Free Republic

A friend mentioned to me recently that there are many nun Halloween costumes available on Amazon.com, but not a single hijab costume. So I checked. Yep, there are many nun costumes, some of which are quite racy. But there is not a single hijab costume. I guess there's just no interest in a hijab costume. What other reason could there be?

Death is a tragedy for mortal man, and yet with faith in eternity and anticipation of the embrace of our heavenly Father, death becomes radiant. We share today the news of the death of Sister Cecilia, a Carmelite of Santa Fe in Argentina, who suffered from lung cancer. She astonished those who surrounded her in her agony, [smiling as she approached her culmination.] The Carmel of Santa Fe announced the death of Sister Cecilia to their brothers and sisters and friends of the Carmel, with a brief but profound note. Dear brothers, sisters and friends: Jesus! Just a few lines...

State Department apparently reverses course on controversial decision. The Iraqi nun who was denied entry to the United States because, apparently, the State Department feared she would illiciltly overstay her visa has finally been granted one. Dominican Sister Diana Momeka will be joining a delegation that includes Yazidi and Turkmen Shia in mid-May. Nina Shea, a religious freedom advocate with the Hudson Institute, confirmed to National Review that Sister Diana will receive a visa. The nun is expected to testify before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee, Nicholas Frankovich reported. Other details of her itinerary have not yet been set: Last week, American advocates...

An 86-year-old nun was reportedly gang-raped before being murdered in her bedroom at a South African missionary. Gertrud Tiefenbacher's hands had been tied with a typewriter cord and a towel placed over a face, say local police. Her body was found by other nuns at the Sacred Heart Missionary in Ixopo, a small town 85 miles south-west of Durban. Police in KwaZulu-Natal are waiting for the results of forensic tests to confirm that Sister Gertrud was sexually assaulted. They say she was suffocated but they are unsure how many men attacked her. A small sum of money - thought to...

The establishment of a pro-life centre to assist pregnant women in crisis has resulted in the lives of more than 100 babies being saved in the past two years. That's according to the operators of the Holy Innocents Crisis Centre, which was set up after a heated national debate on abortion in 2009. At that time, pro-lifers - persons opposed to abortion - and pro-choice lobby groups sought to provide convincing arguments for their positions in Parliament. Among the pro-lifers was prominent philanthropist Father Richard Ho Lung, who decided to start the Holy Innocents Crisis Centre at National Heroes Circle...

An Orthodox Christian nun, Sister Hatune Dogan, is struggling finding a location that will allow her to speak on the atrocities she has witness in the Middle East and around the globe. Though Sister Hatune has spent her life helping Christians who have been persecuted, and helped countless people in need, the nun has found that her message is not welcome in many communities. What is so controversial about the nun’s speeches? Sister Hatune uses her speaking platform as a way to warn against the atrocities of the Muslim faith. WND reports that Sister Hatune warned of the current state...

Like most people, I occasionally put my foot in my mouth. That can involve calling a friend by the wrong name, making a double entendre, or realizing that I’ve just asked out a nun. Well, technically she was a sister. Last year, I visited Aquinas College (a Catholic university in Tennessee) to watch a friend receive an award for a paper he’d written. There were other students up for awards that night, and more than a few of them were wearing habits. The sisters gave informed talks on a number of issues, including religious freedom in Vietnam and the relationship...

“Sister Timothy, are you a nun?” Well, I do wear a long brown habit and I have professed three vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty, in consecration to God forever. But am I a nun? My name is SISTER Timothy Marie. But am I a nun? Here is the answer. In a practical, everyday sense people have no hesitation about identifying me as a carmelitesheaderCatholic nun. Yet, in the technical sense of the real definition I am not. So, what am I? I have entered a consecrated life, and I am a woman religious. I am a sister. I’ll explain....

resident Obama is a Christian. What he means by that no one has ever been very sure. But it is what he claims nonetheless. When callers to my radio shows claim, "He is a Muslim." I remind them--quickly--that he has only ever said that he is a Christian. This usually then incites various discussion points about the validity of his claim vs. theirs. Frequently the conversation will dwell upon the fact that his name is Islamic. To respond to this I simply point out that many former Muslims still carry their given name upon conversion to Christianity. They may say,...

When I entered I saw what I had written. I wanted to say a word to you and the word is “joy”. Wherever there are consecrated people, seminarians, men and women religious, young people, there is joy, there is always joy! It is the joy of freshness, the joy of following Jesus; the joy that the Holy Spirit gives us, not the joy of the world. There is joy! but — where is joy born? Joy is born from the gratuitousness of an encounter! It is hearing someone say, but not necessarily with words: “You are important to me”. This...

Today, in cloisters and schools around America, the sound of young voices is ringing out. These sisters’ voices resound in classrooms, lift in chant, laugh on the playing field — and bring their fresh, healthy orthodox Catholicism into the spiritual desert. In September 1971, Sister Imelda Marie, O.P. stepped into our eighth grade classroom. She was greeted by a stunned silence. Sister smiled awkwardly, and then turned on her heel to write pre-algebra equations on the chalkboard. From the back of the classroom came a stifled giggle, then a raised hand. “Sister, where’s your habit?” Sister Imelda was a formal...

A nun in east London climbed to the top of a local building and ripped down a flag similar to the one flown by Jihadist militants in Syria and Iraq. IB Times reported Friday that the flag was being flown alongside Palestinian flags and slogans in support of Gaza. Community members issued complaints over the flag with local council members, claiming that it was causing tension within the community. When council members went to take the flag down, they were surprised to find, someone had beat them to it. “The council can confirm that following reports this morning of a...

[Cross removed this week from dome of Syriac Orthodox Cathedral, Mosul, Iraq] For two thousand years, our dearest brethren saw it all from Mosul: Romanized Greeks, Hellenized Persians, Hellenized Romans from all origins later called "Byzantines", Armenians, Arabs from the desert with a religion of the sword, Egyptians, Crusaders, Mongols, Turks, French and British, "Independence"... Then the clumsiest Empire in history, an Empire unwanted by most voters, unwarranted by the Republic's own Constitution, led by bellicose hawks motivated by God knows what, justifying their actions on untruths, arrived, upsetting a balance that was not the best, but was best...

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe announced Wednesday it is exploring sainthood for an Italian-born nun who challenged Billy the Kid, calmed angry mobs and helped open New Mexico territory hospitals and schools. Archbishop Michael Sheehan said he has received permission from the Vatican to open the “Sainthood Cause” for Sister Blandina Segale, an educator and social worker who worked in Ohio, Colorado and New Mexico. Segale, a nun with the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, came to Trinidad, Colorado, in 1877 to teach poor children and was later transferred to Santa Fe, where she co-founded public and Catholic schools. During...

'What a Feeling' Nun Wins Italy's 'The Voice' Video at link.

ROME – Italy’s singing nun, Sister Cristina Scuccia, is the winner of “The Voice of Italy,” after becoming a global sensation starting in March when her rendition of Alicia Keys’ “No One” in the talent show’s blind audition got more than 50 million hits on YouTube and appreciative Tweets from Keys herself and Whoopi Goldberg. On Thursday night, wearing her nun’s habit, crucifix around her neck, and plain black shoes, the 25-year-old Sicilian nun won Italy’s version of “The Voice” with 62.3 percent of the vote. “My presence here is not up to me, it’s thanks to the man upstairs,”...

From The Catholic Herald: The Dominican sister who gave a presentation on sexuality to students at Charlotte Catholic High School that sparked controversy among students and parents last month is taking a sabbatical from teaching and canceling her other speaking engagements.The presentation March 21 by Dominican Sister Jane Dominic Laurel of Nashville, Tenn., entitled “Masculinity and Femininity: Difference and Gift,” drew the ire of hundreds of students and parents over the past two weeks, and their emotions boiled over during a parents meeting with school and diocesan leaders Wednesday night.Sister Jane has a doctorate in sacred theology from the Pontifical...

Nearly 1,000 parents gathered at Charlotte Catholic High School on Wednesday night to air complaints about a recent speech to students by a nun who made what many considered inflammatory comments about gays and lesbians, divorce and single parenthood. So many parents lined up to speak that the meeting with high school officials, the school’s chaplain and the Diocese of Charlotte’s vicar of education lasted more than an hour longer than scheduled. Though the gathering was closed to the media, texts and tweets from parents inside the school gym cast the meeting as often heated, with emotions running high on...

Move over Pope Francis, there's a new spiritual sensation in town. An Italian nun has become a national star after she wowed judges on her country's version of "The Voice." Sister Cristina, from Sicily, saw all four chairs turn around during her blind audition of Alicia Keys' "No One." The 25-year-old then told the quartet: "I have a gift and I'm giving it to you." Broadcast on Wednesday night, the clip has already racked up more than 30,000 views. It shows the Catholic Sister confidently walking out onto the stage and belting out her version of the hit song. Fellow...

Madrid, January 30, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a recent interview with the Spanish feminist magazine Pikara, a Benedictine sister, Teresa Forcades, said her position towards the proposed restrictions on abortion by the Spanish conservative government was that of “criticism and upfront rejection.” “I’m in favor of allowing abortion when the fetus isn’t viable,” said the Sister. The proposed law will eliminate a provision passed in 2010 by the previous socialist government allowing abortion on demand until 14 weeks gestation, and will remove fetal malformation as a reason for the mother to abort. “There can be a mother,” she continued, “to...