Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] How this dissident Jesuit theologian is the key to understanding Pope FrancisFr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, 1955(Tradition and Sanity) — In his homily in Mongolia on Sunday, September 3, Pope Francis decided to quote Father Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955) at some length:The Mass is itself a way of giving thanks: ‘Eucharistía.’ To celebrate Mass in this land brought to my mind the prayer that the Jesuit Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin offered to God exactly a hundred years ago, in the desert of Ordos, not far from here. He prayed: ‘My God, I prostrate myself before your presence...

A Reflection on the theology underlying the “Instrumentum Laboris” for the up-coming Amazon Synod. This essay is written in reminiscence of the prophet Jeremiah whose warning to the people, priests and kings and princes of Judah went largely unheeded. (Jeremiah 1:17-19)While much has been written concerning individual aspects or problems with this document, mainly concerning married priests, laymen and women leading liturgical services, the politicization of the Faith and some individual practices of the local tribes, little has been said about the actual theological underpinnings of the synod.While Cardinal Walter Brandmüller has labeled  the  “Instrumentum” heretical, if not  apostasy, and...

Cathedral of St. John the Divine, NYC: The Grand Procession of the Ghouls, Blessing of the bicycles, the creepy Peace Fountain, The Peace Altar, Paul Winter’s Earth Mass and Summer/Winter Solstice concert, Blessing of the Animals, Rev. Dr. James A. Kowalski, The Temple of Understanding, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, William Irwin Thompson, The Lindisfarne Association, Madeleine L’Engle, Rev. James Parks Morton, United Nations Sunday, and Christa: a crucifix depicting Christ as a woman… and more!

Green TheologyAustin Ruse, President of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, the only Catholic lobbying group at the United Nations in New York, reports that there are a number of troubling groups circling around the UN. One such group is fairly new and as yet little-reported movement called the United Religious Initiative (URI), now active in 58 countries and 33 states in the U.S. It has been described as "an exclusive, decentralized organization, a spiritual partner of the United Nations." URI positions support population control, environmental extremism, and are radical on sexual matters. A new document signed by URI's...

Battle lines have been drawn in the Fallbrook parish of Saint Peter. A group of more than fifty families are accusing Saint Peter's pastor Father Edward "Bud" Kaicher and retired associate Father Bernard Rapp of misleading the parish. One incident in particular has prompted cries of, "Enough is enough!" from parishioners — Fathers Bud and Bernie's sudden dismissal of Father Ian Taylor, a charismatic missionary priest from Trinidad who has been serving in the parish while on a year's sabbatical. Father Ian is a diocesan priest from the twin-island republic of Trinidad and Tobago who was ordained in 1988. In...