Today on Kresta - Nov. 18, 2009

Talking about the "things that matter most" on Nov. 18
Live from the USCCB Fall Meeting in Baltimore, MD

4:00 – Bishops Approve Translations of Final Five Sections of Roman Missal – Not Without Controversy However
The U.S. bishops approved the English translation and U.S. adaptations of five final sections of the Roman Missal in voting late yesterday afternoon. With overwhelming majority votes, the bishops approved translations of the proper of the saints, specific prayers to each saint in the universal liturgical calendar; the commons, general prayers for celebrating saints listed in the "Roman Martyrology"; the Roman Missal supplement; the U.S. propers, a collection of orations and formularies for feasts and memorials particular to the U.S. liturgical calendar; and U.S. adaptations to the Roman Missal. There was some debate on the floor about a separate piece of the translations -- the antiphons -- which has not come to the bishops for consideration, but instead has advanced through the Vatican's approval procedures without the consultation of the English-language bishops' conferences around the world. We talk about the votes with Fr. Peter Stravinskas.

4:20 – Fulton Sheen: His Life, Example and Cause for Canonization
Fulton John Sheen was born on May 8,1895 in El Paso, Illinois. The oldest of four sons, he was baptized Peter John in St. Mary’s Church, but soon became known by his mother’s maiden name, Fulton. The family moved to Peoria where the young Sheen attended school and served as an altar boy at St. Mary’s Cathedral. Turning down a significant scholarship for graduate school, he followed his desire to become a priest and entered St. Paul’s Seminary in Minnesota. Father Sheen went on to become Archbishop Fulton John Sheen, a universally popular evangelist, radio/TV personality, writer and missionary. He is most known for his television series, “Life is Worth Living” which had a viewing audience of over 30 million people. Archbishop Fulton John Sheen, a Son of Peoria, a Son of the Church, died on December 9, 1979 in his private chapel in his Manhattan apartment. In 2002, Bishop Daniel Jenky, CSC, of the Diocese of Peoria, IL officially opened the cause for Sheen’s beatification and canonization. We talk with Bishop Jenky about Sheen’s life, example and cause for canonization.

4:40 – “Life-Giving Love in an Age of Technology”
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a document on reproductive technologies, and a proposed revision to the directives that guide Catholic health care services yesterday. “Life-Giving Love in an Age of Technology,” which addresses Catholic teaching on a range of infertility treatments, passed with 220 in favor, 4 opposed and 3 abstaining. The document looked at morally problematic procedures including in vitro fertilization, embryo adoption, sperm and egg donation and surrogacy and recommended therapeutic means that help a couple conceive through sexual intercourse rather than replacing the act itself. We talk about it with Dr. John Haas of the National Catholic Bioethics Center who advised on the document.

5:00 – USCCB Fall Meeting: An Analysis
With the major work of the USCCB Fall Meeting now completed, we get a report from Raymond Arroyo. What were the highlights, and what will have the greatest impact on the Church? What will be felt by those in the pews, and what happened behind the scenes? Raymond has it all.

5:20 – A Catholic View of Literary Classics – Part 8 of 10: Merchant of Venice
We continue our 10-week series examining Classic Literature from a Catholic perspective. Acclaimed literary biographer Joseph Pearce is the editor of the Ignatius Critical Editions and will be our guide. We will ensure that traditional moral readings of the works are given prominence, instead of the feminist or deconstructionist readings that often proliferate in other series of 'critical editions'. As such, they represent a genuine extension of consumer choice, enabling educators, students, and lovers of good literature to buy editions of classic literary works without having to 'buy into' the ideologies of secular fundamentalism. Today, we examine Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.

5:40 – “2012”
When we got word recently that the movie “2012” depicts the Vatican being blown up, along with the famous statue from Rio, Christ the Redeemer, we were unmoved. Why? Because this occurs during the end of the world in a massive destruction. This kind of sensationalism, we reasoned, is standard fare for director Roland Emmerich: he is the guru of the “blow ‘em up” genre of movies. But now we’ve learned that while Catholics get theirs, Muslims are spared. Out of fear, of course. Emmerich is more than a coward—he is a liar who has it out for Catholics. Last year, he was quoted saying, “I would like to erase all nations and religions.” Not true. He is quite content to live with Islam, even though he readily admits it is a religion of terror. When asked why he did not show the destruction of Kaaba, the religious structure in the Grand Mosque in Mecca, he said, “I wanted to do that, I have to admit. You can actually let Christian symbols fall apart, but if you would do this with [an] Arab symbol, you would have…a fatwa.” We talk about the film with Fr. Robert Barron.