Free Republic

FULL TITLE: The Holy Father, say those close to him, is wearing himself out. He should slow down, beginning with at least three weeks off at Castel Gandolfo 'Most popes have quite rightly taken August off. Pope Francis? He is off to Korea (Photo: CNS) Last week the Telegraph reported that, according to the Vatican press office, Pope Francis would not be walking in the traditional Corpus Christi procession through the streets of Rome, from St John Lateran (where he would be celebrating the Mass on the steps) to Santa Maria Maggiore, a distance of nearly a mile. He would...

Cardinal Baldisseri discusses the working document yesterday (CNS) The Vatican has released the eagerly awaited instrumentum laboris, or working document, of the family synod in October. The 73-page text, which takes about an hour to read, consists of 159 numbered paragraphs, divided into three sections. The first is devoted to “the Gospel of the Family”, the second to challenges to family life, and the third to “openness to life” and parental responsibility.The document is based on responses to questions in the synod’s preparatory document, released last November. It’s written primarily for the select group who will take part in October’s...

The most frustrating thing for Christians watching the self-destruction of liberal denominations may be that the liberals don't seem to learn. The more liberal they become, the faster they shrink, and the faster they shrink, the more liberal they become. You'd think self-preservation would force a change. You'd be wrong. Financially, mainline churches don't function like businesses, but rather inheritances. And that's a big problem. Businesses get wealthier as they gain customers or members. Inheritances get wealthier as siblings die. Hang with me here… that sounds like an amazing accusation, that churches grow wealthy as their congregations die off, but...

The Persian Gulf island has had a Christian presence for over a centuryBahrain, the small island country nestled between Qatar and Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf, will gain a Catholic cathedral, a step some see as an increased interest in Christianity in the heart of the Islamic world. King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa donated land for the project recently — the only church he has done so for, Northern Arabia vicar Bishop Camillo Ballin told Real Clear Religion, though Bahrain's cathedral is not the first church that the country's rulers have supported. "The king has a special appreciation...

It’s been roughly 500 years since Martin Luther introduced the language of the people to the Mass – the Divine Liturgy of the Church. 500 years since the historic language of the Western Church was purged from the worship of God’s people. As a student of history, I understand why Luther thought this was necessary. Indeed, there is goodness in hearing and understanding the Liturgy in one’s native tongue. But Luther’s experiment with language should end. It’s time to restore Latin to the Mass of the Western Church. It’s time to reintroduce the language of the Church to her people.For...

A great way to evangelize in the 21st century.They were smart. They were well written. And they featured bold cartoon colors on the cover that made the viewer take notice. They were Catholic pamphlets -- little booklets that offered some catechesis about a particular topic: Marriage. The Trinity. Alcoholism. Dating. And during the early to mid 20th century, they served as a powerful means of evangelization. The covers of these pamphlets were the subject of a recent exhibit in Ireland, “Vintage Values.”It’s time to bring Catholic pamphlets back. The response to such an idea is obvious: Why? The Internet gives...

A Kentucky church that hired a pastor with full knowledge that he's a registered sex offender, is now the scene of an another alleged crime in which the minister is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy who attended the church. Roy Neal Yoakem, who leads the New Gospel Outreach Church in Scottsville, Kentucky, allegedly raped a 14-year-old boy at the church and police believe that another incident occurred in a nearby town, reported WSMV. "He's a predator and he doesn't need to be on the street. I'm glad we got him," Detective Chad Keen told WBKO. According to Keen,...

Rome, Italy, Jun 23, 2014 / 10:19 am (CNA).- During his June 21 pastoral visit to the region of Calabria in southern Italy, Pope Francis stopped the car that was transporting him to see a young disabled woman and her family on the side of the road. A video posted online by a family in the southern Italian region of Calabria depicts the encounter with the Holy Father. The Pope passed by the highway near the family’s house as he returned from Cassano allo Jonio, where he spoke out against the mafia. The Vatican’s news.va website reported that family members...

BATTLE CREEK (WKZO) --Bond has been set for a Christian Radio Broadcaster arrested for allegedly paying for sex with a young boy. 35-year-old John Balyo is being held for first degree criminal sexual conduct but isn’t expected to be formally charged until Monday. TV-3 reports that at a bond hearing early Saturday, bail was set at 500-thousand dollars. On Friday, Balyo, of Caledonia, had been put on paid leave by Cornerstone University, the owners of WCSG radio in Grand Rapids, where Balyo had been the morning host of a “Family Friendly” radio show. Saturday, the University released a new statement,...

A common criticism of the Catholic Church’s teachings on sexual morality has to do with the largely unmarried clergy who are charged with preaching the message.  The accepted wisdom is that celibate males have no business telling married couples how to live their lives: “What do they know about the subject?”   I remember a particularly egregious example. In 1974, Earl Butz, then U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, ridiculed Pope Paul VI’s opposition to contraception, “He no playa the game, he no maka the rules.” He later apologized, but in reality he was only saying publicly what many, including many Catholics, were saying...

Mark 13:13 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.” One of the opening speakers at the 42nd PCA General Assembly told those in attendance that America is rapidly progressing to the point where declaring Jesus the only way to eternal life will be considered spreading hate. “It will be difficult to say in this culture ‘Jesus is the only way’,” Pastor Bryan Chapell warned. “That will be interpreted as hate speech.” Chapell said that sticking to truth will be a point of contention with the...

Bill Gothard acted in an “inappropriate manner” but “no criminal activity was discovered” According to a statement by the board of directors of the Institute in Basic Life Principles posted on its website Written by Francine Knowles | Friday, June 20, 2014 1 The board said based on a review conducted by outside legal counsel, it unanimously agreed that “at this time” Gothard “is not permitted to serve in any counseling, leadership or board role within the IBLP ministry.” That leaves open the question of whether the 79-year-old Gothard may be allowed to return one day as he did after...

Link only to a news story at Inside Higher Ed: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/06/20/southern-accreditor-drops-one-college-puts-four-probation#sthash.fzTxelHk.dpbs

The top legislative body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted Thursday to redefine Christian marriage in the church constitution as the union of "two people" instead of only "a man and a woman." The amendment requires approval from a majority of the 172 regional presbyteries, which will vote on the change over the next year. But in a separate vote that will take effect immediately, the Presbyterian General Assembly allowed ministers to preside at gay weddings in states where gay marriage is legal. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia recognize same-sex marriage. Alex McNeill, executive director of More Light...

Irondale, Ala., Jun 19, 2014 / 10:32 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In one of the biggest developments in Catholic media history, Catholic News Agency and the Eternal Word Television Network announced Thursday that the two media outlets are merging. The partnership brings the entire ACI Prensa Group – Catholic News Agency, as well as the Spanish language ACI Prensa and the Portuguese ACI Digital – into the EWTN family. “EWTN has been a partner with both Catholic News Agency and ACI Prensa for many years in creating and distributing Catholic news content, and I am very pleased and excited that...

NEWS ANALYSIS: A deathbed reversion to Catholicism proves, again, St. John Paul’s gift of discernment.Polish general and former President Wojciech Jaruzelski, who led efforts to crush Solidarność, the pro-democracy labor movement, was despised by many, but Pope John Paul II believed the communist leader’s Catholic baptism would eventually win out. And it did. The former communist leader’s death on May 25 at age 90 offers a chance to take another look at the way St. John Paul II’s gift of discernment transformed history. Controversial ManeuverIn December 1981, as a result of Jaruzelski’s imposition of martial law to repress the fast...

Bobby Glenn Brown and Don Roberts’ relationship was already three decades strong. On the couple’s 31st anniversary, the two Marquette County men commemorated their partnership with a commitment ceremony. Although the state of Michigan does not officially recognize same sex marriages, Saturday’s vows weren’t exchanged in a courtroom or via a municipal document. Instead, the couple pledged their continued commitment to each other in a Christian themed wedding on their back porch surrounded by friends and family. Brown was an active parishioner at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Marquette as of Saturday, but an incident Sunday morning with Reverend Larry...

FOWLER, Mich. — Aside for the mole grazing his right eyebrow, it is difficult to distinguish Gary Koenigsknecht from his identical twin, Todd, four minutes the elder. Growing up, the twins, now 26, milked cows side by side on the family farm. They both graduated at the top of their high school class. And with their ordination on Saturday, they have begun careers as Roman Catholic priests, two of 477 men in the United States expected to be ordained this year. They demonstrate that priestly vocations are not evenly distributed by family or geography: they are among six priests in...

The Association of US Catholic Priests, in a letter to Pope Francis, have criticised the head of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) for his recent comments chastising the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). The Seattle-based association, which claims 1,000 US priests as members, focused its letter to the Pope on comments made by the congregation’s prefect, German Cardinal Gerhard Muller, in an April 30 welcoming address to LCWR leadership. LCWR is a Maryland-based umbrella group that claims about 1,500 leaders of US women’s communities as members, representing about 80 percent of the country’s 57,000...

Albanian Catholic women at prayer in northern Albania. The Pope visits the country in September (CNS) Pope Francis is making a day long pastoral visit to Albania this coming September, he has announced. His words at yesterday’s Angelus were as follows: “I want to confirm the Church of Albania in the faith, and bear witness to my encouragement and love for a country that has suffered for so long in consequence of the ideologies of the past.”This will be the second trip of any Pontiff to the country. (Saint John Paul II was there in the spring of 1993, also...