Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] German church tax is funding a ‘Marxist’ religion of heretics and schismaticsCatholic priest Fr. Joachim Heimerl argued that the bishops in Germany 'cling to the church tax like the devil to a poor soul. After all, the tax system has made the Church in Germany incredibly rich but equally faithless and decadent.'Anyone who is baptized and confirmed and who professes the faith of the Church is Catholic. In Germany, as is so often the case, things are quite different. Here, you are only Catholic through the church tax, at least if you are a taxpayer.This tax is by...

Dolly’s right that all should be treated with love and kindness, but when we refuse to label sin a sin, we’re doing more harm than good. Fifty years after her original rise to stardom, Dolly Parton has released her highest-charting album and is more beloved than ever before. Initially known for her songwriting skills and beauty, Parton has entered her golden years as a “secular American saint.” In a world where division is the default, she collects fans of every political stripe, refusing to denigrate anyone, and regularly proclaims, “I love everybody,” when asked how she does it. This response...

June is the month when folks who are given over to sexual deviancy and gender confusion publicly display their disdain for the design of creation and the God who gave them life. Ironically, they have coopted the rainbow, a symbol of the Noahic covenant given by God after he destroyed the world with a flood in an act of global judgment. The state of the unregenerate hearts of men before the flood is not dissimilar to what we see in Pride celebrations this very month. Solomon described this cycle in Ecclesiastes 1:8-9: What has been is what will be, and...

[Catholic Caucus] Dutch Bishop: Fiducia Supplicans Too Much ‘in Tune With Zeitgeist’A Dutch bishop has described the Vatican’s Fiducia Supplicans declaration, which permits nonliturgical blessings of homosexual couples, as an attempt to “make peace with a secular society.”However, Auxiliary Bishop Rob Mutsaerts of the Diocese of ’s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands warned: “Peace at the expense of morality and truth” is a “most merciless peace imaginable.” “God loves everyone. He loves all sinners, but he hates your sins. He fervently hopes that you will return to him, just as he hoped for the prodigal son’s return. He wants nothing more than...

[Catholic Caucus] 1500+ Catholics call on University of Notre Dame to rescind award given to pro-abortion Joe BidenOver 1500 Catholics with ties to the University of Notre Dame are urging the institution to withdraw the 2016 Laetare Medal it awarded to then-Vice President Joe Biden considering his relentless promotion of abortion in direct violation of Church teaching.Over 1500 Catholics are calling on Notre Dame University to rescind the Laetare Medal given to U.S. President Joe Biden in 2016 considering his fervent support for abortion in direct violation of Church teaching. Currently, over fifteen hundred alumni and friends of Notre Dame...

Churches need to take a more active role in the pro-life movement, especially in conveying the arguments against abortion, according to an activist and author. Scott Klusendorf, president of The Life Training Institute and author of the book The Case For Life, spoke with Focus on the Family President Jim Daly in an interview posted to YouTube on Thursday. Klusendorf said he believes "a lot of our churches think that if they're silent on abortion, they'll spare post-abortion men and women guilt." "In reality, they're sparing them healing because unconfessed sin has them out of full fellowship with Christ. So,...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope meets with members of LGBTQ+ community, Vatican newspaper emphasizes» Continue to this story on L'Osservatore Romano (Italian) CWN Editor's Note: In a front-page article, the Vatican newspaper emphasized that Pope Francis greeted homosexuals and transsexuals after his June 6 general audience. They were accompanied by Sister Geneviève Jeanningros, who has ministered “for 56 years in the midst of the LGBTQ+ community and carnies.” The Pontiff, according to the newspaper, greeted her with the words, “Here she is, the enfant terrible,” before shaking hands, joking with people, giving a Rosary to one person, and giving a blessing. Echoing...

Today I received messages from two separate friends that said essentially the same thing: “Kaeley, check out this post from my Christian relative. He’s using his ministry platform to endorse LGBTQ ideology, and he’s saying God approves of it. How can he read the Bible and come to these conclusions? How can he justify leading people astray this way?” And of course, the short answer is that he can’t. Christianity is completely and utterly incompatible with this ideology, which basically says, “God, I don’t care what you say is best for me or what rules you’ve issued to assure my...

CV NEWS FEED // After sentencing 75-year-old Paulette Harlow to two years in jail, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly quipped about the elderly pro-lifer’s husband’s concern that she might die in prison. Kollar-Kotelly commented that she hopes Harlow will “make an effort to remain alive” because that is a “tenet of [Harlow’s] religion,” according to LiveAction. On May 31, in a federal Washington, D.C. court, Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Harlow to two years in jail and 36 months of supervised release for protesting at a notorious late-term abortion clinic in Washington, D.C. with eight others. John Harlow, Paulette’s husband, spoke in court before the...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis again welcomes group of ‘transgender’ males, homosexuals at Vatican audiencePope Francis met on Wednesday with a group of self-professed homosexuals and ‘transsexuals,’ led by pro-LGBT nun Geneviève Jeanningros, who make monthly trips to his weekly general audiences, where they are given seats of honor in the front row. Just days after reportedly complaining about too much “f–ggotry” in Catholic seminaries, Pope Francis welcomed gender-confused persons led by an LGBT activist nun at his weekly audience at the Vatican this week.Vatican News reports that on Wednesday, June 5, pro-LGBT Sr. Geneviève Jeanningros led a contingent of self-professed...

[Catholic Caucus] Archbishop Viganò: Bergoglio’s goal is to normalize sodomy'Bergoglio’s goal is to normalize sodomy and all sexual perversion (both among the laity and among the clergy), destroy the priesthood itself, and promote the synodal transition from the Mass to celebrations without a priest,' Viganò wrote on Tuesday.In a social media post Tuesday, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò accused Pope Francis of wanting to “normalize sodomy,” “destroy” the priesthood and “promote the synodal transition from the Mass to celebrations without a priest.”Responding to reports that Francis told a man who was dismissed from a seminary for being a practicing homosexual to...

[Catholic Caucus] Francis Appoints Homosexualists to Shape DoctrineRecently, Pope Francis appointed three new members of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Notably—according to the reporting of Vatican expert Edward Pentin—all three can be linked to concerning statements, actions, or alliances regarding the topic of homosexuality. The three prelates are Archbishop Bruno Forte, Cardinal Jose Tolentino de Mendonca, and Cardinal Marcello Semeraro.Archbishop Bruno ForteForte is well-known to those who followed the 2014-2015 Synods on the Family. In 2014, as the synod’s special secretary, Forte wrote a manipulated report on, among other things, the “precious support” found in same-sex relationships....

VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) –– The Vatican official responsible for overseeing the Catholic Church’s response to abuse has said that 77 percent of cases he receives involve child abuse. Speaking on the sidelines of a safeguarding conference organized by the Italian Bishops Conference (CEI) in Rome on May 29, Monsignor John Joseph Kennedy provided comment about the work carried out by the Disciplinary office of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), which he leads. According to Reuters, Kennedy stated that around 77 percent of cases he receives in the Disciplinary office involve abuse of children…

United Methodism’s largest overseas jurisdiction has voted to quit the denomination in response to the church’s divorcing sex from marriage at its governing General Conference earlier this month. The United Methodist Church in the Ivory Coast voted on May 28 to exit the denomination. In 2022, this conference reportedly had over 1.2 million members. So, its departure means over one tenth of United Methodism has in one day left the denomination. Oddly, United Methodist News Service reported the vote very briefly in an emailed news digest but as of today has no article on its website. Perhaps it will post...

[Catholic Caucus] Gays in the seminary, pope eats his wordsAfter the remark on ‘faggotry’ in the priesthood, a sensational turn by Pope Francis: he encourages an aspiring gay seminarian not to give up. An inconceivable contradiction, which turns into a victory for the LGBT lobby.By now it can't even be called a surprise. After the uproar caused by the remark about the ‘atmosphere of faggotry’ in seminaries and among priests, obviously, the gay lobby could not sit idly by. So first a BBC report broke on a young Sicilian gay man who claims he was subjected to reparative therapies resembling...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis reportedly tells homosexual man thrown out of seminary: ‘Go forward with your vocation’According to Italian media reports, Pope Francis wrote a letter to a young man dismissed from a seminary for homosexuality, telling him to ‘go ahead with your vocation’ in contradiction to Catholic teaching.Pope Francis reportedly told a man who was dismissed from a seminary for being a practicing homosexual to “go forward with your vocation.”According to the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, 22-year-old Lorenzo Michele Noè Caruso received a letter from Francis in response to an email that Caruso sent the pontiff about the pope’s...

[Catholic Caucus] Gay man writes letter after Pope's statement – and gets a reply22-year-old had been expelled from seminaryGay man writes letter after Pope's statement – and gets a replyRome - The Pope's stance on social diversity was once again a topic of public debate following recent patronising statements. Now a young homosexual has published a letter in response from Francis.Published on 03.06.2024 at 11:51 – A homosexual man who was expelled from a seminary for this reason and turned to Pope Francis has received a response from the pontiff: "The Church must be open to all. Go ahead with...

[Catholic Caucus] Viganò Told: “Keep Your Mouth Shut”By Silencing Viganò, Catholic Media Silence Abuse VictimsSome faithful Catholics are voicing disagreement with the Editor of Crisis Magazine, Eric Sammons, after he scolded Archbishop Viganò to “keep your mouth shut” following Viganò’s assertion that he has personal knowledge of reports that Pope Francis sexually abused seminarians.As a sex abuse victims’ advocate who is aware of the serious effects of clerical sexual predation that has led countless victims to have their psychosexual development damaged; become drug addicts and/or alcoholics; and even commit suicide, I disagree with critics of Viganò’s transparency about abuse reports...

[Catholic Caucus] The Bible is a 'love letter' says Francis in preface for Fr. James Martin's bookPope Francis has written a preface for the Italian edition of Come Forth: The Promise of Jesus's Greatest Miracle, a book by Jesuit Fr. James Martin. Originally published in the U.S. in September 2023, Martin's work delves into the story of the resurrection of Lazarus, which he dubs "Jesus's greatest miracle." The pope's preface not only highlights the themes of the book, but also offers a glimpse into his own theological and pastoral perspectives."I was surprised, delighted and of course very grateful. It was...

Reclaiming ‘Pride Month’: June 2 is ‘Ex-Gay Visibility Day’Unpopular truth: There are more people today living as ‘ex-gays’ than there are those leading homosexual lives.“Pride Month” has just begun, a month when woke identity politics takes center stage for 30 days, relentlessly driving home the unfounded neo-Marxist claim that homosexual and transgender-identifying individuals are members of oppressed victim classes who, in the name of justice, must be elevated to prominence. Meanwhile, the rest of society — including children in school systems, corporate employees, government employees at every level, and even those in the military and the world of sports —...