tracing the deeper roots of the conflict to Vatican II, religious liberty, and a decades-long struggle over the soul of Catholic teaching. What emerges is a striking paradox: in the name of tolerance, Catholics are increasingly told which beliefs they are no longer allowed to hold.Over the past few years, Zionist political figures and pundits have increasingly instructed Americans...

Ted Cruz endorses article accusing Traditional Catholics of being ‘parasites’Traditional Catholics are in the firing line in an article Ted Cruz described as 'the best and most comprehensive explanation of what we're fighting.'On Sunday, March 15, Senator Ted Cruz retweeted a long anti-Catholic X essay by the Republican Zionist account “Insurrection Barbie,” stating:READ every word of this.It’s the best & most comprehensive explanation of what we’re fighting.In the essay, which runs over 8,000 words, the author claimed that the Republican Party was being taken over by a small bloc of Catholics and undermining its support for “Christian Zionism.”A chief influence...

Catholic Caucus] German bishops slammed for naming priest involved in homosexual scandal to abuse victims boardThe German Bishops’ Conference is facing backlash for promoting heterodox Fr. Wolfgang Rothe, an LGBT activist linked to a major homosexual seminary scandal, with multiple bishops reportedly criticizing the appointment.The German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) has faced massive criticism for naming a heterodox priest, who has been accused of having a homosexual relationship with a seminarian, to its advisory board for sexual abuse victims.A recently published exposé by the German magazine Cicero revealed that Fr. Wolfgang Rothe’s appointment to the DBK’s advisory board for sexual abuse...

Fr. Ripperger: Abomination of desolation refers to Catholic Church becoming ‘compromised’The Book of Daniel refers to the abomination of desolation as tied up with the abolition of a public 'daily sacrifice.'Exorcist Father Ripperger shared in an explosive recent interview that Scripture’s reference to the “abomination of desolation” taking its place in “the temple” is “actually a reference to the Catholic Church being compromised.”Fr. Ripperger explained the reference in an interview with podcaster and former U.S. Navy SEAL Shawn Ryan while refuting Protestants who mistakenly believe that the Book of Daniel’s reference to the “temple” in which the abomination of desolation...

Pope Leo doubles down on Vatican rejection of ‘Co-Redemptrix’At a time of apostasy, impurity, and confusion, the faithful do not need a diminished Mother.On Thursday morning, Pope Leo XIV publicly praised a Vatican document that has already sparked one of the most serious Marian controversies in decades.Addressing the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Pope commended the doctrinal note Mater Populi Fidelis, issued under the extremely controversial Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, infamous for his books on kissing and orgasms.Leo praised the Fernández document, saying it “encourages popular Marian devotion, deepening its biblical and theological foundations, and at the...

The Diabolical Insanity of the Vatican’s New Book About Methodist and Pseudo-Catholic DialogueThe Vatican recently published a short book about the progress of ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Methodists, "We Believe in One God". This recent work of diabolical disorientation ought to be a wake-up call for all serious Catholics to unambiguously denounce the false ecumenical movement that has thrived for sixty years.As reported by OSV News, the Vatican publishing house recently released a short book about the progress of ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Methodists, We Believe in One God: Sixty Years of Methodists and Catholics Walking Together:“Celebrating almost...

Meet the new pope, same as the old pope Is Pope Leo XIV just Francis 2.0?At the time of his election in May and in the months immediately following, this correspondent expressed a cautious optimism that Pope Leo XIV would reunite the Catholic Church after the catastrophic papacy (in the late Cardinal Pell’s words) of Francis. Papa Prevost was owed at least that much, since it is generally unwise to rush to a priori judgements; the man had to be given a chance to get his feet under the desk. Having had that chance, what has emerged from the Vatican...

Bishops in Germany, Switzerland are supplanting Church teaching with secular ideals: priestIn Germany and in Zurich, the bishops have rendered the observance of the Sixth Commandment optional by exempting Church employees from living according to Catholic teaching.Pope Leo the Great impressively told the faithful of his time: “Christian, recognize your dignity and, now that you share in God’s own nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning.” The current canon law says the same thing in CIC, can. 209: “The Christian faithful, even in their own manner of acting, are always obliged to maintain communion with the...

Leading Mariologists Publish Scathing Critique of Vatican Note on Mary’s TitlesIn a lengthy response, the International Marian Association Theological Commission highlights what it sees as significant errors and omissions in the Vatican’s controversial doctrinal note Mater Populi Fidelis.One of the Catholic Church’s foremost associations of Mariologists has issued a strongly critical response to Mater Populi Fidelis, a recently published Vatican doctrinal note that has been criticized for its diminution of some long-established devotional Marian titles.In a 23-page document published Dec. 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the International Marian Association Theological Commission (IMATC) points to various elements of Mater...

Is Mary Co-Redemptrix? The Whole Doctrine Explained On November 4, 2025, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published a doctrinal Note in which it stated that the use of the traditional Marian title of Co-Redemptrix would be not only unnecessary, but even harmful. In the same document, however, the doctrine contained in that title is at the same time reaffirmed—though not always with precision. This article seeks to clarify the traditional meaning of this truth of faith, which for centuries has accompanied the Christian people in their sensus fidei.The Marian dogmasTo understand who the Most Holy Mary is,...

BELEM, Brazil (AP) — Pope Leo XIV on Monday urged countries at United Nations climate talks to take “concrete actions” to stop climate change that is threatening the planet, telling them humans are failing in their response to global warming and that God’s creation “is crying out in floods, droughts, storms and relentless heat.” In a video message played for religious leaders gathered in Belem, Leo said nations had made progress, “but not enough.” “One in three people live in great vulnerability because of these climate changes,” Leo said. “To them, climate change is not a distant threat, and to...

Pope Leo XIV met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the first time on Thursday, and the two men discussed the urgent need to provide assistance to civilians in Gaza and to pursue a two-state solution to end the conflict in the region. The meeting, which lasted about an hour and was described as “cordial” in a brief Vatican statement, comes nearly a month after the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement came into effect in the Gaza Strip. The pope and Abbas had not met in person previously. They had spoken over the phone in July to talk about developments in the conflict...

Speaking in English, and reaching a US audience directly, he reiterated the Catholic belief that every Christian will ultimately be judged on how they welcomed "the foreigner". In some of his strongest criticism to date of President Donald Trump's administration, the first ever US-born pope also warned that the US bombing of Venezuelan ships, suspected of carrying drugs, risked increasing tensions in the region.