Free Republic

Under Pope Leo XIV, for the first time, the Vatican set up a dedicated Muslim prayer room at heart of Pope’s 500-year-old library. Suicidal madness. The Vatican should have set up a room, a shrine, to the hundreds of millions of Christians slaughtered by Muslims since its creation 1,400 years ago. ROME HAS FALLEN For the first time ever, the Vatican has built a Muslim prayer room inside its Apostolic Library. While Christians are banned from Mecca, while no church stands in Saudi Arabia, and while Europe’s cathedrals are being turned into mosques, Pope Leo XIV rolls… https://t.co/qnz7jjBhSI pic.twitter.com/qNhu1vjrgb —...

President Donald Trump on April 14 directly addressed Pope Leo XIV in another Truth Social post, drawing attention to the Iranian regime’s reported killing of thousands of protesters in the past two months. “Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable,” he wrote.Protests in Iran erupted in late December 2025 over economic hardships and quickly turned into broader anti-government demonstrations, Zeale News previously reported. Iranian security forces reportedly responded with live ammunition against the...

VATICAN CITY — President Donald Trump escalated his feud with Pope Leo this morning, nailing a copy of The Art of the Deal to the door of the Vatican. "Here I stand, and can do no other," declared Trump as he drove the nail into the Vatican door. "My conscience is captive to making the best deals. If the haters and losers like Pope Leo can't handle that, too bad. I cannot and will not recant anything about the elements of the deal and why I make the best deals of anyone." A crowd of onlookers stood in stunned silence...

If the morally-confused Pope Leo XIV continues to assume the role of a partisan podcaster, he will very quickly lose his moral authority.And that’s exactly what Leo is doing.We all expect a pope to talk about and pray for peace in times of war, express a desire for unity in times of political divisiveness, and to always appeal to the best in humanity. That’s not what this pope has done. Instead, apparently under the sway of Barry Obama’s hatchet man and former campaign manager, David Axelrod, Leo is recklessly engaging in a left-wing campaign to damage President Trump’s and the...

Iranian Vice President for Women and Family Affairs Masoumeh Ebtekar has tested positive for coronavirus, the state-run daily IRAN reported. Ebtekar is the first member of President Hassan Rouahni’s cabinet to be infected with the novel coronavirus. Earlier today, the chairman of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign affairs committee Mojtaba Zolnour announced in a video that he had also been infected with the disease. Two other Iranian officials – Member of Parliament Mahmoud Sadeghi and Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi – have also previously confirmed that they have been infected with the disease. State media also reported on...

Dear brothers and sisters, Your prayer is an expression of that faith which, according to the words of Jesus, moves mountains (cf. Mt 17:20). Thank you for accepting this invitation to gather here at the tomb of Saint Peter and in so many other places around the world to pray for peace... In the context of the 2003 Iraq war crisis, Saint John Paul II, a tireless advocate for peace, said with deep emotion: “I belong to that generation that lived through World War II and, thanks be to God, survived it. I have the duty to say to all...

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said on Thursday that the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran does not meet the Catholic Church’s criteria for a just war. “No, it does not seem to meet the conditions,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an academic conference at the Vatican Apostolic Library. When asked by EWTN News about the decision of the United States to attack Iran, Parolin referred to recent remarks by Cardinal Robert McElroy, archbishop of Washington, D.C. In an interview with his archdiocesan newspaper, The Catholic Standard, McElroy said the intervention in Iran failed to meet several...

[Catholic Caucus] Key aide of Pope Francis and Cdl Fernández leaves VaticanFather Daniel Pellizzon has been an overlooked, but important, figure under the last pontificate. Now that era is over.In a notable move, Pope Leo XIV has sent one of Pope Francis’ and Cardinal Fernández’s key aides back to Argentina, raising some speculation about the position of Fernández himself. Father Daniel Pellizzon, of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, is returning to Argentina to become parish priest of the church of San Cayetano de Belgrano near the center of the city of Buenos Aires itself.News of the move, though not announced...

Vatican equates Ramadan and Lent in message to MuslimsThe Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue expressed hope that 'through the shared season of Ramadan and Lent, our inner transformation becomes a catalyst for a renewed world.' The Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue has sent a message to Muslims “on the occasion of the month of Ramadan.” The Islamic season of fasting coincides with Lent this year in what the message calls “a providential convergence of calendars.”Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, Prefect for the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, expressed his hope that “through the shared season of Ramadan and Lent, our inner transformation becomes a...

Border czar Tom Homan dismissed Pope Leo’s criticism of President Donald Trump’s deportation policies on Wednesday by comparing the fortified walls around the Vatican to the United States’s own border security efforts. During a brief encounter with reporters, Homan was asked about Leo’s comments condemning mass deportations, including that the U.S. is doing them in a “disrespectful” way. Homan said Vatican City itself is a walled state and that the pontiff should focus on the Catholic Church’s “own issues.”

The Vatican has a long memory when it comes to blocking American-led peace initiatives — and a short one when it comes to recognizing Jewish rights in the Land of Israel. When Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, announced Tuesday that Pope Leo would not be joining U.S. President Donald Trump’s newly formed Board of Peace, he framed the decision in procedural language about the United Nations. But for anyone who has watched the Holy See’s decades-long pattern of hostility toward Israeli sovereignty, the refusal carries a familiar echo. Parolin made the announcement on the sidelines of a...

[Catholic Caucus] Abortion, the UN Agenda, and the Vatican: Inside the Transformation of the Pontifical Academy for LifeThe Vatican’s pro-life academy now features a pro-choice economist tied to the UN’s 2030 Agenda. Abortion, climate policy, immigration, and healthcare—now all “pro-life”? This article looks inside the Vatican’s moral reset under Francis and Leo XIV.On February 16, Mariana Mazzucato, an influential economist and ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, delivered an address during the Academy’s plenary meeting in Rome, as part of a two-day event entitled “International Workshop – Healthcare for All. Sustainability and Equity.” The workshop focused on “the...

[Catholic Caucus] Chinese bishops side with communist regime to restrict worship, ‘unregistered clergy’The government-sanctioned bishops in China have backed limits on public worship introduced by the communist regime, supporting a ban on clergy who refuse state registration.The government-approved Chinese Catholic bishops have backed the Communist Party’s limitation on public worship.EWTN reports that the Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in China (BCCC), sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), supported the government’s ban on “unregistered clergy” engaging in religious pastoral work or doing so in “unapproved sites for worship.”In a February 4 statement, the BCCC stated that “religious groups must...

The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X has officially announced that it will proceed with new episcopal consecrations starting from July 1, 2026, a decision of enormous ecclesial significance that reopens one of the most delicate chapters in its relationship with the Holy See. The announcement was made public on February 2, the feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, by the superior general of the Fraternity, Father Davide Pagliarani, during a ceremony held at the International Seminary of Saint Curé of Ars, in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, France. According to the statement issued from the Fraternity’s General House, the decision has...

The FBI searched the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson Wednesday morning, as part of a classified document leak investigation. Agents reportedly executed a search warrant at her residence in suburban Alexandria, Va., seizing her phone, a Garmin watch, and two laptops (a personal computer and a Washington Post-issued device). Natanson was reportedly told she is not the target of the investigation. The suspected leaker, Aurelio Perez-Lugones, is a Maryland-based government system administrator with top-secret clearance. The Justice Department alleges in its complaint that he took home classified material, including documents found in his lunchbox and basement. Attorney General...

[Catholic Caucus] Why won’t the Vatican clarify Catholic doctrine on homosexuality, women’s ordination?Bishop Marian Eleganti joins me on this episode of The John Henry Westen Show, filmed at this year's Rome Life Forum.Bishop Marian Eleganti joins me on this episode of The John Henry Westen Show, filmed at this year’s Rome Life Forum. We discussed doctrinal ambiguity and confusion in the early months of Pope Leo’s pontificate on key issues such as same-sex “marriage,” women’s ordination, and more. I began the episode by noting that some of the most controversial bishop appointments made by Pope Leo have been those who...

Pope Leo XIV is expected to name Bishop Ronald Hicks of Joliet, Illinois, to succeed retiring 75 year old Timothy Cardinal Dolan as archbishop of New York, sources briefed on the transition say. About Bishop Hicks Pope Leo is from Illinois, and he has tapped a fellow Illinois native to lead the archdiocese of New York. Hicks, 58, and Pope Leo have much in common. They were both born and raised in suburban Chicago, with Hicks being born in Harvey and raised in South Holland. Both men also speak fluent Spanish after spending years ministering to the poor in South...

In an effort to boldly affirm a pro-life message during the Christmas season, the Vatican is set to unveil a massive nativity scene that was designed with the help of pro-life advocates from 40 Days for Life. Entitled, “Nacimiento Gaudium,” (Joyful Birth), the scene was created by Costa Rican artist Paula Senoto with the aid of pro-life champions. The nativity will be located in the Vatican and blessed by Pope Leo on Dec. 15. One of the unique features of the display will be the use of 25,000 ribbons in place of the straw that typically goes in the manger....

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican on Saturday returned 62 artifacts to Indigenous peoples from Canada as part of the Catholic Church’s reckoning with its role in helping suppress Indigenous culture in the Americas. Pope Leo XIV gave the artifacts, including an iconic Inuit kayak, and supporting documentation to a delegation of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops during an audience. According to a joint statement from the Vatican and Canadian church, the pieces were a gift and a “concrete sign of dialogue, respect and fraternity.” The items were part of the Vatican Museum’s ethnographic collection, known as the Anima...

Pope Leo XIV met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the first time on Thursday, and the two men discussed the urgent need to provide assistance to civilians in Gaza and to pursue a two-state solution to end the conflict in the region. The meeting, which lasted about an hour and was described as “cordial” in a brief Vatican statement, comes nearly a month after the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement came into effect in the Gaza Strip. The pope and Abbas had not met in person previously. They had spoken over the phone in July to talk about developments in the conflict...