Free Republic

While the issue of the migrant caravans has largely dropped off the media radar lately in the midst of the shutdown theater drama, the problem hasn’t gone away. If anything, the swelling number of migrants waiting in the Tiajuana area is festering as the migrants grow frustrated with the long wait for their claims to be processed. (American officials are processing up to one hundred per day, but there is already a waiting list in the thousands.) But surely they must have known they were going to run into these sorts of logistical problems, right?Not really. Many of them seem...

[Catholic Caucus] 10 Great Quotes on the Holy MassFr. Stefano Manelli of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate (FFI) has received a great deal of attention in recent months. The co-founder and former Minister General of the FFI has seen the order placed under direct control of an assigned commissioner for the Vatican following allegations of internal dissension, as well as a “crypto-lefebvrian and definitely traditionalist drift in the community” (Rorate-Caeli, December 11, 2013). At this time the future of the order, as well as that of its aging founder, is uncertain.What is certain, however, is that Fr. Stefano Manelli...

TRENTON, New Jersey, January 3, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Just before Christmas, pro-life advocates were arrested for entering the Trenton, New Jersey Planned Parenthood and distributing red roses to abortion-vulnerable women. They saved at least one life during this Red Rose Rescue (RRR). At roughly 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 22, pro-life advocates Father Fidelis Moscinski of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, William Goodman, Patrice Woodworth, and Matthew Connolly entered the abortion facility on State Street in Trenton. This was the first RRR at a Planned Parenthood. The pro-lifers counseled some six women in the waiting room and gave them...

November 27, 2018 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Almost all of the members of a conservative order of nuns that serve the elderly in French nursing homes have announced that they have asked to be released from their vows following attempts by the Vatican to force them to alter their way of life and to “modernize” their order. According to their lay supporters, the sisters have been accused of engaging in “too much prayer” and concerns have been expressed that they wear the guimpe, a traditional form of religious head covering used by nuns that is no longer in vogue among the Church’s...

(Rome) Father Fidenzio Volpi, with the approval of Pope Francis in July 2013, has surprised again and again as Apostolic Commissioner of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, although rarely in a positive way. The Apostolic Commissioner has changed his mind and withdrew his signature on the agreement with the family of FFI Founder Father Stefano Maria Manelli. This past February 12 Commissioner Volpi and the family Manelli had agreed following a mediation in civil matters (mediazione civile). The blog Le pagine di Don Camillo, who first reported on the agreement, falsely wrote about a "patteggiamento", a specialized institution of...

BREAKING: Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate Commissioner Volpi admits guilt of defamation and lies Must pay 20,000 euros, make public apology Will Pope Francis allow what's left of the FFI to survive? The chickens have come home to roost for Pope Francis' Apostolic Commissioner of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate (FFI), Fr. Fidenzio Volpi, and possibly just in the nick of time.

To comply with unconstitutional pseudo-treaties negotiated by the Obama administration without the consent of Congress or any semblance of constitutional authority, the IRS announced that it will be sharing private financial information on U.S. bank account holders with foreign powers. No warrant is needed for foreign governments or tyrants to peruse the sensitive information at will — including brutal communist regimes and possibly even criminals or hackers.

The IRS has unveiled a secure web application, the International Data Exchange Service (IDES), for cross-border data sharing. IDES will allow Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) and tax authorities from other countries to transmit financial data on U.S. taxpayers’ accounts, via an encrypted pathway, to the IRS. The tool is part of the IRS’s effort to track U.S. taxpayer income globally. It is intended to assist FFIs and foreign tax authorities in their compliance with the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The act requires that financial institutions send to the IRS financial information of American account holders or face...

Father Frederico Lombardi, the Vatican's official spokesman, revealed in an official statement regarding the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate on Wednesday that a house is being sought in Rome for members of the religious order studying at the Vatican's Pontifical colleges and universities. The news that community living quarters are desired for members of the order are a clear indication that relations between the Congregation and the FFI are warming significantly. Father Lombardi revealed that the seminarians of the order were received in private audience at the St. Martha Residence to meet with the Holy Father, Pope Francis, along with...

Corrispondenza Romana reports that the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate, also founded by Fr. Stefano Manelli FI, has been placed under visitation by Cardinal Braz de Aviz. The visitation was announced on May 19 with immediate effect. There's another report in English, here. Perhaps our readers remember that in December of last year, the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate had issued an official statement courageously attacking Fr. Volpi's accusations against them as totally unfounded: a statement that has been all but ignored in the rush of certain sectors to justify every step and every measure taken against the Franciscans of...

Last month, Sandro Magister reported (see here) the personal plea to Pope Francis of a couple, six of whose nine children are members of the Franciscans of the Immaculate (FI). In response to the couple begging the pope to help, he answered "soon, soon" according to Magister. Now, multiple sources are telling Rorate that a large number of FI friars -- possibly 100-150 -- are petitioning Rome to be released from their pontifical vows and to be placed under diocesan bishops. As we have reported from the beginning, the order assigning a commissioner, which has led to the rapid destruction...

Among the most faithful of all of the new Catholic religious orders, especially in regard to their pro-life commitment, was an order known as the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate (FFI). They were made a pontifical institute of religious life by His Holiness John Paul II in January 1, 1998. The order has thrived and been considered stellar in its evangelization efforts. However, recent actions by the Vatican against the order have generated a firestorm of controversy and confusion about what priority the Church is now giving to the fidelity of religious orders to all Church teachings. Many pro-life Catholic...

Wow. According to Father Z. "I was informed that some 150 members of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate have petitioned the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei” this week to establish a separate institute which would use the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite." Wow.

The Sacred Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life issued a Decree on July 11, 2013, dissolving the General Council of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate (FFI), appointing an Apostolic Commissioner to govern the religious community, and ordering its priests to celebrate Mass in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, unless they, as individuals or as a local community, obtain express permission from the authorities for Mass in the Extraordinary Form. The new commissioner for the FFI is Capuchin Father Fidenzio Volpi. The Decree, which bears protocol number 52741/2012, was authorized by Pope Francis...

Story Highlights: - Upstate New York firefighters asked nearby Canadian units for help with blaze - Firetruck that responded held up at U.S. border for eight minutes - Government source says one firefighter's criminal record caused the delay - U.S. firefighter calls it embarrassing, says it delayed relief for tired firefighters A Canadian firetruck responding with lights and sirens to a weekend fire in Rouses Point, New York, was stopped at the U.S. border for about eight minutes, U.S. border officials said Tuesday. Fire officials battling the blaze called for help from fire departments in nearby Quebec, using a longstanding...