Free Republic

An Australian bishop was stabbed multiple times as he was delivering his sermon Monday night, in an attack that came just days after six people were stabbed to death at a nearby mall. Footage posted online Monday shows Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel speaking at Wakeley’s Christ The Good Shepherd Church when an unidentified man in a black hoodie confronts him. The bishop appears to try to talk to the man, who then stabs the bishop’s face and neck... A motive for the attack is unknown. Emmanuel has gained a following online in recent years as an outspoken critic of COVID...

One of the Catholic Church’s most infamously dissident prelates, Archbishop Thomas Gumbleton, died April 4 at age 94. In many ways, Gumbleton’s life was emblematic of the direction the Catholic Church took after Vatican II. He was born in 1930 and was one of nine children – a Catholic family size now rare outside of Traditional Latin Mass circles. Gumbleton and several of his siblings pursued religious vocations. He was ordained a priest in 1956, shortly before the Second Vatican Council and its use as justification to radically change Catholic worship. In 1968, Pope Paul VI appointed Gumbleton an auxiliary...

The suspect who stabbed a Catholic priest to death in a small Nebraska community has been identified. Kierre L. Williams, 43, of Sioux County, Iowa was arrested for killing Rev. Stephen Gutgsell, 65, during an invasion at the rectory of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fort Calhoun. Williams was charged with homicide and use of a weapon to commit a felony, the Washington County Sheriff said. Gutgsell was taken to an Omaha hospital where he died from his stab injuries, church officials said. The suspect was taken to Washington County Jail and the sheriff's office said that the...

Russia’s central bank has halted the circulation of a new 1,000 ruble note after Orthodox priests complained that the image of a church dome lacked a cross – even though it does not have one in real life. The bank had presented new designs of the 1,000 and 5,000 ruble notes earlier this week. One of them featured two religious sites in the majority-Muslim Tatarstan republic: a minaret with an Islamic crescent moon and an Orthodox church with a dome that did not have a cross on it. The Guardian view on the Russian Orthodox Church: betrayed by Putin’s patriarch...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican appoints heterodox, pro-LGBT bishop to investigate sexual abuse cases in SwitzerlandArchbishop Carlo Maria Viganò criticized the Vatican over its appointment of Bishop Joseph Bonnemain, who is known for his pro-LGBT positions, to investigate sexual abuse cases and alleged cover-ups by clerics in Switzerland.The Vatican has appointed pro-LGBT Bishop Joseph Maria Bonnemain to investigate the sexual abuse cases and their alleged cover-up by clerics in Switzerland. Earlier this year, the former vicar general of Lausanne, Geneva, and Fribourg, Father Nicolas Betticher, brought forth accusations against several Swiss bishops, the local newspaper Blick reported. One unnamed active member of...

The pro-life priest said he locked the gates of the facility because Planned Parenthood ‘is in the business of killing.’(LifeSiteNews) — Pro-life priest Fr. Fidelis Moscinski was sentenced to six months in prison for blocking access to a New York abortion facility in attempt to save innocent unborn children. On Tuesday, the priest was dealt the punishment in a federal court, months after being found guilty of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. Moscinski is frequently involved in Red Rose Rescues and “lock and blocks” — forms of pro-life advocacy in which volunteers enter the waiting...

Denver, Colo., Jun 16, 2023 / 14:21 pm A California restaurant had an individual impersonate a priest to encourage employees to confess their “sins” against their employer, but the man has no links with the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, a diocese spokesman said. “Our own investigation found no evidence of any connection between the Diocese of Sacramento and the alleged priest in this matter,” Bryan J. Visitacion, director of media and communications for the Diocese of Sacramento, told CNA on Friday. “While we don’t know who the person in question was, we are completely confident he was not a priest...

They have their final meeting coming soon, so it will be soon be revealed their final view on the priesthood. I fear the worst. From 2021 The controversial "Synodal Path" now addresses the question of whether the Catholic Church needs priests at all. This was decided by the Synodal Assembly by vote yesterday (Thursday). It was also suggested to discuss an LGBT sacrament.

ACI Prensa Staff, Feb 13, 2023 / 12:20 pm The Diocese of San Juan de Los Lagos in Jalisco state, Mexico, mourned the Feb. 10 shooting death of one of its priests, Father Juan Angulo Fonseca. According to the Mexican newspaper El Financiero, the 53-year-old priest was shot from behind with two blasts of a shotgun. The homicide occurred in the Atotonilco el Alto district of the state of Jalisco. According to the initial investigation, the murder was apparently due to a dispute over land. “The Diocese of San Juan de los Lagos lifts up prayers to God, the Father...

The Wise Men brought gifts to God incarnate. Do I give the best of the time, talents, and treasure entrusted to me... or just what is left over after sacrificing at the altars of the world?The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Savior of the world (CCC 528). Who were the wise men who came to find the “new king of the Jews”? They were men of the East (Matt 2:1), learned in reading the stars and ancient prophecy. They were not among God’s chosen people. They were gentiles. They came to...

The angels announced their tidings to shepherds. I will remember that where man sees a shepherd, God may see a king. I don’t have to be “great” in the eyes of the world to serve the Kingdom. There are times when God comes to us in the whispers of life and times that He comes with trumpets blaring and all of the hosts of Heaven. In both, He tends to come into our world quietly… to those ready to perceive Him. In the quiet moments, we are most attentive to His message—we have to lean in to hear Him.When He...

The Vatican has defrocked a US-based priest for "blasphemous" social media posts and activism in support of former President Donald Trump. A letter to US bishops from the Vatican's US ambassador accused the priest, Frank Pavone, of "persistent disobedience". In 2016, Mr Pavone, who heads the anti-abortion group Priests for Life, put an aborted foetus on an altar and broadcast it online. His defrocking cannot be appealed. Defrocking - the process of being reduced to a 'lay state' in which clerical status is taken away from a priest - is among the harshest sanctions available in the Catholic church's canon...

Lord, on the cross, You took pity on the crowd and taught them through the Psalm. Help me preach the Gospel with my life... and use words when necessary. There was never a time when our Lord wasn’t the Son of God. There was never a time the Father wasn’t Father of the Son. There was never a time the Holy Spirit wasn’t moving among them. From the foundations of creation, our Lord has loved us. Hanging on the cross, the unfathomable depth of His love was shown. He died to pay a debt we could not pay to bring...

A Catholic priest has been branded hateful over a sermon about 'rampant' sin, and denounced same sex marriage, abortion and the 'lunacy' of transgenderism. Retired priest Fr Sean Sheehy told worshippers at St Mary's Church in Listowel, County Kerry, that gay couples were committing a 'mortal sin', and criticised the availability of free contraception for 'promoting promiscuity'. A video of Fr Sheehy's comments, where he also criticised abortion and the trans community, has been shared widely online and has prompted condemnation of his views. A reported 30 members of the the congregation walked out of the church, including Edel O'Connor...

Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo of East Timor won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996. Now he has been accused of sexually abusing several teenage boys.Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo of East Timor has been accused of sexually abusing several teenage boys, according to a report published Wednesday in a Dutch news magazine. Belo, 74, came to international attention in the 1990s for his outspoken role in opposing the Indonesian occupation of East Timor, which lasted from 1975 until 1999. The bishop was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 for his work “towards a just and peaceful solution to...

It is a mystery that has haunted New Mexico detectives for 40 years. On August 5, 1982, a beloved priest was summoned from the Saint Francis Cathedral in Santa Fe to deliver last rites. It was the last time anyone would see Father Reynaldo Rivera alive. “The murder of Father Rivera was one of the biggest crime stories,” said Steve Terrell, a former reporter at the Santa Fe New Mexican. Father Rivera was a beloved priest who had a gift for serving others. He was born in 1948 in Santa Fe. He served his entire priestly career in New Mexico....

In a rather bizarre move, NASA has recruited a British priest to prepare the religious for the discovery of alien life as space agencies claim to be getting closer to discovering evidence that life exists outside of planet earth reports The Times. Reverend Dr. Andrew Davison, a priest and theology professor at the University of Cambridge, is among 24 theologians who participated in a program sponsored by NASA at the space agency’s Center for Theological Inquiry (CTI) at Princeton University. The theologians attempted to assess how major religions would react to news of alien life being found. A NASA expert...

Many will be gathering in church, celebrating the birth of Jesus over the next two days, for one of the most joyous times of the year.But a CNN religion commentator, Roman Catholic priest Fr. Edward Beck, has some thoughts on the subject that seem contrary to everything I learned about the love of one’s neighbor as a Catholic. He’s telling people to stay home, effectively telling them they are not welcome in the Church — on one of the most important days of celebration for Catholics — if they are unvaccinated.Yep. I said it. I don’t think unvaccinated people should...

A Catholic priest from Cincinnati pleaded guilty on Thursday to raping a 10-year-old altar decades ago, one day before the jury was to be selected for his trial. The Rev. Geoff Drew, 59, was reportedly emotionless at his court appearance when he was directly addressed by his victim, now in his 40s.

More than 900 child sex abuse claims were filed against the Buffalo Diocese in federal bankruptcy court by Saturday, the deadline for abuse victims to come forward if they want part of a potential settlement that could cost the diocese tens of millions of dollars. The number of claims was double the largest number ever filed in the more than 20 prior diocese bankruptcies in the U.S. since 2004. “The total count right now is 924,” said Ilan D. Scharf, attorney for the committee of unsecured creditors in the diocese bankruptcy case. “There are sometimes duplicate claims or amended claims...