Free Republic

Paris Blasphemy: What Took the Vatican So Long to Respond?COMMENTARY: The Vatican’s brief Aug. 3 statement in the wake of the Paris Olympics’ opening ceremonies culminated a disjointed seven days.It was a very strange week for Vatican communications. The week after the Paris Olympics’ opening ceremonies ought to have been comparatively easy for Vatican communications to handle. When there is a global denunciation of anti-Christian blasphemy, it ought to be simple for the Vatican to add its voice. But instead, the Holy Father kept silent for eight days, and only released a tepid statement on a Saturday evening in the...

Guatemala’s Attorney General is investigating ongoing criminal claims that a number of American tax payer funded non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating both inside and outside the United States are complicit in the ongoing trafficking, abuse and disappearance of children from its nation, according to an official Guatemalan letter obtained by this investigative columnist. The Guatemalan government is seeking full cooperation from the State of Texas, where the accusations of abuse have been reported, government officials told SaraACarter.com. A letter from Guatemalan Attorney General María Consuelo Porras was sent to Attorney General Ken Paxton on Saturday. Porras asked Paxton for immediate assistance...

ROME — The Vatican said this weekend it was “saddened” by the drag queen parody of the Last Supper on display during the July 26 opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, after critics complained loudly over the Vatican’s prolonged silence on the matter. “The Holy See is saddened by some scenes of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games and cannot but join the voices that have been raised in recent days to deplore the offense done to many Christians and believers of other religions,” it said in a statement. “In a prestigious event where the whole world comes...

[Catholic Caucus] Unhinged Miscreants Desecrated the Body of Cardinal PellIt was appalling to learn that a person or persons unknown desecrated the body of Cardinal George Pell before it was returned to Australia. We are told that this happened after the autopsy, that his body was inadequately embalmed, that he was left undressed and that his nose had been broken. This indicates a level of vindictiveness that is hard to fathom, and shows how little regard the perpetrators had for Pell’s family: the ones most affected by this sad event. One can only wonder at the motive: a true Christian...

The Gateway Pundit reported that Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò was summoned to the Vatican to be excommunicated by Red Pope Francis. Archbishop Carlo Viganò, a friend of the faithful and totally dedicated to the Church and sharing the word of Jesus Christ, was notified that he was being summoned to the Vatican. Vigano has been outspoken against the destruction of the Church, COVID mandates, and stolen elections. He has called out the current Pope for his destructive actions against the Church. He has warned about the World Economic Forum. For this, there are reports that he is being excommunicated from...

ROME — Vatican representatives stoked fears of a climate emergency Thursday, insisting global warming is “bringing humanity to its knees.” In a Vatican press conference to present Pope Francis’ message for the World Day of Care for Creation, Father Alberto Ravagnani said that the climate crisis is a “dramatic provocation to our humanity” because when creation suffers, we all suffer. “The climate crisis is bringing the whole of humanity to its knees,” he declared. The environmental question “is particularly close to the hearts of today’s young people, because the current climate crisis looms over their future and that of their...

explore the IOR, aka the Vatican Bank, uncovering a complex web of hidden secrets, unexpected alliances, and intriguing mysteries within one of the world's most powerful institutions.

ROME — In preparation for World Refugee Day, Pope Francis declared Wednesday that all of us are “required” to welcome anyone who knocks on our door. World Refugee Day, an annual United Nations commemoration celebrated on June 20, should be “an occasion to turn an attentive and fraternal gaze to all those who are compelled to flee their homes in search of peace and security,” the pontiff told the crowd gathered in Saint Peter’s Square for his weekly general audience. “We are all required to welcome, promote, accompany, and integrate those who knock on our doors,” the pope contended.

Ever wondered what was in the Vatican Secret Archives or the Pope’s Treasury Collection? “Baldwin’s Treasure” is the premier collection of sacred antiquities made of silver and precious gems from all over Byzantium. These include the finest works in ivory and enamel, jade, gold leaf, and glass. Has anyone ever heard of this? Probably not, but those who have been in the company of an elite few. This article is about a mysterious and enigmatic collection of ancient, rare objects belonging to Christian and Jewish heritage. A little backgrounder, though, is necessary. First, when was the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire...

For centuries, the Vatican has been carefully guarding their most precious secrets. In recent years, that has been especially true regarding what they know about UFOs, aliens and the mysteries of the universe. So why have they chosen this exact moment in history to publicly talk about these things? The press conference at the Vatican on Thursday is the very first time that the Vatican has held a press conference about UFOs, aliens and “apparitions” since 1978. So this is a really big deal. It is being reported that the Vatican has decided to issue new guidelines “on aliens and...

‘NO Climate Crisis’ Says Coalition of 1,600 Actual ScientistsThe United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is ‘one of the worst sources of dangerous misinformation’ “There is ‘NO Climate Crisis’ says a coalition of 1,600 actual scientists” in a recent letter to the California Air Resources Board. In fact, the scientists find that “California is in no danger of unusual drought: The annual precipitation in California has fluctuated greatly over the last 150 years, with only a slight decrease.” California also has record low levels of air pollution that are below the threshold of human health effects, James E. Enstrom,...

The Vatican’s doctrine office will publish a new document next week on discerning Marian apparitions and other supernatural events. The Holy See Press Office announced on Tuesday that Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), will unveil new norms for discernment regarding “apparitions and other supernatural phenomena” on Friday, May 17. In an interview with the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, last month, Fernandez said that the document will provide “clear guidelines and norms” for discernment. The new norms will be the first time that the Vatican’s doctrinal office...

ROME — The Vatican Press Office said Saturday evening the pope’s call for Ukraine to raise the “white flag” did not refer to surrender but rather the “courage to negotiate.” “I think that the strongest one is the one who looks at the situation, thinks about the people and has the courage of the white flag, and negotiates,” Francis said during a recent interview with Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS), a portion of which was published Saturday morning. The pontiff’s words were widely understood to refer to Ukraine’s surrender, drawing a fierce reaction from Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba.

The Vatican is sponsoring the creation of a “guide” to promote the “values” of the Abu Dhabi document on human fraternity — which has been described by a faithful prelate as “a betrayal of the Gospel” — to youth across the world. The Vatican recently announced that 11 university students of various religions selected for the “Human Fraternity Fellows program for the promotion of intercultural and interreligious harmony” have been tasked with creating a “practical guide to solidarity solutions” based on the Abu Dhabi document. The guide aims to “brin(g) the values” of the document “to young people, starting with...

Pope Francis postponed a series of meetings because of a lung inflammation and breathing difficulties, the Vatican said Monday morning. Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, said in an emailed statement that a CT scan ruled out pneumonia but added that doctors had inserted a cannula to provide antibiotics. The pope lost part of a lung following an illness some 50 years ago. Francis, the first pope from the Americas, turns 87 next month and has battled ill health for years, canceling multiple engagements and appearing in public in a wheelchair. But Bruni's statement stressed: "The Pope’s condition...

I do not like Pope Francis. While he’s been staunch on abortion, when it comes to many other things, he’s worked hard to have the Church Eternal bend to the ideas of leftism. This isn’t surprising given that he’s a product of the communist Liberation Theology movement that swept the Latin American church when he worked there, but the fact that it’s not surprising doesn’t mean we should like it. Most recently, Francis has seemingly been trying to normalize so-called transgenderism. His latest push in that direction occurred when he invited a busload of 44 so-called transgender people to the...

The Sixth forum of the “Laudato Si’ Communities” was held in Verona, Italy, earlier this month. This is a series of meetings devoted to propagating Pope Francis’ views on what is called “the climate emergency.” This latest affair was called “Doubling the Commitment.” This was a reference to Francis’ new exhortation, Laudate Deum, in which he warns us that the end is near, both for “our suffering planet” and, by extension, for us. He struck the same note in his opening video message to the Verona meeting, warning that it’s “a very difficult time” and that “within 30 years the...

SALTILLO, Mexico – Gabby and Ana are in love. So are Marco Antonio and Juan Carlos. Under a sweeping new law allowing same-sex couples to form civil unions, they are planning to turn their love into a legal commitment. Legislators in the dusty northern border state of Coahuila have stunned Mexico by giving same-sex couples property and inheritance rights long reserved for married heterosexuals. It is a first for this predominantly Roman Catholic country, a measure so swift and so bold that it surprised even the gay community. All of a sudden, gay rights are on the national agenda. Since...

The 1978 Investigation into Vatican Freemasonry, pt. IIAbove: Albino Luciani, John Paul I.Read part I here.Some light at the end of the tunnel shone with the more positive reception of Archbishop Gagnon’s evidence, with the next Pontiff, John Paul I. The new Holy Father did not waste time and did not put off Gagnon’s request to present his report. Unlike the previous Pontiff, the new Holy Father cut to the chase and said what needed to be said, after seeing Gagnon’s evidence:Freemason bishops? Any Catholic—lay or cleric—who enters Freemasonry, incurs automatic excommunication. Canon 2335.The following are more excerpts to illustrate...

The 1978 Investigation into Vatican Freemasonry: Discovering the Smoke of SatanIn its foreword, Murder in the 33rd Degree by Father Charles Murr, stipulates that since 1738 with Pope Clement XII’s encyclical, Eminenti Specula, the church’s condemnation of Freemasonry had remained the same, best expressed in the 1917 Code of Canon Law, Canon 2335: “Those giving their name to masonic sects or other associations of this sort that machinate against the Church or legitimate civil powers contract by that fact excommunication simply reserved to the Apostolic See.” The author of the foreword, an unnamed, “friend and brother priest,” concludes, “Thus, if...