Free Republic

The Supreme Court’s decision not to hear a case challenging a Washington state law that forces a family-owned pharmacy to dispense emergency contraceptives is an “ominous sign” for those who value religious freedom, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said. “If this is a sign of how religious liberty claims will be treated in the years ahead, those who value religious freedom have cause for great concern,” Alito said Tuesday in a critical dissent. Alito was joined in his dissent by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Clarence Thomas, falling one justice short of the four needed for the...

A breakaway traditionalist Catholic group accused Pope Francis on Wednesday of spreading confusion and errors about the faith, joining a chorus of conservative criticism over his perceived lax doctrine and emphasis on mercy at the expense of morals. A statement from the schismatic Society of St. Pius X suggested that a new attempt at reconciliation with Rome had stalled, or that the society itself was divided over next steps and decided at least to take a hard line against Francis. The statement, issued after a meeting of the society’s superiors, said its members weren’t primarily looking for a legal resolution...

Matt Barber, one of the founding members of the #NeverTrump faction, has said he's glad he attended the gathering of evangelical leaders in New York City last week to meet with Donald Trump. The founder and editor of BarbWire.com was an early and enthusiastic supporter of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in the Republican presidential primary. But he recently wrote about his experience in The Big Apple for his website, noting the experience has moved him away from #NeverTrump to #MaybeTrump: For better or worse, this election has come down to two people: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Anyone who...

The name was terrible, but the “K Disease” was not a lethal virus. It was actually the clever invention of Professor Giovanni Borromeo and a religious of the Hospital of the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, to save the lives of dozens of Jews persecuted by the Nazis during World War II.When the SS entered the Fatebenefratelli hospital located on the Tiber Island in Rome, medical personnel and religious explained to the Germans that behind the doors of two special wards, there were patients suffering from this terrible K Disease, some of whom were terminally ill. The...

Job 5:9 He Doeth Great Things, and Unsearchable, And Marvelous Things Without Number.

Pope Francis, who is “building bridges to build peace” around the world, has naturally reached out to embrace Sunni Muslims. Last month, for the first time after years of Vatican silence, Pope Francis summoned to his private library in Rome grand imam Ahmed El-Tayeb of Cairo’s Al-Ahzar Mosque Institute. Absent a press release before this event, the Pope was quoted as saying, “this meeting is the message” – leading all to dwell on the meaning and purpose of their 25 minutes together. Christians, especially Egyptian Coptic Christians, have observed the Catholic pope give the “sign of peace” to the grand...

In an amazing and unexpected turn of events the Brexit vote actually passed despite a massive and coordinated effort by the powers that be, EU bureaucrats, Obama, and major corporations to prevent it.  Yesterday the betting odds favored Remain with an astonishing 84%, yet they were all wrong. Leave won 52 to 48. I can't begin to tell you the significance of this, suffice to say I think things may speed up substantially in the realm of Bible prophecy for the following reasons: 1. The EU is seemingly coming apart with other minority parties in other countries calling for...

June 25, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – Following a declaration by the Mexican Supreme Court nullifying state laws prohibiting “marriage” to people of the same sex, Nuevo Laredo Bishop Gustavo Rodríguez Vega has issued his own declaration along with the clergy of his diocese, assuring the faithful that he will suffer imprisonment rather than cooperate with such unions. “They can’t require an institution like this Church to go against its principles,” the archdiocesan clergy are quoted as saying in various local and national news reports. “Let the Supreme Court send the bishops and the priests to jail, whomever they want, but the...

As a result of the latest federal ruling against religious freedom—and pending the result of what seems an inevitable court challenge— Catholic churches in California are now required to provide abortion coverage in their employees’ health-insurance programs. The US Catholic bishops are rightly outraged. It's easy to blame the Obama administration, which has been so consistently hostile to the claims of religious freedom. But probe a little deeper, and you realize that the American Catholic bishops themselves deserve a goodly part of the blame, for a failure to implement a clear Vatican directive 25 years ago. This week’s ruling from...

On 16 June, it was reported that the courageous prelate from Spain, Cardinal Archbishop of Valencia, Antonio Cañizares Llovera, was being investigated by the government of the Spanish Province of Valencia for his purportedly abusive remarks about the increasingly disintegrating pressure on the traditional family exercised by applied gender theory and the so called “gay empire.” The report said: The government of the Spanish province of Valencia has opened an investigation against the Cardinal Archbishop of Valencia, Antonio Cañizares Llovera, following numerous complaints over a sermon in which he denounced the influence of the “gay empire” on society. If prosecuted...

Our friend Ann Barnhardt has sent up a flare this week, declaring, like Italian journalist Antonio Socci, her belief that Jorge Mario Bergoglio is not Pope Francis, that his election was invalid and he is an antipope, mainly because Pope Benedict XVI is still lawfully the pope. She has presented as her evidence Bergoglio’s “heresies, blasphemies and antichristological actions,” as well as a canonical detail that, she correctly points out, no one is yet talking about. She has asked for responses. Now, no one will accuse me of being a Francis apologist, but I cannot really completely agree with Ann’s...

Catholic Bishops Blast Obama Admin for Forcing Churches to Pay for Abortions The leading pro-life spokesmen for the Catholic bishops are blasting an Obama administration decision revoking federal protection for chruches in California forced to pay for abortions. As LifeNews reported, churches in California are officially subject to an onerous state regulation that requires them to pay for abortions, thanks to a ruling by the Obama administration.The troubling situation began in 2014 when the California Department of Managed Health Care reclassified abortion as a “basic health service” under the Affordable Care Act and ordered all insurance plans in the state...

Conservative evangelical bishop E.W. Jackson says that his "attitude" about Donald Trump changed as a result of Tuesday's meeting between Trump and hundreds of America's top evangelical leaders in New York City. Jackson, who is the founder of the conservative nonprofit S.T.A.N.D., said in a conference call during the meeting that he can now back the presumptive Republican nominee instead of just preferring him over presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. "What I am hoping we will see is the evangelical community unify around Donald Trump because we just don't have any choice," Jackson said. "I hope that there will be...

After Cardinal Joseph Zen protested the silence of Vatican officials in the wake of a shocking public statement by Shanghai's Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin, the Vatican issued a short statement denying any role in the matter. Bishop Ma sent shock waves through the Catholic Church in China when he posted an apology on his blog for his "errors of words and deeds against the Patriotic Association." Bishop Ma had previously been a leading figure in opposition to the government-backed Patriotic Association; he had been under house arrest since announcing at his episcopal ordination that he was breaking from the group....

In his homily at a Fortnight for Freedom opening Mass, Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami lamented the persecution of Christians and took issue with remarks made by Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg following the June 12 Orlando nightclub shooting. Preaching in Coral Gables, Florida, Archbishop Wenski said that “in the second decade of the 21st century, some 150,000 Christians are killed for their faith every year” and that “these modern-day martyrs are victims of a despotism in its hardest and harshest form.” “A new religious intolerance is being established in our country,” he continued. “We see this when Christian...

On 2 May, the Lepanto Institute published an article titled, CRS: A Tale of Two Letters. In this article, the Lepanto Institute raised grave concerns over a joint letter signed by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS), because the letter requested that Congress provide vast amounts of money to two agencies (USAID and PEPFAR) which are committed to the distribution of abortifacient contraception and condoms. What follows is an analysis of the responses received from two USCCB officials which directly admit that our concerns are real, but then deny that there is any problem.

Faithful Catholics in the Australian diocese of Wollongong are expressing frustration after the bishop canceled a presentation defending marriage, instead joining LGBT activists in their pro-homosexual propaganda on church property. On June 14 the Australian Family Association (AFA) was scheduled to deliver a presentation at the hall of St. Therese Catholic School in Wollongong, about 50 miles south of Sydney. The AFA describes as its mission "to cultivate within society an appreciation that the integrity and well-being of the family is essential to the stability, morale, security and prosperity of the Australian nation." A flyer for the event was emailed...

Washington D.C., Jun 22, 2016 / 04:54 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Obama administration has rejected a challenge to the State of California’s requirement that health care plans include abortion coverage. A major federal budget amendment intended to protect abortion foes does not apply, it ruled. Leaders with the U.S. bishops’ conference said it was “shocking” that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services allowed the State of California to force all employers, including churches, to fund and facilitate elective abortions. “Even those who disagree on the issue of life should be able to respect the conscience rights of those...

For some, Mgr Ma’s blog post praising the Patriotic Association and acknowledging his mistakes is nothing but “dirt”. For others, he chose humiliation for the “sake of his diocese”. Many wonder why the Holy See has remained silent about the article’s content and the bishop’s persecution. Some suspect the Vatican views the episode in positive terms. Yet, the Ma Daqin affair raises a major question. Has Benedict XVI’s Letter to Chinese Catholics (which describes the Patriotic Association as “incompatible with Catholic doctrine”) been abolished? If it has, who did it? A journey of compromises without truth is full of risks.Vatican...

FULL TITLE: Valencia’s Card. Cañizares persecuted for defending nature, common sense against “gender theory”, homosexualist agenda I was in Spain recently, having breakfast – as one does – and, while munching the ubiquitous toast with tomato looked up at the TV only to see a discussion of Card. Canizares Llovera and the trouble he was in for giving what sounded like a really good sermon in Valencia.I shot a photo of the screen… it I can find it… Since then the Cardinal’s problems have multiplied. BTW… he had the nickname “Ratzingerino” for a while and had served as the Prefect...