Available on Amazon

BEA Stars

Joseph's favorite...Spiderman

Bob Newhart

Former Presidential Csndidate Senator Gary Hart

Jim Belushi

Book Expo of America

I'm here in Washington attending the Book Expo of America--a massive book trade show that is so immense that it always gives one a sobering view of the amount of books that are being published constantly.

I met Tim Russert, Newt Gingrich, Randal Cuningham, Doug Williams, and Tracy Ulman yesterday--all of them here to promote books.

The setup is rather awkward here, there are exhibit halls on multi levels and I read in the Publisher's Marketplace that this has led to complaints from both exhibitors and attendees (I concur).

What strikes me so far, is that there doesn't appear to be anything that really is creating a buzz right now. We'll see.

Vatican Statement on Father Marcial

From the Vatican Information Service:

"Beginning in 1998, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith received accusations, already partly made public, against Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ, for crimes that fall under the exclusive competence of the congregation. In 2002, Fr. Maciel published a declaration denying the accusations and expressing his displeasure at the offence done him by certain former Legionaries of Christ. In 2005, by reason of his advanced age, Fr. Maciel retired from the office of superior general of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ.
"All these elements have been subject to a mature examination by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and - in accordance with the Motu Proprio 'Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela,' promulgated on April 30 2001 by Servant of God John Paul II - the then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, authorized an investigation into the accusations. In the meantime, Pope John II died and Cardinal Ratzinger was elected as the new Pontiff.
"After having attentively studied the results of the investigation, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, under the guidance of the new prefect, Cardinal William Joseph Levada, decided - bearing in mind Fr. Maciel's advanced age and his delicate health - to forgo a canonical hearing and to invite the father to a reserved life of penitence and prayer, relinquishing any form of public ministry. The Holy Father approved these decisions.
"Independently of the person of the Founder, the worthy apostolate of the Legionaries of Christ and of the Association 'Regnum Christi' is gratefully recognized."

Movie Critics Lukewarm About DaVinci Movie

From Yahoo News:

The Cannes audience clearly grew restless as the movie dragged on to two and a half hours and spun a long sequence of anticlimactic revelations.

"I kept thinking of the Energizer Bunny, because it kept going and going and going, and not in a good way," said James Rocchi, a film critic for CBS 5 television in San Francisco and the online outlet Cinematical. "Ron Howard makes handsome films. He doesn't make bad ones, but he doesn't make great ones."

One especially melodramatic line uttered by Hanks drew prolonged laughter and some catcalls, and the audience continued to titter for much of the film's remainder.

Some people walked out during the movie's closing minutes, though there were fewer departures than many Cannes movies provoke among harsh critics. When the credits rolled, there were a few whistles and hisses, and there was none of the scattered applause even bad movies sometimes receive at Cannes.

New Book on Natural Family Planning

Amy on The Big Story w/John Gibson (FoxNews) Today

Correction on the time...

Look for Amy on The Big Story with John Gibson today on Fox News between 5:10 and 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Little Rock Bishop is New Bishop of Jolliet

From the Vatican Bulletin, Now in English:

- Appointed Bishop Donald W. Wuerl of Pittsburgh, U.S.A., as metropolitan archbishop of Washington (area 5,447, population 2,630,894, Catholics 578,796, priests 1,166, permanent deacons 187, religious 1,677), U.S.A. The archbishop-elect was born in Pittsburgh in 1940, he was ordained a priest in 1966 and consecrated a bishop in 1986. He succeeds Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese, the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.
- Appointed Bishop James Peter Sartain of Little Rock, U.S.A., as bishop of Joliet in Illinois (area 10,920, population 1,768,390, Catholics 636,862, priests 293, permanent deacons 178, religious 779), U.S.A. He succeeds Bishop Joseph L. Imesch, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese, the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

What is interesting about the Joliet appointment is that Bishop Imesch isn't 75 just yet, but will turn 75 next month. So here we have the pope effectively accepting his resignation before he reaches the age. Hmmm

Soon to be Cardinal Wuerl

Bishop Wuerl named Archbishop of Washington, DC.

From Reuters:

Pope Benedict on Tuesday named Donald W. Wuerl, bishop of Pittsburgh, to be the new archbishop of Washington D.C., one of the most prestigious posts in the American Catholic Church, the Vatican said.

Wuerl succeeds Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, 75, who is retiring after five years in the job.

The post of archbishop of Washington is one of the most influential in American Catholicism because of the regular contacts the prelate has with the White House and other branches of U.S. government.

Wuerl, 65, has been bishop of Pittsburgh since 1988. He was ordained a priest in 1966. Before moving to Pittsburgh, he served as assistant bishop in Seattle.

He speaks Italian, French and Spanish and earned degrees from Pontifical universities in Rome.

Traditionally, the archbishop of Washington is a cardinal, so Wuerl could likely be elevated to that high rank the next time the Pope creates cardinals.

Dixie Chicks "Shut up and Sing" Again

Just in the nick of time, cause now just about everyone agrees with them but they are still mad and "not ready to play nice"...preview their new video

Just for the record, as a veteran...they had every right to express their opinion against the war.

Traveling Pope--To Spain in July

From Vatican Information Service:

Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls today announced that "on July 8 and 9, 2006 the Holy Father Benedict XVI will make an apostolic trip to Valencia, Spain, for the occasion of the Fifth World Meeting of Families."

Amy's Op-Ed in USA Today, Today

Where's the passion over 'Da Vinci Code'?:

When Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ was released two years ago,
something strange and unprecedented happened. The secular news media could not get enough of the Gospels. Of course, this mass Bible study had a twist and a purpose: to show how Gibson got it wrong.

Vatican Denies Reports of Official in 'red light District'

No name given...

From Canada.com:

The Vatican denied Italian news reports Sunday that one of its officials was involved in an altercation with police after he was stopped in a neighbourhood frequented by transvestites and male prostitutes.

"The news printed in this morning's newspapers regarding a cleric in service at the Vatican is completely baseless," the Vatican said in a statement. It added that it planned to take legal action against those "who had contributed to defame the official's good name."

Rome police referred questions to the prosecutor's office Sunday, where no one answered the phones.

Feast of St. Isidore

Still playing around with the technology, trying to formulate a good weekly program with interviews of great Catholic authors etc.

powered by ODEO

Fatima and Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Part One...I'll be posting tidbits of this over the next week for your reflection.

A revisiting of the Third Secret and what Pope Benedict XVI wrote about it at the time...From a Commentary by then Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) on the Third Secret of Fatima:

And now they are told why they have been exposed to this moment: “in order to save souls”—to show the way to salvation. The words of the First Letter of Peter come to mind: “As the outcome of your faith you obtain the salvation of your souls” (1:9). To reach this goal, the way indicated —surprisingly for people from the Anglo-Saxon and German cultural world—is devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. A brief comment may suffice to explain this. In biblical language, the “heart” indicates the centre of human life, the point where reason, will, temperament and sensitivity converge, where the person finds his unity and his interior orientation. According to Matthew 5:8, the “immaculate heart” is a heart which, with God's grace, has come to perfect interior unity and therefore “sees God”. To be “devoted” to the Immaculate Heart of Mary means therefore to embrace this attitude of heart, which makes the fiat—“your will be done”—the defining centre of one's whole life. It might be objected that we should not place a human being between ourselves and Christ. But then we remember that Paul did not hesitate to say to his communities: “imitate me” (1 Cor 4:16; Phil 3:17; 1 Th 1:6; 2 Th 3:7, 9). In the Apostle they could see concretely what it meant to follow Christ. But from whom might we better learn in every age than from the Mother of the Lord?

New Post on My Amazon Plog

Michael Dubruiel's Amazon Plog

Bishop to Send Copies of DeCoding DaVinci to Parishes

From the Fort Wayne New Sentinel:

Bishop John D’Arcy, of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, says he has no plans to read “The Da Vinci Code” nor see the movie. “This book is really anti-Catholic,” he said, adding that truth found in Christian doctrine will prevail over falsehoods. “There have always been aspects of the (American) culture that are in opposition to church teaching. I don’t think the church has anything to fear from it.”

However, he said copies of De-Coding Da Vinci: The Facts Behind the Fiction of The Da Vinci Code by Amy Welborn, will be distributed to all 84 parishes in the diocese. Welborn, a Catholic, has a master’s degree in church history from the Vanderbilt University Divinity School and taught nine years in Catholic schools.

D’Arcy also said rather than bashing Dan Brown or boycotting the film, the Catholic Church should view this as an opportunity to teach others.

“The history of the early church and the history of the Bible have been mined for centuries,” he said.

Of course to any parishes out there looking for a resource that deals with the movies let me call your attention to Amy's Mysteries of the DaVinci Code which is sold in bulk by Our Sunday Visitor and is in question and answer format.

Come, I Will Show You the Bride of Jesus Christ

Talk...


powered by ODEO

Podcast of this Blog

In India: Ban These Films!

One is well known to you, the other may not be.

From Asia News Italy:

Indian Catholics protesting against two films, “The Da Vinci Code” and “Tickle my funny bone”, have scored their first victory. The films are held to be “offensive to the community’s religious sentiments. Meanwhile, Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil today joined his voice to the chorus of condemnation.

Yesterday, the KBC, distributors of the second film, tendered an apology and said it will not use posters showing censored portions of the film. The Central Board of Film Certification has postponed release of the film, which was scheduled to take place yesterday, and censured parts of the film.

“Tickle My Funny Bone”, directed by Yogendra Konkar, is about a Catholic nun – depicted as a seducer – who has an affair with a married man. Vinayak Azad, head of the Central Board of Film Certification for Maharashtra state, assured Christian representatives that no vulgar scenes will be kept in the film and no symbols of the Christian Church, like churches, rosaries and crosses will be screened.

Before the cinema release of the censored film, a premier of “Tickle my funny bone” will be screened for Christians, so they may ascertain that the film does not include any offensive images.