Free Republic

The False Security of the Born-Again SectBorn-Again zealots always make sure that Jesus Crucified is not on the CrossIn Holy Scripture, St. Paul says, “There shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.” (2 Timothy 4:3) The sound doctrine of Christ is to embrace and live the Cross of Christ and to do penance for our sins, but instead we have false teachers today who run about luring millions into the deception of presuming on God’s mercy. This heresy has especially taken...

How Can You Canonize Without Bonafide Miracles?Honoring the SaintsA saint is a person who held the true Faith, exercised heroic virtue in accordance with their state in life, and lived a life of holiness in union with God on earth. The Church honors such a person by “raising them to the altar.” The culmination of an ecclesial process of acknowledging a person’s sanctity is “canonization.” This means they are declared to be in Heaven and the Church presents the individual as one we are called to imitate. The Church does not canonize every soul in Heaven (even if known) but...

Fr. James Martin promotes Protestant pastor who falsely claims Bible doesn’t condemn sodomyContrary to Brendan Robertson’s view, which Martin called ‘superb,’ the Catholic Church teaches that sodomy is intrinsically evil and always sinful and that Scripture condemns it.Fr. James Martin’s pro-LGBT activist group “Outreach” has posted an interview with a Protestant pastor who wrongly claimed the Bible does not condemn homosexual acts. In the interview, Martin, the editor of Outreach, asked Protestant pro-LGBT pastor Brandan Robertson what his response is “when an LGBT person [sic] or a family member or anybody says ‘doesn’t the Bible condemn homosexuality?’” READ: Cdl. Müller:...

One of the best things about the papacy of Pope Francis has been the rediscovered honesty of some of the dissident bishops in the Church. Under the papacies of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, many prelates hid their heterodox views. But under Pope Francis, they feel free to show their true colors or one might say come out of the closet. ...

Francis’ Preferred Exorcist Is a "Lutheran" Professor Giuseppe Ferrari, an organizer of the annual “Course on Exorcism“ at the Roman University “Regina Apostolorum” which belongs to the Legionaries of Christ, told the fake-news New York Times (April 19) that for next year’s conference he wants to invite "the Pope’s preferred exorcist, a Lutheran”. Ferrari does not mention his name. However, in March 2013 the Argentinean Diario Popular named the flamboyant Lutheran preacher Manuel Acuña as “Pope Francis’ Favourite Exorcist”. Acuña who calls himself a "bishop" and dresses up like a Catholic bishop, is a personal friend of Francis. He belongs...

Msgr. Charles Pope • September 22, 2015 • Today we welcome Pope Francis to the United States. In so doing, we welcome more than just a popular public figure. We welcome someone whom the Lord prays for in a very special manner. Simon Peter and his successors enjoy a special charism to unite us, by the Lord’s prayer and grace. Let’s look at the scriptural foundation of this prayer and charism and see how essential the office of the pope is for us.One day, near the final ascent to Jerusalem, the Lord warned of a fundamental problem that the Church...

The Protestant Inquisition: "Reformation" Intolerance and Persecution Dave ArmstrongMarch 07, 2007 "Disclaimer and statement of intent: Unfortunately, the religious "scandal score" needs to be evened up now and then, and the lesser-known "skeletons in the closet" need to be rescued from obscurity, surveyed, and exposed. I take no pleasure in "dredging up" these unsavory occurrences, but it is necessary for honest, fair historical appraisal. This does not mean that I have forsaken ecumenism, or that I wish to bash Protestants, or that I deny corresponding Catholic shortcomings." "Historical facts are what they are, and most Protestants (and Catholics) are unaware...

In September of 1996 I resigned my ministry as a Protestant pastor to enter the Catholic Church. It was a decision that was easy for me to make in that I was convinced that Catholicism was true and that the Catholic Church was my spiritual home. It was a decision that was nearly impossible to make in that I understood the implications of that decision. I knew what it would entail in practical terms. This was beautifully manifest, shall we say, when three months after leaving the ministry I was waiting tables at a restaurant in Encino. I was standing...

As you may recall, when we left Martin Luther last week, he was bewailing and bemoaning the theological chaos that came about early on in the Reformation. There are as many sects and beliefs as there are heads. This fellow will have nothing to do with baptism; another denies the Sacrament; a third believes that there is another world between this and the Last Day. Some teach that Christ is not God; some say this, some say that. There is no rustic so rude but that, if he dreams or fancies anything, it must be the whisper of the Holy...

Photo Credit: Michael Caven. This Easter I become a Catholic.It’s been a strange, unexpected journey. Something I often think about, and reflect on, is what I would’ve thought of myself, today, if I’d met me ten years ago. What if, by some miracle of space and time, the twenty year old me was able to visit the thirty year old me, today. What would the younger me think?Becoming a Catholic is something I never could’ve imagined or envisioned.I became a Christian at the age of about fifteen. I found an incredible local Pentecostal church, and incredible youth group, and was welcomed...

For the first ten or fifteen years after my reversion, my main apologetical interest was in debating and discussing with Protestants. These days, I rarely engage the Protestant/Catholic debate, and I focus more on the "culture wars" by debating secularists and atheists. Protestants are fellow Christians, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and the Church is very clear on that. However, every so often, I revisit the issues that divide Protestants and Catholics because Truth matters, and because the Church is a stronger witness to the world when we are undivided. At the Last Supper, hours before His death, Jesus prayed that his followers all be...

What Do the Scriptures Mean which speak of “the flesh?” By: Msgr. Charles PopeThere is a common misunderstanding of the meaning of the Biblical phrase “the flesh.”  There are many references to “the flesh” in New Testament Scripture, especially in the letters of St. Paul. The phrase confuses some, who think it synonymous with the physical body or merely with sexual sin.It is true that there are many times when Scripture uses the word “flesh” to refer to the physical body. However, when the definite article “the” is placed before the word “flesh” we are most often dealing with something...

Living on the Dark Side of the Cartesian Divide – A Reflection on the Gnosticism of our Times By: Msgr. Charles PopeThere is a line in the first letter of John, read this week at Mass, that is of critical importance to many difficulties we see today with heresy, unbelief, and moral decay. The line says:Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in...

Tucked away between houses on an estate in the Republic of Ireland is a small field that many believe, until recently, had a big secret. Beneath a grotto of the Virgin Mary, lie flowers and teddy bears by well-wishers in memory of the children of unmarried mothers, described at the time as "fallen women." It is believed nearly 800 children are buried in the grounds of what was once a mother and baby home run by nuns in Tuam, County Galway. A child died nearly every two weeks between the mid 1920's and 60's. After world-wide publicity, the Irish government...

31 year old Brent Girouex was arrested on 60 counts of suspicion of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist. The former youth counselor told police he did it to “help with homosexual urges by praying while he had sexual contact with [them]." He claimed the acts would give his victims "sexual purity." Making matters even worse, Girouex has four children of his own and now his estranged wife Erin is speaking out against him now. Girouex admitted having sexual relations with at least four young men but as many as eight have now stepped forward claiming abuse. The man...

'Might our religion be killing us?' That's what a Baptist minister was asking recently in an editorial in USA Today. Rev. Oliver "Buzz" Thomas writes: Be fruitful and multiply," says the book of Genesis, and Lord knows we have. To the tune of more than 300 million at home and more than 6 billion abroad. But as we go about the heavenly task of multiplying, a poignant question arises: Might our religion be killing us? Insert the deep dark foreboding music. We all remember the Aztecs. Some say their religion, with its penchant for violence and human sacrifice, played a...

It's sad to see the Roman Catholics feed on each other like this. How unsavory! As a Lutheran, I find it more important to look for the positive Christian contributions of Mr. Corapi, which are significant. And while Luther reformed the "pay for indugence" [sic] scams of early Popes, Mr. Corapi may correct the misguided investigation procedures directly related to the anxiety ridden child abuse chronciles [sic] of the Roman Catholic Church. --Anonymous, 7-10-11 [F]irst to set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will...

I regret for having to devote this space to a reply to my column neighbor Mustafa Akyol’s “reply to my reply to his reply to an op-ed I wrote” last week (“Would Mr. Erdoğan kindly care for this Muslim woman?,” July 8, 2010). When I wrote that piece, I was hoping that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan could perhaps explain the distasteful discrepancy between his selective caring for Muslims and Turks who suffer all around the world and his muteness on the tragedy of an Iranian woman of Turkish descent who was awaiting execution by stoning under a Sharia ruling....

February 23, 2010 Anglican Bishops Back End To Ban On Gay Civil Partnerships In Church Gay couples could soon be allowed to “marry” in church after a decision by Anglican bishops and other clergy to support a relaxation of the ban. Senior bishops in the Lords have told The Times that they will support an amendment to the Equality Bill next month that will lift the ban on civil partnership ceremonies in religious premises. The amendment would remove the legislative prohibition on blessings of homosexual couples and open the door to the registration of civil partnerships in churches, synagogues, mosques...

A Silicon Valley newspaper is reporting that under the leadership of Bishops Pierre DuMaine (1981-98) and Patrick McGrath (1999-present), the Diocese of San Jose has become “the most gay-friendly in the nation.” A priest particularly involved in this effort, Father Jon Pedigo, has blasted critics of President Obama’s Notre Dame honorary degree as “the Catholic Taliban” and criticized California Catholics for their successful efforts to support Proposition 8, which defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman. “There are new challenges and questions for the church regarding marriage and sexuality,” Father Pedigo writes on his blog. “The...