AMP NEWS Video - Episode One Featuring Archbishop Chaput Interview!

This week I sat down for an interview with Archbishop Charles Chaput of the Archdiocese of Denver to discuss his NYT bestseller Render Unto Caesar as well as Catholic voting in this election as part of my new collaborative project AMP NEWS.

Regular AmP readers will know that Archbishop Chaput has been one of the most (if not the most) vocal bishop defenders of the unborn in the American public scene of late, despite some criticism. God bless him for it.

Archbishop Chaput, I am thrilled to say, gave me frank answers to the tough questions that are facing American Catholics this election, and it is my hope my that many people will have a chance to see this interview before they vote on Tuesday.

Embedded below are the four segments of AMP NEWS Episode One. You may also watch the entire episode as a whole right here on YouTube. We hope to continue providing quality Catholic news, interviews, and offbeat programming to you in the future!

Episode 1 - "Headlines"

Episode 1 - "Papist Chat with Archbishop Chaput {Part 1 of 2}"


Episode 1 - "Papist Chat with Archbishop Chaput {Part 2 of 2}"


Episode 1 - "The Papist Takedown"

This link creates a playlist of the entire episode: http://tinyurl.com/ampnews

Now that you have seen the show, please forward these videos to your friends and family who are preparing to vote on Tuesday, and send AMP NEWS to folks who are seeking an informed, Catholic perspective on the important stories facing Catholics in America today. Please also subscribe to our AMP NEWS YouTube Channel if you want to be updated instantly when new episodes are uploaded.

Special thanks go to the Catholic Information Center in Washington DC (and do check out their upcoming events) for giving AMP NEWS the opportunity of interviewing Archbishop Chaput, to AMP NEWS producer Alex Buder, to William Newton for creative input, and our profound gratitude to His Excellency, Archbishop Charles Chaput O.F.M Cap, for his faithful service on behalf of Christ and His Church.

update, some pull quotes from the interview with Archbishop Chaput:

• On Barack Obama: "Senator Obama is the most active pro-abortion politician to run for the Presidency since Roe v. Wade. He has committed himself to do things the Church would resist."
• On vocal bishops: "The bishops are aware ... a quieter approach to these things has not been effective ... we have to be stronger in what we say. We've just had it."
• On Faithful Citizenship: "[It is] not very clear. We either ought to get rid of it, or say things much clearer."
• On claiming Obama is a pro-life candidate: "It would be foolish to say that someone who ... runs on a party platform that has no regret at all about abortion ... to call that position pro-life is really strange."
• On IRS investigations: "It's simply bullying. It shouldn't stop us from talking about the important issues of our time."
• On the separation of Church and State: "We do believe in it. We don't like the state to tell us what to do. We don't believe in the separation of faith and politics."

And here is a running tally of the blogs/websites that have picked up on AMP NEWS so far:

• National Catholic Register Daily
• Commonweal
• HuffingtonPost
• LifeNews
• CatholicVote.com
• LifeSiteNews
• Catholic Culture
• New Advent
• BeliefNet's Pontifications
• Catholic Key
• Ignatius Insight Scoop
• Inside Catholic
• The Curt Jester
• Catholic iPod
• The Blog of the Courtier
• Te Deum Laudamus
• Aggie Catholics
• Catholic Mountain
• Duc in Madison
• The Arbiter of Common Sense
• A Shepherd's Voice
• Lily Maiden
• Zappe.us
• Servant For Truth

If I left your name off the list please send me an email!

Update: AmP News Pilot

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has sent in feedback after watching the pilot episode of AmP News.

Special thanks to the 36 people (at most recent count) who have subscribed to the AmP News YouTube Channel, making us the 6th-most-subscribed YouTube reporting channel this week!

We are now in the process of taking your tips and recommendations into account as we decide how best to move forward.

In the meantime, however, I can predict that a very exciting AmP News feature will be coming your way soon!

Introducing AmP News

I'd like to introduce AmP readers to a work-in-progress I've undertaken recently (that I hinted about earlier this month) which is now ready for public viewing.

I've been collaborating with a young man named Alex Buder to produce a video version (or "vlog") of this blog, American Papist, called AmP News. Here is our show's description:

"AMP News, an upbeat week-in-review of news, politics, and culture, along with commentary and interviews, all from a uniquely Catholic perspective."

Our working motto is "AmP News, reporting the stories you can believe." (Catchy, huh?)

We're taking this slowly, and are very excited about its potential. We've produced two segments so far, which you can now view on YouTube below. Consider this our "first draft."

AmP News Pilot Episode - The Headlines:

AmP News Pilot Episode - The Papist Take:

How can you help us out? Several ways:

1. Give us your feedback - send emails to "americanpapist [at] gmail.com" and let us know what we can improve, what you liked, didn't like, etc. Our aim is to serve you.
2. Subscribe to our AmP News YouTube channel so you'll receive notification of future segments, as well as comment, favorite, and rate the video, gaining it visibility
3. Embed the video on your blog or website, and email it to your friends (most important!)

If things go well, we intend to soon add exclusive interview segments and on-site reporting.

This project has the potential to reach a much wider audience of young Catholics, fallen-away/nominal Catholics, as well as the general public, providing them with accurate, interesting news and content, all from a uniquely Catholic (= Papist) perspective.

And no worries - I'll still be blogging up a storm.

Thanks so much, and please keep our efforts in your prayers.