Free Republic

A spokesman for the liberal organization Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good (CACG) has posted on the group’s website a denunciation of what he states were “incendiary remarks about Pope Francis” by conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh on Wednesday. Limbaugh said that Pope Francis was wrong in his apostolic exhortation released this week in which he appears to blame capitalism for the reason why people are poor in the world. CACG’s Christopher Jolly Hale wrote on Wednesday: Catholics of all political stripes are disturbed by Rush Limbaugh's incendiary comments this afternoon about Pope Francis. To call the Holy Father...

Pope Francis lays flowers at the foot of the statue of Our Lady of Lujan on May 8, 2013. Credit: Stephen Driscoll/CNA. Vatican City, Nov 26, 2013 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis reaffirmed Catholic teaching on male priesthood in his first apostolic exhortation, while calling for a broader application of the “feminine genius” in Church life. “The reservation of the priesthood to males, as a sign of Christ the Spouse who gives himself in the Eucharist, is not a question open to discussion,” he said, “but it can prove especially divisive if sacramental power is too closely identified...

Pope Francis has already become a favorite of progressives with his fairly open-minded statements on homosexuality and birth control. But that adoration may go into overdrive, now that the Pope has adopted a new role as an environmental crusader, too. On Monday, the Pope was photographed with environmental activists holding T-shirts with anti-fracking slogans. The photographs were taken after a meeting in the Vatican on Monday in which the Pope spoke with a group of Argentine environmental activists to discuss fracking and water contamination. He reportedly told the group he is preparing an encyclical -- a letter addressing a part...

I realize this is a dangerous article:  recommending three cardinals who might be the best selections to replace Pope Benedict XVI. It's called throwing the dice in some circles. Really, how can anyone know who the cardinals will elect? And even then, do any of us know enough about all of them to make a good judgment on who the Holy Spirit might choose for that heavy cross -- err, role? But still, I’d like to have a go at it just to know I tried, and if one of these are indeed picked, it would be rather exciting. These...

Police have arrested five suspected Islamist terrorists, working as street cleaners in London, over an alleged plan assassinate the Pope. The men were arrested during raids at 5.45am at a rubbish depot in central London based on an intelligence tip off received overnight. The suspects, aged 26, 27, 36, 40 and 50 were arrested by officers from Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorism Command on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. They are said to be from a variety of nationalities including a number of Algerian origin. The depot where they worked is less than a mile...

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI on Friday begged for forgiveness for the paedophile priest scandals rocking the Roman Catholic in his clearest apology yet for the scourge. At a mass with some 15,000 priests marking the end of the Roman Catholic Church's Year for Priests, the pontiff pledged to "do everything possible" to stop the cases. "And so it happened that, in this very year of joy for the sacrament of the priesthood, the sins of priests came to light, particularly the abuse of the little ones," Benedict said in a sun-drenched St Peter's Square. "We ... insistently beg...

A UK TV station's commissioning of Peter Tatchell - a gay rights campaigner and critic of the Vatican - to make a documentary about the Pope which will air around the time of the pontiff's UK visit is drawing criticism. Mr Tatchell is one of the founders of a group called Protest the Pope that criticises the Pope's record on homosexuality, contraception and child abuse and says that he "is an unsuitable guest of the UK government", said a report on Telegraph.co.uk. British broadcaster Channel 4 said the 60-minute program will examine the impact that the Pope's pronouncements have had...

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI, often under fire for political missteps on foreign trips, is heading into a potential diplomatic storm when he visits Cyprus this week, a pilgrimage to a divided island that could anger Turkey and the rest of the Muslim world. Divisions between Greeks and ethnic Turks, splits in the Orthodox Christian community, and concerns over damaged Christian and Muslim houses of worship will be come under scrutiny during Benedict's three-day trip starting Friday. The visit will be a key test of whether the pope has found his diplomatic feet. The pope's linking of Islam to...

In a lengthy address delivered in Washington on June 2, Archbishop Antonio Maria Vegliò, president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, discussed various facets of migration to the United States, including immigration, human trafficking, and displacement induced by climate change. Speaking to the Regional Consultation of the American Bishops' Conferences on Migration, Archbishop Vegliò said that “I follow with more than usual interest and admiration the courageous advocacy efforts of the USA Church for the regularization of the approximately 12 million undocumented migrants. Their existence will thus be recognized. However, should this also...

Today the much-anticipated social encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate (Truth in Love) was released, after being delayed for a year due to the global economic crisis. The encyclical includes several passages of great interest to those involved in the pro-life movement. The most pertinent and striking passages dealing with the life issues are reproduced below. To read the complete encyclical click here.

From The Times April 8, 2009 Tony Blair tells the Pope: you're wrong on homosexuality Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent Tony Blair has challenged the “entrenched” attitudes of the Pope on homosexuality, and argued that it is time for him to “rethink” his views. Speaking to the gay magazine Attitude, the former Prime Minister, himself now a Roman Catholic, said that he wanted to urge religious figures everywhere to reinterpret their religious texts to see them as metaphorical, not literal, and suggested that in time this would make all religious groups accept gay people as equals. Asked about the Pope’s stance,...

The Italian Association for the Defense of Animals and the Environment launched an online petition appealing to the Pope not to wear his fur-trimmed robes. Anti-fur protesters have gathered 2,260 signatures for the petition.

Today the President signed the Honor of Education and Sharing Day Proclamation. Also today the President presented the Lifetime President's Volunteer Service Award to Chick fil-A Inc. founder Truett Cathy. The President met the Pope at Andrews Airforce Base the first time during his Presidency that he has gone to Andrews Airforce to welcome an overseas dignitary. Pray for President Bush -- Day 2770 Today Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice testified before the House Armed Services Committee. Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

by Edward Hudgins In a long, scholarly dissertation on “Faith, Reason and the University: Memories and Reflections,” Pope Benedict quoted a Byzantine emperor as saying “Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.” While the Pope was not endorsing this view of Islam, Muslims across the world immediately took to the streets in violent, murderous rampages to prove the old emperor right. As a matter of record, whatever else he was, Mohammad was a man on...

Poland University Bans “I didn’t cry when the Pope died” T-Shirts By Terry Vanderheyden LUBLIN, Poland, February 21, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A university in south-eastern Poland has banned a controversial “T-shirt for freedom” campaign expected to occur simultaneously with a campus human rights film festival. The t-shirts, which were to be worn through campus during the campaign by celebrities, boasted such things as “I had an abortion,” “I didn’t cry when the Pope died,” “I have AIDS,” “I don’t go to church,” “I masturbate,” or “I am gay,” according to a Radio Polonia report. The predominantly Catholic student population found...

Unbelievable! I'm not even Catholic and my jaw dropped when I read this report by James Taranto in Best of the Web. Catholics Need Not Apply No one seriously argues anymore that Roe v. Wade was correctly decided. Rather, pro-Roe advocates rest their case on policy grounds (warnings about coat alleys and back hangers, etc.) or, when they must argue the law, on the power of precedent. Of the five Supreme Court justices who more or less upheld Roe in the 1992 case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, three went out of their way to avoid endorsing the decision, emphasizing...

New Zealand viewers turned out in force to watch the funeral of Pope John Paul II, but enthusiasm for the midnight wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla was more subdued. The Pope’s funeral, broadcast live on TV One on Friday night, was watched by more than 400,000 people, according to AGB Nielsen Media research ratings. TVNZ spokeswoman Michele Camilleri said the ratings were strong, especially among older people. "I think that reflects the historical significance of the event." The timing of the nuptials of Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, was all wrong for a New Zealand audience. Just...

"I don't like much about our times. All this humbug about the corpse of another Pope. The world is not that much diminished by his passing. The world was, however, diminished by the passing of Ray Charles and J. Hunter Thompson. As far as the Christianity of the USA goes, it is not the Pope, but Jimmy Carter who, as the only truly devout Christian President in our time, keeps the memory of a country with Christian aspirations alive, even when its present government is busy abolishing the freedoms of its citizens, and its adherence to decency, as well as...

The Catholic Church is the world's largest Christian denomination, with at least a billion members. But much of its ritual, history and doctrine remain a mystery to non-Catholics. Why, for example, do Catholics need a pope? Why can't women be ordained as priests? And why is contraception wrong, particularly in the age of AIDS? In an effort to answer those and other questions at the heart of this ancient tradition, we talked with two authorities on Catholicism. [snip] Why can't women be priests, especially since the Gospel stories show women being leaders and teachers in the early church? This is...

LIKE many funerals, the service for Pope John Paul II brought friends and foes together. Alphabetical seating forced sworn enemies to sit side by side, with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami placed next to Israeli President Moshe Katsav. "Maybe today will make us hope of a future of peace, not of conflict and hatred," Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said before the funeral. State leaders and dignitaries from more than half the world's nations attended the funeral. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan chatted with several leaders beforehand. US President George W. Bush was accompanied by his wife Laura. Former US president Bill Clinton,...