Free Republic

EXPOSED: Inside the anti-Catholic agenda of the parish hymn industryWho controls the 'hymnal industrial complex'? The people reaping the profits are not just business executives. They are ideologues with a mission to reshape Catholic worship. Since the 1960s, the ancient chants and beautiful hymns that once elevated the Mass have been discarded in favor of a more “modern” sound. Organs and choirs have given way to guitars, pianos, and tambourines, a shift many faithful Catholics find deeply inappropriate. Yet few realize that this transformation is not just a matter of musical preference – it is rooted in a deliberate, anti-Catholic...

[Catholic Caucus] Tradition or AnnihilationIf we want to avoid the Church's effective annihilation, we must return to Tradition, in everything from liturgy to catechesis to public morals and even modesty in dress.Recently, Crisis Magazine Editor in Chief Eric Sammons published an article outlining the dire state of the Catholic Church in America. He showed that for every 100 new Catholics, more than 800 people leave the Church. In addition, he proved that it is even worse than the numbers suggest when we do a deep dive into sacramental participation and the like. Simply put, the Church in America—and abroad because...

[Catholic Caucus] Will the Next Conclave Produce a Pope for the Catholic Church, or Just a Heretical Bishop of Rome for the Synodal Church?The health of Pope Francis has been the subject of much debate, but as of March 6th the official Vatican report stated that the Pope's “condition has remained stable compared to previous days. Today as well, he has not experienced any episodes of respiratory insufficiency... The doctors still maintain a reserved prognosis.” Still, the thoughts of many are turning toward the next conclave. With the strong possibility that we may have a papal conclave in the near...

Vatican: Ramadan is for Catholics ‘a school of inner transformation’In a seemingly ecumenical appeal, the Vatican praised Islamic Ramadan as a means of ‘inner conversion’ and emphasized a parallel with Christian Lent. The message follows Pope Francis’ push for interfaith dialogue, which critics say downplays theological issues.The Vatican has issued a Ramadan message to Muslims, saying that its coinciding with the Christian season of Lent is “a unique opportunity to walk, side-by-side.”“Ramadan appears to us Catholics as a school of inner transformation,” wrote the Vatican today. “By abstaining from food and drink, Muslims learn to control their desires and turn...

Cardinal Roche: ‘Nothing wrong’ with Latin Mass but Church needed to ‘move away’ from itCardinal Arthur Roche, a leading enforcer of Pope Francis’ restrictions on the Latin Mass, has said there is ‘nothing wrong’ with the traditional liturgy but insists the Church deliberately moved ‘away from’ it for ‘very good reasons.’After vigorously implementing Pope Francis restrictions on the traditional Mass, Cardinal Arthur Roche has said there is “nothing wrong” with the Latin Mass but that the Church wished to “move away from what had become an overly elaborate form of celebrating the Mass.”Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and...

[Catholic Caucus] French Catholics are flocking to the Latin Mass and this archbishop is alarmed by itArchbishop Jordy has not limited himself to merely expressing concerns about the growth of the Traditional Latin Mass; he has also taken concrete measures to limit its spread.In recent years, participation in the Holy Mass in the Archdiocese of Tours has increased significantly. According to statements by Archbishop Vincent Jordy, the president of the Commission for Catechesis and Catechumenate for the French Episcopal Conference, the number of faithful attending Mass in Tours has doubled in four years. However, his observations are not limited to...

<p>One of the most devastating casualties in the period after Vatican II has been the practical elimination of the distinction between objective redemption and subjective redemption. This has contributed to various evils, ranging from mass apostasy to the Vatican’s persecution of those Catholics who believe what the Church has always taught. Indeed, in one way or another, almost every aspect of the ongoing crisis in the Church relates to the effective elimination of the concept of subjective redemption.</p>

“Once a Catholic Always a Catholic”? Not Necessarily.Many Catholics casually say the following line to ex-Catholics in order to get them back into a Church building: “Once a Catholic, always a Catholic.” It sounds welcoming, but it’s theologically wrong.This is because the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and the Church Fathers, St. Thomas Aquinas and the Popes all taught: A bad Catholic never ceases to be a Catholic, provided his failure be not faith-based but morality-based (and also provided those moral failures be not excommunicable.) On the other hand, a baptized person who has purposely rejected even one tenet of...

The Charismatic Cardinal Suenens | Part 1Editors Note: We are happy to republish this previously ‘lost’ (unpublished since 1997) article in conjunction with a history of the CCR with Kennedy Hall on our YouTube Channel. The late John Vennari was a crusader for Catholic orthodoxy and our former Editor-in-Chief.Part 2 will be published soon.The August 1997 issue of Catholic Family News featured the article “A ‘Catholic’ Charismatic Extravaganza” which contained a report on the Charismatic’s 30th Anniversary conference in Pittsburgh. The article also catalogued a brief summary of the most serious problems with “Catholic” pentecostalism as being radically opposed to...

[Catholic Caucus] The “Suicide of Altering the Faith” Took Place Before We Heard of FrancisThe Church had already reached the point of crisis before Jorge Bergoglio was even ordained to the priesthood (on December 13, 1969).Most of us understand that the Catholic Church is currently undergoing a profound crisis and that Francis seems to be doing everything in his power to make it worse. While Catholics justifiably consider how to best counteract the frequent outrages from Rome, it is worth considering the broader context of the crisis. To that end, the following milestones paint a picture that we may sometimes...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Strickland: Pope Francis ‘does not love the truth and seeks to reshape it in the image of man’On this week’s episode of Faith & Reason, John Henry-Westen, Deacon Keith Fournier, and Frank Wright discuss Bishop Joseph Strickland’s historic open letter urging his brother bishops to call out Pope Francis as he abandons the Church’s teaching.On this week’s episode of Faith & Reason, John Henry-Westen, Deacon Keith Fournier, and Frank Wright discuss Bishop Joseph Strickland’s historic open letter urging his brother bishops to call out Pope Francis as he abandons the Church’s teaching, Cardinal Joseph Zen’s article criticizing...

[Catholic Caucus] Synodal Fallout: Putting Light Under Bushel BasketsWhere Christ once declared victory in the red blood of His Cross, the Synodalists bleat in the pastels of accommodation.Lower the Vexilla Regis. Raise the white of flag of surrender. The Synodal Church has arrived. Where Christ once declared victory in the red blood of His Cross, the Synodalists bleat in the pastels of accommodation. Their white flag was a shameless admission that the Church of 2024 no longer has anything to say. Of course, much was said. And said. And said again. But it was “a tale told by an idiot,...

[Catholic Caucus] Did Francis’ ‘Synod on Synodality’ create a new church?In his October 9, 2021 opening address for the Synod on Synodality, Francis introduced his intention to 'create a different church.' Now that three years have passed it seems reasonable for us to ask: did Francis actually create a new church? (LifeSiteNews) — In his October 9, 2021 opening address for the Synod on Synodality, Francis introduced his intention to “create a different church”:Dear brothers and sisters, may this Synod be a true season of the Spirit! For we need the Spirit, the ever new breath of God, who sets...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis closes Synod saying Church needs to ‘get its hands dirty to serve the Lord’Closing the Synod, Pope Francis rebuked the Church for being ‘seated in blindness’ and urged the Church to ‘take up the cry of the world’ and be ‘a Church that gets its hands dirty to serve the Lord.’Closing the Synod, Pope Francis rebuked the Church for being ‘seated in blindness’ and urged the Church to ‘take up the cry of the world’ and be ‘a Church that gets its hands dirty to serve the Lord.’ Accusing the Church of already being unable to...

[Catholic Caucus] Retired Vatican archivist takes dim view of postconciliar eraCWN Editor's Note: In an interview granted to an Italian newspaper following his recent retirement as prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Archives, Bishop Sergio Pagano offered a dim assessment of the life of the Church following the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). “Sadly, after the Second Vatican Council there was a general disarray: too many expectations,” he said. “Disorder was created in discipline, in seminaries and in pontifical universities. In doctrine there was an ever deeper crisis.” “And in this climate of uncertainty, a glaring confusion prevailed,” he continued. “I see...

Young Believers Are Fueling a Renaissance of Catholic Culture The Sisters of Charity of New York announced last year that it will not accept any new members. The announcement was more of a formality than anything else, as no one has joined the order in more than twenty years. Founded by St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in 1817 and recognized as the Sisters of Charity of New York in 1846, the order had more than 1,300 sisters in the 1960s. Today, only 154 sisters remain, and their median age is eighty-five years old. The Sisters of Charity of New York isn’t...

ITE MISSA EST: How modernizing the Church gave rise to ChristophobiaThere can be no dispute that the mission of the Church is to glorify God, to seek the Salvation of souls, to serve the poor, and to Evangelize – to spread the good news of the Gospel to all corners of the World: to build the Kingdom of Christ on earth. But among the chief duties of the Catholic Church is to hold the powerful in society to their duty to the welfare of the citizenry, to protect those human rights which derive from Divine Law, and to demand that...

Bishop Strickland: Remember that the gates of hell shall not prevail against Christ’s Church'The Church is now facing extremely hard times. ... It is important for all of us to wake up and look around.'The following is a piece written by Bishop Emeritus of Tyler, Texas, Joseph Strickland, first published here. (LifeSiteNews) — “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliacim the son of Helcias, and I will clothe him with thy robe, and will strengthen him with thy girdle, and will give thy power into his hand: and he shall be...

[Catholic Caucus] What Are Francis’s Most Dangerous Heresies?Most faithful Catholics can now name at least a few heretical ideas from Francis’s ten-year occupation of the papacy, including those related to Communion for Catholics who are not in the state of grace and blessings of intrinsically evil relationships. Among these multifarious heresies, though, one category of heretical ideas stands apart because one cannot accept it without simultaneously undermining the entire basis for the Catholic Faith. Each of the following statements contributes to an idea of universal salvation — meaning all men are saved regardless of their religious professions — which would...

[Catholic Caucus] Brazilian priest accused of schism faces canonical proceedingsA Brazilian priest is facing canonical proceedings after his archdiocese said he had made schismatic statements and ignored restrictions on the use of pre-conciliar liturgical rubrics.The Archdiocese of São Paulo announced Nov. 29 that it would open a preliminary investigation into the priest’s alleged schismatic activity, and at the same time, remove Fr. Fábio Fernandes from Our Lady of Sorrows church in the Barra Funda district of the city of São Paulo, where he serves as pastor.A Nov. 23 decree signed by Cardinal Odilo Scherer, the Archbishop of São Paulo, said...