Free Republic

Catholic teaching on contraception is at the heart of the controversy over the Health and Human Services mandate. Catholic hospitals and universities are unwilling to purchase insurance plans that provide contraceptive coverage. To critics, this unwillingness borders on the irrational; accordingly, they see little value in protecting the freedom of Catholic hospitals and universities to act in accordance with their beliefs. Catholic teaching about contraception is, however, not irrational; nor is it founded, as some have claimed, on irrelevant distinctions such as that between what is natural and what is “artificial.” Rather, two lines of argument are to be found...

I've had it, after 55 years, with the Catholic Church. No more of my money for these people. Every homily is like an Obama campaign speech. Hiding the homosexual scandal, promoting Obama Care........ on & on. Is there a conservative alternative? Orthodox Church maybe? Never been to one but I'm ready to switch.

You have to hand it to Barack Obama. He has unmasked in the most thoroughgoing way the despotic propensities of the administrative entitlements state and of the Democratic Party. And now he has done something similar to the hierarchy of the American Catholic Church.

Despite a nine to nothing Supreme Court ruling against the Obama Administration last month in which the court ruled that a church decides who its leaders should be and not a government gone wild, the Obama Administration is back at it. This time the administration is telling Catholics that in their various organizations they can't observe ancient church teachings on sexuality and procreation. That is bad. But it gets worse. They have sent out their apologists in government and media to convince Catholics that government teachings about CHURCH beliefs are correct, and that the Catholic Church is a bit out...

At the end of Sunday mass at the church this writer attends in Washington, D.C., the pastor asked the congregation to remain for a few minutes. Then, on the instructions of Cardinal Archbishop Donald Wuerl, the pastor proceeded to read a letter. In the letter, the Church denounced the Obama administration for ordering all Catholic schools, hospitals and social services to provide, in their health insurance coverage for employes, free contraceptives, free sterilizations and free "morning-after" pills.

Understanding the conflicting claims of Catholicism versus Eastern OrthodoxyAmong the lapsed from the Catholic Church in the turbulent post-conciliar period are those Catholics who became so disenchanted with the liturgical disarray and doctrinal unrest evident in Western Catholicism that they became converts to Eastern Orthodoxy. They found themselves influenced by the Eastern Orthodox claim to preserve the doctrinal, sacramental, and liturgical heritage of the ancient Church, and in fact, to be the historical continuation of the true Church of Jesus Christ. Those defecting from the Catholic Church found comforting Eastern OrthodoxyÂ’s professing the doctrine of the first seven ecumenical Councils,...

Once again, the sex lives of Catholic clergy are seeing a flurry of media attention. During the first week of 2012, Los Angeles Bishop Gabino Zavala announced his resignation after acknowledging that he had fathered two children with the same woman. Zavala’s announcement trailed just a few days behind the appointment, on January 1, of Jeffrey Steenson as the chief pastor of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. Steenson is a married Catholic priest. His new position as head of the Ordinariate confers upon him all of the duties of a Catholic bishop, with the exception of the...

After spending at least 15 minutes on contraception and gay marriage, Newt finally had enough and told the media the bigotry question goes both ways and that there’s more “anti-Christian bigotry out there than there is concern on the other side” that the media ignores:

During the 1960s a book Double Helix came out that described Francis Crick and James WatsonÂ’s discovery of the double helix structure that made up DNA. This was a landmark discovery for it enabled scientists to understand how living organisms were able to replicate themselves from generation to generation. DNA functioned as a unique blueprint for each human being: a set of instructions about the color of our eyes, the shape of our nose etc. In the 1980s scientists discovered the presence of telomeres, little bits of DNA located at the end of the chromosome chain. Telomeres function to keep...

Blessed Pope John XXIII, in the Apostolic Constitution Veterum Sapientia of 1962, strongly mandated the study and use of Latin in ecclesiastical studies, theology, the Liturgy, and as a prerequisite for priestly formation. This February, there is to be an International Convention in Rome to mark the 50th anniversary of Veterum Sapientia. I can't help thinking that after 50 years we are perhaps finally prepared to take the document of the Blessed Pope seriously. Here is one passage from the standard translation that you can find in various places on the internet: Of its very nature Latin is most suitable for promoting...

What is Sola Scriptura? "We believe in the Bible alone and the Bible in its entirety as the sole rule of faith for the Christian!" You may have heard these words or something very similar to them from a Fundamentalist or Evangelical Protestant. They are, in essence, the meaning of the doctrine of Sola Scriptura, or "Scripture alone," which alleges that the Bible – as interpreted by the individual believer – is the only source of religious authority and is the Christian’s sole rule of faith or criterion regarding what is to be believed. By this doctrine, which is one...

5. Midnight Mass is at midnight. One of the hoariest Catholic jokes — “What time is midnight Mass?” — is no longer so funny. Midnight Mass, traditionally the first celebration of the Christmas liturgy, is also when Saint Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus is read aloud. Recently, however, many churches have moved up their celebrations — first to 10 p.m., then to 8 p.m., and now as early as 4 p.m. Why? For one thing, churches are packed on Christmas Day. Second, the elderly and families with children may find it easier to attend services on the 24th,...

A drastic exodus from the church is underway in the Netherlands. With two churches shuttered each week, one man has become the country's top advisor on how to repurpose the once holy buildings. Some are demolished, while others find new life as mosques, stores and even recreation centers. Marc de Beyer in St. Michael's church in De Bilt, where several parishes have combined. Marc de Beyer is an art historian in Utrecht, located about a half an hour by train from Amsterdam, but one could also call him a liquidator. He's a man who shuts down churches. When a parish...

On Monday’s Now with Alex Wagner, MSNBC contributor Meghan McCain was beside herself over Republican frontrunner Newt Gingrich‘s physical absence from Iowa, just weeks away from the caucuses, also expressing disgust over his comments on judicial activism. “I can’t handle it!” McCain exclaimed. “As a Republican, this is the end of the Republican Party if we nominate this man.” McCain was responding to a report that Gingrich was staying home for the holidays, watching his wife play the French horn at a Christmas concert and noted that when her father was campaigning for President, he didn’t take a break. “That’s...

Featured Term (selected at random):MASS The Sacrifice of the Eucharist as the central act of worship of the Catholic Church. The "Mass" is a late form of missio (sending), from which the faithful are sent to put into practice what they have learned and use the graces they have received in the Eucharistic liturgy. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass, "The same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross, is present and offered in an unbloody manner." Consequently, the Mass is a truly propitiatory sacrifice,...

Today is the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas--North, Central and South. The feast commemorates the day on which she imprinted her image on the tilma, or cloak, of St. Juan Diego, whose feast Catholics celebrated on December 9th. It is a beautiful story that took place in 1531, a decade after Cortez's conquest of Aztec Mexico, and just 14 years after Martin Luther's publication of his Ninety-Five Theses, the event which precipitated the Protestant Reformation in Europe. December 9, 1531 is the day on which she first appeared to Juan Diego, an Indian convert...

On November 8, 1519 - only two years after the start of the Protestant Reformation in Western Europe - a Spanish conquistador named Hernando Cortes, led his army into the sprawling city of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire in modern-day Mexico. This was the symbolic start of the conquest of the Meso-America by the Spanish. The Spanish conquistadors were seeking fame and fortune. They were accompanied, however, by Catholic missionaries who were seeking to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the indigeonous peoples of Meso-America. For more than a decade, the labor of the Catholic missionaries among...

Dr. William Marshner The Catholic Church holds that faith in Jesus Christ is not saving faith unless it bears fruit in good works. Vice-versa, the Church holds that such works are so intimately joined to faith, that, without them, it is impossible for the believer to grow or persevere in his faith.(1) In this way, good works are necessary for salvation. Most Protestants are uncomfortable with such a statement. Without denying the importance of good works, Protestants tend to see them as symptoms of the one thing necessary rather than as necessities in their own right. For Luther, good works...

So could some catholics explain this to me?

The Education Question 1092. Speaking of education, what is the real reason for Catholic antipathy to our state schools? Whatever others may think of our public policy of free, compulsory, and secular education, Catholics cannot in conscience accept that system as being suitable for the education of Catholic children. The real reason is that the religious training of the children is not sufficiently provided for, the time allotted for religion being quite inadequate, even were it utilized. The State system demands the "3 R's," reading, writing and arithmetic. Catholic principles demand the "4 R's," religion, reading, writing and arithmetic; and...

I have published on this Hymn before but want to post on it again at the beginning of Advent in hopes that a few of you who have the influence and ability may see that this hymn in used in your parishes for Advent at some point.For my money the best Advent hymn ever written is Veni Redemptor Gentium (Come Redeemer of the Nations) written by St. Ambrose in the 4th Century.One of the beautiful things about the ancient Latin Hymns is how richly theological they are. Not content to merely describe the event in question, they give sweeping theological...

On Wednesday, Dec. 7, the Republican Jewish Coalition will host a presidential-candidates forum featuring Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum. Not invited is the GOP candidate currently polling around third in New Hampshire and second in Iowa: Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). The explanation: Paul was not invited to attend the RJC's candidates forum because the organization - as it has stated numerous times in the past - "rejects his misguided and extreme views," said [RJC Executive Director Matt] Brooks.

A Biblical Roadmap To The One, True Church by Gary Zimak on May 12, 2011 ©Heidi Bratton Photography Teach me, LORD, your way that I may walk in your truth. (Ps 86:11) Sounds simple, doesn’t it?  I can’t imagine any Christian looking at the above verse and disagreeing with its content.  Essentially, it is a summary of our mission as followers of Christ. But exactly how does the Lord teach us “His way” so that we can “walk in His truth”?  Even though we acknowledge Jesus as “the Way, the Truth, and the Life”, we still need a set of...

An Orange County bankruptcy judge ruled Thursday that the Crystal Cathedral, a monument to modernism in faith and architecture, will be sold for $57.5 million to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, which plans to consecrate it as a Catholic cathedral. The ruling was a blow to Chapman University, which had fought bitterly down to the final moments of the bankruptcy case for the right to buy the property as a satellite campus. It also marked the end of a remarkable chapter in the history of American Christianity, one that was written in glass and steel by the Crystal Cathedral's...

Fr. Federico Lombardi Vatican City, Nov 17, 2011 / 12:06 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican will take legal action against Italian clothing company Benetton to prevent the circulation of an ad featuring Pope Benedict XVI kissing a Muslim imam. The move on Nov. 17 comes a day after Benetton hastily withdrew the image from a new advertising campaign following protests from both religions.   “The Secretariat of State has authorized its lawyers to initiate actions, in Italy and elsewhere, to prevent the circulation, via the mass media and in other ways, of a photomontage used in a Benetton advertising campaign...

Editor’s Note: This is part two of a two-part story. You can read Part 1 here.5. Freedom Yes, the good old reactionary, repressive Catholic Church has been the most ardent defender of freedom in the history of the world — though it almost never gets credit for it. We live in an age of determinist ideologies — with the fate of nations and individuals supposedly determined by race, economics, history, psychology, genetics, or even — insofar as Protestants have any common doctrinal beliefs — predestination. The Catholic Church stands alone in radical defense of man’s free will.When the media, Protestants,...

Featured Term (selected at random):LADY DAY Originally the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin (March 25), although now the title is applied to other Marian feast days, e.g., the Assumption into Heaven. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

For the first time in Senate history, a bill has been introduced to encourage agencies not to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender couples seeking to adopt. “As more and more LGBT couples are getting married and starting families, we have a great opportunity to place children without a family into happy homes,” said Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand, New York Democrat and lead sponsor of the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, Monday at the Huffington Post. The past year has seen many moves toward gay equality, and “the momentum is there to build on our progress,” she said,...

I challenge Evangelicals to put their interpretation of the Bible and their theology up against the acid test of what the Early Church Fathers taught. Perhaps, Evangelicalism is closer to the truth than Mormonism, but it still has a long way to go. Purpose This Web page is dedicated to the defense of Catholic doctrines within Patristic thought. The Catholic rule of faith consists of three coordinate and complementary authorities: Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition and the teaching Church. The Church Fathers used both Scripture and Tradition to explain and defend the Catholic faith. Corunum's mission is to present the outline...

By Francis J. Beckwith 1 In a piece recently published in the Catholic and Evangelical portals of the Patheos website, Warren Cole Smith explains why he cannot support Mitt Romney’s candidacy for President of the United States. “A Vote for Romney is a Vote for the LDS Church” reminded me of the sort of anti-Catholic screeds that were widely published during the presidential candidacy of Senator John F. Kennedy. Catholics conversant with the 1960 election will recognize in Mr. Smith’s piece the sort of histrionics that were employed against them and their faith in the not-too-distant past. Consider this excerpt...

In Acapulco, meanwhile, federal police said they caught a young woman and a young man as they were getting out of a car near a shopping mall with an ice chest that contained a decapitated head and other human remains. Police had followed them because the car matched the description in a kidnapping report. Inside the vehicle, police said, they found another head inside another ice chest. Police officers discovered the bound bodies of the victims in a car near Acapulco two hours after the arrest. Federal police said 19-year-old Damaris Gomez leads a group of killers working for “the...

Suicide of a Super Power Pat Buchanan has written about the demise of the European-American peoples beneath the trampling of northward trekking, Third World immigrants. "America is disintegrating. The centrifugal forces pulling us apart are growing inexorably. What unites us is dissolving. And this is true of Western Civilization....Meanwhile, the state is failing in its most fundamental duties. It is no longer able to defend our borders, balance our budgets, or win our wars." Noman doesn't disagree with the overall concern expressed in the assessment, though he's more hopeful than the author about America's righting its course, sooner rather than...

Q. In the Old Testament, the terms "Israel," "Jacob," and "Jew" all seem to clearly be applied to the grandson of Abraham, the son of Isaac, the man Jacob and his physical descendants (Gen. 32:28; 35:10). But in the New Testament, the terms "Israel" and "Jew" are used in passages which are more difficult to understand which some interpret as teaching that faithful Gentiles are described as "Israel" or "true Jews" (e.g., Rom. 2:28-29; 9:4; Gal. 6:16). Can you shed some light on this? A. I believe that much of the confusion concerning the use of the term “Israel” in...

Full headline: 300,000 babies stolen from their parents - and sold for adoption: Haunting BBC documentary exposes 50-year scandal of baby trafficking by the Catholic church in Spain But the women, often young and unmarried, were told they could not see the body of the infant or attend their burial. In reality, the babies were sold to childless couples whose devout beliefs and financial security meant that they were seen as more appropriate parents. ... There are also many mothers who have maintained for years that their babies did not die – and were labelled “hysterical” – but are now...

"I'd like you to convert Chicago," Father Robert Barron remembers his boss, Francis Cardinal George, archbishop of the Windy City, telling him about six years ago. The result of that charge will be airing on many PBS stations, starting this week. Barron, a Chicago priest and professor, has created a remarkable book and TV series called "Catholicism" -- which, in reintroducing a 2,000-year-old tradition, manages to be both elaborate and humble. It's self-conscious as a work of evangelization (complete with available study guides and a prayer card for those who care for such things), yet welcoming to a wide potential...

Legal Persecution By James V. Schall, S. J. Thursday, 22 September 2011 Catholics have little legal future in this country except as a narrow, strictly defined sect. Catholic law schools, lawyers, and politicians have proved mostly ineffective or indeed abettors in the process by which “human rights” are used, step by seemingly logical step, to eliminate Catholics from the public order. Much has already occurred. The “Catholics” who are the prime target are those who hold and live the central teachings of reason and faith. Those who do not, matter little. Addressing a new Health and Human Services mandate concerning...

Chuck and Stephanie Fromm already have been fined $300 for holding Bible studies for their friends at their home, and they face the potential for additional fines of $500 for each study held, according to a legal team taking their case to court. The newest conflict over Bible studies in homes in America arose in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., where city officials say city code section 9-3.301 prohibits religious organizations in residential neighborhoods without a conditional-use permit, a sometimes very expensive procedure. The code cites "churches, temples, synagogues, monasteries, religious retreats, and other places of religious worship and other fraternal...

Troubling numbers and facts from Soeren Kern at the Hudson Institute: “Islamic mosques are being built more often in France than Roman Catholic churches, and there now are more practising Muslims in the country than practising Catholics. Nearly 150 new mosques currently are under construction in France, home to the biggest Muslim community in Europe. The mosque-building projects are at various stages of completion, according to Mohammed Moussaoui, the president of the Muslim Council of France (CFCM), who provided the data in an August 2 interview with the French radio station RTL.

“Bianca Laureano, a professor at College of Mount Saint Vincent is under fire for contributing to a pro-abortion blog and promoting criticism of the pro-life work of the nation’s Catholic bishops,” Steven Ertelt wrote on LifeNews.com on August 5, 2011. “A conversation about Latinas choosing abortion and what the rates are, as well as a focus on Rosie Jimenez was provided,” Dr. Laureano wrote of a presentation that she gave at her alma mater, the University of Maryland, this year. “It’s not often that I get choked up during presentations, but this time I teared up and my voice cracked...

Claim: For a period of 23 hours, a young Ecuadorian girl named Angelica was shown the Kingdoms of Heaven and Hell, and the Return of Christ. She witnessed Jesus weeping as He overlooked multitudes of souls lost forever, a world that has rejected Him, a Church that is mostly unprepared for Him, a people that have stopped witnessing to the lost, and an entertainment industry that even lures children to satan. She witnessed many of our esteemed cultural icons suffering in the Pit; singers, entertainers, and even a pope. This ex-Catholic girl now an Evangelical Preacher is spreading the message...

While America’s attention has been absorbed in recent weeks by domestic affairs, something quite remarkable has become unmistakably clear across the Atlantic: Ireland — where the constitution begins, “In the name of the Most Holy Trinity” — has become the most stridently anti-Catholic country in the Western world. Its Taoiseach (prime minister), Enda Kenny, recently took to the floor of the Dáil to denounce the Vatican as a house of “dysfunction, disconnection, elitism . . . [and] narcissism” and to commit an act of calumny against Pope Benedict XVI, accusing him of being a party to the coverup of the...

The news and blogosphere is filled with responses to the July 14, 2011 story by Joshua Green, the Senior Editor of the Atlantic, entitled "Michele Bachmann's Church Says the Pope Is the Antichrist." That is because it raises a serious matter which should not be taken lightly, and one which the candidate must address. First, let me share some personal context. I am what is often called a "revert" to the Catholic Church, someone who returned to the Church of my childhood after a long search for the truth. I love being a Catholic Christian. I hold an undergraduate degree...

....some of my colleagues in the world of Catholic media, journalism and the Press have attributed the positions of this Church and Bachmanns past membership to just "being a Protestant." As someone who has worked ecumenically for decades I reject that dismissal. The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod does not represent many Protestants. It is an Anti-Catholic body. ....I have worked with, prayed with and collaborated with MANY Protestant Christians, for over three decades, who would NEVER call the successor of Peter the Antichrist. The colleagues to which I refer go further, they seemingly accept the notion that if Protestant Christians...

China has claimed for several years a national fertility rate of 1.8 children born per female of child-bearing age. The latest census figures, released just weeks ago, report about 220 million children aged 0-15. This is consistent with a fertility rate of only 1.4. So why the discrepancy? Why would China lie about failing to reach a birth rate goal that it has succeeded in reaching? If China is lying about having as many as 1.8 children per female, doesn't that suggest that China finds it more advantageous to report the higher birth rate? The birth dearth in China is...

One of the aspects of Catholic culture that drives most Americans insane, Catholic and not, is the super formal way the clergy communicate. They go out of their way not to offend unnecessarily and think of all sides of a situation before completing their thought or publishing an instruction (at least, that’s what they are supposed to do. We all know at one time or another it just doesn’t happen that way) – even when they disagree. It’s particularly painful when there is a statement in a larger letter that is not specific, as such communications are known to invite...

The Catholic University of America (CUA) may have thought that AFL-CIO President Emeritus John Sweeney’s May 2nd speech on campus would be non-controversial. But Sweeney, a Catholic who doesn’t hide his commitment to socialism and a progressive takeover of the Democratic Party, promised controversy from the start. He attacked conservatives, in particular Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, and told the event that opponents of organized labor were out-of-step with the teachings of the church and Jesus Christ Himself. Then, however, Sweeney unloaded on the sponsors of his appearance, attacking university officials as union busters. Perhaps Sweeney thought his comments would go...

To begin, I must state that I do not know what it was that led to the banning of Verdugo from Free Republic. It is quite possible he said something absolutely outrageous. However, if this is the case, I am unaware of it. I also wish to state that I do not in the least dispute the right of Jim Robinson to ban anyone from this site--his private property--at any time for any reason. However, I believe the banning of Verdugo was an injustice and I wish to protest it. I hope everyone who reads this will recall that my...

MANILA (AFP) – A blood-curdling scream echoes through the Roman Catholic chapel in Manila as Father Jose Francisco Syquia says a prayer of exorcism over a Satanic cult member believed to be possessed by the devil. "It's very painful," the woman cries in an unearthly voice, her body contorting in an attempt to break free from the tight grasp of Syquia's assistants. After a few minutes she falls silent, her limp body exhausted. The case is among hundreds documented on video and kept by Syquia, who heads the Manila Archdiocese's Office of Exorcism -- the only one that exists in...

Displaying crucifixes in schools in Italy does not breach the rights of non-Catholic families, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled.

February 23rd, 2011By Father Robert Barron Anti-Catholicism has long been a feature of both the high and the low culture in America. From the 19th century to the middle of the 20th, it was out in the open: Many editorialists, cartoonists, politicians and other shapers of popular opinion in that era were crudely explicit in their opposition to the Catholic Church. But then, in the latter half of the 20th century, anti-Catholicism went relatively underground. It still existed, to be sure, but it was considered bad form to be too obvious about it. However, in the last 10 years or...