Free Republic

Ceremonies blessing same-sex unions by German Catholic priests this week represent a challenge to the Vatican from which it dare not shrink.The German Catholics are at it again. Catholic priests across Germany have been blessing same-sex unions this week in open defiance of the Vatican, which explicitly forbade such practices in March, reflecting long-settled and unchangeable Church doctrine.According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, such ceremonies have been conducted in private for years, but this year liberal German priests are doing it in public, sometimes inside their churches, in an effort to publicize the issue and push for...

The United Methodist Church, the third-largest Christian sect in the United States, took another step toward schism over their longstanding debate on LGBT issues when theological conservatives recently unveiled their plan for a new denomination. Known as the Global Methodist Church, it was the product of the 17-member Transitional Leadership Council, a group of theologically conservative United Methodists. The Wesleyan Covenant Association, a conservative United Methodist advocacy group, announced the launching of the GMC on March 1, explaining that it will not officially begin operations until a formal separation policy is approved by the UMC. “Theologically conservative United Methodists have...

It’s Official: German Bishops introduce Protestant CommunionPresiding Limburg Bishop Georg Bätzing wants to advance "unity" with Protestants, he said during an April 22 discussion (Katholisch.de).Therefore, the Protestant and "Catholic" services at the May 15 Ecumenical Kirchentag (church meeting) in Frankfurt will make this clear: "Anyone who is Protestant and comes to Communion can receive Communion," Bätzing believes.He adds that those believing that Jesus is "the inviter at the Eucharist" will not be turned away. Bätzing explains that this practice is followed “all over" and is "nothing new".Bätzing does not expect "any objection from Rome". There are Vatican reservations about the...

A group of theologically conservative United Methodists has announced the creation of a new denomination once the United Methodist Church officially separates due to its long-standing debate over homosexuality.The Wesleyan Covenant Association and the 17-member Transitional Leadership Council released a statement on Monday morning announcing the creation of the Global Methodist Church.According to the statement, the theologically conservative denomination will not be officially launched until the UMC General Conference, scheduled for 2022, passes a separation measure known as the Protocol for Reconciliation and Grace through Separation.The Protocol, which will be up for debate at the General Conference, involves allowing conservative...

In the film “Wag The Dog,” Robert De Niro plays a political fixer who produces a fake war to save a president from a scandal. In one seminal scene, William H. Macy plays a CIA operative who tells De Niro’s character that there is no war. But the fixer has an answer; he says of course there is a war, because he is watching it on TV. We find ourselves in a similar place on the supposed Republican civil war in the wake of the non-leftist Capitol riot. Let’s be perfectly clear: there is no civil war in the GOP,...

Don Pietro Leone: THE ENEMY WITHIN: PART II : A Historical Perspective PART II THE ENEMY WITHIN a Critique of Vatican II Beatissimae Vergini Mariae humillime dedicatum,Quae cunctas haereses sola interemisti in universo mundoA. Historical Introduction The 20 Councils prior to the Second Vatican Council had all been convened in order to extinguish the chief heresy or evil of the time: through an ever deeper and clearer enunciation of Church doctrine. This Council was different on two counts: first, in that it was not occasioned by any contemporary heresy or evil, and second (as we have already noted above),...

John Lomperis and I signed this statement with United Methodist bishops and other leaders urging our denomination to move forward by ending our theological conflicts and adopting the Protocol for dividing our denomination into separate new churches: February 16, 2021 Coalition of Traditional Leaders Continues to Support the Protocol for Reconciliation and Grace through Separation Over a year ago, a diverse group of United Methodist Church leaders released the Protocol for Reconciliation and Grace through Separation. Never before had leading bishops, general church officials, and leaders of advocacy groups representing centrists, progressives, and traditionalists agreed on a plan for resolving...

Arabic Expert Unmasks Pope’s Muslim Ally'Kafir' Francis celebrates anniversary of 'Human Fraternity' concordatVATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - A top Arabic scholar is exposing the "two-facedness" of Pope Francis' Muslim dialogue partner and the failure of the pontiff's Human Fraternity pact to stem the escalating persecution of Christians in the Islamic world.Copts protest the persecution of Christians in Egypt Islamic historian Raymond Ibrahim is blasting grand imam of al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayyeb for "repeatedly contradicting all the lofty sentiments in the document he signed with the pope," as the Holy See marks the anniversary of the Abu Dhabi deal, which was signed Feb....

Pope Francis’ remade John Paul II institute defends Biden’s abortion record in Facebook postSaint John Paul II taught that Catholics can in no way defend a right to abortion.ROME, February 1, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – The John Paul II Institute in Rome, recently gutted and remodeled by Pope Francis, has defended in a recent Facebook post U.S. President Joe Biden’s championing of legal abortion.The John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences recently reposted on its Facebook page a Jan. 20 Huffington Post (Italian edition) article that emphasized what writer Maria Antonietta Calabrò called Biden’s “social Gospel” which,...

Hopefully, by now, you’ve all heard that our denomination is headed for a major division, and that the need for this is widely agreed upon by the leaders of all major factions.Why is the United Methodist Church splitting?You may have heard that our division is because of homosexuality. There is some truth to that, but that is really a misleading way to view things.The reality is that our division has been a long time coming. The impending split is the result of an extensive history which dates back long before the present debates over sexual morality. We have a history,...

About that demon cult bowl placed on St. Peter's altar... WHERE'S THE DAMNED BOWL NOW?Demon cult bowl which Francis put on St. Peter’s altar.At the time, I was even more horrified than when the sacrilegious pagan Pachamama worship rite took place in the Vatican Garden as the Synod was opening up in October 2019.What shocked me, outraged me and truly worried me even more was what happened during the Mass at the close of the Synod. A bowl with symbols and flowers associated with the demon Pachamama was placed, at the explicit direction of Francis, on the altar of St....

So, all people of all religions and persuasions will be invited to mass on Sunday. They will add some singing for the new arrivals which will contradict the no singing policy. The sermons will reflect the latest ideas presented by Frankie like the need to honor the greatness of the Pachamama and climate change, just to make the newcomers welcome. And they will bring back the kiss of peace and the handshake and the two guys in front of you will do some tongue action in front of your children. Then everyone will have to take an oath to Frankie...

Here follows the complete text of Archbishop Vigano’s letter... ***** Archbishop Viganò’s Episcopal Coat of Arms Dear Mr. Kokx, I read with lively interest your article “Questions for Viganò: His Excellency is Right about Vatican II, But What Does He Think Catholic Should Do Now?” which was published by Catholic Family News on August 22 (here). I am happy to respond to your questions, which address matters that are very important for the faithful. You ask: “What would ‘separating’ from the Conciliar Church look like in Archbishop Viganò’s opinion?” I respond to you with another question: “What does it mean to separate from...

Devout Shiite pilgrims were left covered in blood as they struck themselves with swords and chains during the mourning procession to mark the day of Ashura in the holy city of Najaf. Ashura, on the 10th day of the mourning month of Muharram, commemorates the killing of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson Hussein at the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD - the defining moment of Islam's confessional schism. Typically, millions of Shiites from around the world flock to the golden-domed shrine where Hussein's remains are buried, to pray and cry, shoulder-to-shoulder. But with coronavirus numbers spiking across the globe, this...

After fifty years of fractious debate over sexuality, The United Methodist Church is about to divide into two or more denominations. This division would have occurred at the scheduled May 2020 quadrennial General Conference, now postponed until 2021 due to COVID-19. If ratified next year, this schism will be the first organized division of a major national US denomination since before the Civil War, when Methodists, Baptists, and others divided over slavery. United Methodist traditionalists and liberals have fought ever since the denomination in 1972 declared homosexual practice “incompatible with Christian teaching.” The church subsequently banned same-sex rites and reaffirmed...

The Synod of Germany Has At Least Three Antecedents. All Ended With a Schism The “Synodale Weg” underway in Germany is revealing itself more each day as a serious risk for the “path” of the Catholic Church, not only German but universal.To realize this, just browse the documents it has produced so far:> Sex, Women, Power. The Three Challenges Germany Is Issuing To the ChurchAnd also note the concerns it has engendered in an otherwise pro-German pope like Francis:> Francis and the Schism of Germany. History of a NightmareOn Settimo Cielo, Professor Pietro De Marco has repeatedly criticized the theological...

On June 16, 1858, 162 years ago next week, President Lincoln gave his famous "A House Divided" speech after his Republican nomination for the Senate. "We are now far into the fifth year, since a policy was initiated, with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased, but has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed. A house divided against itself cannot stand." Lincoln was of course correct in his prediction...

Kevin Watson, a sharp young traditionalist United Methodist at Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, has written insightfully for First Things about the denomination’s impending schism. His previously written books stress the importance of early Methodism’s small spiritual accountability groups and their application for today. His more recent book is Old or New School Methodism?: The Fragmentation of a Theological Tradition, which traces current divisions to the mid 19th century. I hope to review this book soon. Here’s Watson’s conclusion in his First Things article: The agonies of the United Methodist Church and their roots in Methodist history teach an...

February 11, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — For years the Catholic Church in Germany has been heading down a very dangerous path. It seems that with each day we are getting closer to a point where it officially breaks off into schism. Just last week the Vice President of the German Bishops Conference, Bishop Franz-Josef Bode, said that, “Christ became a human being, not a man.” What blasphemy! On top of that, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the president of the German Bishops Conference, has time and time again expressed support for heretical policies — ordaining women deacons, allowing Protestants to receive Holy Communion,...

The Eastern Orthodox Church is breaking apart. The Russian Orthodox Church cut ties with the patriarch of Alexandria on December 26, following his decision to recognize an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This schism follows the Russian church’s decision to cut ties with the archbishop of Athens and the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople. Both leaders also recognized the new Ukrainian church. There are 14 universally recognized Orthodox churches, plus the Orthodox Church of America and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (which are not universally recognized). The Russian Orthodox Church holds jurisdiction in Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet nations. Therefore, Patriarch...