Offbeat: Mall-Church hears confessions of shopaholics?

Catholic Femina spots a Capuchin-run Catholic chapel .... located in a Colorado Springs shopping mall.

It's not often you find directions to a chapel that include phrases like "between Burlington Coat Factory and Dillards."

I like the fact that they have confessions available during all mall open hours. Between Cinnabon and Victoria's Secret there's plenty of opportunities for some serious capital sinning.

The chapel is supported by the Knights of Columbus and local bishop Michael Sheridan.

What do you think about this idea? Is it an innovative evangelization idea? Or an inappropriate space for Sacraments? Or something else?

I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Video: Catholic Vote's 3rd pro-life video

They've done it again:

I've blogged about their work before here. Please spread the word! (And visit CatholicVote.org)

AmP now available on Amazon Kindle!!

This is just so cool!! The blog content of American Papist is now available on the Amazon Kindle. That news deserves two exclamation points.

Some details of the service:

--> Kindle Blogs are auto-delivered wirelessly to your Kindle and updated throughout the day so you can stay current.
--> It's risk free: all Kindle Blog subscriptions start with a 14-day free trial. You can cancel at any time during the free trial period. If you enjoy your subscription, do nothing and it will automatically continue at the regular monthly price.
--> Don't have a Kindle? Get yours here.

Hmm, my birthday is in a few weeks... ;-)

{My thanks to John Norton of OSV for helping me get AmP enrolled in the program.}

Vatican, Pope encourage young people to use social media

While I was pausing my online activities to graduate last week, Pope Benedict was encouraging Catholic youth to use social media to spread the good news online:

Speaking English, the Holy Father recalled how in his Message for the Day this year "I am inviting all those who make use of the new technologies of communication, especially the young, to utilise them in a positive way and to realise the great potential of these means to build up bonds of friendship and solidarity that can contribute to a better world.

"The new technologies", he added, "have brought about fundamental shifts in the ways in which news and information are disseminated and in how people communicate and relate to each other. I wish to encourage all those who access cyberspace to be careful to maintain and promote a culture of respect, dialogue and authentic friendship where the values of truth, harmony and understanding can flourish.

"Young people in particular, I appeal to you: bear witness to your faith through the digital world! Employ these new technologies to make the Gospel known, so that the Good News of God's infinite love for all people, will resound in new ways across our increasingly technological world!" (VIS)

Now I wish I could find this video on the Vatican YouTube channel.

Simultaneously, the Vatican itself is moving into new media. Paolo Padrini (one of the developers) explains:

The new media of Facebook, the iPhone, YouTube and Wikipedia are increasingly becoming the new forum where the Catholic Church dialogues with the world. As Pope Benedict XVI noted in his message for the 43rd annual World Communications Day, the Internet is a place where young people need to develop true friendships which spring from an encounter with the Risen Christ. With this awareness and the courage to enter into the world of social networks, the project Pope2You was started with the idea of helping these networks become authentic places of friendship and true dialogue.

Pope2You was created in collaboration with the Pontifical Council for Social Communications as an experiment in providing a new forum and channel of communication using the latest platforms. The Pope2You website provides a new way for Pope Benedict XVI to reach out to young people around the world. The site can be viewed in five languages and allows young people to learn more about the Church and Benedict XVI through his own writings, starting with the message for the 43rd World Communications Day. While the site aims to generate the interest of young people, it is also meant for people of all ages. It features news on the Catholic Church and details on the pastoral activities of Benedict XVI incorporating content from the Vatican’s YouTube channel. At the same time, a new application for the iPhone and iPod Touch has been created by the Catholic news agency H2Onews, with plans to add other mobile platforms later.

Pope2You also provides a gateway to a parallel world in Facebook with an application where you can create and send to your friends virtual postcards with the Pope’s own words, greetings and excerpts of his writings staring with this year’s World Communications Day message. Also, with the help of the Media Office of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, a special area has been created along the lines of a WIKI with suggestions on how to put into pastoral practice the Pope’s 2009 Message.

These new applications highlight the latest example of the Church reaching out in new ways in the world of social networks – a forum where the Church can meet new people, make new friends, dialogue and offer solidarity.

A brave new digital world for the new evangelization. Just remember: our online activities should be at the service of our real-world activities. Watching Mass on uStream is not the same as attending Mass in person.

I'll post more on this after I have a chance to explore http://www.pope2you.net.

First: A twittering bishop

This successor to the apostles knows where the agora of the 21st century is:

http://twitter.com/bishopmcgrath (Most Rev. P. J. McGrath of San Jose)

He only has 20 followers. Lets form a crowd around him so others will want to see what all the commotion is about!

update: from 20 --> 169 followers in  day! Well done, papists! Maybe the bishop will update more now. :)

Ph/t: AmP reader Melissa.

Must-See Video: "Life - Imagine the Potential"

The first video by the folks at Catholic Vote.org has almost 2 million views on YouTube alone.

I think you'll agree that their second video is even better. I cant wait to see what they do next.



Spread this video far and wide, please. And hop over to Catholic Vote.org to learn more.

This video was shown publicly for the first time at today's National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.

It was also announced that talks are underway to air it during the American Idol finals (!).

Listed: Arch/Dioceses on Twitter

We're on a bit of a twitter kick here at AmP. Let's see how many arch/dioceses we can find on it:

• Archdioces of Atlanta, GA (actually their newspaper) - 86 followers
• Archdiocese of Cincinnati, OH (diocesan newspaper) - 135 followers
• Archdiocese of St. Louis, MO (very well executed) - 309 followers
• Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis (diocesan newspaper) - 1,316 followers
• Archdiocese of Washington, DC (not updated) - 3 followers
• Diocese of Allentown, PA - 60 followers
• Diocese of Arlington, VA + Arlington Catholic Herald - 92 followers, 259 followers
• Diocese of Brownsville, TX - 162 followers
• Diocese of Cleveland, OH (only 3 updates?) - 49 followers
• Diocese of Green Bay, WI + The Green Bay Compass - 90 followers, 153 followers
• Diocese of Hawaii, HI - 202 followers
• Diocese of Madison, WI (c'mon - not following anyone?) - 39 followers
• Diocese of Orlando, FL (really FL Catholic news) - 590 followers
• Diocese of Phoenix, AZ (diocesan newspaper) - 1,472 followers

If I've missed any - please drop me an email or comment. If you work for an arch/diocese, maybe bring it to the attention of your communications director? It's a great way of keeping your flock in the know!

Video: "Following atheist trend, Britons seek 'de-baptism'"

Signs of the times:

Related article:

More than 100,000 Britons have recently downloaded "certificates of de-baptism" from the Internet to renounce their Christian faith.

The initiative launched by a group called the National Secular Society (NSS) follows atheist campaigns here and elsewhere, including a London bus poster which triggered protests by proclaiming "There's probably no God."

"We now produce a certificate on parchment and we have sold 1,500 units at three pounds (4.35 dollars, 3.20 euros) a pop," said NSS president Terry Sanderson, 58.

... De-baptism organisers say the initiative is a response to what they see as increasing stridency from churches -- the latest last week when Pope Benedict XVI stirred global controversy on a trip to AIDS-ravaged Africa by saying condom use could further spread of the disease.

"The Catholic Church is so politically active at the moment that I think that is where the hostility is coming from," said Sanderson. "In Catholic countries there is a very strong feeling of wanting to punish the church by leaving it."

Surely this would count as a formal act of defection, canonically speaking?

Too cool: Arch. of STL will TXT U w/ New Abp. Deets

Or, in plain English, the Archdiocese of St. Louis is offering a service on its website which will send your phone a text message when their next archbishop is officially announced! (which, as I've been hinting, will probably be very soon). The archdiocese also tweets.

Too cool!

Ph/t: AmP reader Angie.

Great idea: Ask A Catholic A Question

A great idea that I hope other papists pick up:

Ask a Catholic a Question began in the spring of 2007 to spread awareness of Catholic beliefs to students, from students. They answer questions from a steady stream of people most days when they appear in Academic Plaza. On days when a preacher is on campus stirring up polarizing views, the dichotomy between the two becomes immediately apparent.

Let's stop and say a quick prayer for these sidewalk disciples.

Scared by Twitter?

It's okay, I was too.

Fr. Roderick, however, knows our pain and has provided a great list of "Cool Catholics on Twitter."

I'm a "Catholic Media Personality" he says.

437 people might tend to agree with him.

Vatican 2.0: Pope Benedict gets his own YouTube channel!

As reported earlier:

Puffs of smoke, speeches in Latin and multipage encyclicals have all been used by the Vatican to communicate with the faithful. Now the pope is trying to broaden his audience by joining the wannabe musicians, college pranksters and water-skiing squirrels on YouTube.

In his inaugural YouTube foray Friday, Pope Benedict XVI welcomed viewers to this "great family that knows no borders" and said he hoped they would "feel involved in this great dialogue of truth."

"Today is a day that writes a new page in history for the Holy See," Vatican Radio said in describing the launch of the site, http://youtube.com/vatican (AP)

Let's see if we can embed the channel:

If not, enjoy this video (the most popular on the channel right now):

I'm *so* excited about this initiative! But they need to enable embedding at some point....

Report: Vatican to get own YouTube channel

Cool:

The Vatican will soon have its own channel on the video sharing site YouTube where the Catholic faithful or the curious will be able to see Pope Benedict or Church events, a Vatican source said on Saturday.

The details of the accord are due to be presented on Friday at a news conference attended by Vatican officials as well as Henrique de Castro, managing director of media solutions for Google, which owns YouTube.

The initiative will involve Google, the Vatican Television Center and Vatican Radio.

It will mark the Vatican's deepest plunge into new media. The Vatican opened up its website, www.vatican.va, in 1995. (Reuters)

I hope they friend AmericanPapist and AMPNews!

Save the Date! Lessons from St. Paul.

This is well worth attending:

More details....

• Keynote Speaker - Most Rev. Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Denver (what a treat!)
• Main Speaker - SherryWeddell Co-Founder and Director Catherine of Siena Institute
• Multiple Workshops - Scripture, Spirituality, Youth ministry, Parish renewal, and much more

Contact: 313-883-8792 ][ http://www.shms.edu/ ][ lessonsfromstpaul@shms.edu

Please help me spread the word on your blog and among your friends.

If you blog about this conference and let me know, I'll include a link to it here!

• Jean Heimann at Catholic Fire
• Mark Shea at Catholic & Enjoying It!
• Sherry W. of Intentional Disciples
• Catholic Mommy Brain

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!

On supporting one another in pursuit of the good and true

Doing the right thing often isn't easy.

Bishop Robert Vasa, in his most recent column, tells us one way that he is encouraged:

It might be a perception that my boldness regarding pro-abortion politicians is courageous but in truth I only follow the lead of those who exemplify a boldness far greater than my own. The bold speaking out on the part of Archbishop Raymond Burke regarding the contentious issue of Catholic pro-abortion politicians and Holy communion emboldens cowards like me to follow his example. The firm and measured response of Cardinal Egan and a variety of other Archbishops and Bishops to misleading statements of the Speaker of the House emboldens others, like myself, to shake off the shackles of fear and to stand with them.

Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, on Comending the Bishops:

Faithful Catholics in the US have been both stunned and gratified by the recent show of episcopal strength in dealing with the heretical nonsense of “Catholics” in public life who clearly misrepresent the Church’s teaching on vital issues.

... The trend is truly heartening. Let’s pray that it continues! Much more could be done, of course, but I am grateful that more bishops are standing up to strengthen and protect the faith of millions.

... [I would mention] the strong pro-life stances of Archbishops Burke (now in Rome) and Chaput (Denver) as well as Bishops Vasa (Baker, OR), Farrell and Vann (Dallas, TX), Martino (Scranton, PA) and Mallooly (Wilmington, DE) who are representatives of a group of other bishops who have made their voices heard forcefully on the Catholic voting issue.

... Thankfully, there are many more examples of episcopal courage that we could add to the reflections but suffice it to say that there seems to be a new wind blowing through the College of Bishops all around the world these days.

... We also need to thank them personally when they speak out in order to encourage them to do even more! Now that the example has been set, let us hope that other bishops and priests will have the audacity of our hope in Christ to go out and do the same!

What they said.

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.

"Catholic bishops want the word of God on iPods"

But really, not just iPods - everywhere:

Catholic bishops meeting in Rome said Friday they want the word of God to be heard through what could be considered an unlikely channel: iPods.

The bishops, attending a synod at the Vatican since October 5, called for increased distribution of the Bible "in the largest variety of our planet's languages".

They said in a message to believers that the printed text is no longer sufficient at a time when communication has been transformed by technology.

"The voice of the divine word must also resonate over the radio, Internet channels with virtual online distribution, CDs, DVDs, iPod ...", it said.

It went on to add to the list "television and cinema screens, in the press, at cultural and social events." (AFP)

It is good that they are saying this, but let us remember that the Catholic laity are already doing us a huge service by distributing the teaching's of the bishops using these new technologies. The examples are too many to name.

Ph/t: Whipsers (who also tries to do some naming).