CATHOLICISM series on TV

[Monica02]

Is anyone watching the series CATHOLICISM on PBS and EWTN? I was happy with the series until viewing one episode on EWTN last night. The priest who was hosting the show spent several minutes discussing The Catholic Worker Movement. The Catholic Worker website has links to Call to Action and a group called the Quixote Center. Both of these groups are advocates for female ordination and “LBGT” rights. The series was so good I was dissapointed to see this group given so much airtime.

Has anyone felt the EWTN is leaning left these days?

 

[Aelred_Minor]

The Catholic Worker Movement started with good principles and still does a lot of good in the world. I’m disappointed though not greatly surprised to learn about the links on their website. People of the “liberal” persuasion often tend to be attracted to the Church’s social justice organizations, and then twist those good movements to their own perverse ends.

I don’t know how far down that path the Catholic Worker Movement has gone, but I would give the program the benefit of the doubt that they did not mean to promote any fishy things being done by some of its members, and that EWTN made the decision to air the program in spite of CWM’s faults not because of them.

 

[Barbkw]

catholicworker.org/AllLinks.cfm

Geez, they’re supporting OWS.

Call to Action shouldn’t use the word Catholic in their website. cta-usa.org/

Never heard of Quixote before:

quixote.myhosting.me/cso.html

We support gender equality, including ordination for women; the civil rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons; and advocate for an end to the rule of celibacy for Catholic clergy. We support full communion for divorced and remarried Catholics; due process for church employees and theologians; and democratic reforms in the governance of the Roman Catholic Church. We call for lay involvement in the formulation of church teachings on sexuality and reproduction, improvements in interfaith and ecumenical dialogue, and a strong church voice on issues of social justice.

 

[Marie5890]

(In the news section, a thread must be linked to a news item of a news source> FYI )

 

[Tigg]

Is anyone watching the series CATHOLICISM on PBS and EWTN? I was happy with the series until viewing one episode on EWTN last night. The priest who was hosting the show spent several minutes discussing The Catholic Worker Movement. The Catholic Worker website has links to Call to Action and a group called the Quixote Center. Both of these groups are advocates for female ordination and “LBGT” rights. The series was so good I was dissapointed to see this group given so much airtime.

Has anyone felt the EWTN is leaning left these days?

I’ve felt for quite some time now that something isn’t quite right - it seems to be a mixture of good and bad. The danger is for Catholics who are not properly catechized and would interpret everything coming from them to be quite orthodox without questioning (since that is their image.)

 

[Joe_5859]

I have a difficult time imagining in what kind of world EWTN could ever be considered left-leaning.

Simply because Fr. Barron mentioned the CWM doesn’t mean he’s some leftist liberal. He most definitely is not. Historically, CWM has done some really good things, even if they are a bit off-kilter nowadays.

 

[Teelynn]

I have a difficult time imagining in what kind of world EWTN could ever be considered left-leaning.

Simply because Fr. Barron mentioned the CWM doesn’t mean he’s some leftist liberal. He most definitely is not. Historically, CWM has done some really good things, even if they are a bit off-kilter nowadays.

Lets face it…unfortunately left leaning tentacles have reached into many of our once faithful organizations. You see it everywhere. I absolutely love Fr. Barron…have been watching his series on EWTN. Magnificent…truly inspiring, and am praying that it accomplishes his objective…to pull as many people into the Church of Christ as possible!!!

BTW, his camera and photography guy (I think that’s who Fr. Pacwa interviewed) was a lapsed Catholic when he started this project with Fr. Barron…he said that by the end of filming, the scales fell off his eyes, and he is now on fire for the Church! He also said how unusual it was that every time they had a film shoot the weather cooperated completely. The only time it was rainy and inclement was when they went to purgatory. (the island in Ireland that people go to do penance) Fr. Pacwa laughed and commented that the Lord was doing the “Directing”.

 

[ab75]

Is anyone watching the series CATHOLICISM on PBS and EWTN? I was happy with the series until viewing one episode on EWTN last night. The priest who was hosting the show spent several minutes discussing The Catholic Worker Movement. The Catholic Worker website has links to Call to Action and a group called the Quixote Center. Both of these groups are advocates for female ordination and “LBGT” rights. The series was so good I was dissapointed to see this group given so much airtime.

Has anyone felt the EWTN is leaning left these days?

I believe Father Baron was showing the way the founders of the Catholic Workers movement trusted in Jesus to really use non-violent methods and gave their whole life to improve lives of other, not an endorsement of negative aspects of the current organization. I, and almost all reviews I’ve read from orthodox Catholics, think the series is probably the best catechesis tool the church has released in years.

The ten part series starts with the line “if he (Jesus) is who he says he is, we have to give our whole life to him” … it’s quite a jump to get from there to any liberal agenda. This series clearly had a fair amount of support from the top of the Church (which is why Father Baron was a keynote speaker at World Youth days) and he was given so much access to film. If a few minutes devoted to a movement whose Founder has been recognized as a “servant of God” with a “cause for canonization” officially opened by the Pope is the biggest cause for concern, it’s probably a pretty good show.

I hope this doesn’t come off as too harsh, but while I remain very conservative by almost every standard, I have to admit the Bible has slowly but continually pushed my conservative sensibilities on one main issue, that almost all of Jesus’s harshes criticism was directed at the most conservative aspects of society, and their tendancies for exclusion and judgment. It’s certainly a fight I have often.

may God Bless and I hope this series helps many grow closer to Christ.

 

[ab75]

I absolutely love Fr. Barron…have been watching his series on EWTN. Magnificent…truly inspiring, and am praying that it accomplishes his objective…to pull as many people into the Church of Christ as possible!!!

 

[Teelynn]

Teelynn;8590408:

I absolutely love Fr. Barron…have been watching his series on EWTN. Magnificent…truly inspiring, and am praying that it accomplishes his objective…to pull as many people into the Church of Christ as possible!!!

I agree, although I think it has two big objectives. You are correct about pulling as many people into the Church as possible, but also catechising and inspiring those in the Church is just as big of a challange and need. As Father Baron says, 75% of Catholics stay away from the Mass, and former Catholics are the 2nd biggest religion in the US, so there is a lot of work to be done.

You got that right!! All the lapsed Catholics make up for many more than the actual practicing Catholics at this point! Tons of work to do is right! It brings to mind Archbishop Dolan’s address to the USCCB. He pulled the alarm bell on all the people that are NOT in the pews. Also gave a shout out to Fr. Barron!

 

[Marie5890]

I am so loving this series.

Not only did Fr Barron et al. knocked this one out of the ball park, they knocked it out of the city and into the next state.

This is going to be a serious instrument of evangelizism in the hands of Our Lord, thus in ours.

 

[GraceSofia]

I have a difficult time imagining in what kind of world EWTN could ever be considered left-leaning.

LOL Me, too.

 

[GraceSofia]

I only got to watch 3 episodes because the EWTN online times were just not possible for me to watch, but I LOVED what I saw!
Lots of beautiful imagery, both visual and verbal, and excellent teaching, with zinger examples and illustrations.

“Catholicism” Comes to PBS is a movie review, and the writer makes good points which pertain to the above discussion:

…Unabashedly a work of advocacy, even evangelization, Catholicism offers a confident, upbeat overview of the scope of 2000 years of Catholic history, belief, thought and practice.

Much of this is the common heritage of all Christians, and Fr. Barron’s approach is catholic as well as Catholic, name-checking C. S. Lewis and N. T. Wright alongside Thomas Aquinas and Augustine. Evangelicals will feel very much at home for the first few episodes as Fr. Barron expounds upon the disorienting, challenging uniqueness of Jesus, the revolutionary power of his teachings, and the fathomless mystery of God. Other episodes, particularly those dealing with the Virgin Mary and the Eucharist, will challenge non-Catholic sensibilities, but Fr. Barron’s emphasis on Scripture and reason establishes a broad common ground, and open-minded Evangelicals will appreciate his presentation even when they disagree.

Fr. Barron makes an engaging, appealing spokesman for Christianity and Catholicism, and his method is consistently positive and nonpolemical. He discusses topics like Aquinas’s ways of proving God and Catholic Marian spirituality without going out of his way to oppose challenges like “God is a delusion” or “Catholics worship Mary.” The settings are more than window dressing; Fr. Barron goes to Auschwitz to discuss the problem of evil, and magnificent locations including Hagia Sophia, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the tomb of Mother Teresa help to bring the Faith alive to the senses and the imagination.

 

[cethrinethomas]

I have not seen it…