Free Republic

WASHINGTON, April 22 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Monsignor William A. Kerr, president of La Roche College in Pittsburgh, was named executive director of the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center by Cardinal Adam Maida, president of the Cultural Center and archbishop of Detroit, at a news conference today. The appointment is effective July 1, 2004. Monsignor Kerr, a priest of the Diocese of Pensacola- Tallahassee, replaces Father G. Michael Bugarin who will continue to serve the Cultural Center as a consultant and as an advisor to the Center's governing board. In June, Monsignor Kerr completes two, six-year terms as president of...

ROME, MARCH 25, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Russell Shaw was press secretary for the U.S. bishops' conference from 1969-1987. He is the author of 16 books, most recently, "Personal Vocation: God Calls Everyone by Name," published last year by Our Sunday Visitor. Shaw's unique understanding of the workings of the bishops' conference and long experience as a Catholic writer and journalist position him as an authoritative commentator on the crisis in the Catholic Church in the United States today. In Rome recently for a week of lectures, Shaw candidly shared with a group of Vatican journalists his views on "squishiness" in some...

<p>SIEM REAP, Cambodia Just about the time that the White House announced plans for an investigation into faulty Iraq intelligence, my Cambodian friend, Phead, took me to visit one of the monuments to the victims of his nation's genocide. On the way to see the collection of human bones and skulls gathered from the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge, I asked Phead what he thought about the U.S.-led war in Iraq.</p>

<p>Front-running Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry told a Free Press reporter Tuesday that Great Lakes water diversion issues require a "delicate balancing act" to provide for "national needs."</p> <p>Twenty-four hours later, his Michigan campaign spokesman, Mark Kornblau, said the Massachusetts senator's position on shipping water out of the Great Lakes is "unequivocal."</p>

A New Year's Eve incident at Tappahannock Municipal Airport had townspeople talking yesterday, but there was little anxiety about reports linking the village of 2,000 to al-Qaida terrorism. According to the FBI, an illegal alien tried to enter the airport late Tuesday afternoon, then fled. And the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported yesterday that unnamed sources said a Tappahannock resident has been under investigation for some time on suspicion of financing or assisting al-Qaida. Airport Manager John McDonald said the Virginia State Police pursued a car that tried to enter the airport grounds, then sped off at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. State...

Dear Friend, I have a challenge for you -- see if you can tell me what all these quotes have in common: * "I'm spiritual. I'm religious. I'm a strong Christian and I'm a Catholic but I go to Presbyterian Church. Occasionally I go to the Catholic church too. I take communion. I haven't transferred my membership or anything. My wife and I consider ourselves -- she considers herself a Catholic." --Gen. Wesley Clark, in an interview with Beliefnet * "Under the Constitution, the public has a right to know that, in the end, the votes I cast are driven...

<p>GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  — Israeli helicopters fired two missiles at a target near the beach in Gaza City (search) early Sunday, witnesses said.</p> <p>It was not immediately clear what the target was or whether anyone was hurt.</p> <p>The air strike came hours after a Palestinian homicide bomber from the West Bank (search) blew herself up in a crowded restaurant in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, killing 19.</p>

By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq - Deafening explosions rocked central Baghdad early Sunday as Iraqi troops, members of President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s Fedayeen militia and teenage soldiers patrolled streets to protect the capital from U.S.-led forces. AP Photo (AP Video) Latest news: · Coalition faces challenge of limiting damage to Iraq's heritageAFP - 16 minutes ago · U.S. Death Toll in Iraq War Rises to 79Reuters - 17 minutes ago · American Forces Probe Baghdad Defenses AP - 22 minutes ago Special Coverage   U.S. armor penetrated the city early Saturday for the first...

Vatican's "Lexicon of the Family" Leaves No Room for Ambiguities Aimed at Terminology That Sows Seeds of Confusion VATICAN CITY, DEC. 6, 2002 (Zenit.org).- A voluminous Vatican study entitled "Lexicon of the Family" clarifies numerous terms that seem innocuous but could otherwise hide ideological objectives. The much-awaited lexicon will go on sale in Italy early next year. No date has been set for an English edition. Dozens of international specialists have collaborated on the close to 1,000-page volume produced by the Pontifical Council for the Family. "Voluntary interruption of pregnancy," when referring to abortion, and "reproductive health," when talking about...

<p>You might call it the house that spam built.</p> <p>Alan Ralsky's brand new 8,000-square-foot luxury home near Halsted and Maple in West Bloomfield has been a busy place this month. Outside, landscapers worked against the November cold to get a sprinkler system installed before the ground freezes. Inside, painters prepared to hang wallpaper.</p>

My Brothers and Sisters in the Lord: Our annual Respect Life observance takes on special meaning and significance this October 2002 as we continue to remember with sorrow last year's terrorist attacks, and as we prepare for next month's election. Daily, we hear reports of many forms of violence and abuse to human life near and far. Now more than ever, we recognize that the gift of life is precious, yet very fragile. As we reflect on the wide-scale violent abuse of life, we cannot help but be dismayed that over one million lives are being lost each year to...

Human Embryos, Bioethics and the "Devil's Bargain" Robert George on the Dangers of Treating Tiny Human Lives as Material PRINCETON, New Jersey, JULY 25, 2002 (Zenit.org).- The President's Council on Bioethics on July 11 recommended that a four-year moratorium be placed on all human cloning in the United States. One of the members of the panel, Princeton University jurisprudence professor Robert P. George, outlined for ZENIT some of the issues confronting the council and the country. He is also author of "The Clash of Orthodoxies: Law, Morality, and Religion in Crisis" (ISI Books). Q: Many have called for cloning to...

Holy Zero-Tolerance Idea Gets Boost Fri Apr 26, 9:21 PM ETBy MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press Writer PHILADELPHIA (AP) - With Roman Catholic leaders pressured to act decisively against abusive priests, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua of Philadelphia insisted Friday the group was unanimously behind a "zero tolerance" policy for abusers. "All of the cardinals are agreed on zero tolerance, and by that I mean that we all are agreed that no priest guilty of even one act of sexual abuse of a minor will function in any ecclesial ministry or any capacity in our dioceses," Bevilacqua said before a benefit dinner with...

The world’s biggest what? Peter Cunniffe One for the Road One for the Road (Peter Cunniffe) Of all the weirdos and self-righteous ideologues who populate Ann Arbor, one stands above all the rest. He shares the eccentricity and propensity to induce rampant eye-rolling that so many Trotskyist affirmative-action supporters and screaming street preachers share, but puts them to shame by being about the only one of our local wackos to be able to bring his grandiose schemes to fruition. Unlike those dedicated, but under-funded, champions of this-or-that cause, Tom Monaghan has the money to turn his repellant delusions into reality. ...

INTERVIEW Princeton's Robert George on Reasonableness of Christian MoralityTells Why Moral Principles Outdo Secularist Ideologies PRINCETON, New Jersey, JAN. 10, 2002 (Zenit.org).- Christian moral principles are rationally superior to secularist ideologies that now command the elite sectors of Western culture, says a leading political philosopher.Robert P. George, the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, spells out his ideas in "The Clash of Orthodoxies: Law, Religion, and Morality in Crisis" (ISI Books).In this interview with ZENIT he elaborates on his ideas.Q: What are some of the key topics ...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Vast fields of carbon dioxide ice are eroding from the poles of Mars, suggesting that the climate of the Red Planet is warming and the atmosphere is becoming slightly more dense. Experts say that over time such changes could allow water to return to the Martian surface and turn the frigid planet into a ``shirt-sleeve environment.'' Michael A. Caplinger, a scientist with Malin Space Science Systems, said that if the rate of carbon dioxide erosion from the Mars poles continues for thousands of years, ``then it could profoundly amend the climate of Mars.'' ``You would go ...