Jane Fonda on Catholic Exchange?
Dear Catholic Exchange:
Several times I have visited your site and [have] seen articles showcasing decidedly non-Catholic viewpoints. The Jane Fonda article [“Good Morning America Oozes Over Jane Fonda's Contraceptive Quest“] is a good example. I would [think] that a Catholic [website] would present a Catholic counterpoint, otherwise non-Catholics and uninformed Catholics may easily believe that these view points represent acceptable Church teaching.
If you prefer not to present a counterpoint, then I suggest you put a prominent disclaimer on your [website] stating that some articles present non-Catholic view points and are offered so that Catholics may be kept abreast of developments concerning these viewpoints.
Respectfully,
Therese
Dear Therese:
Thanks for writing in.
From the time of our founding we have described ourselves as a unique “faith and life” site, a place where Catholics can come to get their news/weather/sports — and also the richest offering of Catholic faith-based content available. We've tried from our earliest days to maintain a 50/50 mix of the two so as to attract nominal Catholics who typically have a negative response to purely “religious” sites.
That said — and given your confusion about the kind of site Catholic Exchange is — perhaps we need to do a better job of explaining our mission and our content offering. But I must admit to some confusion about the nature of your objection to the Fonda piece. It is a straight media account of one celebrity spouting off her wrong-headed opinions about how to solve the world's problems while being stroked and encouraged by another misguided celebrity. I would think it would be obvious to most of our viewers that settled Catholic teaching on sex education, contraception, population control, or just about any other issue is pretty much always the opposite of whatever Ms. Fonda or Ms. Sawyer have to say.
Pax Christi,
Tom Allen
Editor & President
Catholic Exchange
U2 on Catholic Exchange
Dear Catholic Exchange:
I read with interest Terry Mattingly's article about the band U2 [“Rockers U2 Bedevil Modern Church“]. You see, I was a huge U2 fan during the 1980's, which was in my opinion [the time of] their best music. Also, during that time, I truly believed they were a Christian band. I completely wore out two cassette copies of “Joshua Tree.”
However, their music seemed to take a down-turn after that. Then I read a biography about the band that described their early Christian roots and their conscious decision to turn away from their religious faith to follow the gods of rock and roll and fame and fortune. Interviews with lead singer Bono revealed, to me, a confused person who didn't really know what he was. I believe some of the band members went through divorces and remarriage. Then I read a quote from an interview with Bono that confirmed my beliefs. He stated “organized religion is dead, and I am glad for that” (paraphrased).
I believe the band’s faith is more in line with the Hollywood “personal journey” type spirituality that is very common with people like Richard Gere and Carlos Santana. I would not consider them model Catholics by any stretch of the imagination. It would be great to see an article in Catholic Exchange about a real Catholic band like Crispin or Fr. Stan Fortuna.
Andrew J. Nadeau
Father of seven and living room-bound rock star (at least to my kids).
Springvale, Maine
Dear Mr. Nadeau:
Thanks for your feedback. You seem to know a lot more about U2 than I do.
I happened to see Bono interviewed on Charlie Rose recently and was impressed by his outspokenness about his faith and his apparently authentic Christianity. He spoke about Catholicism and the pope — with whom he has met on behalf of Third World debt relief — so I assumed he was a practicing, albeit non-traditional, Catholic.
He is clearly more courageously Christian than someone like Bruce Springsteen, who sometimes gets credit for being an influential Catholic. Jeff Cavins talks about how Bono reminds him of a latter-day Old testament prophet shouting from stages at the top of his lungs about God. Given all this I thought Mattingly's piece would be a good fit for Catholic Exchange.
I appreciate your perspective and support!
In Christ,
Tom Allen
Editor & President
Catholic Exchange
The History of the Doxology
Dear Mark Shea:
A quick question regarding, – “for the kingdom, the power, and the glory…”
It's not in our Catholic versions of the Bible, but it's in the KJV (Mt 6:13).
Sincerely,
Marc Giaquinto
Dear Marc:
It's an interpolation (a scribal addition probably reflecting the use of the doxology in the liturgy of the scribe(s) copying the manuscript) that is found in the Greek Textus Receptus upon which the King James Bible was based. This Protestant translation was, of course, one of the literary cornerstones of the English-speaking world and so it became common wherever English Protestantism went. Other, more ancient manuscripts do not have this passage.
Modern translations of Scripture, both Catholic and Protestant, typically leave this passage out, precisely because it is an interpolation. In the Mass, this doxology is separated from the Lord's Prayer.
Hope that helps!
Mark Shea
Senior Content Editor
Catholic Exchange
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