Herald Podcast: CCC analysis of state ballot issues

I finally figured out how to link MP3s to the Web site, so now you can check out our first offering -- an excellent analysis of the state ballot issues from Tim Dore, executive director of the Colorado Catholic Conference.

Tim makes many excellent points to consider when filling out the ballot, including some urgent information on Amendment 43 and Referendum I that I didn't know about (and I thought I had heard it all). Let's just say that there's far more to Referendum I than what is listed in the state blue book.

Let us know your thoughts and please pass along the link to your friends and family.

And in Denver...

A nun in Denver goes after Archbishop Chaput in The Denver Post, criticizing his preaching on ballot issues.

"We're supposed to vote as our conscience tells us, not as the archbishop's conscience tells him," said (Sister Mary Ann) Cunningham, a member of the Sisters of Loretto. "I have great respect for the archbishop, but I think that's kind of treating us like children."

What is among Sister Cunningham's gripes?

Cunningham said many Catholics disagree with the church's opposition to legalized abortion for "compassionate, faithful reasons."

How anyone, particularly a member of a Catholic religious order or a priest, can advocate abortion of any kind is just unbelievable to me. Am I alone in seeing something so horribly wrong in that statement?

I'm not sure if and what kind of action Archbishop Chaput may make in response to this, but in the meantime we give kudos to Denver Archdiocese Communications Director Jeanette DeMelo and her response:

"Archbishop Charles Chaput is not teaching his personal opinion," she said. "This is the church's teaching, and it is the responsibility of a Catholic to vote their conscience, but their rightly formed conscience, their educated conscience."

Bishop Sheridan, ballot issues and the blogosphere

The Colorado Catholic Conference's wider release of Bishop Sheridan's column in the Oct. 6 CC Herald has stirred up some Catholic blogs. Two conversations of note:

Commonweal magazine's Anna Nussbaum asks, what is the role of the bishop?

Catholic blogger Curt Jester likes it.

What are your thoughts on the bishop's column? From my one year here in the diocese, I still get very passionate responses (for and against) by Catholics over his 2004 pastoral letter, "Duties of Catholic Politicians and Voters."

MP3 of excellent CCC talk on ballot issues

Tomorrow, blizzard or not, I'm going to work on putting up a link on the Herald home page to an excellent talk Tim Dore gave to about a dozen people at St. Patrick's (shame on all of you who thought about coming but didn't!) on all of the state ballot initiatives. There is a lot of good stuff in this talk, including some key arguments against Referendum I that I didn't think about (and I thought I had heard it all at this point). This link will be worth sending on to your friends. Tim says that with Amendment 43 and Referendum I on the ballot, we really get one shot to do this right. Listen to the link to hear why.

[Update: Well...I left the MP3 player USB cable at the office, so it will likely be Friday or Monday before I get the MP3 up there. Sorry about that.]

Gay marriage in New Jersey II

New Jersey's courts ruled on gay marriage in that state but didn't afford them the term "marriage." It's not much different, as far as I'm concerned.

Supreme Court Stops Short of Approving Gay Marriage

Does anyone else view this as an affront to citizens, when the government takes away the right of voters to decide for themselves?

Pope to lay ministers: No purifying sacred vessels during Mass

This is sure to ruffle some feathers and hurt some feelings, but I am all for it. It really is just common sense. I am trying to think of scenarios where this could be awkward, such as what happens if an elderly, frail priest has trouble cleaning the vessels and there are no deacons or instituted acolytes? What are your thoughts on this news?

Actors, athletes on different sides of embryonic stem-cell research

A war of television ads has broken out in Missouri over proposed Amendment 2, which would allow for state-funded embryonic stem-cell research. Proponents for the amendment tried the Hollywood appeal by creating a commercial with Michael J. Fox, who courageously battles with Parkinson's Disease and is an ardent support of ESR. Opponents of the amendment have created their own commercial with popular athletes and actors (most of whom are Catholic, btw) telling viewers not to be fooled by the promises some scientists are making with the unethical science of ESR.

Father Tad Pacholczyk as written several excellent columns on why ESR is wrong, including this one, that are archived on our Web site. It has never been about wanting those people with disabilities to suffer (although the Catholic Church gets portrayed that way), but about preventing the death of those most vulnerable in the womb for a process that has yet to show any significant results. You hear all the time from the media about those who are disabled and clamoring for ESR to help scientists find a cure. But I would vouch that there are quite a few disabled persons (my quadriplegic father is one of them) who would love to be healed but will not support ESR. Does that make them cold and unfeeling? Do we even hear about them in the press? Of course not.

Watch both of these commercials and share your thoughts with us, please.

Gay marriage in New Jersey

It looks like New Jersey could be the next state to have gay marriage, when the issue goes in front of the state supreme court Wednesday.

State supreme court to rule tomorrow on gay marriage

At least Colorado voters have the right to decide this for themselves.

Diocesan Office of Marriage and Family Life on local television

Fox 21 led off its 9 p.m. news on Saturday with a story on the recent news that married couples are now a minority and how the Diocese of Colorado Springs is trying to counter that reality with new marriage prep norms that go into effect in January.

On a related note, the office is hosting a Theology of the Body workshop that is going to start Nov. 11. Please pass along to your friends the workshop details. The only costs are two books that will be used. Check out our excellent Q&A with TOB author and speaker Mary Healy as a tease of how the TOB will rock your world.

"We l-o-o-o-v-e the Catholics"

Heidi Ewing, co-director of "Jesus Camp," a film about children and evangelical Christianity, gave an interesting interview recently to Catholic News Service about her filming experience. When asked if she encountered any anti-Catholic sentiments, she described a moment while filming at New Life Church here in the Springs.

"I was in the service, and we had three cameras rolling, and there were 3,000 people in the church, and my cameraman was on the stage shooting him, and Pastor Ted (Haggard) started teasing the cameraman: 'Where are you from? England? Do you go to church?'" (Ewing) recounted.

When the cameraman told Rev. Haggard that he goes to church when he's in England, the minister said, "So you're in the Church of England." The cameraman replied, "No, I'm Catholic," according to Ewing. "Pastor Ted turned to the congregation -- and I have this on tape -- in a very mocking tone, he said, 'Oh, we l-o-o-o-ve the Catholics, don't we?' and people started laughing."

"Jesus Camp" came through here very quickly, and I did not get a chance to see it. Plus, the footage Ewing described was not used in the final cut. I am curious as to if you or anyone you know has seen "Jesus Camp." Rev. Haggard has slammed the movie and his portrayal in it. This prompted Ewing and her co-director, Rachel Grady, to respond.

Why do you stay a Roman Catholic?

There has been a big to-do in the Catholic blogosphere over author Rod Dreher's recent switch from Roman Catholicism to the Orthodox faith. He now attends St. Serpahim Cathedral in Dallas, which is part of the Orthodox Church in America. He has been blogging about the change extensively, leading to great sadness in my heart and also to some education on the Orthodox faith. I will say that it is courageous of him to share his difficult journey so openly.

Here is a general link to follow his different posts on the move.

Here is a link to the post where he announced his change.

What I am interested in discussing here, is the big question... why do you remain a Roman Catholic? Rod writes that his departure from Roman Catholicism was due in large part to the abuse scandals in the church, a lack of a sense of community for his traditional Catholic family and poor catechesis at parishes and in Catholic schools. He was constantly angry and lost confidence that the Catholic Church could best lead his family to holiness. He began to read about orthodoxy and began to doubt some key Catholic teachings, such as its claim to the chair of Peter. There are many Catholics (and ex-Catholics) who feel his pain from the above reasons. Rod said that, as a father and spiritual leader of his family, he felt a great weight lifted when he joined the Orthodox faith. However, while some leave the church, many stay. I have been very frustrated by the church at times, but I can't imagine leaving.

Do you know someone who has left for reasons similar to Rod's? Have you seriously thought about leaving, and if so, what kept you in the church?

Let us pray that he and others who have left the Roman Catholic Church on their Christian journey someday come back stronger and more joyful and ready to share that strength and joy with others.

Pope John Paul II - Cartoon Hero

I forgot to post this last week, but I was wondering when I'd see something like this come out. We've seen him in films and in comic books. Now there's a cartoon.

You can watch the trailer here.

Other good movies about Pope John Paul II:

Pope John Paul II (decent CBS movie w/ Jon Voight and Cary Elwes)

Pope John Paul II (excellent 1984 film w/ Albert Finney as JPII. Out of print and hard to find, check e-bay too)

I've just posted a couple of dramatic features. If you have any suggestions, we'd love to hear them. I didn't see the ABC dramatic series on JPII. Was it any good?

We're back/North Korea

Sorry for the delay in comment postings, as well as for the main Web site being down for a little over a day last week. We had some software updates and the kinks appeared to be worked out.

There was no shortage of crazy news while we were away. Topping the list is North Korea claiming to have tested nukes. What is your thought on the U.S. government response to this, if it turns out to be true? Is a blockade similar to the Cuban Missile Crisis called for?

More life news

A former nurse in San Angelo, Texas, received life in prison for injecting 10 patients with lethal doses of drugs at a hospital. The Feds considered her a serial killer, which was correct.

WWJD? Amish give an answer

Thanks to Rod Dreher's Crunchy Con blog for calling notice to this article related to the school shooting in the Amish community in Nickel Mines, Pa. This is an incredible story of how the community has started a charity fund and is including among the beneficiaries the widow of the murderer who took the lives of five girls and seriously injured several others.

This is a powerful lesson for all of us.

Just in time for Respect Life Month...

... a group of women who have no regrets about their abortions have signed a petition saying as much. They are scared of the U.S. Supreme Court's direction with two more pro-life judges added last year.

The article is so sad. There is a lot of hurt and denial buried behind those signatures on the petition. Each year at the national March for Life in January, there is another group of women who have had abortions who regret it and publicly expose the lies that are pushed by organizations like Planned Parenthood and the company that publishes Ms. magazine (who put together the pro-abortion petition). But they rarely get covered by the mainstream media, and if they do they are often portrayed as religious fanatics or ignorant. The women on the "We Had Abortions" petition are being portrayed as brave souls, but how brave is it to admit that you killed your baby for fear of he/she having Down Syndrome? How brave is it to admit that you killed your baby so you could attend law school? Debbie Findling, one of the signees, admits that having an abortion was "emotionally devastating" and also explains how she reasons having had an abortion:

"I don't regret my decision -- but I regret having been put in the position to have to make that choice. It's something I'll live with for the rest of my life."

It is interesting to see how anxious the pro-abortion rights movement is with the Supreme Court. I honestly cannot figure out which way they will vote on some key abortion cases they have accepted for this term. I don't think Roe vs. Wade will be overturned in my lifetime, but I think it can (and should) be gradually weakened to where it is eventually reversed. That will also give enough time for the aftermath of the Roe vs. Wade generations (which I consider the 1970s-90s) to show the physical, emotional and spiritual realities of making such a tragic choice.

Let us also thank God for Rachel's Vineyard, a nationally renowned retreat program aimed at helping women heal from their abortions (and the men and women who aided her). This is the true way to deal with having made the choice to have an abortion, not to sign a petition proclaiming that abortion rights are necessary.