Free Republic

While the country is celebrating the historic Supreme Court judgement to decriminalise Homosexuality, the Churches in Mizoram have "rejected" https://www.time8.in/mizoram-meghalaya-churches-say-gay-sex-is-immoral/ the apex court's ruling on Article 377. A congregation of 14 major churches in the state, Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee, on Monday has said https://thenortheasttoday.com/mizoram-state-churches-reject-scs-section-377-ruling/ that it wished the apex court had never scrapped Section 377. The leaders of the Church stated that homosexuality, lesbianism should continue to be criminalised as it was in the past. In Meghalaya, the Church has said, https://nenow.in/north-east-news/meghalaya-shillong-catholic-church-thumbs-gay-sex.html "What is legal is not equal to moral acceptability. The Catholic Church and many others  hold that homosexual...

Launching from the concept of the democratic nation and the co-existence among the sects and religions in North Syria under the Democratic Autonomous Administration, the Christians Committee in Kobanî canton in the Euphrates region opened a church called Church of the Brethren. 13 Sep 2018, Thu - 23:33 KOBANÎThe Committee of Christians and the Christians living in Kobanî canton in the Euphrates region opened on Thursday a church called Church of the Brethren in Kobanî based on the concept of the democratic nation and the co-existence of sects and religions. The co-chair of the Democratic Society Movement’ Council Ahmed Sheikho,...

It's not a matter of if your church and pastor will face these kinds of questions. It's a matter of when. Here's a scenario: a same-sex couple or someone openly living in a same-sex relationship starts to attend your church. Maybe they've got a child from another relationship or a child conceived through IVF. Because your church practices infant baptism, they ask to have their child baptized. What do you do? I recently heard of a church that faced this exact situation. A lesbian couple who'd been attending asked to have their child baptized. The church had theological convictions about...

When the Diocese of Buffalo in March released a list of 42 priests “who were removed from ministry, were retired, or left ministry after allegations of sexual abuse of a minor,” Bishop Richard J. Malone billed it as a historic coming-clean of decades worth of secrets. But new evidence obtained by 7 Eyewitness News from inside the diocese’s secret archives shows the true scope of abuse was much larger than Malone publicly let on -- with a total of 106 total priests on the original draft list of accused priests. A second internal document shows that may be understating the...

And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Look! He is coming with the clouds...(Rev. 1:5-7, NRSV). In this third and final installment of the Church of the Firstborn series (see Parts I and II), I will be diving into another messianic mystery tucked away in the OT. There...

…Fewer and fewer Americans these days seem willing “to contend with the explicit repentance of a definite, fully recognized, sin.” Of course, to a great extent, this is because fewer and fewer Americans are able to recognize what is sin—or, many Americans are simply becoming comfortable with their sin and are eagerly strolling along the “gentle slope” to hell. In a foolish desire to be “relevant” or “tolerant,” churches across the world—especially mainline Protestant churches and the Catholic Church—have abandoned long-heeded truths for heresy. This is especially the case when it comes to matters in the sexual realm. At this...

...The next pope would be John Paul I, who attempted to discipline Sebastiano Baggio. How did that go? That night was not a good one. In one of the most dramatic sections of his book, Fr. Charles Murr writes this of John Paul I and Cardinal Baggio: “The last person to see him [John Paul I] alive,” Gagnon told Murr, “was none other than Sebastiano Baggio. He [Baggio] entered the papal apartments after eight o’clock that night; the last person to speak, to scream, at the pope.” Following Cardinal Benelli’s wise counsel, Pope John Paul I had just removed Baggio...

Ukraine can’t reclaim territory annexed by Russia or held by its proxies – but it’s increasingly likely to deprive its larger neighbor of something arguably as valuable: Its power over Ukraine’s Orthodox Christian believers, and with it Moscow’s claim to a central role in eastern Christianity. Moscow Patriarch Kirill went to Istanbul late last month to meet with Bartholomew (of Constantinople). A bishop who was present said that while no final decision was made on Ukrainian autocephaly, the process has now gone too far to reverse it. Russian clerics have warned that granting independence to the Ukrainian church could cause...

The Evil Lavender Mafia: Pope Francis must resign. He was all too aware of the molestation of young boys and young men by predatory, pedophile and homosexual priests, bishops and cardinals, yet continued to protect and even promote them Is the Rot Unraveling in the Catholic Church? It appears this may be the case. But Pope Francis refuses to address this rot signifying that he is no leader. Evil thrives in an environment of permissiveness and appeasement, as we have witnessed in Catholic parishes and dioceses throughout America. However, good priests and bishops who tried to expose the rot were...

Cardinal Donald Wuerl’s name will be removed from North Catholic High School, the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh announced Wednesday morning. In a news release, the diocese said that the board of directors of Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School and the board of Catholic High Schools of the Diocese of Pittsburgh accepted Wuerl’s request to remove his name from the school in Cranberry. Bishop David Zubik accepted the recommendations. The school’s name will be North Catholic High School.

This week a grand jury reported on documents from six Catholic Church dioceses in Pennsylvania that revealed 300 “predator priests” have been accused of sexually abusing over 1,000 children. The grand jury report states: “We believe that the real number – of children whose records were lost, or who were afraid ever to come forward – is in the thousands. Most of the victims were boys; but there were girls too. Some were teens; many were prepubescent… But all of them were brushed aside, in every part of the state, by church leaders who preferred to protect the abusers and...

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday lashed out against the Catholic Church again, breaking his promise of not making anti-Church statements. In a speech in Malacañang, Duterte explained his own concept of what God is, as opposed to the belief of Catholics. “It’s only one God, God the Father. He’s not even the father. He's God, period,” he said. The President then asked if there was a bishop in the audience, before threatening to “kick his ass.” “Is there any bishop here? I want to kick your ass, and the priest,” Duterte asked, eliciting laughter from the audience composed of businessmen...

A building in Santa Cruz, Calif., is being converted into a worship space and public brewery by a pro-gay church that plans to donate some of its beer proceeds to Planned Parenthood, according to reports. Members of the Greater Purpose Community Church now meet on Sundays at a food lounge to pray, listen and drink beer, KNTV reports. "There’s nothing in the Bible that says you can't drink alcohol in a responsible manner," Pastor Chris VanHall told the station. Planned Parenthood has offices in the former bookstore VanHall plans to turn into a brewery by next summer, The Santa Cruz...

The IRS has reportedly recognized the Pussy Church of Modern Witchcraft as a legitimate church. The Maryland-based group is dedicated exclusively to lesbian feminists. Peter Reilly, a CPA for over 30 years focusing on taxation, first reported the new designation in a blog post for Forbes. "The IRS recognized it as a 501(c)(3) organization and went the extra step of recognizing PCMW as a church, the most enviable of all tax statuses exempt not only from income tax but also from the transparency that filing Form 990 creates," Reilly wrote. "A church does not have to apply for exempt status,...

Today: a call to action on two fronts. There is a groundswell now developing among faithful Catholics that something must be done, and done now, about sexually abusive bishops and their brother bishops covering all this up. The recent revelations about Cdl. Theodore McCarrick have set off an explosion of comments and overall disgust at the role of so many members of the Establishment Church — particularly the hierarchy — in covering up this decades-long evil. And let's be clear, we are not talking about the child molestation cases, we are talking about adult men who are sexually harassed or advanced...

Eric Church, one of the headliners at the Route 91 festival in Las Vegas — the scene of the 2017 massacre known as the deadliest mass shooting by an individual in modern U.S. history — is blaming the NRA for the attacks. Church performed at the festival two nights before the shooting, and the experience has changed his views on guns “a little,” he says. While fellow country singer Jason Aldean was performing, a gunman opened fire on the crowd, killing at least 58 people. Now Church is speaking out about the incident. While he says he considers himself a...

CHEVIOT, OH (WLWT/CNN) – A restaurant owner in Ohio is facing legal questions after offering a discount to churchgoers. "This was the furthest thing from my mind when we came up with this idea," said Justin Watson, the owner of Starters Cafe in Cheviot, OH. Watson opened the restaurant about seven weeks ago. He said all he was trying to do was stir up some business with his discount offer to churches. Instead, he stirred up a hornet's nest. "Any congregation, any religion, any area, whatever, as long as you brought me a church bulletin, I would give you 10...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP/VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE and AMERICA: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 JOHN 5:14 Religion Forum threads labeled "Prayer" are closed to debate of any kind.To be added or dropped from this ping list, post or freepmail to stars & stripes forever.

Barclay, a transgender person who identifies as neither male nor female and thus uses the pronoun “they,” was commissioned on Sunday as the first non-binary member of the clergy in the United Methodist Church. The United Methodist Church is one of the largest denominations in America, falling behind only the Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention. The mainline Protestant denomination has been bitterly divided over sexuality and gender identity: Its official rules say clergy must either be celibate or in heterosexual marriages, and can perform only such marriages, but American bishops have ordained gay and transgender clergy before, and...

For more than a century, St. Catherine of Siena Church was a cornerstone of the Charlestown neighborhood, a close-knit parish that seemed impervious to the change that swirled around it. When the Catholic church closed a decade ago, it took a piece of the old Charlestown with it, residents said. It had stood vacant ever since. But now, the church has taken on new life — if a decidedly secular one — as a haven for bargain shoppers known as Dollar Tree. Where parishioners used to receive communion, patrons now peruse aisles for food, toys, party supplies, and other discounted...