Vatican Official Endorses Film: Gimme Shelter

His Excellency Bishop Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life, provided his glowing endorsement of GIMME SHELTER, a forthcoming movie with a distinctly pro-life message.

Here is his full endorsement:

“The remarkable narrative of GIMME SHELTER expresses a powerful reality and the heroic love of a mother for her unborn child. Exploring the hard questions regarding the meaning of life, family, love and suffering, our heroine, “Apple,” fights against all odds and finds hope in the kindness of some key people, including a hospital chaplain who expresses the true nature of a priestly soul of service, guidance, and the deep Love of God for every single man, woman and child from the moment of conception. Out of rejection shines the courageous beauty of a mother’s love, and out of tragedy, shines hope!”

Based on the inspiring true events, GIMME SHELTER centers on the courageous story of Agnes “Apple” Bailey (Vanessa Hudgens) and her incredible path to motherhood as a pregnant, homeless teenager. Forced to flee her abusive mother (Rosario Dawson), and turned away by her Wall Street father (Brendan Fraser), Apple finds herself on a desperate and isolated journey of survival. In the depths of despair, she meets a compassionate stranger (James Earl Jones), who ultimately leads her to salvation and unprecedented support in a suburban shelter for homeless teenagers. With gained confidence, and the warmth of her new home, Apple breaks from her inhibiting past, embracing the future with clarity and hope.

The film is inspired by the David and Goliath true story of devout Catholic Kathy DiFiore and her founding of Several Sources Shelters – a maternity home for unwed mothers that has changed lives all across New Jersey. DiFiore has been lauded by presidents and worked hand-in hand with Mother Teresa to change shelter laws in New Jersey.
Check out the trailer: http://youtu.be/pE42YdC70E8.

Hudgens immersed herself in the character and delivers a transformative and stunning performance. To prepare, she lived for weeks in pregnancy shelters, interacting with the young, homeless mothers who also appear in the film, completely altering her appearance unrecognizable.

Written and directed by Ronald Krauss, GIMME SHELTER opens in theaters across the country on January 24, 2014.

Verbum, the Catholic division of Logos Bible Software, brings a powerful new study tool to the Catholic world. The new Verbum Plus libraries add hundreds of relevant books and resources to the already powerful Verbum libraries, in addition to new tools like the Catholic Topical Index, exclusive to Verbum.

New Plus libraries from Verbum

Verbum integrates liturgical documents like the Roman Missal and Catholic Lectionary, Scripture, and hundreds of other Church documents, like the Catechism of the Catholic Church, to provide a new approach to studying the Faith. Scott Hahn, professor of theology and Scripture at Franciscan University of Steubenville, said, “As Catholics, we are called to read the Scriptures from the heart of the Church, from within the living Tradition, and to be transformed by our encounter with the Living Word—Verbum is an amazing tool toward this end.” He added, “I use Verbum myself, and I whole-heartedly recommend it to all Catholics who are looking to grow deeper in their faith and understanding.”

Andrew Jones, PhD, director of Verbum, said that “The new Catholic Topical Index was a massive project. It contains over 500 doctrinal topics selected carefully by scholars here at Verbum to provide comprehensive coverage of the Faith. The result is that anyone can simply type a passage into Verbum and instantly see all the topics that the Church has associated with the passage.” He added, “This topical index was a massive undertaking, and nothing like it exists digitally or in print.”

The leader in Catholic software innovation, Verbum has provided top-level research software for priests, catechists and the lay Faithful since 2011. These brand-new libraries introduce a huge leap in the realm of Catechetical and theological tools available to Catholics everywhere.

Verbum’s range of libraries lets users choose the size and scope they want, and the software works on Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad, Kindle Fire and Android devices.

Public Opinion Doesn't Change Church Teaching

Response to a new story out of the Vatican has many in the media making it sound as if the Catholic Church has issued a poll to Catholics worldwide to consult on Church teaching.

At a press conference Nov. 5, the Vatican released the official preparatory document for the 2014 Synod of Bishops on the Family, providing an overview of topics to be discussed in the meeting. Included in the document is a series of questions, which are to be distributed to Bishop’s conferences around the world.

News outlets around the world picked up on the story with headlines such as “Vatican polls Catholics on gay marriage, contraception, divorce ahead of major meeting” from the Associated Press.

According to Catholic author and media expert, Teresa Tomeo, the reality is that the questionnaire is meant to help solidify church teaching, not change it.

"The Church is doing just the opposite of what some media outlets are claiming; this is reaffirmation of teaching, not a change in teachings.” Tomeo said, adding “All it takes is a closer look at the actual statement and questionnaire released through the Vatican press office.”

With regard to the questionnaire portion, the document states: “The following series of questions allows the particular Churches to participate actively in the preparation of the Extraordinary Synod, whose purpose is to proclaim the Gospel in the context of the pastoral challenges facing the family today.”

As Tomeo puts it, “While the Church wants to learn more about the challenges of contemporary family life, She can't change unchangeable teaching. And in fact wants to continually show how God's plan for the family is the best plan."

Tomeo addresses the teaching authority of the Church in her new book, God’s Bucket List (Image, Nov. 5, 2013), “The teachings of Scripture and the Church don’t depend on us,” writes Tomeo. “They aren’t true because we believe them. People of faith believe and practice theses teachings because they are true.”

In God’s Bucket List, Tomeo also addresses the issue of free will, saying “God does give us free will, but He also gives us plenty of evidence that His way is the high way – or the highest way – if only we would start paying attention.” She goes on to say that the teachings of the Catholic Church are “not backward or oppressive but instead give us the best chance for real freedom and happiness.”

A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs: Book Preview

Catholic Christianity: A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church For the first time in 400 years the Catholic Church has authorized an official universal catechism which instantly became an international best-seller, the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Using this official Catechism, the highly-regarded author and professor Peter Kreeft presents a complete compendium of all the major beliefs of Catholicism written in his readable and concise style. Since the Catechism of the Catholic Church was written for the express purpose of grounding and fostering catechisms based on it for local needs and ordinary readers, Kreeft does just that, offering a thorough summary of Catholic doctrine, morality, and worship in a popular format with less technical language. He presents a systematic, organic synthesis of the essential and fundamental Catholic teachings in the light of the Second Vatican Council and the whole of the Church's Tradition. This book is the most thorough, complete and popular catechetical summary of Catholic belief in print that is based on the universal Catechism.

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EWTN Files New Suit Against Contraception Mandate

EWTN Global Catholic Network filed a new lawsuit October 28 in Federal Court against the Department of Health & Human Services, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and other federal agencies seeking to stop the government from imposing the HHS contraception mandate as well as asking the court to find that it is unconstitutional. The State of Alabama, through its Attorney General Luther Strange, has joined EWTN as a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit.

“EWTN has no other option but to continue our legal challenge to the mandate,” said EWTN Chairman and CEO Michael P. Warsaw. “The revised rules, published by the government in July, have done nothing to address the serious issues of conscience and religious freedom that EWTN has been raising since the mandate was first published last year. The government has decided that EWTN is apparently not religious enough to be exempt from the rule.It has still placed us in a situation where we are forced to offer contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs as part of our employee health plan or to offer our employees and their families no insurance at all. Neither of these options is acceptable. The mission of EWTN is not negotiable.”

EWTN’s original lawsuit opposing the mandate was filed Feb. 9, 2012, but was dismissed by Federal Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn on March 25, 2013. In her order dismissing the original suit, Judge Blackburn noted that the government had promised to implement a new rule addressing the issues raised by EWTN. Blackburn’s opinion stated that “common sense weighs in favor of withholding judicial review until new regulations are created and finalized. At that point, if EWTN still has objections, it may then file suit.”

The Department of Health and Human Services issued a new set of rules on July 23, 2013 which Secretary Sebelius claimed addressed the concerns of EWTN and other similar organizations.
“When the government opened up a period for public comment earlier this year in advance of publishing its revised rules, EWTN submitted extensive remarks and an explanation of its moral objections to the mandate,” Warsaw continued. “We sincerely hoped that our concerns would be addressed. Instead, the government ignored our comments entirely and pressed forward with a rule that changed nothing. We are in the same position today as we were when the mandate was first published.

“As an organization that was founded to uphold the teachings of the Catholic Church, we do not believe that contraception, voluntary sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs constitute health care. We simply cannot facilitate these immoral practices,” said Warsaw.

"Version 2.0 of the mandate is just as bad as version 1.0,” said Lori Windham, Senior Counsel at the Becket Fund, which filed both the original and new lawsuits on EWTN’s behalf. “It would still force the world’s preeminent Catholic network to betray publicly the very teachings it was founded to promote, and which it promotes on a daily basis.”

In 2012, shortly after the first EWTN lawsuit was filed, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange petitioned the court to join the EWTN complaint. In this new lawsuit, the State of Alabama has joined EWTN as a co-plaintiff from the start.

Commenting on this new lawsuit, Attorney General Strange said, “I am proud to stand with EWTN to oppose this unconscionable mandate. … The freedom of religion, and to believe as one sees fit, is our ‘first freedom’ under the United States Constitution. The people of Alabama have recognized the importance of this freedom and have enshrined it in their Constitution as well. Alabama law does not allow anyone to be forced to offer a product that is against his or her religious beliefs or conscience.”
“EWTN is extremely grateful to Attorney General Strange for his support on this important issue. The Attorney General clearly understands what is at stake here, not just for EWTN, but for all people who feel that government cannot take away the right to religious freedom,” said Warsaw.

EWTN Global Catholic Network, in its 32nd year, is available in over 230 million television households in more than 140 countries and territories. With its direct broadcast satellite television and radio services, AM & FM radio networks, worldwide short-wave radio station, Internet website www.ewtn.com, electronic and print news services, and publishing arm, EWTN is the largest religious media network in the world.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a non-profit, public-interest law firm dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religious traditions. The Becket Fund has a 17-year history of defending religious liberty for people of all faiths. Its attorneys are recognized as experts in the field of church-state law, and they recently won a 9-0 victory against the federal government at the U.S. Supreme Court in Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC.

7 Secrets of the Eucharist

Pope John Paul II referred to the Holy Eucharist as "the greatest treasure of the Church," and yet even many devoted Catholics have a very limited understanding of this powerful sacrament. This book will change all that. The reader will come away with a completely new awareness that the Eucharist is not just about receiving Communion; it's about transforming your daily life. '''' Deeply based on the Scriptures, the writings of the Saints, and the teachings of our two most recent Popes, this profound and remarkably readable book will introduce you to some of the "hidden" truths of the Eucharist " truths that have always been embraced by theologians, saints, and mystics, but have rarely been passed on to the average person in a meaningful way. In 7 Secrets of the Eucharist , these truths are finally made accessible to all, as author Vinny Flynn shows how each reception of Holy Communion can be a life-changing experience. '' No matter how much or how little you already know about the Eucharist, the "secrets" revealed here will bring you to a new, personal "Emmaus" experience, again and again. Perfect for personal devotion, catechesis, study groups, book clubs, and theological studies, 7 Secrets of the Eucharist will rekindle the "Eucharistic amazement" called for by Pope John Paul II.

Celebrate Day for the Family with Pope Francis

On Sunday, October 27, 2013 LIVE at 5:30AM ET, the CatholicTV Network will air Holy Mass on the occasion of the Day for Family with Pope Francis from St. Peter’s Square. The Mass will rebroadcast at 8:00PM ET on CatholicTV and CatholicTV.com

On the Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time Pope Francis welcomes families to St. Peter’s Square for Mass on the Day for Family. Similar to the World Youth Day schedules the Mass for Family is celebrated annually and every three years the World Meeting of Families is held at a different location. Blessed Pope John Paul II initiated the World Meeting of Families in 1994.
Just prior to his resignation on February 25, 2013, Pope –Emeritus Benedict XVI announced the selection of Philadelphia as the location for the 8th World Meeting of Families in 2015 which takes place September 22-27. Archbishop of Philadelphia Chaput thanked Pope Benedict "for choosing Philadelphia and for setting these dates before he concludes his ministry as pastor of the universal church." Previous host cities include Rome, Rio de Janeiro, Manila, Valencia, Mexico City and Milan.

Organizers for the Meeting of Families in Philadelphia have launched a website and logo for the event, which is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people. CatholicTV will provide coverage of the events from the city of Brotherly Love . To learn more about the plans for the event visit http://worldmeeting2015.org/

New book on Pope Francis: Days in Argentina

These days there is no shortage of conversation on the thoughts and actions of Pope Francis. No matter what side of the ideological spectrum one finds themselves aligning, the Pope is sure to draw both support and criticism for the person (and Pope) people think that he is. But the best predictor of future behavior for any person is almost certainly always past behavior.

For the first time, a collection of little-known stories about Pope Francis has surfaced. Veteran journalist Alejandro Bermudez presents personal recollections from twenty individuals in Argentina who personally knew the man who became Pope Francis in the new book, POPE FRANCIS: Our Brother, Our Friend.

Ten Jesuits were interviewed for this book shortly after Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was elected the Pope. Some were his professors, some his peers and some younger Jesuits who were his students. Also interviewed for this book are non-Jesuits, including an Argentine senator, a prominent rabbi and a priest working in the slums of Buenos Aires that Bergoglio often visited.

Their remarks are focused on different aspects of the life of Pope Francis, including his family background, his abilities and his personality as administrator, friend, teacher and guide. Some of the predominant aspects of his personality to emerge are his longstanding simplicity and authentic spirituality; his concern for the individual and the poor; and his desire for the Church to go out to the street to meet the needs of the people. More controversial issues discussed include his dealing with the topic of “Liberation Theology” and his relationship with the military regime in Argentina.



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Father Enrique Laje, S.J., a former professor of Jorge Bergoglio, says Bergoglio was adamantly opposed to the Argentinian government’s stance in favor of abortion and same-sex marriage.
“[Bergoglio] also entered into conflict [with the Argentinian government] by defending issues like the right to life of the unborn and the unique nature of marriage between a man and a woman, said Laje. “He defended this when the minister of health was an abortionist. The Church is always going to criticize this because she is in favor of life, in favor of the Gospel and of moral and natural law. In this, the cardinal did nothing more than be Catholic.”
Father Fernando Cervera, S.J., whose spiritual advisor was Bergoglio, describes the many ways in which the future pope impacted his fellow Jesuits.

“He was a person who went from giving spiritual assistance to someone to speaking on the phone with a bishop or some important person to washing clothes in the laundry or to the kitchen or where they raised the ‘hogs,’ as we called the pigs, and then later went back to see what was going on in the classroom — and he was involved in every detail with each one of us,” said Cervera. “At the same time, he was a person who was permanently concerned about the individual process and the personal situation of each person. Bergoglio, at this time, had a deep impact on our formation because he was very demanding about our studies, our spiritual life, and our community life.”

Pope Francis and Our Crisis Today

I'm not one to quote popes, but these words from Pope Francis deserve to be spotlighted as a positive indication of the man he may be and the tone he might set.

“If investments in the banks fail, ‘Oh, it’s a tragedy,’ ” he said, speaking extemporaneously for more than 40 minutes at a Pentecost vigil last weekend, after a private audience with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, the architect of Europe’s austerity policies. “But if people die of hunger or don’t have food or health, nothing happens. This is our crisis today.”

In a recent speech to diplomats accredited to the Holy See, Francis also spoke of the need for more ethics in finance.

Pope Francis, Saint Benedict Press

“The financial crisis which we are experiencing makes us forget that its ultimate origin is to be found in a profound human crisis,” he said, adding: “We have created new idols. The worship of the golden calf of old has found a new and heartless image in the cult of money and the dictatorship of an economy which is faceless and lacking any truly humane goal.”

Ethics in finance. The cult of money akin to worship of the golden calf. And "the dictatorship of an economy which is faceless and lacking any truly humane goal.” To indicate these weren't throwaway lines, Francis told Father Lombardi before the speech to diplomats, "Pay attention, this is important. I want people to understand it’s important."

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

The War against Catholicism, an Important Study

After the defeat of liberalism in the Revolution of 1848, and in the face of the dramatic revival of popular Catholicism, German middle-class liberals used anti-Catholicism to orient themselves culturally in a new age. Michael B. Gross 's study shows how anti-Catholicism and specifically the Kulturkampf—the campaign to break the power of the Catholic Church—were not simply attacks against the church, nor were they merely an attempt to secure state autonomy. Instead, Gross shows that the liberal attack on Catholicism was actually a complex attempt to preserve moral, social, political, and sexual order during a period of dramatic pressures for change.
By offering a provocative reinterpretation of liberalism and its relationship to the German anti-Catholic movement, this work ultimately demonstrates that in Germany, liberalism itself contributed to a culture of intolerance that would prove to be a serious liability in the twentieth century. It will be of particular interest to students and scholars of culture, ideology, religion, and politics.
Michael B. Gross is Associate Professor of History at East Carolina University.

Praise / Awards

"A lucid, innovative work of top-flight scholarship. Gross shows us the depths of anti-Catholicism in nineteenth-century Germany; he explains why the German Kulturkampf had such force and why prominent liberals imagined it as a turning point not only in Germany but in world history."
---Helmut Walser Smith, Vanderbilt University

"A marvelously original account of how the Kulturkampf emerged from the cultural, social, and gendered worlds of German liberalism. While not neglecting the 1870s, Gross's analysis directs historians' attention to the under researched 1850s and 1860s---decades in which liberals' anti-Catholic arguments were formulated against a backdrop of religious revival, democratic innovation, national ambition, and the articulation of new roles for women in society, politics, and the church. The drama of these decades resonates in every chapter of Gross's fine study."
---James Retallack, University of Toronto

"Michael Gross has put the culture back into the Kulturkampf! Integrating social and political analysis with illuminating interpretations of visual and linguistic evidence, Gross explores the work of religious cleavage in defining German national identity. An emerging women's movement, liberal virtues, and Catholic difference come together to explain why, in a century of secularization, Germany's Catholics experienced a religious revival, and why its liberals responded with enmity and frustration. Vividly written and a pleasure to read, this groundbreaking study offers real surprises."
---Margaret Lavinia Anderson, University of California, Berkeley

"Gross has read all the pertinent archival sources for this trenchant, revisionist study of nineteenth-century German liberalism and the Kulturkampf. His sensitivity to such varied, often neglected aspects of the topic as the role of women in the community and the impact of Catholic missionaries on German Protestantism, is a refreshing expansion of focus."
---American Catholic Historical Association, announcing The War Against Catholicism as the 2004 John Gilmary Shea Prize winner

"Michael Gross has written a fascinating account of the centrality of confessional polemic to the development of nineteenth-century German liberalism, offering not only new and important insights into the nature of the liberal 'imagination' between the 1850s and 1870s, but also demonstrating with impressive verve, the extent to which the scholarly study of religion in modern Germany has progressed over the past couple decades."
---German Studies Review

"Whatever the course of future debate, it is certain that all future discussions of Germany's conflicted, confusing path to modernity will have to take note of Gross's powerful, outrageous, and disturbing exploration of the troubled liberal imagination."
---American Historical Review

"The studies of Catholic piety, associational life, and political movements have...promoted major revisions in our understanding of modern German society, culture, and politics. Historians have devoted much less attention, however, to the equally impressive reaction to this Catholic revival, namely, the unleashing of a lively and wide-ranging anti-Catholic polemic...a thoroughgoing analysis of nineteenth-century anti-Catholicism has long been lacking. With the publication of Michael B. Gross's [book], this lacuna has been finally addressed, and in a first-rate fashion."
---Journal of Modern History

Winner: 2004 John Gilmary Shea Prize from the American Catholic Historical Association
from the University of Michigan Press by Michael B. Gross

Pope Calls for World Peace, Prayer & Fasting