Free Republic

No "Ecumenical" Prayer: Francis' Dreams Dissolve Into Thin AirThe Greek-Orthodox "didn’t want" an ecumenical celebration with Francis, Athen's Catholic Archbishop Theodoros Kontidis SJ, 65, told Aleteia.org (December 3).He explains that for them a common prayer means full unity and they do not want to participate in it,“Since there isn’t agreement on all points, they feel that one cannot pretend that the differences do not exist.”

Pope Francis’ ecumenical Abrahamic Family House project contradicts the teachings of JesusThe price of entry into the Abrahamic House is to de-emphasize the central elements of the Christian faith. The proposed Abrahamic Family House, to be built in Abu Dhabi. From left to right: the mosque, the church, and the synagogue.The Abrahamic Family House is scheduled to open in Abu Dhabi in 2022. It will consist of three main buildings — a mosque, a church, and a synagogue. A project of the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity (HCHF), the Abrahamic Family House was inspired by the 2019 Document on Human...

Joint letter of Cardinals Koch and Grech to Bishops responsible for ecumenismIn a joint letter of 28 October 2021, Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Cardinal Mario Grech, General Secretary of the Synod of Bishops, addressed the Bishops responsible for ecumenism in their Episcopal Conferences and Synods of the Oriental Catholic Churches.In the letter, the two Cardinals offer practical suggestions aimed at implementing the ecumenical dimension of the synodal process in Dioceses, Episcopal Conferences, and Synods.The Vademecum for the Synod affirms: “The dialogue between Christians of different confessions, united by one baptism, has...

The Catholic world is abuzz with news that a prominent Anglican Bishop converted to Catholicism. Michael Nazir-Ali, the retired Anglican Bishop of Rochester, England, and once close to being tapped as the Archbishop of Canterbury, was received into the Catholic Church on the Feast of St. Michael (September 29). Needless to say, many Catholics were excited by the news.However, some Catholics were upset by Nazir-Ali’s conversion, while others were perplexed.Who’d be upset? Well, if the reports are true, it sounds like some high-ranking Vatican officials did not support Nazir-Ali’s swimming the Tiber. They considered it a “setback to ecumenism” and...

Lutherans and Catholics reach landmark Baptism agreementCatholic and Lutheran churches in Aotearoa New Zealand have approved a statement recognising the unity of each other’s baptisms.The statement – Baptised Together in Christ – will be particularly helpful for families wanting to baptise their child where one parent is Lutheran and the other Catholic.The baptism agreement is the first major work of the Roman Catholic-Lutheran Dialogue Commission. The commission has held regular meetings since being created by Lutheran Bishop Mark Whitfield and Catholic Cardinal John Dew in 2017, as part of New Zealand services marking the Reformation of European Christianity that...

Pope Francis: All Religious Traditions Must Resist ‘Temptation to Fundamentalism’Speaking on a stage together with Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, and Hindu representatives, Pope Francis appealed for peace amid the world’s current conflicts.VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis asked leaders of world religions to resist “the temptation to fundamentalism” for the sake of peace at an interreligious gathering Thursday in front of the Colosseum.Peace “summons us to serve the truth and declare what is evil when it is evil, without fear or pretense, even and especially when it is committed by those who profess to follow the same creed as us,” the...

Cardinal Cupich joins Muslim, Christian leaders for panel on dialogueChristians, Muslims and all people of faith must work together to follow the example of Pope Francis and Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar, and Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Islamic leaders from the Sunni and Shia traditions.That was the conclusion of Cardinal Cupich, two Muslim leaders and a leader of the Assyrian Church of the East, who participated in an online panel Sept. 27.The panel was sponsored by Georgetown University’s Office of the President, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World...

Anglican leader wears papal ring to VaticanFascinating piece of history, via Vatican Media: Wrapping up an interview with Vatican News, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, showed those present the pastoral ring he is wearing. It’s not just any ring, but a very important “fragment” of the history of ecumenism. Indeed, it was given by Pope Paul VI to the then Anglican Primate, Michael Ramsey, on March 23, 1966, during his historic visit to Rome. This was the first visit by a head of the Anglican Communion since the beginning of the English Reformation, four centuries earlier.On that day the...

Special Report: Religious Indifferntism Destroyed the Church’s Missionary ZealBrian McCall speaks with Crisis Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Eric Sammons about his research into the insidious infiltration of religious indifferentism into the post-Counciliar Church. In his recently released new book Deadly Indifference, Sammons warns that it is not only outright heresy that has destroyed the Church’s missionary zeal. Perhaps even more deadly is the practical religious indifferentism that can technically avoid the charge of heresy and that has been promoted by all the post-Counciliar popes and not merely Pope Francis. His new book can be ordered at Sophia Institute Press https://www.sophiainstitute.com/products/item/deadly-indifference. Link to...

Catholics and Protestants Share Communion at German Ecumenical ConventionFrankfurt’s Cathedral of St. Bartholomew served as the site where Catholics and Protestants defied Church teaching against shared communion.FRANKFURT, Germany — Protestant and Catholic worshippers in Germany defied Church teaching on Sunday by taking part in each other’s celebration of the Lord’s Supper at an Ecumenical Convention in Frankfurt. In four services in the city, Catholics were invited to take part in an Evangelical Supper with Protestants and similarly invited to celebrate the Catholic Eucharist, with the decision to receive Holy Communion at Mass or bread at a Protestant service left...

Germany: Ecumenical Convention Uses Body of Christ as Toy for Act of DefianceAt the Ecumenical Convention in Frankfurt (May 15), it was up to "Catholics" and "Protestants" to help themselves either by taking Holy Communion or by eating bread at the Protestant Lord's Supper.The two presidents of the Convention made a start with a childish act of defiance. The President of the Central Committee of German Catholics, Thomas Sternberg, took part in the Protestant service and ate bread there. The Protestant President, Bettina Limperg, the president of the Federal Supreme Court in Karlsruhe, sacrilegiously took the Body of Christ at...

True vs. False EcumenismCreating authentic unity in the One True FaithPart II of a three-part series on Church teaching on ecumenism. Read Part I.The fullness of Truth is found in the Catholic Church alone — period. Other religions may have parts of the truths of the Faith, in greater or lesser degree, but mixed with errors. But today, false ecumenism tends to lead many to recoil from this reality, as being "un-ecumenical," "approaching triumphalism," "uncharitable," not showing true "Christian love and understanding," comparing it to the so-called "dark old medieval days of hostility and misunderstanding."But we must ask: Can the...

Christianity and Heresy Do Not MixToday's 'ecumenism' is flawed reductionismPart III of a three-part series on Church teaching on ecumenism. Read Part I and Part II.Christ is truly present in the Eucharist If our ecumenical endeavors do not seek total unity in the truth — that is, in dogma, morals, government and worship — all we will be doing is simply being polite, comparing notes and opinions, making comments on our own beliefs and ending up saying, "Well, that's what we believe and, in the end, surely we worship the same God, and what really matters is what you have...

Pope Francis Commits to Ecumenism But Catholic Tradition rebukes errorIn a letter marking the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's 1995 encyclical Ut Unum Sint, Pope Francis called for a renewed commitment to ecumenism, according to the Church's "irrevocable" commitment to the task of ecumenism.Pope Francis invited everyone to "ask the Spirit to guide our steps and to enable everyone to hear the call to work for the cause of ecumenism with renewed vigor." Vatican News reported that the pope has reminded the faithful that "ecumenism is not something optional."As Catholics faithful to the Church Magisterium, we may find...

Vatican to organize conference promoting Mary as ‘model for faith’ for both Christianity and Islam'Belonging to these three religious and multi-cultural worlds (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), the figure of Mary is in itself a pressing and constant invitation to intersect and interconnect these same worlds'AnalysisFebruary 16, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — “Mary, a model for faith and life for Christianity and Islam:” is the title of an upcoming series of online webinars presenting Our Lady as a bridge between Catholicism and Islam organized, among others, by the Pontifical Academy of Mary (Pontificia Academia Mariana Internationalis or PAMI).Starting on February 18, ten weekly conferences...

QUICUMQUE VULT SALVUS ESSE or Concerning the Idolatry of Vatican IISimiles illis fiant qui faciunt ea,et omnes qui confidunt in eis.Their makers will come to be like them,and so will all who trust in them.- Ps 113:16________While nations that were once Catholic introduce laws that promote abortion and euthanasia, gender theory and sodomitical “marriages;” while in the United States a legitimately elected President is seen to be usurped in the White House by a corrupt, depraved, and pro-abortion “President” placed in power by a gigantic fraud to the sycophantic applause of Bergoglio and progressive bishops; while the world population is...

Vatican Admits Breaking Away From “What The Church Once Did”The Vatican’s Handbook on Ecumenism (December 4) admits breaking with Catholic tradition.Number 17 claims that Catholics “not only can but indeed must” seek out opportunities to pray with other Christians, yet they should understand that some Christian communities don't practise joint prayer, ”as was once the case for the Catholic Church.” The handbook recommends praying together the psalms and scriptural canticles.It is easy to show that the demands contained in the handbook oppose Catholic doctrine:• Synod of Laodicea (363): “No one shall pray in common with heretics and schismatics.”• Council of...

Vatican Makes Ecumenism an ObligationDiktat ignores obstacles of women's ordination and same-sex 'marriage'VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - Engaging ecumenically with Protestant and Orthodox denominations will no longer be "optional" but "a duty and obligation" for bishops, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity declared Friday.Obstacles to ecumenism: Women 'bishop' Sarah Mullally The Vatican document, titled "The Bishop and Christian Unity: An Ecumenical Vademecum," extends the bishop's pastoral ministry "not just to the unity of his own church, but to the unity of all the baptized into Christ."Directing Catholics to join Protestants "in each other's non-Eucharistic services," the handbook is a historic...

Cardinal Koch Doubts That Anglican Orders Are Null And VoidThe Vatican released on December 4 a handbook for bishops on ecumenism which claims that ecumenism is not an optional “but a duty and obligation.”Catholics are warned against a “polemical presentations of Christian history and theology” [read: offering historical and theological facts].At the handbook’s presentation, Cardinal Kurt Koch, the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, called for a “better interpretation” of the Catholic teaching that Anglican orders are “null and void”, claiming that this issue “needs to be studied.”"Null and void" refers to Leo XIII's bull Apostolicae Curae...

[Catholic Caucus] Bergoglianism contradicts the Catholic teachings of Saint Stephen King of Hungary King Saint Stephen converted all of Hungary to Catholicism, he ended idolatry and false religions and defeated all his anti-Catholic opponents.  St. Stephen, King of Hungary by Father Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876When Stephen had arrived at manhood, and had taken the reins of government, he resolved most earnestly, to exterminate all idolatry among his people, and everywhere to plant the emblem of the Christians, the Cross. To be more secure in his pious undertaking, he formed an alliance with the neighboring princes in order to prevent them...