Free Republic

Neil Addison said that he was surprised by the ruling in the Ashers Bakery case Equality law in Northern Ireland is being used to destroy individual freedom, a leading Catholic barrister has said. Following a legal ruling in Northern Ireland, in which a judge ruled that a bakery run by Christians discriminated against a gay customer by refusing to bake a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan, Neil Addison wrote on his personal blog: “The case will undoubtedly be appealed but what does emerge from it is the complete intolerance of the “equality” industry and the way in which equality...

Diarmuid Martin stresses ‘people should be informed’ about about same-sex marriage Catholic Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has declined to comment on the position of those Catholics who may vote Yes in Friday’s same-sex marriage referendum. It was not his policy “to tell others how to vote”, a spokeswoman said, while he stressed “that people should be informed”. Responding to a query from The Irish Times as to the position of Catholics who may in conscience vote Yes on Friday, she said: “Archbishop Martin has publicly stated how he intends to vote and why. “It is not his policy, however,...

She personally performed abortions on women, using a bicycle pump, and later boasted that she and her group had personally murdered exactly 10,141 children in the womb. She supports the legalization of euthanasia, the liberalization of drug use, and the legal prohibition of conscience exemptions for doctors who refuse to perform abortion. She even opposes the burial of aborted children in cemeteries. She is Emma Bonino, the radical leftist Italian politician, a member of the Italian Radical Party currently serving, incredibly enough, as Foreign Minister for the corrupt Italian government. And she was greeted warmly days ago by Pope Francis,...

Moscow, May 19, Interfax - Members of all State Duma factions have supported a bill allowing only state-run healthcare institutions to perform abortions and cancelling mandatory health insurance coverage for abortions. The press service of head of the State Duma committee for family, women and children Yelena Mizulina, a co-author of this bill, said that, according to the proposed document, performing abortions outside of state-run healthcare institutions should carry a fine of 50,000 rubles to 200,000 rubles for citizens, a fine of 500,000 rubles to 800,000 rubles for officials, and a fine of 500,000 rubles to 800,000 rubles for entrepreneurs...

The Romanian Patriarchate is calling on the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this case, to “once again reject” the legislative proposal on the regulation of the civil partnership, since this represents “an attack on the enduring value of the family and the identity thereof.” The Romanian Patriarchate took this stance amid third-time attempts in recent years “to regulate the civil partnership, a bill which was every time massively rejected in Parliament.” According to the cited source, “ever since the oldest times, the Romanian people have cultivated the legacy of utmost respect towards the family, called the Church at...

Presbyterians Collapsing, or “Settling Into The New Thing God is Creating”? The 2014 numbers reveal the PCUSA's largest statistical decline to date. A slimmed-down Presbyterian Church (USA) is apparently getting ready for beach season after shedding unwanted excess members, according to a cheery report by the denomination’s top official. “The PC(USA) is a church made up of vibrant congregations doing their best to live out the gospel of Jesus Christ in their communities and in the world,” an apparently unfazed Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PCUSA, soothed. “Membership declines continue, but on a whole the...

CFN Intro: One cannot help but wonder if Pope Francis is a calculating enemy of the faith, or hideously incompetent due to his modernist mindset. Neither of the two are praiseworthy qualities. Francis continually manifests himself as a destroyer, particularly by his benevolent promotion of those who attack the most basic precepts of Catholic morality and natural law. Oremus - j. vennari

Organizers were planning for more than 100 participants at Minneapolis’ Church of Christ the King on Saturday to talk about the intersection of being LGBT and Catholic and the how to bridge the gap between the LGBT community and the Catholic Church. That gap got a little wider when organizers of the LGBTQ+ Catholic Youth Summit were notified on Sunday — just days before the event — that the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis would not permit the event in a Catholic Church. Instead, event organizers have found a welcoming home down the street at the Edina Community...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Thomas Schmierer thought he was just a normal marriage and family therapist “flying under the radar” in Riverside, Calif. But Schmierer’s work with clients who seek him out for therapy for their unwanted same-sex attraction landed him in the crosshairs of homosexual-rights groups. The Human Rights Campaign, which lobbies for same-sex “marriage” and homosexual causes, wrote a letter to Psychology Today in February demanding that the magazine remove Schmierer from its professional referral service. The magazine complied, and it no longer accepts advertising from Schmierer, who says the listing is essential for his private practice, Vatican Values...

The United Methodist Church has been a subject of controversy for years as it supports legalized abortion within the context of supposedly being a Christian denomination. Now, one pro-life advocate has uncovered a quote from a Methodist pastor who says that caring about unborn babies who die in abortions is “idolatry.” Sarah Terzo, who has a knack for documenting the history of the abortion debate and the abortion advocacy movement by posting quotes from pro-abortion activists through the years, posted a new quote today that features Minister John M Swomley. Swomley is an ordained United Methodist minister, Terzo explains and,...

As is necessary when addressing an ultra-sensitive issue, I will make some qualifications on the front end: God is, without question, and I will declare without apology, passionately interested in blessing His children. It is fully appropriate to give a measure of attention to the wondrous process of discovery of God's abundant life, overwhelming benefits and blessings. That being said, I now must move on to offering some analysis on a hidden crises. The Spirit of Abortion ... In the Church? As a prophetic messenger, a primary driving force of my daily life is to reveal and help destroy any...

Another day, another misquote.I hate to get into a public disagreement with a colleague here, but the outrage du jour seems to be based on a translation that may or may not be deliberately wrong. As the BBC and the Associated Press are at the root of it, I’m leaning towards the former. A BBC reporter in the room claimed that Pope Francis said “you are an angel of peace” while presenting a gift (which is Vatican tradition) to Abbas.The Vatican reporter for the Italian newspaper La Stampa has it differently: As is tradition with heads of State or...

While discussing the latest Pew Survey that documented the decline of people professing to be Christian in America, Fox News pundit Bill O'Reilly blamed the Catholic Church's corruption and rap music's "promotion of depraved behavior" as a few reasons for the decline of Christianity in U.S. culture. "There is no question that people of faith are being marginalized by a secular media and pernicious entertainment," O'Reilly said. "The rap industry, for example, often glorifies depraved behavior, and that sinks into the minds of some young people – the group that is most likely to reject religion. Also, many movies and...

A common question for many is, "Can I lose my salvation?" I've heard both sides of the argument, and only God truly knows a person's heart, but I can share a few thoughts. The reason there is a debate is because the Scriptures teach that salvation is a gift from God that cannot be earned, but they also offer warnings about falling away. There should be a healthy tension between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. This issue should not create a spirit of division, elitism, or theological superiority. One school of thought suggests that salvation cannot be lost, as in...

Breaking: Pope Appoints Fr. Timothy Radcliffe Consultor for Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace by Christine Niles • May 16, 2015, ROME, May 16, 2015 (ChurchMilitant.com) - Vatican Radio announced today that Dominican Fr. Timothy Radcliffe is being appointed as consultor to the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. A former Master General of the international Dominican Order of Preachers, Fr. Radcliffe is a well-known proponent of progressive ideology and has expressed views sympathetic to the homosexualist agenda. He often celebrated Mass for the U.K. dissident group Soho Masses Pastoral Council (now renamed the LGBT Catholics Westminster Pastoral Council), whose...

D.C. Rabbi Sentenced To 6½ Years In Prison On Voyeurism Charges By Keith L. Alexander and Sarah Pulliam Bailey May 15 Barry Freundel, the once-influential Orthodox rabbi who pleaded guilty to secretly videotaping dozens of women as they prepared for a ritual bath, was sentenced Friday to 6 1 /2 years in prison. His punishment came at the conclusion of an hours-long hearing in D.C. Superior Court, where some of the victims described for Senior Judge Geoffrey Alprin the impact Freundel’s crimes have had on their lives. “You repeatedly and secretly violated the trust your victims had in you, and...

From a reader…QUAERITUR: While discussing the ecclesial status of someone baptized by an SSPX priest (is the newly baptized person Catholic?), I had a troubling thought: what about someone who is baptized by a Catholic woman who has pretended to be ordained as a priest? Is that newly baptized person considered Catholic? I tend to think not, since these women have gone to non-Catholic bishops to simulate their ordination. I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts. Thanks for all your work. Every priest has a story about a “grandmother baptizing in the bathroom sink.” Usually it’s a pious woman, motivated by sincere faith and love for...

Bishop Juan Vicente Córdoba says 'no one chooses to be gay or straight'ROME — A Colombian bishop, insisting that being homosexual is not a sin, said Thursday it’s possible that one of the twelve apostles of Jesus was gay or that Mary Magdalene, another key New Testament figure, was a lesbian. Bishop Juan Vicente Córdoba of Fontibón, Colombia, also said the Catholic Church does not oppose same-sex couples making a life together, but does not consider such arrangements to be a marriage or a family. “No one chooses to be gay or straight,” Córdoba said. “One simply feels, loves, experiments,...

Sister Diana Momeka, OP appeared before the House of Foreign Affairs Committee in Washington D.C. on May 13, 2015. Credit: Matt Hadro/CNA. Washington D.C., May 13, 2015 / 03:41 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Having lost their homes, their heritage and their sense of dignity, Iraqi Christians victimized by the Islamic State feel abandoned by earthly powers, but their faith in God has only grown, an Iraqi nun told members of Congress May 13. The faith of homeless Iraqi Christians is “increasing more and more,” Sister Diana Momeka, O.P., told the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee. Many of the displaced lived in...

ATHENS – The fight over religious liberty legislation in Georgia is about to get much hotter. Ted Cruz is almost sure to make it so. At 7 p.m. tonight, the Texas senator will address a dinner gathering of the Georgia GOP here. His remarks will come roughly 15 hours before the convention takes up, as a platform resolution, an endorsement of SB 129, the religious liberty legislation sponsored by state Sen. Josh McKoon. A floor fight is anticipated. What will Cruz say tonight about the issue? He just gave us a preview. Said the senator: “It is sad. It wasn’t...