Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] Leo-appointed archbishop of Vienna supports ‘ordination of women’ Archbishop Josef Grünwidl also argued for the abolition of priestly celibacy, stating it has 'nothing to do with our faith, with the truths of the faith, or with dogma.'Archbishop Josef Grünwidl of Vienna has said that he wants the “ordination of women” but thinks it is not “realistic” at the moment.In an interview with Austria’s public radio station Ö1, the new archbishop of Vienna addressed a wide range of issues, including the questions of female ordination, mandatory priestly celibacy, and euthanasia.Grünwidl noted that women are already serving in many areas...

[Catholic Caucus] Leo-appointed bishop urges Catholic brotherhoods to welcome ‘gay couples’ Spanish Bishop José Antonio Satué exhorted the Council of Brotherhoods of Cadiz to love gay couples ‘as they are’ while welcoming ‘with joy’ the ‘divorced and remarried,’ without mentioning a call to conversion.The bishop of Málaga, Spain, urged Catholic religious brotherhoods to welcome “with joy” gay couples and other people living in situations contrary to Catholic moral teaching.Pope Leo XIV appointee José Antonio Satué, at the beginning of a training course of the Council of Brotherhoods of Cadiz, said that in the brotherhood everyone should feel “welcomed, respected and...

Italy’s Catholic bishops promote Koran as ‘revealed Word of God’ in schools Cdl. Matteo Zuppi presented the Islamic education program for state-school religion teachers, saying Catholic religion classes should serve as a ‘laboratory of culture and dialogue.’Italy’s Catholic bishops are promoting a new Islamic education program that describes the Koran as the “revealed Word of God,” while Cardinal Matteo Zuppi has said Catholic religion classes should be treated as a “laboratory of culture and dialogue.”On October 21, Zuppi, archbishop of Bologna and president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), presented the new educational initiative, “Factsheets for Understanding Islam,” at an...

Quran is "Word of God" and Muhammad "chosen by God" - says Italian bishops’ school material. The publication, Schede per conoscere l’Islam (“Sheets for Understanding Islam”), was prepared by the CEI and the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI). It comprises 11 teaching sheets intended for use in Catholic religious instruction in Italian schools. They were presented at Palazzo Borromeo in Rome on October 21, at an event attended by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi.Sheet 2 describes Muhammad as “chosen by God to carry His message and to establish and guide the new community of believers.” It also presents him...

[Catholic Caucus] Fr. Chad Ripperger silenced by his bishop for a year Denver Archbishop James Golka has ordered Fr. Chad Ripperger to cease all public ministry – no talks, no preaching, no writing – for one year.Denver Archbishop James Golka has ordered Father Chad Ripperger, the most widely heard living American priest on exorcism and spiritual warfare, to cease all public ministry for one year, LifeSiteNews has confirmed directly with the priest. The order seems to cover public appearances, online homilies, and writings. Talks already booked are to be cancelled. Ripperger was scheduled to speak at the upcoming LifeSiteNews 30th...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop bans St. Michael prayer at the end of Masses The St. Michael the Archangel prayer ban at Masses comes a year after Bishop Mark Beckman limited the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass in the Diocese of Knoxville.Bishop Mark Beckman of Knoxville, Tennessee, banned the praying of the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel at the end of masses in his diocese.In a statement to members of the Diocese of Knoxville published Friday, Beckman lamented that as he has traveled throughout his diocese, he “noticed that in some of our parishes additional prayers, including the Prayer to...

Catholic parish to host female Lutheran ‘pastor’ for pro-LGBT talk Catholic leaders call on Archbishop Jeffrey Grob to 'cancel the event' led by a pro-LGBT 'heretic' Lutheran 'minister.'Three Catholic organizations are calling on the Archbishop of Milwaukee to stop a parish event featuring a female Lutheran pastor who will discuss ways the parish can be more supportive of homosexuality and transgender ideology.“How can other faith traditions help us more fully welcome LGBTQ+ people in our Catholic community,” a Facebook post from St. Sebastian parish in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee asks.The parish “welcome” group will host “Rev. Rachel Young Binter, a...

[Catholic Caucus] The Catholic Tradition No Longer Concealed by Memories Denied Grateful for this insightful analysis via Facebook that aligns closely with many of my own experiences and diagnostics. A bishop’s remonstrance to his young priests urging they never allow the young people to see the “old Mass”, for fear they would prefer it to the new, comes to mind. The denial and concealment the enemies of the Faith used for many years is no longer possible with the collective access and common memory provided by the Internet.“A curious cultural phenomenon is unfolding within the modern Catholic Church: the generation...

Leo XIV appoints Archbishop: “The Church is called to disappear so that the Kingdom may grow.” Leo XIV appoints Archbishop: “The Church is called to disappear so that the Kingdom may grow.” Today, Pope Leo XIV appointed Father Mario León Dorado, 52 — a T-shirt guy and an adherent of the heretical Abu Dhabi program — as Coadjutor Archbishop of Rabat, Morocco. Born in Madrid, Dorado joined the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1996 and was ordained a priest in 2001.He has served as Apostolic Prefect of Western Sahara since 2013.“The Church is called to disappear”In September 2022, he...

[Catholic Caucus] Florida AG, Catholic conference spar over vaccine exemptions The Catholic conference says the state cannot require it to offer religious exemptions to vaccines.The state of Florida and the bishops of Florida are embroiled in a heated debate over vaccine policies in the state’s Catholic schools.The state government is expanding religious exemptions to required childhood vaccines, and the attorney general has demanded that Florida’s Catholic schools comply in order to maintain eligibility for state scholarships and vouchers.But the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops says the state is violating its freedom of religion by attempting to dictate its application of...

[Catholic Caucus] Spain awakens for Ceuta and not a single bishop in the squares One thousand squares filled at the same time, a forest of Spanish flags from Cibeles to the Pilar, and a single cry from north to south: “Ceuta is not for sale, Ceuta defends itself.” Nothing like it had been seen since the autumn of 2017, when the separatist challenge brought a seemingly dormant nation into the streets. The Spanish people are slow to react. But when they are put in check, they react. Yesterday they did so again — alone, without their shepherds.There are images a...

[Catholic Caucus] Leo XIV Appoints Archbishop Who Offered to Pachamama Today, Leo XIV appointed Auxiliary Bishop Lizardo Estrada Herrera O.S.A., 52, of Cuzco, Peru, as the Coadjutor Archbishop of the same Archdiocese. He will thus be the successor to Archbishop Richard Daniel Alarcón Urrutia, 74.Just two weeks ago, the new Archbishop offered to the idol Pachamama.Leo XIV Personally Formed EstradaBorn in Cotabambas in 1973, Monsignor Estrada joined the Augustinians and was ordained a priest in 2005. Pope Francis appointed Estrada auxiliary bishop of Cuzco in January 2021.In May 2025, Bishop Estrada told VaticanNews.va, that Leo XIV was already his professor,...

Gay media celebrates Pope Leo XIV’s 4 pro-LGBT bishop appointments'Letters from Leo' hailed Pope Leo’s recent LGBT-friendly appointments, which include a bishop who had a drag queen speak at Mass. A gay news site published an article praising Pope Leo XIV for having “made room for progressive LGBTQ+ voices.” Headlined Pope Leo’s Recent LGBTQ-Friendly Appointments Include Bishop Who Had Drag Queen Speak at Mass, the article draws heavily from a liberal Catholic Substack, Letters from Leo, authored by former Obama staffer Christopher Hale.The article focuses on the installation of four reportedly pro-homosexual and pro-transgender bishops: James Checchio, appointed by Leo...

[Catholic Caucus] German Bishop: Laypeople Preach in My Diocese — and I Won’t Sanction Them The Vatican's reasoning for the ban on lay preaching is "not entirely consistent," Bishop Peter Kohlgraf of Mainz told Katholisch.de on August 11."The letter from the Prefect for Liturgy states that only the priest celebrating Mass may preach. But taken to its logical conclusion, that would mean a concelebrating priest or an assisting deacon shouldn't be allowed to preach either."Lay Preaching Is No ProblemIn the Diocese of Mainz, occasional lay preaching has become an established practice and Bishop Kohlgraf has no intention of changing that.In...

[Catholic Caucus] Why does God allow error and confusion among the bishops?It's not so that good Catholics go to hell, but so that they have a higher place in heaven.Many Catholics think that “Catholic” means “universal,” and they are correct, but they make the mistake of thinking this is universal not through history but just today in this current Church crisis. We look to the great saint and Doctor of the Church of the 5th century, St. Vincent of Lerins, for how to navigate a Church crisis when many bishops believe and teach different things. St. Vincent of Lerins was...

Leo XIV's New Archbishop in Addis Ababa: Synodality, Islam Dialogue, Universal FraternityOn June 12, Leo XIV has appointed Monsignor Abune Tesfaye as the Archbishop of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.His precedessor, Cardinal Souraphiel, has led the Archeparchy of Addis Ababa since 1999.Entire Formation about Islam-DialogueMonsignor Tesfaye is a member of the Comboni Missionaries. He was born in 1969 in Harar, one of Ethiopia's historic centers of Islam.Virtually his entire formation points in the direction of Islam-dialogue.He was sent after ordination to study Arabic in Cairo, served as a missionary in Sudan, and later earned a licentiate from the Pontifical Institute for Arabic...