Free Republic

One of the many memorable scenes in David Lean’s Doctor Zhivago features Zhivago’s family fleeing the ugliness and brutality of Moscow after the Bolshevik Revolution for the tranquility of the family’s country estate in Varykino. Upon reaching the estate after an arduous journey, Zhivago’s father-in-law, Alexander Gromeko, finds the main house boarded up, with a notice affixed to the door. After reading the notice, he cannot contain his exasperation: “A body, styling itself the Yuriatin Committee of Revolutionary Justice, has expropriated my house. In the name of the people. Very well. I’m one of the people, too!”I know how Gromeko...

Unintended Consequences: How the “relevant” church and segregating youth is killing Christianity. I recently spent six-months doing a rotation as a hospital chaplain. One day I received a page (Yes, hospitals actually still use pagers). Chaplains are generally called to the rooms of people who look ill: People gray with kidney disease, or yellow with liver failure, discouraged amputees, nervous cancer patients. In this room, however, was a strikingly attractive 23 year-old young lady sitting up cheerfully in the hospital bed, holding her infant daughter and chatting with family and friends. Confused, I stepped outside and asked her nurse, “Why...

Father Patrick Dowling. Courtesy of the Diocese of Jefferson City. Jefferson City, Mo., Aug 12, 2013 / 02:12 pm (CNA).- The mysterious Missouri priest who gave anointing to a woman in her wrecked car near Center, Mo. has been identified as Father Patrick Dowling, of the Diocese of Jefferson City. “I thank God and the amazingly competent rescue workers,� Fr. Dowling stated today in a comment on CNA's original article on the Aug. 4 incident. “I thank them for making me welcome in such a highly charged situation and allowing me to minister as a priest.� Katie Lentz was trapped...

A comprehensive demographic study of more than 200 countries finds that there are 2.18 billion Christians of all ages around the world, representing nearly a third of the estimated 2010 global population of 6.9 billion. Christians are also geographically widespread – so far-flung, in fact, that no single continent or region can indisputably claim to be the center of global Christianity. A century ago, this was not the case. In 1910, about two-thirds of the world’s Christians lived in Europe, where the bulk of Christians had been for a millennium, according to historical estimates by the Center for the Study...

[ . . . ] . . . Christian authorities need to stop thinking and writing as though the categories of homosexual and Christian can be joined—as though the Church could tolerate or accommodate, or speak gently of, much less bless or sanctify, anything peculiar to the garment stained by the flesh that those who come to Christ throw off in their baptism. In that baptism we become penitents, and as such divided from our sins. St. Paul tells us here that no penitent is to be named by, identified by, what he has abjured. Those injured people who have...

Professor Richard Dawkins, known as the world’s most famous atheist, has risen to rock star status for his attacks on God and religion, in particular, his attacks on the God of the Bible. But when he recently criticized Muslims, he was in for a surprise. Before looking at Dawkins’ rather mild criticism of Muslims, let’s remember the depth of his vitriol against Christians and the Bible, most of which has only enhanced Dawkins’ reputation. In an April interview aired on the Qatar-based TV network Al Jazeera, Dawkins railed on the Catholic Church, saying that, as “Horrible as sexual abuse no...

Give Rachel Held Evans credit. She was able to generate a lot of discussion with her post, “Why millennials are leaving the church.” Evans’s contradictory article, however, is merely another polemic against the conservative evangelicalism she’s been battling for years. The solution to winning back? Churches just need to follow her lead and go liberal!

Eastern Michigan University hosted a day-long conference Saturday that dared to ask the question: “Is Islam a Religion of Peace?” Leaders of the state’s Muslim community apparently didn’t care to hear the answer because they tried mightily to get the conference cancelled. “We respect the freedom of speech,” claimed Victor Begg, senior advisor of the Michigan Muslim Community Center. “However, denying the Holocaust, yelling ‘fire’ in a theater, or glorifying Hitler would not constitute freedom of speech.” In other words, anyone who wonders aloud whether Islam truly is the peaceful religion its adherents claim is on a moral par with...

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You are a homeless person. You are sick and you know it is bad. You stagger into the ER of St. Ipsidipsy Catholic Hospital in Tall Tree Circle. You have no insurance, health coverage, or money. You are seen by a doctor and treated.The Obama Administration then punishes the hospital for treating you, a person without government-approved obligatory Obamacare.From the Daily Caller: Obamacare installs new scrutiny, fines for charitable hospitals that treat uninsured peopleCharitable hospitals that treat uninsured Americans will be subjected to new levels of scrutiny of their nonprofit status and could face sizable new fines under Obamacare. A...

At a special ceremony on July 6, Pope Francis briefly met with clergy and officials who, over the past two years, have been involved in the diocesan phase of the beatification process of Vietnamese Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan.Cardinal Van Thuan spent 13 years in prison, nine of them in solitary confinement in Hanoi, following his appointment as coadjutor archbishop of Saigon just seven days before South Vietnam fell to the Communist North in 1975.He was released in 1988 and Pope John Paul II called him to Rome, where he eventually became president of the Pontifical Council for Justice...

To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. You save the humble, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low. You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. (2 Samuel 22:26-30)

The culture wars are getting hotter. �Social issues� will remain key issues in the next couple election cycles in these USA, which will probably cause a couple train-wrecks for Catholics and for libertarians… and even for Catholic Tea Party members. On that point, the great Samuel Gregg has a new book coming out (pre-order HERE) which I am reading in an advance copy.So… we track back to priest and bishops being involved in politics. Whenever a priest or a bishop enunciates clearly and accurately a teaching of the Church which would bring any sound Catholic to shun certain candidates, those...

Denver, Colo., Aug 10, 2013 / 06:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Although a controversial new book on the “historical Jesus� is topping best-seller lists, claims made by its author are tired when it comes to New Testament scholarship, a Scripture professor says. “There's basically not a lot new,� Dr. Andre Villeneuve from Denver's St. John Vianney Theological Seminary said of Reza Aslan's recent “Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth.� “It kind of re-hashes what's been said in the last – not just 20 or 30 years – but the last 100 or 200 years about the search...

American churches are losing their young people. This trend was evidenced most recently in a 2012 Pew Forum study titled “‘Nones’ on the Rise: One-in-Five Adults Have No Religious Affiliation.” The summary of the 80-page report posits, “The number of Americans who do not identify with any religion continues to grow at a rapid pace. One-fifth of the U.S. public—and a third of adults under 30—are religiously unaffiliated today, the highest percentages ever in Pew Research Center polling.” Researchers use the label of “nones,” or “religiously unaffiliated,” to clarify that these young people are not falling into hardened agnosticism or...

Former CRS head Bishop Lynch says pro-lifers ‘attack’ Catholic agencies as ‘money raising scheme’ BY PATRICK B. CRAINE Thu Aug 08, 2013 14:43 EST ST. PETERSBURG, Florida, August 8, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A bishop who formerly headed Catholic Relief Services has issued a vigorous defense of the relief agency while at the same time accusing its pro-life critics of “attacking” CRS as a “money raising scheme.” Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg, Florida, who served as chairman of CRS’ board of trustees from 2001 to 2007, made the charge in a Wednesday post on his personal blog that was co-published...

Why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? Was the most extensive judgment found anywhere in the Bible outside of the book of Revelation actually for the sin of inhospitality, not homosexuality?People find what they want in the Bible. If one looks hard enough, he can find "biblical" support for reincarnation, Eastern religions, Jesus as a guru, divorce for any reason, and flying saucers. Every cult of Christianity uses the Bible to validate its claims and so does some of the occult.It's not surprising, then, that a recent trend in biblical scholarship holds that a careful reading of Genesis in...

Youtube comment - "Merci Cure of Ars Saint John Marie Vianney, feast Day 8/4. Deo Gratias." Paraphrasing: The diocese of the city of Missouri has not located the priest involved, and out of repect for any priest who may have been involved who does not wish to come forward, the diocese has decided it will not investigate this incident. The diocese would like to say it's grateful that a priest was able to excercise his ministry in this manner and requests prayers for the healing of the victim and prayers of thanks.

Switzerland announced a national competition this week that will search for a new national anthem to replace its current one, which government officials say has too many references to God and is too old-fashioned. "The real problem is above all the text," said Lukas Niederberger, who is part of the Swiss Society for Public Utility (SGG), the completion organizer in charge of looking for a new anthem. "Officially the anthem is a psalm, a prayer, but of course we have an open society, religiously neutral. We have atheists, no single god, so this anthem is a difficulty," he told BBC...

They work with the poorest of the poor. They've seen the effects of drugs, murder, violence, bombings and more in poverty-stricken communities in the U.S., England, Ireland, Nicaragua, and Honduras. They've experienced tough kids like those in the New York's infamous South Bronx.  But the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal had never encountered a hardness of heart like they found in the notroriously crime-ridden neighborhood of Moyross.  How do you reach out to those who are considered unreachable? Find out when EWTN airs "The Monks of Moyross," at 9 p.m. ET, Sunday, Aug. 11, with an encore 3 a.m., Monday,...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The last formal exhortation to the 115 cardinals who elected Pope Francis in March included reminders of the importance of presenting the Catholic faith in its entirety, the need to recognize the errors of church members and the need for unity within the Catholic community. Maltese Cardinal Prosper Grech, 87, was too old to vote in the conclave, but the 115 cardinals under age 80 asked him to enter the Sistine Chapel with them March 12 and offer a meditation before they began voting. The text of the cardinal's remarks was not released at the...

Again and again we see liberals and the MSM (virtually all liberal) cherry-pick a quote of Pope Francis and then run with it as if, by itself, it actually means something profoundly in harmony with their liberal agenda.I saw this on the blog of Syte Reitz. She vivisects the choice by the editors of the Wisconsin State Journal to post an editorial cartoon which aims to pit Bishop Robert Morlino (of Madison) against Pope Francis.Context: on 1 August Bp. Morlino observed his 10th anniversary of being appointed as Bishop of Madison and there were articles in the paper about him.The...

Pinned inside her mangled Mercedes, seriously injured and fading fast, Katie Lentz turned to her rescuers on the lonely open stretch of Missouri highway and asked them to pray. Struck head-on by a drunk driver on Sunday morning, emergency workers had been battling for an hour and a half to free Lentz, but to no avail. But as they joined hands a Catholic priest appeared, even though there were no bystanders and the road was blocked, who offered a prayer and an instruction to the rescuers that they would now be able to free her. Suddenly, heavy equipment needed to...

At the request of the pope, Catholics used to pray after Mass for the conversion of Russia–or so we have often heard. This custom has long since been discontinued. Whenever it comes to my mind, however, I wonder if it should be revived in a new form. Should Catholics today pray after Mass for the conversion of America? Or, if the Holy Father (for understandable reasons) would not want to single out the United States in this way, could the Bishops of the United States at least encourage their flocks to pray after Mass for the conversion of their country?...

The Episcopal Priest, Rev. Gary R. Hall, is the Dean of the Washington National Cathedral. I expected him to be liberal as he has been outspoken concerning his support of gay marriage and gun control. I mean, hey, he's an Episcopalian, whaddya' expect? But I was truly surprised by something in Sally Quinn's profile of Rev. Hall at On Faith. Check it out: I don’t want to be loosey-goosey about it,� he says, “but I describe myself as a non-theistic Christian.� And he goes on to expand on the concept. “Jesus doesn’t use the word God very much,� he says....

Romania is in the middle of a church-building boom, with some 10 new places of worship completed every month, and one vast cathedral slowly taking shape. But some Romanians take issue with the expense, in one of Europe's poorest countries - and particularly the use of funds from the public purse. The church is restored, while a statue of Lenin is trampled underfoot (Mogosoaia Palace, 2009) To travel across the north of Romania from Suceava in Moldavia to Maramures is to be bamboozled by exquisite religious eye candy. Everywhere you look there are churches - big, small, medieval, brand new,...

From National Catholic Reporter: Pope Francis has not mentioned traditional hot-button Catholic issues like abortion because he prefers to emphasize that Catholics “love people� and are not “mean or old-fashioned,� Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley has said.O’Malley, the only North American Francis asked to serve on a group of eight cardinals advising him on reforming the church, made the comments during a keynote address Tuesday in San Antonio at the annual convention of the Knights of Columbus.“Some people think that the Holy Father should talk more about abortion,� O’Malley told approximately 2,000 attendees, according to a copy of the remarks posted...

Moscow, August 7, Interfax – Delays in the process of suppressing terrorists in Syria can result in setting up an Islamic caliphate in the country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov believes. "Earlier, we saw how some members of the Security Council didn’t want to condemn terrorist acts in Syria, saying, that, no matter how cynical it may sound, those who carry out these acts struggle against the regimen, which exhausted itself. This position is absolutely unacceptable, terrorism should be treated without any double standards," he said at a press conference summing up his talks with Ghana Foreign Minister Hannah Tetteh....

The Bible is a book of bad news and good news. First the bad news: Human beings are sinners. Our sin separates us from a holy and righteous God, provokes his wrath, and causes us to ultimately suffer death and eternal separation from Him. (Rom. 3:23, Rom.1:18, Col.3:6). More bad news: We are without excuse. As a result of our wickedness, we have suppressed the truth about God made known to us and are deserving of his righteous wrath. (Rom. 1:16-32) That's a bitter pill to swallow, but it's not the end of the story. There is good news. The...

Proverbs 29:2 King James Version (KJV) 2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.

No sincere follower of Jesus would ever wish hatred, violence or discrimination against anyone. But behaving in a way that honors God is not the same as declaring that God must somehow changed His mind on sin. Tutu is an ardent supporter of gay rights and said that he "would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven." "No," he said, "I would say sorry – I mean, I would much rather go to the other place. I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this." The former Archbishop may have been...

That didn’t take long. Salon magazine this morning is extolling the virtues of multi-spouse marriages.Same-sex “marriage” proponents have always scoffed at the idea that redefining marriage would open the door for multi-spouse marriages. “My Two Husbands by Angi Becker Stevens, not only argues for “poly-amorous” unions but continues to scoff at the foolish “right wing” people who expected people to go there. Her article is novel only in that it also scoffs at the same-sex marriage definers who argued back that it wouldn’t.Stevens has been married for 16 years to her husband, and has now taken a boy\friend who she...

He was the bishop of Pyongyang. For more than sixty years he was considered "missing." But now the Holy See has made his death official, at the age of 106. To permit the opening of his cause of beatificationVATICAN CITY, August 5, 2013 - Twice a month the Vatican secretariat of state publishes modifications to the Annuario Pontificio for the current year. The booklet of last July 1 contains a curious piece of news on one of the most impenetrable countries of the globe, North Korea, which periodically makes international headlines with the threat of using nuclear weapons. The news...

Of all the challenging things Francis has said since becoming pope, none has been more quoted than this line: “How I would like a Church which is poor, and for the poor!” Simple and direct, it perfectly captures the spirit of Francis’ new pontificate. And what gives it such power and meaning is the personal witness behind it. Francis’ sparse and austere lifestyle is well-known: As archbishop of Buenos Aires, he shunned limousines and chauffeurs, opting instead for public transportation. Rather than live in the bishop’s residence, he chose a modest apartment. After becoming cardinal, he continued his own grocery...

When evangelical preachers lose their way and turn their backs on biblical Christianity, why is it they end up in the Episcopal Church? As a preacher who traveled in the opposite direction and left the Episcopal Church 22 years ago—or I should say the Episcopal Church left me—I think I have a clue. On March 18, the Huffington Post reported that Rob Bell, the one-time evangelical pastor who rejected the core of Christian faith, has endorsed homosexual marriage. Where was that endorsement made? Surprise, surprise: Grace Cathedral, the Episcopal Cathedral of the Diocese of California. Grace Cathedral is located in...

I think this analysis suggests a positive case, in the American context at least, for a papacy that simultaneously calls U.S. Catholics away from a too-close entanglement with the fortunes and platform of the Republican Party, and that consistently reminds non-Catholics and non-Christians that there is more to Christianity than the particular set of issues that have (understandably) kept many American believers in a right-of-center political orbit. This is, again, something that the last two popes did as well — but if Pope Francis’s public profile continues to come across as more “liberal” than theirs, it might actually play a...

The age that saw the advent of Jesus Christ was a dark age rich in nature religions, superstitions, open intercourse with demons as well as philosophical and ethical systems encompassing the animism, sex worship and human sacrifice of the vast majority of the world to the Atomism (physical materialism) and pantheist Stoicism (spiritual materialism) of Greek nature sages, the Roman pantheon of deities and the Greek mystery religions. The darkness of sin was everywhere. Into this putrid cesspool of unfettered libido and perverted revelation came the "light that shines in darkness" (Isaiah 9:2; John 1:5), the Son of God, fully...

From my Shamelessly Proud of Where I Came From file…a great story involving my alma mater in Maryland, St. Vincent Pallotti High School: The first two people in line arrived within 10 minutes of each other Friday evening, ready to sleep on the sidewalk overnight for free dental care at a high school in Laurel on Saturday morning.Twelve hours later, one woman was reclining in a dentist’s chair, getting a new tooth made of a synthetic composite. The other was heading home: The temporary clinic, which served 700 people Friday and Saturday, was unable to provide the treatment she needed,...

The Gospel today is not merely a warning against greed, it is an instruction on income and wealth given by Jesus to help us root out greed. As the Gospel opens the problem of greed is presented, and then a prescribed perspective about wealth is offered. Lets take a look at both parts of this gospel.I. The Problem that is Portrayed - The text begins: Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.� He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?� Then he said to the...

Confused how some Catholics can be labeled "Pelagians"? Recently, there's been a lot of fingerpointing at traditional Catholics. Some of it is the same old, same old (insert stale Pharisees joke here). Some of it, however, is very new and very confusing. Some Catholics have recently been identified -- more than once -- as "Pelagians." This will undoubtedly bolster the morale of other Catholics while, yet again, making life next to impossible for the traditional-minded parish priest who is, now more than ever, being accused by his flock of putting himself "above the Church" by his devotion to reverence in...

<p>Imagine you and your spouse find out you're expecting. Having experienced this moment a few times, I know there's nothing quite like it. Your world changes, and within days, your child's entire biography unfolds in your mind: her first steps, first words, kindergarten, little league, ballet, high school, college, and eventually a young adult who will make you insanely proud. It's all so promising.</p>

Engaging with the secular world has risks — but the potential for real rewards Pope Francis has lost none of his ability to surprise. On his seven-day journey to Rio he eschewed traditional security protocols (which allowed a crowd to mob his traffic-trapped mini-Popemobile), wandered into Rio’s slums, accepted drinks from strangers on the street, and just for the fun of it added a meeting with young people to an already packed schedule. At the impromptu July 25 meeting, in the Cathedral of San Sebastian, Francis delivered off-the-cuff remarks that capture not only his wish for the young, but the...

The death of Trayvon Martin is a tragedy - an unnecessary tragedy. That the trial brought forward the reality that his death was caused by his own violent actions does not make it any less tragic - and unnecessary. To make matters infinitely worse, his death has escalated the polarization of our nation along racial and ideological lines. Some are using what they perceive as injustice to excuse their own commitment to injustice and general lawlessness - including high ranking officials in the federal government. Yet Christians and others committed to peace and a healthy culture have an opportunity to...

.... Therefore, Francis is being naive when, he says, referring to the alleged presence of a lobby of gay priests within the Vatican ranks “that the problem isn’t having the orientation. The problem is making the lobby.” The fact is, that any group with a strong common identity is a natural lobby which effects an organization. ....Pope Francis’s remarks have implications for the church far beyond a pastoral approach to homosexual priests.

Something unexpected and extraordinary is happening in the Catholic Church. Pope Francis is rescuing the faith from those who hunker down in gilded cathedrals and wield doctrine like a sword. The edifice of fortress Catholicism – in which progressive Catholics, gay Catholics, Catholic women and others who love the church but often feel marginalized by the hierarchy – is starting to crumble.

Nehemiah 9:5 Stand Up and Praise the Lord Your God Forever and Ever, And Let them Praise Thy Glorious Name, O God, Which Excelleth Above All Thanksgiving and Praise.

Christianity is not just about being happy and feeling good and being liked by others What’s at the root of this movement to back away from moral issues? Here’s what I think is the problem. When you advocate for moral causes like protecting the unborn, or school choice, or freeing the slaves, a bunch of people are not going to like you. Christians in the time of Jesus knew that being bold about their Christian convictions would make a lot of people think bad things about them – they expected it. But young evangelicals have gotten the idea that being...

Muslims and Christians must raise young people “to think and speak respectfully of other religions and their followers, and to avoid ridiculing or denigrating their convictions and practices”, Pope Francis has said. In a personal message to the world’s Muslims to mark the end of Ramadan, the Pope said: “Turning to mutual respect in inter-religious relations, especially between Christians and Muslims, we are called to respect the religion of the other, its teachings, its symbols, its values. Particular respect is due to religious leaders and to places of worship. How painful are attacks on one or other of these! “It...

The recent acquittal in the George Zimmerman case reignited a national discussion about race relations in America. There were many on one end of the spectrum, who stated the Zimmerman case typifies the lack of racial equity and justice in America for Black-americans, from the initial profiling of Trayvon Martin, the trying of his character during the legal procedure to the not-guilty verdict for Zimmerman. Others countered that Zimmerman was within his legal right to defend himself and that the case has nothing to do with race. Some even went to the extreme of saying Martin was a thug who...