Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] Catholic theology on the visibility of the Church provides crucial answers in the current crisisNo honest observer can doubt that today the Catholic Church is in crisis. Those who appear to hold the highest offices in the Church are promoting gravely sinful lifestyles and spreading doctrines that faithful Catholics recognize as incompatible with the faith. Heartbroken Catholics are asking: what is going on? How can this be explained? Have Christ’s promises to the Church failed? Is there a solution? What can be done? At present it may seem that there are few answers. Many voices are raised, and...

Open Letter to Francis: Why Are You Destroying the Religion of the Saints? Dear Francis,We write to you as fellow sinners, in great need of God’s mercy. In various ways — especially through your Synod on Synodality and persistent opposition to proselytism — you have asked Catholics to have respect for all baptized Christians and their particular religious beliefs. This openness to the religious beliefs of others encourages us to explain our religion to you.We are Catholics who believe the same truths, and retain the same religious devotions, that all Catholics enjoyed prior to Vatican II. We often call ourselves...

Many Catholics seldom think past their own parish when the consider the Church. And yet the Catholic World is huge and quite vibrant: 1.2 Billion Catholics in the World.412,236 Priests721,935 Religious Sisters221,055 Parishes92,847 Catholic Elementary Schools with 31 million students.43,591 Catholic Secondary Schools with 17 Million Students [*]117,000 health care facilities, including hospitals, clinics, orphanages,” as well as “18,000 pharmacies and 512 centers” for the care of those with leprosy, all comprising 26% of the total of the world’s health care facilities. [*] There is probably never a moment during the day in which Mass is not being celebrated somewhere...

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints prints a small card that is normally entitled "Seventeen points of the True Church." At times the front of the card will read "Does it meet the Test?" Whatever the form, many Christians have been handed this card. What of its claims? Are the 17 listed points true? Do the claims made by the LDS Church stand the test of the Bible? This article will examine, briefly, the claims made by this little card. It is not intended to be an in-depth doctrinal treatise on each point, as the card hardly attempts...

As we enter the Messianic Age we see that the Roman Church is declining, as the Penecostal and Messianic movements are growing, this being the case should we ask ourselves Who is the True Christian Church? During the first six decades of the first century CE, Judaism was composed of about two dozen competing factions: Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, Zealots, followers of John the Baptist, followers of Yeshua of Nazareth (Iesous in Greek, Iesus in Latin, Jesus in English), followers of other charismatic leaders, etc. All followed common Jewish practices, such as observing dietary restrictions, worshiping at the Jerusalem temple, sacrificing...

THE TRUE CHURCH J.C. Ryle I want you to belong to the one true Church: to the Church outside of which there is no salvation. I do not ask where you go on a Sunday; I only ask, "Do you belong to the one true Church?"  Where is this one true Church? What is this one true Church like? What are the marks by which this one true Church may be known? You may well ask such questions. Give me your attention, and I will provide you with some answers.  1. The one true Church IS COMPOSED OF ALL...

... That the federal government has been allowed such intrusiveness into even the prayer life of the blood washed church is continuing proof of the attempt of both the federal bureaucracy and the federal courts to shove blood washed Christians father and deeper into a darkened closet while exposing the public to the liberal church which lacks faith, morals and values. This is the Christian church the government finds acceptable; the church that has replaced the headship of the Lord, God Jesus Christ with their servitude to a moral less, perverted, valueless society. The greatest boulder in the path of...

Unhappy Presbyterians urged fellow members to separate from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in their attempt to counteract the leeway granted for gay ordination. Constitutional Presbyterians and other opponents of gay ordination discussed when it is proper to leave a denomination at a weekend gathering in Greenville, S.C. Some already believe that departure is necessary from the PC(USA) and have denounced it as not being a "true church." "Here in your hearing I publicly want to say that I denounce those leaders of our denomination who dare to suggest that the PC(USA) is the true church," said the Rev. J. Howard...

Recognizing the True Church by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. There are two basic positions in the medley of world religions outside the Catholic Church. One group of religious bodies professes lineal descent from the society that Jesus Christ established during His stay on earth. These are all the churches of Christendom separated from the unity of Rome. Another and larger group has either no historical dependence on the teaching of Christ, or, as in Mohammedanism, the relation is negligible. And these are the countless Oriental and African cults whose origin is generally pre-Christian and in some cases, like the...

Recognizing the True Church by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. There are two basic positions in the medley of world religions outside the Catholic Church. One group of religious bodies professes lineal descent from the society that Jesus Christ established during His stay on earth. These are all the churches of Christendom separated from the unity of Rome. Another and larger group has either no historical dependence on the teaching of Christ, or, as in Mohammedanism, the relation is negligible. And these are the countless Oriental and African cults whose origin is generally pre-Christian and in some cases, like the...

Roman Sacristan tells me that Rod Dreher, a right-wing writer (Dallas Morning News, National Review) who used to be Catholic (convert) has jumped ship and joined an Orthodox church (personal take: for me it'd be absurd to join, say, the Russian Orthodox church without being Russian). On Beliefnet, Mr. Dreher explains himself in quite a pitiful manner, citing the sex scandals and dissent in the Church - only to offer up dissent himself. Back in 2001, when I first started writing about the child sex-abuse scandal in the Church, Father Tom Doyle, the heroic priest who ruined his own...

Traditional Mass Propers, CommemoratingSaint Birgitta of Sweden, Widow( Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost ) 01 October 2006 A.D. Missa Da Pacem "....My son thy sins are forgiven thee...." "Nothing is so consoling, so piercing, so thrilling, so overcoming, as the Mass, said as it is among us. I could attend Mass forever, and not be tired. It is not a mere form of words; it is a great action. The greatest action that can be on earth. It is. . .the vocation of the Eternal." -- John Henry Cardinal Newman

Traditional Mass Propers, CommemoratingSaint Remigius, Bishop and Confessor ( Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost ) 01 October 2006 A.D. Missa Justus es, Dómine "....Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself...." "Nothing is so consoling, so piercing, so thrilling, so overcoming, as the Mass, said as it is among us. I could attend Mass forever, and not be tired. It is not a mere form of words; it is a great action. The greatest action that can be on earth. It is. . .the vocation of the Eternal." -- John Henry Cardinal Newman

Traditional Mass Propers, CommemoratingThe Order of Our Lady of Ransom( Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost ) 24 September 2006 A.D. Missa Miserére Mihi ".... "He that hunbleth himself shall be exalted."...." "Nothing is so consoling, so piercing, so thrilling, so overcoming, as the Mass, said as it is among us. I could attend Mass forever, and not be tired. It is not a mere form of words; it is a great action. The greatest action that can be on earth. It is. . .the vocation of the Eternal." -- John Henry Cardinal Newman

Traditional Mass Propers, Commemorating forthe Stigmata of Saint Francis of Assisi( Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost ) 17 September 2006 A.D. Missa Inclina, Dómine ".... Young man I say to thee, Arise...." "Nothing is so consoling, so piercing, so thrilling, so overcoming, as the Mass, said as it is among us. I could attend Mass forever, and not be tired. It is not a mere form of words; it is a great action. The greatest action that can be on earth. It is. . .the vocation of the Eternal." -- John Henry Cardinal Newman

Traditional Mass Propers For The Feast Day ofSaint Nicholas of Tolentino, Confessor( Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost ) 10 September 2006 A.D. Missa Protéctor Noster "....No man can serve two masters...." "Nothing is so consoling, so piercing, so thrilling, so overcoming, as the Mass, said as it is among us. I could attend Mass forever, and not be tired. It is not a mere form of words; it is a great action. The greatest action that can be on earth. It is. . .the vocation of the Eternal." -- John Henry Cardinal Newman

Traditional Mass Propers For The Feast Day ofPope Saint Pius X( Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost ) 3 September 2006 A.D. Missa Réspice, Dómine "....Go thy way for thy faith hath made thee whole...." "Nothing is so consoling, so piercing, so thrilling, so overcoming, as the Mass, said as it is among us. I could attend Mass forever, and not be tired. It is not a mere form of words; it is a great action. The greatest action that can be on earth. It is. . .the vocation of the Eternal." -- John Henry Cardinal Newman

Traditional Mass Propers For The Feast Day ofSaint Joseph Calasanctius ( Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost ) 27 August 2006 A.D. Missa Deus, In Adjutórìum Meum "....Go and do thou in like manner...." "Nothing is so consoling, so piercing, so thrilling, so overcoming, as the Mass, said as it is among us. I could attend Mass forever, and not be tired. It is not a mere form of words; it is a great action. The greatest action that can be on earth. It is. . .the vocation of the Eternal." -- John Henry Cardinal Newman

Traditional Mass Propers For The Feast Day ofSaint Bernard of Clairvaux( Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost ) 20 August 2006 A.D. Missa Deus In Loco Santo Suo "....Ephpheta, that is, Be thou opened...." "Nothing is so consoling, so piercing, so thrilling, so overcoming, as the Mass, said as it is among us. I could attend Mass forever, and not be tired. It is not a mere form of words; it is a great action. The greatest action that can be on earth. It is. . .the vocation of the Eternal." -- John Henry Cardinal Newman

Traditional Mass Propers For The Feast Day ofHoly Martyrs Saint Hippolytus and Saint Cassian( Tenth Sunday After Pentecost ) 13 August 2006 A.D. Missa Cum Clamárem "....he that humbleth himself shall be exalted...." "Nothing is so consoling, so piercing, so thrilling, so overcoming, as the Mass, said as it is among us. I could attend Mass forever, and not be tired. It is not a mere form of words; it is a great action. The greatest action that can be on earth. It is. . .the vocation of the Eternal." -- John Henry Cardinal Newman