Real Catholic Blog

We hope as many people as possible attend the March For Life, January 20-23, in Washington, D.C. Our very own Brother John (the hard working, behind the scenes, driving force of this blog) will be there and will offer will provide coverage for us. Parishes and dioceses all over the country, as well as Catholic and pro-life organizations, are sponsoring transportation. It will be worth the effort — a pilgrimage of activism in the defense of the unborn.

Many events are planned for the week, culminating in the great march on Friday, January 23. Many of the events are Catholic oriented, including Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life and Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. For more information on these and the many other events and activities, from lectures to a flashlight rally across from the White House, to a bloggers conference, LifeSiteNews.com has an entire schedule and details on each event, here. 

Meanwhile, we’ll provide updates along the way. We hope you check back often and, most importantly, continue to pray for the end of abortion in America.

From EWTN.com:

St. Michael the Archangel,

defend us in battle.

Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.

May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,

and do thou,

O Prince of the heavenly hosts,

by the power of God,

thrust into hell Satan,

and all the evil spirits,

who prowl about the world

seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

O glorious prince St. Michael,

chief and commander of the heavenly hosts,

guardian of souls, vanquisher of rebel spirits,

servant in the house of the Divine King

and our admirable conductor,

you who shine with excellence

and superhuman virtue deliver us from all evil,

who turn to you with confidence

and enable us by your gracious protection

to serve God more and more faithfully every day. Amen.

Last night, Bishop Thomas Tobin of the Diocese of Providence, R.I., appeared on The O’Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel to dispel myths and misstatements about his role as Bishop in dealing with Church Scandal — that is, the misrepresentation of Church Teaching by one who claims to be of the Faithful. In this case, that someone is a public and powerful person, U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) (see Yahoo! News), who publicly claims it is fine to be pro-abortion-on-demand and be a Catholic in good standing.

Something new to me in watching the interview is that Bishop Tobin is the author of the new book, Effective Faith. I hope to have more on this in the near future. The interview itself was excellent. Bill O’Reilly was thorough in his questions and effectively took the opposing angle. Bishop Tobin’s responses regardig why Rep. Kennedy should not receive Holy Communion were grounded in the Truth, so it was no surprise he was unruffled, firm and unapologetic, while laying out the Church’s teachings cogently, logically and theologically precise.

In addition to the interview, below, here is a link to its coverage on WPRI-TV/12 in Rhode Island. Also, Bishop Tobin was a recent guest on Hardball With Chris Matthews on MSNBC. Matthews was utterly offensive and disrespectful and Deacon Keith Fournier of Catholic Online calls for his firing. 

Here’s the interview. Let me know what you think of it.

Bishop Thomas Tobin honesty and steadfastness for the Truth was a natural on the “no spin zone” last night.

In 1995, Jeb Bush,the former Florida governor and the younger brother offormer president, George W. Bush, converted to the Faith from the Episcopal Church, and has been a steadfast and public defender of the Faith ever since. Because of he and his brother are very close, and the former president’s close relationship with many Catholic lay and clerical leaders, as well as his clear defense of life and marriage, many have suggested the possibility that he may become the next high-profile American public figure to convert (see Newt Gingrich). But it’s not likely.

At Communion and Liberation’s annual Rimini Meeting last week, Jeb Bush said his brother is “pretty comfortable with his Methodist faith.” Despite that, during his presidency, it was clear that the former president has a true affection for Catholicism. He took time out to attend both Pope John Paul II’s funeral as well as Pope Benedict XVI’s investiture Mass. He and Pope Benedict had a visibly warm relationship as was seen during the Holy Father’s unforgettable White House reception. Who knows? Perhaps one day. After all, faith is a journey. For some, it takes a bit longer.

As for Jeb Bush, he described his conversion this way, from Catholic Online via The Deacons Bench blog:

Bush said what primarily attracted him to the faith were the “sacraments of the Catholic Church, the timeless nature of the message of the Catholic Church, and the fact that the Catholic Church believes in and acts on absolute truth as its foundational principles and doesn’t move with modern times as my former religion did.”

A former Episcopalian who was received into the Church in 1995, Bush said, “In the United States many people think that to keep your faith, you need to put it into a safety deposit box if you’re an elected official until you finish your service as a public servant, and then you can go and get it back. I never thought that was appropriate.”

That’s a great testimony to the everlasting Truth of the Faith as well as the necessity to live that Truth and Faith in your life, no matter as a public official or a private citizen.

Last week, upon his death, I posted the story of Robert Novak’s conversion to the Church as well as an account of a personal encounter I had with him. Reflecting on Mr. Novak, I realized there are numerous stories of people famous and not who have inspiring stories of conversion to the Faith. We’ll try to highlight some of them along the way.

But it also occured to me that there was another famous Washington power broker type who’s also converted to the Faith with whom I also have had a couple of personal moments. That would be former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich.

I met him a couple of years ago at a fundraiser for a group for which I did some volunteer work. A woman I know popped up with a camera out of nowhere while I, by chance was standing next to him, having finished a brief conversation with him and getting his autograph. She asked if I would like my picture with him. I said, “I think that’s the Speaker’s decision. Does he want one with me?” He gladly stopped and posed. My mom, who loves him, was very impressed.

This past spring, I was at a dinner where he was the special guest speaker. I had no hope of getting close to him, but as I walked through the hotel lobby, there he was — having just emerged from a makeshift studio where he participated in a live cable news interview. I looked up, saw him, and couldn’t hold back. I reminded him of the picture story, but quickly got right to the point:

“Mr. Speaker, I’m a big fan, but my mom is absolutely crazy about you. But as a devout Catholic, when she read about your recent conversion, she cried she was so happy!”

He smiled as broad as Saint Peter’s Square and a genuine twinkle of appreciation flashed in his eyes. He gushed his thanks and told me to be sure to thank her. I had the impression he wouldn’t have minded hanging around and talking about it — in his speech earlier, he quoted John Paul II extensively. But I decided not to press my luck. Instead, I moved along, counting my blessings . . . and his.

Here’s one of the few public comments Mr. Gingrich has made about his conversion:

Brother Newt? The former Speaker of the House is passionate about the admiration he had for John Paul II well before his conversion to the Faith.