Free Republic

Fiducia Supplicans: Cardinal Koch Openly Criticises the Mess Tucho has CreatedThe plenary meeting of the 'International Commission for Theological Dialogue' with the Orientals in Rome in January was supposed to be about Our Lady.But the Orientals wanted to talk about Francis' homosexual propaganda piece 'Fiducia supplicans', Cardinal Kurt Koch told Die-Tagespost.de (23 May).So the Cardinal invited Tucho Fernández to the meeting. But the coward "could not come" in person and only sent a written statement, which the Orientals described as "insufficient".Before having caused a schism in the Catholic Church, the homosex issue has already divided the Anglicans. At Koch's recent...

It seems to be taken for granted in many portions of Scripture that over the course of seeking to live faithful lives God's people will meet opposition, sometimes fierce opposition. The letter of 1 Peter presupposes such things—and if we accept the traditional dating and authorship of the epistle than the man who wrote the book was himself killed for his faith not long after writing. Likewise, the book of Daniel simply takes the reality of opposition for granted, showing us examples in the text of how faithful followers of God are threatened with fire, lions, and other forms of...

Concerning the death of too many Palestinians in Gaza, on May 15, 2024, Israel released video (taken by an Israeli drone) of a Hamas terrorist at a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) humanitarian aid warehouse in Rafah shooting at Palestinian civilians. In addition to the video of the Hamas terrorist shooting at Palestinians, other armed Hamas terrorists were videoed inside the UNRWA compound. Israel Katz (Israel’s Foreign Minister) said no lie from António Guterres, UN secretary-general, and Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of UNRWA, will hide the truth: “UNRWA is an arm of the terrorist organization Hamas. Lazzarini must...

[Catholic Caucus] Italy faces catastrophic collapse of Catholic faith as Mass attendance falls to 10% or belowThe steady, even accelerating, decline in the practice of the Catholic faith among Italians is detailed in a new study published by Professor Luca Diotallevi of the University of Rome.Traditionally Catholic Italy is facing a catastrophic collapse of the faith as Mass attendance falls precipitously to 10 percent of the population and even less in some areas. The steady, even accelerating, decline in the practice of the Catholic faith among Italians is detailed in a new study published by Professor Luca Diotallevi of the...

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: Police in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province dispersed a furious mob that targeted members of the Christian community on Saturday, leaving one man in critical condition following allegations of desecration of the Muslim scripture, as civil society activists called for an end to “vigilante justice” in the country. The incident occurred in Sargodha district after some people accused their Christian neighbor of defiling the pages of the Holy Qur’an. The house and a small shoemaking factory owned and operated by the man were burned down in the ensuing rampage, which was followed by police action that led to clashes with...

Pope Francis is under fire after claiming that human beings are “fundamentally good” in a recent interview with 60 Minutes host Norah O’ Donnell. “We are all fundamentally good,” he said. “Yes, there are some rogues and sinners, but the heart itself is good.” Evangelical leaders have pointed out that the pontiff’s statements are contrary to the teaching of original sin, one of Christianity’s basic doctrines. “If this is true, we don’t need a Savior to die on the Cross,” wrote Eric Metaxas, best-selling author and national radio host. Alluding to the pope’s statements in light of the 24/7 news...

If you could, would you want to talk with someone who has died? What if that person was someone you deeply loved and cared for? I asked if you could because we now have technology that promises to make that scenario possible. Here’s a technology issue: it doesn’t go backward once it reaches a certain level. It only advances. Our world is now promoting it has the technology to have a conversation with the dead. Dadbot and HereAfter AI How do these conversations take place? Through a chatbot called Dadbot. Dadbot is on an interactive app called HereAfter AI. This...

(RNS) — Since taking the pulpit at Legacy Baptist Church in Coolidge, Arizona, Pastor Rob Hudelson has not shied away from hot-button political issues, including disputing the results of the 2020 election. His taste for politicking has expressed itself in his two campaigns for state representative. Recently on X, formerly Twitter, Hudelson responded to a post from the conspiracy minded journalist Lara Logan about recent arrests of Jan. 6 rioters with a post that read: “Marxism will not be something that is debated… only taken by force. It cannot win in the battlefield of ideas.” That kind of rhetoric has...

Three Catholic bishops and a nun walk into the White House. Here’s why it’s no joke. (RNS) — Three Catholic bishops and a nun walked into a climate policy meeting at the White House. This isn’t the beginning of a joke. Bishop Edward Weisenburger of Tucson, Arizona, Bishop Joseph Tyson of Yakima, Washington, and St. Joseph Sister Carol Zinn, executive director of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and I really did go to the White House on Nov. 17, with support from communications specialist Lonnie Ellis. We went to discuss Pope Francis’ latest apostolic exhortation on climate, “Laudate Deum.”...

This sounds so much like today! I couldn’t get that thought out of my head as I read the John 6 account of Jesus’ interaction with the Jews the day after His feeding of the five thousand. How did those in the crowd on that day respond to Jesus’ plea that they believe in Him? They asked, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?” (John 6:30). What more did they need to see? Jesus had just fed a multitude with “five barley loaves” and “two fish.” The total number...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Burke warns Synod threatens to spread ‘devastation’ of German Church to ‘universal Church’ Speaking at the Thomas Aquinas College commencement, His Eminence told the graduates that the world is facing troubled times and 'What is more, the rebellion and revolution is sustained by some from within the Church, even by some who are called and ordained to shepherd the flock.' On Sunday, the Feast of Pentecost, U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke warned graduates of Thomas Aquinas College about the potential “devastating” impact the upcoming October meeting of the Synod of Bishops may have on “the universal Church.” “We...

In the first part of this article, we noted that God has created everything. Nothing exists without Him. This position is clearly supported in the Scriptures just as the case for His omnibenevolent, omniscient, and omnipotent nature is also supported. These are matters which are beyond question if one studies and accepts the Scriptures responsibly. All that being so, it’s tempting to feel that if an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent God really exists, then evil should not. If God is who the Bible claims He is, then how does evil fit in? This awkward truce of disparate truths is not...

Part 1: An Apparent Contradiction of Logic An unsettling question may arise when one ponders the implications of John 1:3 which states, “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” That unsettling question is, “Did God create evil?” Let’s step back a few paces to get a big-picture view. After each sequence of bringing the heavens and earth into existence in Genesis chapter 1, God considered His creative work to be good. Over and over, it is repeated, “And God saw that it was good.” The point is...

It really makes you wonder when you look back at Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s statement of April 23rd, less than a month ago, as he threatened Israel with annihilation. It was during a visit to Pakistan that Raisi referred to Israel as the “Zionist regime,” whose destruction he promised if they would dare to attack Iran. Because when thinking about the Biblical accounts of cause and effect, it’s only natural to make the comparison of someone who, after threatening the Jews, ended up hanging on his own gallows. But who was Ebrahim Raisi, and is it possible to connect his...

[Catholic Caucus] German priests do not support Synodal Way, new study findsPriests in Germany are not supportive of the controversial German Synodal Way, according to a new study commissioned by the German Bishops’ Conference.The study, officially titled “Who Becomes a Priest?”, found that priests are “alienated from the concerns of Church reform,” lead author Matthias Sellmann said on May 17.“Priests are also clearly not supporters of the German Synodal Way,” Sellmann emphasized. According to a statement by the bishops’ conference, the study aimed to investigate “the socio-religious background and motivations of newly ordained priests in order to make strategic personnel...

[Catholic/Orthodox Caucus] Pope Francis gives prisoners silent blessing ‘so everyone receives it from God in the way they believe’‘All religions, all cultures, look at the one God in different ways,’ the pontiff told a group of prisoners in Verona from various religions.“God is one: our cultures have taught us to call him by one name, by another, and to find him in different ways, but he is the same father of all of us,” Pope Francis said. “He is one.” “And all religions, all cultures, look at the one God in different ways.”“Please do not forget, please pray for me...

Vatican makes fresh overture to China, reaffirms that Catholic Church is no threat to sovereigntyThe Vatican has made another big overture to ChinaROME -- The Vatican made another big overture to China on Tuesday, reaffirming the Catholic Church poses no threat to Beijing's sovereignty and admitting that Western missionaries had made “errors” in past centuries in their zeal to convert the Chinese faithful.The Vatican hosted the head of China's bishops conference for an unprecedented, high-level commemoration of a landmark 1924 meeting in Shanghai that affirmed the need for foreign missionaries in China to give way to local church leaders.The presence...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis tells CBS’ ‘60 Minutes’ that U.S. conservative Catholics have ‘suicidal attitude’Pope Francis blasted critics of his 11-year pontificate Sunday, saying conservative Catholics manifest “a suicidal attitude.”“We could not divide the world into conservatives or non-conservatives and those are ideological divisions that are no good at all,” he added.... In August 2023, during a meeting with Jesuits in Lisbon, Portugal, Francis said a “reactionary attitude” among some American Catholics was “useless,” saying they “need to understand that there is an appropriate evolution in the understanding of matters of faith and morals.” Critics would say the Argentinian-born pontiff,...

[Catholic Caucus] Catholic diocesan hermit approved by Kentucky bishop comes out as transgenderDiocesan hermits by nature don’t get much attention. A small subset of religious persons, hermits mostly spend their lives engaged in quiet prayer.Brother Christian Matson, a Catholic diocesan hermit in Kentucky, has spent years doing just that. His monk’s habit might catch his neighbors’ eye, but he is known in the town where he lives primarily through his work with the local theater.But recently Matson decided that his faith compels him to make a little more noise than usual.“This Sunday, Pentecost 2024, I’m planning to come out publicly...

Has the definition of Premillennialism changed in the past few decades? I ask this because during the past several years, a few pastors told me they were Premillennial, but they didn’t adhere to a futuristic interpretation of the book of Revelation or the restoration of a kingdom to Israel. For me, Premillennialism has always signified a belief in Jesus’ return to earth after a literal seven-year Tribulation at which time He will setup His thousand-year rule over the nations of the earth, which certainly includes a gloriously restored Israel. What’s causing the shift away from these beliefs that were a...