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The Oprah show has released a teaser for the appearance tomorrow by the Dominican sisters:

Yikes – talk about a reminder of how big the gap is between the Catholic and secular world!

Let’s keep up our prayers for the sisters. I’m sure they will do us all – and the Gospel – proud.

I wasn’t surprised to find out that an article by Timothy Noah in Slate highlighted by the fake Catholyc organization “Catholics United” would end up being riddled with theological, logical and factual errors.

Here’s my brief response to Noah’s “plea to grant health care reform a papal dispensation”.

Noah writes that “It isn’t even true that the Senate bill allows federal funds to be used for abortions.”

That’s not the precise claim made by the pro-life movement. The claim is that huge federal subsidies will go to insurance plans that cover abortions – and so from the consumer side of things, if women want an abortion, they will have access to federal funds through their insurance plan. The non-partisan website PolitiFact.com agrees with this pro-life claim.

Moving on, Noah claims: “could you really get majorities in either the House or the Senate for a bill that would consist entirely of the House abortion restriction, which most Democrats find abhorrent?” For the record, pro-life folks find federal funding of abortions and abortion providers abhorrent. So there.

Furthermore, it is the pro-life side, not the pro-abortion side, which is simply seeking to keep the status quo. Contrary to all the pro-abort claims, women who have abortion coverage now will not lose it. On the other hand, women who are vulnerable now to having an abortion rather than choosing life will have that choice weighted in favor of having an abortion should the current health care legislation pass.

Third point: don’t threaten us. “Are you prepared to see the Catholic Church blamed for denying health insurance to 31 million to 36 million Americans?” Seriously, grow up.

{I’ve deleted my fourth point because, on this count – Noah is correct: Bart Stupak is a Catholic. At one point I read that he wasn’t. I’m happy to hear Noah’s response to my other five points.}

Fourth point: don’t try to offer earthly fame and accolades to make the Church cave-in. Satan tried to do that to Jesus and it didn’t work. Noah won’t have any more success with Pope Benedict when he writes:

“If you like, you can let word leak out in a year or two or five that you played a key role in creating universal health care in the United States. Your predecessor gained considerable luster from his role in ending communism. This secular achievement would be somewhat less spectacular, but on the other hand your centrality to the outcome would be much greater.”

Um, news flash: Pope John Paul II didn’t help take down Communism because it would give him good press and political “luster”. He did it because it was the right thing to do. Just like the current pope won’t support Democrats’ pro-abortion health care plans because … it’s the right thing to do.

Fifth and final (and obvious) point: don’t insult the people you are trying to convince:

“Alternatively, if you didn’t want anyone to know about your role, you could tell the U.S. Bishops to keep their yaps shut. Catholic clerics have always been extremely good—sometimes a little too good—at keeping secrets.”

Noah is here referring to the recent clergy sexual abuse scandal. Classy. At least I can now be 100% comfortable ignoring his sophist logic. Thanks for taking off the mask and showing your disdain for the wounds of the Church. Re-victimizing the Church isn’t a smart way to gain her attention.

Noah concludes by writing “Think it over.”

I did. No thanks.

All best,

Thomas Peters

“In an effort to be more eco-friendly, the Vatican is adding green to its photos.”

Credit: Reuters.

Uber-popular priest-blogger Fr. Z decided to visit the belly of the beast:

Turns out the NCR building is for sale. 

The glory days are over, I guess.

Last week I was privileged to meet Christopher Cardinal Schonborn at a fundraiser for the International Theological Institute (ITI) here in Washington, DC. I attended the ITI in Austria for a semester as an undergraduate.

The ITI is a wonderful school and if you don’t know about it already – I would urge you to learn more about it and, if you are able, financially support them through their American friends’ website.

I met Cardinal Schonbron – most famous for editing the Catechism of the Catholic Church – once before (briefly) during World Youth Day in Germany. But it was far more enjoyable to have the time, this time, to chat a bit. 

Now if only someone would get around to updating www.CardinalSchonborn.com

update – the Saint Michael Society now has excellent video of the Cardinal’s talk.

Photo credit: Jennifer Cabaniss.

An update on the story I first mentioned last week. This directly from the sisters:

“We will be appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Show on Tuesday, February 9, which also happens to be the 13th anniversary of the founding of our Community. Oprah was interested in doing a show on religious life as a hidden way of life which many people never experience, and so her producers asked us if we would be willing to welcome them. We accepted this invitation as an opportunity to share our life, and by extension, the Gospel, with an audience that we might not ever reach otherwise.

A camera crew came to the Motherhouse in Ann Arbor at the beginning of this week [pictures here], and then on Thursday, Sr. Mary Samuel, Sr. John Dominic, Sr. Mary Judith, and Sr. Francis Mary were flown to Chicago for the taping. Some of our Novices and Postulants also participated in the taping from the Motherhouse via “Skype.” 

Totally cool. Check your local listings and spread the word!

Someone pointed out that this is sweeps week. So plenty of people watching!

Courtesy of the American Life League:

 More than two decades before Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow filmed a Super Bowl ad about his mother’s decision to continue a risky pregnancy, other football greats went in front of the cameras for a cause they believed in. In this 1989 video “Champions For Life,” created for the antiabortion American Life League, members of the 1987 Super Bowl champion New York Giants–including Phil Simms and Mark Bavaro–offer their views on abortion.

The Video {now fixed}:

 

To give you a taste of how well DC (and Baltimore) folks are handling the great blizzard:

Yeah … not so well.

I’ll be working from home today. The roads still aren’t safe so DC is fairly shut down.

Some fun posts coming up though … stay tuned!

… and as I promised – a photo showing the effects on one of the nearby streets:

Oh boy.

Here it is:

What do you think about it?

Update – a thought came to me: it’s ironic that without the pro-abort outrage leading up to the airing of this ad, most Americans would have missed that the Tebow ad was in fact pro-life. Thanks for doing our PR for us, pro-aborts.

{update: this is the pre-game commercial. Not the commercial that will air during the Super Bowl tonight … the one that has generated so much anger from the pro-abortion side.}

Here is the script:

PAM TEBOW: I call him my miracle baby. He almost didn’t make it into this world. I remember so many times when I almost lost him. It was so hard. Well he’s all grown up now, and I still worry about his health. Everybody treats him like he’s different, but to me, he’s just my baby. He’s my Timmy, and I love him.

TIM TEBOW: Thanks mom. Love you too.

More info at LifeNews.

50,000 signatures, that is. And Tebow’s Super Bowl television debut, that is.

Most of you already know the Tim Tebow super bowl ad story.

Yesterday CatholicVote.org president Brian Burch sent an update to members of the CV/CVA family on our efforts:

The President of CBS received a surprise at 9:53 a.m. Thursday morning.

A large Fed Ex box filled with nearly 500 pages of signatures from over 50,000 friends of CatholicVote arrived at the office of CBS President Leslie Moonves.

Enclosed in the package was a personal letter thanking CBS for standing firm and agreeing to air the ad produced by Focus on the Family featuring Florida football star Tim Tebow and his mother.

… I know when I see the ad this Sunday, my heart will swell with pride. This ad is not merely a story about Pam Tebow and her son, but also a statement about being pro-life in America.

We aren’t outsiders. We are mainstream, proud, and inspiring the rest of America with what we believe.

And more people every day are coming to see what we see: Life is indeed beautiful.

Amen to that. Moreover, good for you … and thank you for showing concrete support for CBS’s openness to allowing this life-affirming message to become mainstream.

We are inspired and proud by their right choice. May it bring about other right choices.

This photo and story are not be missed – especially if you’re a papist Colts fan!

From AmP reader Patty:

Here is a picture of our own Archbishop Daniel Buechlein riding in the side-car of the motorcycle that led our Indianapolis Colts into Lucas Oil Stadium for their AFC Championship Victory over the New York Jets.

Archbishop Buechlein rode [...] to show his support for the Indianapolis Colts “as strong examples of positive role models and community involvement.”

Archbishop Buechlein has declared Super Bowl Monday, February 8, 2010, as an official day off for all archdiocesan Catholic Schools and the Archbishop O’Meara Catholic Center.

I bet that decision makes the young papist Colts fans happy.

And for the Saints’ fans:

As the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts prepare to lock horns in the Super Bowl, CNA spoke with the Archdiocese of New Orleans about the Saints and discovered that the team has a significant Catholic history as well as a strong presence in the local Catholic community. [CNA]