Free Republic

The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) has adopted a new rule ahead of Thursday’s second and final presidential debate and will silence the microphone of the candidate who does not have the floor during the uninterrupted two-minute periods at the start of each segment. The Commission cited their prior announcement to consider “additional structure” to future debates following the first presidential debate with moderator Chris Wallace. The first debate saw several interruptions from both candidates and Wallace. While Joe Biden (D) set the tone by interrupting first, Wallace later stated that Trump bore the “primary responsibility” for what occurred during...

That tireless advocate for Islam, Pope Francis, is facing criticism for his uncharacteristic silence over a Muslim population that is actually suffering injustice and persecution: the Uighurs of China. ChurchMilitant.com reported Tuesday that Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, archbishop of Yangon, Myanmar, denounced “the potential genocide” of “one million Uighur and other Muslims in China.” But Francis remains resolutely silent. The reason why may be found in his bank balance. Rahima Mahmut, head of the World Uighur Congress, declared: “Pope Francis, in particular, speaks almost every week at the Sunday Angelus, and on many other occasions, about issues of injustice in...

The Pope Sits Out the Culture War As Italy debates “homotransphobia” law, Francis falls silent. Normally voluble on political matters, Pope Francis has fallen silent on Italy’s proposed “homotransphobia” legislation, a bill that threatens to criminalize religious opposition to the LGBTQ lifestyle. The pope’s silence shouldn’t surprise anyone. The culture war makes him distinctly uncomfortable. “Pope Francis, who has been known to take liberal views on social issues, has been noticeably silent on the issue,” reports the Financial Times. John L. Allen Jr. of Crux reports that people around Francis have even sent signals of support for elements of the bill:...

The celebrated Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has threatened to quit Facebook if the social media platform refuses to silence her critics. “I am, like many others, questioning whether I should keep using Facebook or not,” Thunberg wrote in a Facebook post last week. “Allowing hate speech, the lack of fact-checking and, of course, the issues of interfering with democracy… are among many, many other things that are very upsetting.” “The constant lies and conspiracy theories about me and countless others, of course, result in hate, death threats and ultimately violence. This could easily be stopped if Facebook wanted to....

[Catholic Caucus] Papal Standards – and Questions We know that Pope Francis is a believer in the value of criticism from his extensive remarks on the plane ride back from his recent apostolic visit to Africa. He said: “First of all, criticism always helps, always. When someone receives criticism, that person needs to do a self-critique right away and say: is this true or not? To what point? And I always benefit from criticism. Sometimes it makes you angry. . . . But there are advantages.”He wants critics to come forward with their arguments and be ready for a dialogue...

Pope’s Inaction on Nicaragua Deemed ‘Shameful’ While Catholics suffer persecution, Francis remains silent Pope Francis' relative silence and apparent inaction in the face of mounting persecution of the Church by the government of Nicaragua has recently been characterized by a Miami Herald article as "shameful," "inexplicable" and "anemic." Anemic? Of course. Shameful? Certainly. Inexplicable? More like business as usual.  Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega has held a central place in his country's politics since the 1970s, when he was a leading figure within the communist Sandinista rebellion that (with Soviet Union backing) was waging a guerilla war and terror campaign against the country's more or less conservative government. When the government collapsed in 1979, Ortega...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishops Remain Silent in the Face of Cdl. Wuerl’s Deceit Dr. John Zmirak: 'A comprehensive failure and moral disgrace' Will the U.S. bishops issue a formal censure of Cdl. Donald Wuerl for lying about his knowledge of Theodore McCarrick's conduct and the restrictions imposed on him? This is the question Church Militant posed to U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Public Affairs Director Judy Keane, as the bishops convened this week in Baltimore for their biannual meeting. There are 441 active and retired Catholic bishops in the United States, and to date none have come forward to decry the...

The Scourge of Abortion: Where Is the Catholic Outrage? Church leaders surrender to abortion lobby Once reports surfaced testifying to Nazi atrocities committed against Jews, a horrified post-war world demanded punishment for the Nazi's total depravity which included mass sterilizations of women and countless abortions performed on mothers — all in Hitler's effort to eradicate Jews from the earth. Driven to create an Aryan race, the Nazis murdered six million Jews plus Catholics and other "undesirables." The Nuremberg trials sought to bring the "political, military, judicial and economic leadership of Nazi Germany, who planned, carried out, or otherwise participated in the Holocaust and other...

Leading Church historian explains why Vatican abuse summit won’t touch homosexuality Editor's note: An international group of lay Catholics held a public demonstration in Rome yesterday just outside the Vatican, demanding that Pope Francis and the world’s bishops address homosexuality during the upcoming abuse summit as the major cause of the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. The following statement was given by Prof. Roberto de Mattei during a press conference at the event. Read all statements here.  February 20, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – If the summit of the presidents of the Bishops’ Conferences of the world gathered by Pope Francis...

ROME, February 19, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — Assembling amid banners of the four evangelists and in the holy name of Mary, today an international coalition of 100 Catholic laity mobilized in Rome’s historic center to silently “oppose the Vatican’s policy of silence about homosexuality,” ahead of this week’s Vatican summit on clerical sex abuse. The international coalition is called Acies ordinata. Its name, which Catholic tradition reserves for Mary Most Holy who assembles an army of the faithful to defeat her enemies — terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinate— is taken from the Old Testament canticle, the Song of Songs (6:3, 6:10).  Acies ordinata, photo by Diane Montagna/LifeSiteNews “You...

For every story of people finding their perfect match miles above the Earth’s surface, there are countless (and we do mean countless), stories of sexual assault and uncomfortable situations that can occur midflight. Nevertheless, Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines decided to hand out napkins encouraging passengers to give out their phone numbers to fellow fliers after the complimentary drinks were served. Both Coca-Cola and Delta are now apologizing for this marketing mistake. “Be a little old school. Write down your number and give it to your plane crush. You never know…” one napkin read. “Because you’re on a plane full of...

The Pope, Young People, And His Silence on Viganò – The Reason Nobody Trusts Him A question was asked of the Pope, during the in-flight press conference returning from World Youth Day in Panama, about youth: “[There are] many young people who are fallen away from the Church or who have difficulties. In your opinion, where do young people find these difficulties, what are the reasons that drive them away from the Church?”The Pope replied:“There are so many reasons! Some are personal, but more are general. I believe that first of all it is the lack of witness from Christians,...

New Charges of Homosexuality in the Church. But the Pope Is Silent, and Blames “Clericalism” At the closing of the synod on Saturday, October 27, Jorge Mario Bergoglio once again identified the “Great Accuser,” Satan, as the ultimate author of the accusations unleashed against him, the pope, in order to strike out in reality against “Mother Church”:“This is why it is time to defend the Mother. […] Because the Accuser in attacking us is attacking the Mother, but the Mother is not to be touched.”With this Francis justified yet again his silence in the face of the accusation - publicly...

ROME, September 27, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) — Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has today issued a new extraordinary testimony, responding to Pope Francis’ refusal to answer the charge that he knew of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s sexual abuse, yet made McCarrick “one of his principal agents in governing the Church.” In the four-page document, the former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States also responds to the Pope’s recent homilies which seem to cast himself in the role of Christ and Viganò as the diabolical “Great Accuser.” “Has Christ perhaps become invisible to his vicar? Perhaps is he being tempted to try to act as a substitute...

Note: Robert Royal will be joining Raymond Arroyo on EWTN’s “The World Over” this evening to discuss the new agreement between the Vatican and China, the pope’s silence and comments, and the upcoming synod on youth. The program airs at 8PM Eastern. Check your local listings for the time and channel in your area. Two weeks ago, members of the USCCB executive committee traveled to Rome to ask for the Holy Father’s help in addressing the crisis engulfing the Catholic Church in the United States. They came back empty-handed.The primary goal was to convince the Holy Father to appoint an...

SAN FRANCISCO, September 24, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – The founder of U.S. Catholic publishing house Ignatius Press has called for Pope Francis to answer Archbishop Viganò’s allegations that he knowingly promoted an American cardinal accused of abusing seminarians and priests.  Father Joseph Fessio, SJ, told CNN that he finds the pontiff’s refusal to give an answer “deplorable”. In recent weeks, commentators have interpreted Pope Francis’ homilies about “the Great Accuser” and Christ’s “silence” as coded commentary on the Vatican whistleblower’s testimony and the pontiff’s own reluctance to answer it.  “He’s attacking Viganò and everyone who is asking for answers,” Fessio told...

Print this Page BlogsCatholic Church Sat Sep 22, 2018 - 2:49 pm EST Cardinal: Pope is ‘ice cold, sly Machiavellian, and, what is worse – he lies’ Maike Hickson Follow Maike   catholic, der spiegel, pope francis, vatican September 22, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Today, the German magazine Der Spiegel, one of the most influential political magazines in Europe, published a report on the failures of the papacy of Francis. LifeSiteNews already summed up the parts of this report about the involvement of Pope Francis in a cover-up of abuse cases in Argentina. But the Spiegel authors also make a report...

Despite Pope Francis’ call on journalists to verify Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s allegations, a key cardinal and other Vatican officials and offices have so far refused to provide information. Edward Pentin Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, appointed prefect of Congregation for Bishops a little over two months before Archbishop Theodore McCarrick was appointed to Washington D.C., has so far been unwilling to speak to the press about Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s testimony. He joins many other cardinals and Vatican officials unwilling to speak to the media on this issue, despite Pope Francis call on journalists to investigate the allegations made in...

The Viganò crisis: 'The conservatives are winning' Cross posted from lmschairman.org This must count as one of the most absurd comments on the clerical abuse crisis centred, for now, in the United States. The attempt to carry on as if nothing at all was happening, always the first recourse of the bureaucrat to a crisis, has at this moment not only failed, even according to a supporter, but become utterly ludicrous. Of course people are more interested in Archbishop Viganò's statement than in the latest missive from the Bishops' Conference about the dignity of work. Are we supposed to think...

In the dark of an August night in 1961, the Russians threw up a barrier between East and West Berlin which came to be known as the Berlin Wall. On June 12, 1987, Ronald Reagan stood at a podium in Berlin and delivered his famous speech, in which he said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” What President Reagan called for in 1987, became a reality in 1989, when the head of the East German Communist Party announced that citizens could pass through the wall without restriction as of midnight on November 9, 1989. Oppressed civilians immediately began using hammers...