Archbishop Fulton Sheen Declared Venerable

In 1974, just a few years before he died, I had the opportunity to attend a Mass at which Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the great evangelist and churchman, received the Patronal Medal awarded jointly by The Catholic University of America and the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.  At the time, I had a vague notion that Archbishop Sheen was an important figure in the history of the Church in America and a noted public speaker, but I could never have anticipated the power of his presence, his words and his continuing influence.  After years of Catholic education in which the fullness of the Catholic faith, devotions and piety had been suppressed following the Second Vatican Council, the powerful sermon on the Blessed Mother he delivered that April afternoon  was like a long, gentle rain on parched fields; it changed my life.  The videos, audio tapes, scores of books, particularly his Life of Christ and his autobiography, Treasure in Clay, continue to change lives and win souls for Christ.

Archbishop Sheen was the first televangelist, a brilliant scholar and a professor for a quarter of a century at my alma mater, The Catholic University of America.  He brought thousands to the faith, including Bella Dodd, a lawyer for the Communist Party, the brilliant conservative writer and Congresswoman, Clare Boothe Luce, automaker Henry Ford II, Communist writer Louis F. Budenz, theatrical designer Jo Mielziner, violinist and composer Fritz Kreisler, actress Virginia Mayo and agnostic author Heywood Broun.  

Archbishop Fulton Sheen has been called the most important Catholic of the twentieth century.  His life, his priesthood were completely surrendered to the service of Christ and His Church.  His heart will continue to speak to hearts for centuries to come.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has approved the heroic virtues of U.S. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, clearing the way for the advancement of his sainthood cause.

The announcement June 28 came just over 13 months after Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of Peoria, Ill., presented Pope Benedict XVI with two thick volumes about the life of Archbishop Sheen, whose home diocese was Peoria.

The decree from the Congregation for Saints' Causes, signed by Pope Benedict, said Archbishop Sheen heroically lived Christian virtues and was "venerable." Before he can be beatified, the Vatican must recognize that a miracle has occurred through his intercession.

Archbishop Sheen, who was born in Illinois in 1895 and died in New York in 1979, was an Emmy-winning televangelist. His program, "Life is Worth Living," aired in the United States from 1951 to 1957.

Last September, a tribunal of inquiry was sworn in to investigate the alleged miraculous healing of a newborn whose parents prayed to the intercession of Archbishop Sheen.

Supreme Knight Says HHS Mandate Has Re-Shaped Country's Political Landscape

By Benjamin Mann

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson. Credit: Knights of Columbus.

Indianapolis, Ind., Jun 26, 2012 / 10:20 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Whether the federal contraception mandate stands or falls, it has changed U.S. politics forever, the head of the Knights of Columbus observed during the 2012 Catholic Media Conference.

“It definitely has changed the political landscape,” Supreme Knight Carl Anderson told CNA in a June 22 interview at the convention held in downtown Indianapolis.

Egyptian President-Elect Meets Christian Leaders

From Vatican Radio

Egypt’s President-elect Mohammed Morsi on Wednesday met with Catholic leaders and assured them that all Egyptians will be protected by the administration. The meeting came one day after the Muslim Brotherhood member met with the interim leader of Egypt’s Coptic Church, which makes up the vast majority of the roughly 8 million Christians in the country. He is trying to assuage the fears of Christians about being marginalized in Egyptian society.

“We are worried about the Islamization of Egyptian society,” said Father Rafic Greiche, the Chief press spokesman, Greek Melkite Catholic Church in Cairo.

He also told Vatican Radio Church leaders also spoke to the president-elect about social justice concerns.

“First of all, justice for all the Egyptians, and the new president, as he promised, he has to help the people who are poor, who are homeless, who are [illiterate]…so this is what, as Christians, we want.”

Listen to the full interview by Stefano Leszczynski with Father Greiche: 

Ron Paul's Michigan Campaign Chief Endorses Gary Glenn

Gary Glenn

LANSING, Mich. -- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Gary Glenn Tuesday welcomed an endorsement by Adam de Angeli, the leader of Rep. Ron Paul's GOP presidential campaign in Michigan.

"I'm grateful to Adam for his endorsement and share his passion for the cause of economic liberty and restoring fiscal sanity in Washington that he and the Ron Paul campaign have championed over the last year," Glenn said in a statement. "I welcome and invite other Ron Paul supporters to stand and fight alongside me to help save our country from bankruptcy and socialism."

Glenn said he hoped the endorsement will attract support from the thousands of young people across Michigan who de Angeli helped mobilize for Paul, and that de Angeli's endorsement is indicative of his campaign's ability to appeal to a broad spectrum of Republican primary voters once they learn of his record and stand on the issues.

Weak Tea

What Happened to the Tea Party Taking Back its Government?

 

Nikki Haley was "TEA Party" when it served her ambitions.

Two years to the day since Alvin Greene became a household name, all 170 seats in the S.C. House and Senate were up for grabs on June 12 in what should have been a watershed moment for the tea party movement. With a governor they’d elected in the Governor’s Mansion, it was an opportunity for tea partiers to remake the state GOP in their own image. Instead, it was a washout.

Voter turnout was historically low. Hundreds of candidates were kicked off the ballot in the weeks leading up to the state’s June primary.

Reasons vary for why the movement failed to mobilize a groundswell of anti-incumbent fervor that could have reshaped South Carolina’s power structure in one of the most tea party-saturated states in the nation. 

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Queen Visits Catholic Church in Northern Ireland

The Queen made her first visit to a Catholic church in Northern Ireland today at the start of a historic two-day visit which will also include a meeting with the former IRA commander Martin McGuinness.

After the unqualified success of the Queen’s first visit to the Republic of Ireland last year, the monarch’s Diamond Jubilee visit to Ulster marks another milestone in Anglo-Irish relations.

Although the Queen has been to Northern Ireland 19 times before, her bold itinerary includes visits that would have been unthinkable little more than a decade ago.

The focal point of the trip will be tomorrow’s meeting with Sinn Fein MP Mr McGuinness, who is now deputy first minister in the Stormont assembly but was an IRA commander when the terrorist group murdered the Duke of Edinburgh’s uncle, Earl Mountbatten, in 1979.

The Queen, so long regarded as a target by Mr McGuinness, is expected to shake hands with him when she meets him tomorrow, a moment that will be every bit as important to the peace process as her arrival in Dublin last year. 

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‘Obama Truth Team’ Orders GoDaddy To Shut Down Website

Information deemed “maliciously harmful to government”

 

A political website that contained stinging criticism of the Obama administration and its handling of the Fast and Furious scandal was ordered to be shut down by the Obama campaign’s ‘Truth Team’, according to private investigator Douglas Hagmann, who was told by ISP GoDaddy his site contained information that was “maliciously harmful to individuals in the government.” 

Hagmann, CEO of Hagmann Investigative Services, Inc., a private investigative agency serving a roster of Fortune 500 clients, was given 48 hours by GoDaddy to find a new home for his website before it was deleted. 

Hagmann was told the reason for the shut down was because the website featured “morally objectionable” material. After GoDaddy refused to identify the complainant, only saying that it was not “any official government agency,” further investigation by Hagmann revealed that the order came from a group tied to Obama campaign headquarters.

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