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.

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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.

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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.

Anniversary of Assasination Attempt on Pope John Paul

Feast of Our Lady of Fatima...
First...not anymore....
From this blog:

This took us right over the spot on St. Peter's Square where there is a red pophry rock marking the spot where Pope John Paul II was shot. Jeff Kirby had told us about it, but we hadn't been able to find it on any of the previous days, now we were stooped on the ground looking at it (the original stone had drops of blood and was removed, while this stone was put in its place as a marker). When we arose, there was Greg Burke and the Fox News crew getting ready to film a spot about the Italian Parliament's proclamation blaming the Soviet Union for the attach on the late Pontiff's life. "How did you know about that?" Greg asked us. "Thanks to Jeff Kirby."

A new plaque marks the spot:



The story of the day's commemoration from Asia News Italy:

A marble slab bearing the inscription of the coat of arms of John Paul II, and the date, in Roman figures, of the assassination attempt against him – XIII-V-MCMLXXXI – was placed yesterday in St Peter’s square, on the spot where Pope Wojtyla was felled by a bullet fired by Alì Agca 25 years ago. Many events are marked on this day, on which the Church recalls not only the assassination attempt against John Paul II but also the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, whose “maternal hand”, according to the then pontiff, diverted the deadly path of the bullet.

Yesterday, for the third time, the statue of Our Lady of Fatima arrived in Rome; today it will the focus of a procession organized to mark the anniversary of that tragic event. Tonight, it was placed in the private chapel of Benedict XVI.

Around 20,000 pilgrims are expected to turn up for the prayer event. The cortege from Castel Sant’Angelo will be led to the Basilica of St Peter by Cardinal Ivan Dias of Mumbai, India. A pause to recite two prayers – one composed by John Paul II and the other by his then secretary, today a cardinal, Stanislaw Dziwisz – will take place at the place where the assassination attempt took place.

In the afternoon, Cardinal Camillo Ruini will celebrate Mass in the Basilica. At the end, in the square, below the windows of the pope, a fireworks display will be held.

"Other-cott" the "Code"

From the Houston Chronicle:

Amy Welborn, author of De-coding Da Vinci, at an Opus Dei event that attracted more than 400 people.

Opus Dei, an organization of devout Catholics, has its own international campaign to correct the book's portrayal of the group as a secret society.

Welborn is among those calling for an "other-cott" next weekend — going to see another movie, such as the animated feature Over the Hedge, instead of Da Vinci. That campaign is sponsored by the Catholic grass-roots organization Da Vinci Outreach.

"I've got better things to do with my time," said Welborn, the mother of five. "But if you must see it, don't go on the first weekend, because that's important for the box-office results."

Hanks Speaks Out About DaVinci Paranoia

From the BBC News:

Da Vinci Code star Tom Hanks has said the film of Dan Brown's controversial best-seller is just "a good story" that should not be taken too seriously.

The actor told London's Evening Standard newspaper the film was loaded with "hooey" and "nonsense".

"If you are going to take any sort of movie at face value, particularly a huge-budget motion picture like this, you'd be making a very big mistake."

Jury that Convicted Priest Did Not Hear all Evidence

What wasn't allowed which you can read here, isn't necessarily as damning as it seems (with the exception of the S & M/rape allegation).

From Court TV:

The jury that convicted the Rev. Gerald Robinson Thursday listened to 41 witnesses during the three-week trial, but they did not hear every piece of information authorities uncovered in the course of their investigation.

Prosecutors were barred by law from presenting some evidence against the priest. Other information was deemed irrelevant to the murder of Sr. Margaret Ann Pahl or open to too many interpretations to benefit their case. Among the things jurors did not hear.

Pope and Chevez

From the Vheadline:

Instead, Pope Benedict XVI, increasingly wary of foreign leaders using meetings at the Vatican for political purposes, gave Hugo Chavez, the aggressively populist left-wing leader, a stern lecture on the need to respect religious freedom in a nation where 96% of the population is Roman Catholic.

Senor Chavez, who arrives in London this weekend, last year described the Church as a “tumour” and denounced Venezuela’s bishops as out-of-touch, elitist “devils in cassocks."

The Vatican noted dryly that during the 35-minute audience Senor Chavez ... who faces elections in December ... had “briefed the Holy Father on projects for social change under way in his country."

Catholic School Cancel Ne-Yo Concert

From Monsters and Critics:

Administrators of a suburban Detroit Catholic girls school canceled a free concert by R&B star Ne-Yo because of his sexually explicit lyrics.

The students at Mercy High School in Farmington Hills, Mich., had won a contest sponsored by a radio station and a nearby maker of seatbelts, by signing petitions that pledged always to buckle up, the Detroit Free Press reported

.