Real Catholic Blog

Here’s an exciting event hosted by Father Frank Pavone of Priests For Life. It’s an election related conference call and it will feature Thomas Peters of American Papist and other prominent, traditionalist Catholics. It takes place tomorrow from 9:00-10:00 Eastern Time. Here is Father Pavone’s invite:

Friends,

I am inviting you to join me along with Tom Peters of Catholic Vote Action (www.catholicvoteaction.org) and other special guests, for an important election-related conference call on Thursday evening, February 25, from 9 to 10pm ET. This will be part of our “Vote Pro-life” Coalition, and we will continue to gear up for the elections of 2010. You will be able to listen to the call either by phone or by internet.

This call will not be the same as the January 25 call but rather a continuation of the discussion. Click here to listen to a replay of the January 25 call which featured David Barton of Wallbuilders, Marjorie Dannenfelser of the Susan B. Anthony List, Brian Burch of Catholic Vote and Gary Bauer of American Values.

After you sign up, (click here) you will receive a letter via email with the details. If you do not receive the letter, be sure to check your spam folder. The letter will also appear on your computer screen and you can print it from there.

Now is the time to get started, and we need all hands on deck! Join us for an informative and inspiring call on February 25.

Thank you,

Fr. Frank Pavone

National Director, Priests For Life

A nefarious group called the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which prides itself on stopping prayers from opening meetings of city councils and Nativity scenes in public areas in the grossly misunderstood name of the First Amendment, a group that bullies God loving organizations and Christians, now has set its sights on what it must think is its biggest fish yet: The U.S. Postal Service.

The USPS has a new stamp in honor of Mother Teresa, but the atheist group has set about to stop its issuance. In its efforts, not surprisingly for this group and others like it, it has taken to spreading lies and anti-Catholic propaganda. According to CatholicVoteAction.org’s Brian Burch:

A group called the Freedom from Religion Foundation is now spreading lies about Blessed Mother Teresa accusing this holy nun of having a ‘darker side,’ and calling her a ‘polarizing Roman Catholic figurehead.’

The stamp’s release date is scheduled for August. But we have no time to wait. CatholicVoteAction.org has established an online petition — StampOutBigotry.com — to Postmaster General Jack Potter to encourage the USPS to stick to its schedule and not bow to pressure from this anti-Catholic group. Click here to sign it!

But what’s behind the atheists’ real motivation to stop this stamp? After all, we heard nary a peep from them when stamps honoring Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., were issued. Both were religious figures. Dr. King, in particular, proudly cast his movement in the most Christian of terms and it fostered a groundswell of Catholics and Christian denominations to his side.

Maybe, as Mr. Burch suggests, it’s because Mother Teresa was an outspoken proponent of the unborn. He cites her closing quote at the 1994 National Prayer Breakfast:

From here, a sign of care for the weakest of the weak — the unborn child — must go out to the world. If you become a burning light of justice and peace in the world, then really you will be true to what the founders of this country stood for. God bless you!

Please stand up for Mother Teresa’s memory and all she did for the Faith. Sign the petition and do your part in your daily life to counter groups who try to impose their secular beliefs on the unsuspecting in our country. Then, in August, buy lots of Mother Teresa stamps!

The proposed Mother Teresa stamp. By getting it issued , we can stamp out another case of anti-Catholic bigotry.

I just received this e-mail from our friends at CatholicVote.org. Last week, its president, Brian Burch, asked people to sign a petition to back up CBS’ decision to air an pro-life ad during this Sunday’s Super Bowl, featuring star college quarterback Tim Tebow and his mom, who was urged to abort him 20-plus years ago. Big money pro-abortion groups have pressured CBS to pull the ad, so CatholicVote.org stepped in as a counter balance. We hope you signed on. Here’s Brian’s update:

Dear CatholicVote Member,

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

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 explained that CatholicVote was especially interested in their decision because of our own efforts last year. With your help last January, we pushed hard to have our ad featuring President Obama aired during the Super Bowl.

NBC ultimately rejected the ad, yet I remain enormously proud of what we did together. We stood firm for the principle that every human life matters. We proudly stepped forward to tell the world that every human life is a gift — including the lives of those with whom we may disagree.

We had 2 million people watch our ad on YouTube over the past 12 months, while also sparking a healthy discussion in the media and on the Internet. And the ad was mentioned repeatedly again this year as controversy over the Tebow ad was discussed.

Did we help pave the way for this year’s Tebow ad to be aired? Who knows? What really matters is that we are winning.

Focus on the Family has taken the lead in making a Super Bowl ad a reality for an estimated 400 million people around the world. They deserve our heartfelt thanks.

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.

Be sure to catch Thomas Peters on Fox News tonight. Enjoy the Super Bowl. See you next week.

Sincerely,

Brian Burch, President

CatholicVote.org

P.S. Send us your prediction on the score for the Super Bowl. Pick the winner and the score. Whoever is closest will receive a surprise gift next week and get a shout out at our legislative arm, CatholicVoteAction.org. (Our combined sites receive 15,000 visitors every day!)

This just in from Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote.org:

BREAKING: CatholicVoteAction.org blogger Thomas Peters will appear on Hannity on the FOX News Channel tonight at 9 PM EST. He will discuss the anti-Catholic attacks on Pope Benedict XVI made by Henry Knox, who serves on President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. TUNE IN TONIGHT!

If you have never seen, read or heard Thomas Peters, do yourself a favor. He’s very well accomplished at a very young age, bright, articulate and witty — and sharp as a nearly forged sabre. He’s the founder of incredibly popular American Papist Blog. Be sure to watch or record this interview.

You might not think that 2009 was much of a year of hope — contrary to Orwellian rhetoric that emanates from our progressive secular rulers in Washington these days. But Brian Burch of CatholicVote.org lists 10 reasons why 2009, despite the government’s move toward rationed health care, taxpayer paid abortions and removal of conscience protections for medical professionals, among many other goals to debase the culture, gives us reason for real — not demogogic — hope. Here they are:

10. It’s Cool to be Pro-Life

Across the popular culture spectrum, the younger generation is, on average, more pro-life than their parents. Whether its reality-TV star Kourtney Kardashian telling People magazine about her decision to keep her child or the multiple opinion polls that show more and more Americans self-identifying as pro-life. Even the show Law & Order included a powerful courtroom scene that compelled a character to question her ‘dogmatic’ support for Roe v. Wade. Hope for the unborn is en vogue.

9. You – the Members of CatholicVote

Over 400,000 members of CatholicVote working to build up the Church and our world made 2009 truly memorable. Back in January the Super Bowl didn’t like the message, but millions of people watched a commercial by CatholicVote.org that reminded America of the dignity of every human life, including an unborn Barack Obama. The inauguration of a strident pro-abortion president was very disappointing, but the proud members of CatholicVote.org responded with the first in a series of ads in our “Life: Imagine the Potential” campaign that also included an ad during the American Idol finale, and a summer ad commemorating the historic achievement of Apollo 11. All of this work and more was made possible by you. Through hard work and prayer, you and I are building a movement. A movement we can be proud of.

8. Death of Fr. Richard John Neuhaus

The death of a man is a sign of hope? Only in the sense that Fr. Richard John Neuhaus once explained: “We are born to die. Not that death is the purpose of our being born, but we are born toward death, and in each of our lives the work of dying is already underway. The work of dying well is, in largest part, the work of living well.” In that sense, Fr. Neuhaus died well, evidenced by the lives he touched, the intellects he captivated, and the winsome pen that delighted and moved thousands of hearts and minds during his rich life. Fr. Neuhaus is no longer with us, but his ideas, and spirited engagement with the world — uniquely as a person of faith — most certainly are.

7. Priests, Religious, and More Priests

From Ireland to New Zealand to many dioceses across the United States, Catholic seminaries are recording record numbers of new seminarians after years of decline. Wherever you look, large numbers of young men and women are bravely choosing to serve Christ and his Church in a world that so urgently needs the witness of courageous, self-sacrificing men and women of God. Perhaps not coincidentally, Pope Benedict XVI designated the second of half of 2009 and first half of 2010 the ‘Year of the Priest.’

6. Maine Delivers for Marriage

During the spring and summer of 2009 a few states in New England, including Maine, legalized so-called same-sex ‘marriage.’ In November, the voters struck back at the ballot box and overruled their Legislature by returning marriage to the traditional definition of one man and one woman. This means that marriage has won 31 out of 31 times when put before the people for a vote! Maine’s triumph effectively put the brakes on efforts to legalize same-sex ‘marriages’ in New York and New Jersey.

5. Religious Leaders Unite to Sign Manhattan Declaration

Invoking the legacy of the late Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement, Catholic, Evangelical and Orthodox leaders released a powerful 4,732 word document renewing their commitment to the defense of unborn human life, marriage as a sacred union of one man and one woman, and the rights of conscience and religious liberty no matter the cost. The leaders drew a line in the sand stating their willingness to defy any edict that violates these foundational principles. You too can join over 300,000 people who have already signed the Declaration here.

4. Bart Stupak and the Rise of Pro-life Democrats

The deeply disappointing capitulation by Senator Ben Nelson is still fresh on our minds. But it is worth noting as a sign of hope the strengthening voice of pro-life Democrats in the House. For years these pro-life Democrats would vote for life, but remained relatively quiet and rarely publicly challenged their party’s leadership. But with Democrats in control of both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, pro-life Democrats couldn’t stay silent any longer. In the end it was the reckless power grab by the abortion lobby to hijack healthcare reform that spurred Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) into action. Stupak helped rally other pro-life Democrats to oppose any healthcare bill that included abortion funding, eventually forcing even Speaker Pelosi herself to buckle. As we write this, the final fate of the pro-abortion healthcare bill remains unknown. But the efforts by Stupak and other Democrats represent a sign of hope for a party that all too often is shamefully beholden to the powerful abortion lobby.

3. Smashing Success of the 40 Days for Life Campaigns

Community organizing at its finest. Volunteers who pray and witness outside abortion clinics across the country have always been the unsung heroes of pro-life activism. But the 40 Days for Life campaigns, begun in 2004, are exploding and have now included hundreds of thousands of participants in nearly 300 cities. Their efforts have shut down multiple clinics, saved countless lives, and have pro-abortion advocates grasping for a way to respond. There is none. Modeling prayer efforts on the biblically-based 40 days of prayer and fasting practiced by Our Lord himself is inspirational and paying dividends. Big time.

2. The Conversion of Abby Johnson

The 40 Days for Life campaigns began in Bryan/College Station, TX. In November, the Executive Director of the local Planned Parenthood in this same city was overwhelmed by the evil of abortion and walked out. After watching an abortion on an ultrasound, and seeing the warmth and joy of pro-life activists holding vigils outside the abortion mill, she walked down the street and joined the 40 Days for Life effort. This episode confirms that the conscience of every person is always burning, and nobody is a lost cause. In military terms, the pro-abortion forces suffered a major defector, as Ms. Johnson also revealed what we already know to be true – abortion is heavily pushed for the money and profits, not because it helps women. This story confirms the power of prayer in our fight for justice, and represents one of the most inspirational pro-life stories of 2009.

1. Bishops With Backbone

Someone check what the Catholic Bishops are eating for breakfast — it’s more than Wheaties. Who could have predicted the vocal stand by almost 70 Catholic bishops, led by His Excellency John D’Arcy of South Bend, Indiana, in opposing the bestowal of honors by Notre Dame on our pro-abortion President. The courage displayed over the scandal at Notre Dame carried over into the fall when the USCCB became one of the biggest opponents of health care “reform” because of provisions that included public financing of abortion. Their outspoken opposition prompted more than a few public leaders to call on the Church to be silenced, stripped of its tax-exempt status, and worse. The year also saw more than a few bishops speaking out more forcefully on the fundamental issue of life and its treatment by Catholic politicians. The laity is cheering as more and more bishops are becoming brave to the bone.

I received an e-mail from Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote.org. He has some exciting news I will share with you soon. In the meantime, if you are not familiar with the organization, you should be. Known for its world class — unparalleled production — videos/ads in defense of traditional, Biblical values, it is a leading force in the American Catholic community in the public policy field, educating the public and politicians alike on the grave issues of the day, especially the issue of life. The two links above will take you to two of its most recent videos. We hope you view them and forward the links. Then take a minute to go by its Web site and wish it a happy anniversary.