Who is it that's ideologically driven?

Members of the President’s Council on Bioethics were told by the White House last week that their services were no longer needed and were asked to cancel a planned meeting.

The council was disbanded because it was designed by the Bush administration to be “a philosophically leaning advisory group” that favored discussion over developing a shared consensus, said Reid Cherlin, a White House press officer.

So no more advice from some of the giants in the field like Leon Kass, Edmund Pellegrino, Robert George, Dr. Ben Carson, Dr. Paul McHugh, Mary Ann Glendon, and more.

But no worries, President Obama will appoint a NEW bioethics commission, one with a new mandate and that “offers practical policy options,” Mr. Cherlin said. Who believes that this new council is NOT going to have a pretty solid ideological approach. We'll see how many of the new commissioners are against embryo-destructive research. Don't hold your breath.

Was there really fraud in Iranian election?

An anonymous Iranian analyzes the tumult in his own country on the NYT opinion page. He is concerned that American journalists are developing a counternarrative to the one he sees before his eyes. What is the counter-narrative? "That perhaps this election wasn’t a fraud after all. That the United States shouldn’t rush in with complaints of democracy denied, and that perhaps Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the president the Iranian people truly want (and, by extension, deserve)." He is forceful: "Do not believe it!"

He also reminds us that Moussavi was a favored son of Ayatollah Khomeini and a member of Iran's original cohort of revolutionaries, and he remains a firm believer in teh revolution and the framework of the Islamic Revolution.

This is what I've been stressing and why I haven't criticised the president for not doing or saying more. It's enough for the President to say that the United States is a friend of the Iranian people, and that we would like our ideals of peaceful protest, the rule of law and popular elections to prevail.

Alisa Harris over at World magazine offers an apologetic for some of the West's reporting on Ahmadinejad's victory.

I come back to the teachings of Vatican II on religious liberty. What are the prospects for religious freedom in Iran? At this point, there is no indication that Christians will be free to preach the gospel no matter who comes out on top.

Liturgy-Watchers Will Have To Wait A While Longer

The U.S. bishops will have to poll members missing from their meeting in San Antonio before it's known whether they are approving liturgical prayers, special Masses and key sections of an English translation of the order of the Mass.

Five texts being prepared for use in English-speaking countries failed to get the necessary two-thirds votes of the Latin-rite U.S. bishops during the June 18 session of the bishops' summer meeting.

With 244 Latin-rite bishops in the United States eligible to vote on the questions, the required two-thirds votes in favor of each of the sections would be 163. With 189 eligible bishops attending the meeting, only 134 voted to accept the first section, Masses and prayers for various needs and intentions.On four subsequent translations, the votes also failed to reach two-thirds, meaning the 55 bishops not in attendance will be polled by mail for their votes on all five parts.

That process was expected to take about two weeks.The items that failed to pass contain prefaces for the Mass for various occasions; votive Masses and Masses for the dead; solemn blessings for the end of Mass; prayers over the people and eucharistic prayers for particular occasions, such as for evangelization or holy orders.

More here...

Today on Kresta - June 19, 2009

Talking about the "things that matter most" on June 19
Live from Acton University in Grand Rapids, MI

3:00 – Social Teaching of Pope John Paul II
Soon Pope Benedict will release his first social encyclical. Fr. Raymond de Souza is here to discusses the specific contributions of Benedict’s predecessor, John Paul II, to the development of Catholic social teaching, with special attention to the treatment of economic subjects.

3:30 – A Path of Our Own
A Path of Our Own tells the story of Pomatambo, a village in one of the poorest parts of Peru’s highlands. Adam Webb brings to life the experiences of three generations of these humble peasants as they have been confronted by the modern world and tried to find a place in it. Through a land reform, a bloody Maoist insurgency, and the economic turbulence of more recent years, Pomatambo has looked for a way to break out of dire poverty while staying true to its own values and identity. But Adam argues this is much more than the story of one village. Pomatambo’s tale of hard times mirrors how traditional communities all over the world have been ill served by the dominant ideologies of the twentieth century. He maps out a vision of how traditional communities like Pomatambo can reclaim the future rather than surrender to others’ plans for them. And he imagines an economy of values that at last could bring a just and decent prosperity to the countryside of the global South—and elsewhere.

4:00 – Former Swiss Guard: 10 Lessons I Learned From Pope John Paul II
Andreas Widmer is the co-founder of the SEVEN Fund, a non-profit run by entrepreneurs whose goal is to dramatically increase the rate of innovation and diffusion of enterprise-based solutions to poverty. He also served as a member of the Pontifical Swiss Guard from 1986-1988, protecting John Paul II. He talks to us about 10 lessons that he learned from Pope John Paul the Great.

5:00 – Poverty and the Developing World
Michael Miller of the Acton Institute is here to examine poverty and the developing world. We look at some of the causes of poverty in the developing world, critically analyze current poverty alleviation strategies including aid and government planning, and focus on private property, rule of law, markets, and culture for economic development.

5:30 – Critiquing the Prosperity Gospel
Dr. Anthony Bradley examines the destructive impact that the “Prosperity Gospel” – the teaching according to which health and wealth are rewards for those who believe in a certain way, has on both human flourishing and authentic Christianity. We outline more constructive connection between wealth, economics, and Christian theology.

Supreme Leader has Friday sermons for the restless Iranians

The Supreme Leader of Iran will ply his trade on Friday. He'll use his homiletic skills to try and defray growing public resentment focused on the widely considered fraudulent election results. Al Jazeera says that the Guardian Council is investigating over 646 claims of voter fraud submitted by Mousavi and two other defeated candidates.

Pictures of the whitebearded leader are uniquitous throughout Iran. According to a popular Fox commentator/analyst "He is just looking out for them, you know, the folks." Huh, maybe it's Ali Orilee bin Satyr?

Parvez Sharma, director and producer of A Jihad for Love, and commentator on things Islamic sees the most violent and animated disorder in over ten years. He's updating his page on the Huffington Post with live updates from friends. "Tehelka" is the Hindustani word for chaos and/or mayhem and sensation, and the mayhem on the streets of Tehran as the Islamic Republic's controlled democracy stands exposed with all of its fissures- is a state of chaos, not seen in a long time."

The Stoning of Soraya M released with deadly timing!

Some movies just have their dream time. China Syndrome during the Three Mile Island fear, Wag the Dog during the Clinton Lewinsky affair, and now the Stoning of Soraya M during the Iranian fury. World Magazine notes: "Few films experience as timely a debut as The Stoning of Soraya M. is set to make on June 26. While women in Iran are protesting the suspect election of a president whose policies have been particularly oppressive to them, the true story of a woman who was wrongly put to death by Islamic officials in the 1980s seems especially relevant." World Magazine unfolds the story behind the story.

I've seen the film which will be getting its promotion and reviews next week. Since I'm leaving for vacation I won't say much except to ask if God or the devil (in one of his many forms) is the central character. Nick will have something to say with expected interviews with Jim Caviezel and Steve McEveety, producer.

Tehran 2009- Tianeman Square 1989- Budapest 1956?

What will happen at Iranian mosques on Friday? Friday is the day of public worship for Islam. It will test the "secularity hypothesis" which maintains that oppressive, intolerant religion has abused the Iranian people for the last thirty years. The secularist story goes on: Now, using public dissatisfaction with the election, these abuse victims will revolt against their religious oppressors by staying away from the mosques on Friday and push for a secular society along the lines of the French.

Don't count on it. If my instincts are right, all sides will show up at mosque to declare their Islamic legitimacy. The big question is whether or not it will be civil. Or will there be bloodshed?

If Iranians are like most theists, their sense of justice flows from their understanding of God. (Culture flows from cult; politics flows from ethics which flows from religion.) Hopefully, they will find in their tradition the resources of self and civic criticism potent enough to imbue them with courage to insist on higher standards of liberty, self-government and justice. These will come from mosque not Marx.

Many Westerners imagine that Iranians, fed up with Ahmadinehad, are, therefore, fed up with Islam and want to compete on American Idol, write for the New York Times, vote for Obama or otherwise escape their homeland and renounce the religion of their youth. In other words, they can't wait to be secularists just like the opinionmakers in the "prestige media".

But if American journalists are out of touch with most Americans on issues like abortion, religion, adultery, and same-sex marriage, then imagine how out of touch they are with the lives of 70 million men and women exponentially removed geographically, culturally and religiously from them.

Really, who the heck is protesting in Iran and what is their vision(s) of the future? Maybe they are just fed up with the past. The PIME Catholic AsiaNews.it writes that "According to Iranian and foreign analysts the people who have come out into the streets are a heterogeneous group. Indistinguishably, many hold up the pictures of Khomeini, Khamenei, Khatami and Mousavi. Some of them are supporters of the loser, who was a hardliner when Khomeini was in power; others are reformists who want to see greater opening to the West."

We just commemorated the 20th anniversary of the Tianeman Square massacre. Now we are witnessing another threat to a regime the West is hoping to see fall. What should the U.S. offer in support, moral or otherwise?
Eisenhower in the Prague uprising of 1956 failed to support the revolutionaries.
Bush failed to support them in China in 1989.
Obama is certainly talking softly, even apologetically.

The results?
Hungary was released from the Soviet Union thirty years after Eisenhower.

China remains controlled by the Communist party although it has undergone a corrupt capitalist economic boom supported by Bush I.

Iran lies in the balance.

But don't bet against the old Ayatollah Khomeini's innovative brand of Islamic Republic. Iranians for a generation have boasted of that as their contribution to the Islam-civil society debate. Khomeini was forward not backward looking in their eyes. He walked a line between the secularist Baathists in Syria and Iraq and the Sunni Wahhabis of Saudia Arabia. Even candidate Mousavi pledged to maintain an Islamic Republic by any means necessary. Change may be on the horizon but I'll be shocked if it's "secularist."

Pics from Day 2 at Acton University

Al with Ismael Hernandez (top left), Kishore Jayabalan (top right), Fr. John Zuhlsdorf (bottom left), and Sam Gregg (bottom right).

Key US bishops: No ecclesiastical sanctions against Notre Dame

The following from John Allen at the National Catholic Reporter who is at the USCCB meeting in San Antonio this week. Read more from John here...

I sat down with Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona yesterday and asked him about the fallout from the debate over the University of Notre Dame’s decision to award an honorary doctorate to President Barack Obama, and to invite him to deliver the university’s annual commencement address May 17.

Kincanas, a Chicago native, was elected vice-president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2007, which puts him in line to become president of the conference in 2010.
Among other things he said: "I don’t think anyone feels that President [John] Jenkins [the Holy Cross priest who heads Notre Dame] is a person of bad intention. He’s a good man. He’s deeply committed to the faith, as is the university. But we need to have dialogue and that’s what Bishop D’Arcy was expressing … the desire for some consultation."

The full interview can be read here: No push to punish Notre Dame for Obama invite.

Read also my interview with Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Curry of Los Angeles: ‘No consensus’ on follow-up to Notre Dame flap

Today on Kresta - June 18, 2009

Talking about the "things that matter most" on June 18
Live from Acton University in Grand Rapids, MI

3:00 – Truth and Fiction: Economic History of the Great Depression
Most people believe that the New Deal saved the United States from the worst ravages of the Great Depression, despite mounting historical evidence that this is a highly questionable proposition. Kishore Jayabalan outlines an alternative understanding of the causes of the Great Depression and the manner in which the New Deal prolonged rather than alleviated its effects.

3:30 – 10 Lessons I Learned From Pope John Paul II
Andreas Widmer is the co-founder of the SEVEN Fund, a non-profit run by entrepreneurs whose goal is to dramatically increase the rate of innovation and diffusion of enterprise-based solutions to poverty. He recently contributed two chapters to the book In the River They Swim: Essays from Around the World on Enterprise Solutions to Poverty. We talk about the problem of worldwide poverty. We also get 10 lessons that Andreas learned from Pope John Paul II as a member of the Pontifical Swiss Guard from 1986-1988, protecting John Paul II.

4:00 – Subsidiarity and Serving the Poor
As a former Marxist, Ismael Hernandez has a unique view of subsidiarity and serving the poor. He is here to define a Catholic understanding of subsidiarity, apply it to the context of human spiritual, moral, and material need, and elaborate on the unique ability of private charity to address such needs using local knowledge and resources unavailable and unsuited to public agencies.

4:30 – Pope Benedict XVI and His Vision for Europe
Why do Europeans and Americans see the world so differently? Why do Europeans and Americans have such different understandings of democracy? Sam Gregg outlines Benedict XVI's diagnosis of Europe's contemporary crisis of identity, clarifies his proposals for European renewal, and assesses the chances of realizing this vision.

5:00 – Pope Benedict XVI and His Vision of Liturgy
Pope Benedict XVI has made a key personnel change in the Roman Curia, appointing an American Dominican, Father Augstine DiNoia, as secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship. Father DiNoia - who will become an archbishop as he assumes his new role - replaces Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith, who has been named Archbishop of Colombo in his native Sri Lanka. We talk with expert liturgist, Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, about this move as well as the Holy Father’s wider vision for authentic liturgy.

5:30 – Universal Health Care – Or a Private Sector Solution?
Reform of the American health care sector is urgent. The current trend of ever increasing health-care spending, superimposed upon technological advancement and an aging demographic, is unsustainable. Approximately 15 percent of Americans lack health insurance and millions are underinsured or struggling with medical bills. Employer based medical care is disintegrating. Well-intentioned leaders often advocate for ‘comprehensive’ or ‘universal’ reform with more government or employer involvement in health care. Yet our government has a record found wanting in the defense of human dignity. Broad mandates threaten those whose consciences are committed to the sanctity of life. Furthermore, approximately 50 percent of medical spending is already government funded and expenses continue to escalate. Medicare faces insolvency by 2019, or earlier. United States firms struggle to compete in the global marketplace against firms not similarly responsible for medical benefits. How ought health care be reformed? We attack that question with an M.D., Dr. Donald Condit of the Acton Institute.

Catholics in Iran muzzled!

Christians are but a fragment of Iran's 70 million citizens. The International Religious Freedom Report of 2004 accepted by the U.S. State Department optimistically listed a total number of 300,000 Christians in Iran.

Swiss Catholics visited their brethren in 2006 and returned recognizing the obvious: Catholics are prohibited from proclaiming the Gospel to their countrymen. This is true in all Muslim-dominated countries.

While we hope and pray for greater liberty in Iran, a regime change won't permit the sovereign rights of Jesus Christ to be proclaimed in the land. Mousavi, challenger to Ahmadinejad, campaigned on the grounds that the Islamic Republic must be preserved by any means necessary. This means that the freedom to proclaim the gospel is not an option. St. Paul was freer to preach in ancient Rome than any missionary in modern Tehran.

If time permits listen to Paul Marshall's careful but clear lecture on Radical Islam.

Pics From Acton University

The President and Founder of the Acton Institute - Fr. Robert Sirico (left) and Al interviewing Robert George of Princeton University (right).

Judging Justices, Catholic and otherwise

June 17th, 2009 by George Weigel

When Samuel Alito was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Bush in 2005, there was a great and frequently uncivil hoo-rah to the effect that Alito would give the Supremes a “Catholic majority.” In this case, “Catholic” was code for “anti-Roe v. Wade ”—and if you doubt that, consider that there was precious little noise out of the folks who fretted about Alito and the Catholic “majority” when President Obama nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor, of Puerto Rican and Catholic ancestry, to fill the slot on the Court being vacated by Justice David Souter.

From what little was disclosed about Judge Sotomayor’s religious convictions and practice immediately after her nomination, it seems fair to say, at a minimum, that she’s not been particularly ardent in the practice of the faith. But that’s entirely beside the point when considering what her accession to the Court would mean—as it should have been entirely beside the point with Sam Alito, who by all accounts is a seriously practicing Catholic. To grasp what counts, think back to the Winter Olympics during the heyday of the Cold War.

Read more...

Today on Kresta - June 17, 2009

Talking about the "things that matter most" on June 17
Live from Acton University in Grand Rapids, MI

3:00 – Sotomayor, Catholic Supremacy, and Protestant Approaches to Law
The nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court raises the prospect that for the first time in history there will be a supermajority of justices on the same court affiliated to one degree or another with the Catholic Church. Indeed, if her nomination is successful—as most experts believe it will be—half of the Catholics who have ever been on the Supreme Court will be serving simultaneously. At the same time the number of Protestants on the court will fall to a historic low—with David Souter’s retirement, John Paul Stevens will be the lone Protestant. With Catholic representation on the land’s highest court at its apex, and Protestant representation at its nadir, the question must be asked whether this reflects a shift in the balance of legal influence reflective of underlying deficiencies in American Protestantism. We talk with Jordan Ballor about Sotomayor, Catholic Supremacy, and Protestant approaches to law.

3:20 – Islam, Markets, and a Free Society
Is Islam compatible with free markets or does it promote collectivism? We take an overview of Islamic sources on the issue of economic freedom and an examination of the newly developing "Islamic capitalism." Also we examine the critical issue of Islam’s ability to take on the challenges of modernity. Mustafa Akyol is our guest.

4:00 – Beyond Contracts / Father’s Day Initiative
Marriage and family play important roles in building and maintaining both a strong society and a market economy. Marriage and family breakdown have short and long term economic costs and myriad externalities. We talk with Jennifer Roback Morse about the family, marriage and going beyond contracts.

4:40 – Is Iran Headed for Revolution?
Before the Iranian election took place, Bridgitte Gabriel said this: “No matter who wins today, it will not make that much of a difference in Iran. All four candidates have been chosen by and approved by the Mullahs out of 450 applicants. Even though some of them are touted as moderates such as Mir Hussein Moussavi, they are all subscribers of the Mullah ideology and philosophy in one form or another. This is the reason why they were chosen to run.” She joins us today and we ask if the unrest in Iran changes her opinion and what this event will mean for Iran and its relationship with the West.

5:00 – America’s Founding and Natural Law
In his book Making Men Moral, Robert George questioned the central doctrines of liberal jurisprudence and political theory. In his next book, In Defense of Natural Law, he extended his critique of liberalism, and also went beyond it to show how contemporary natural law theory provides a superior way of thinking about basic problems of justice and political morality. He joins us today to discuss America’s founding on natural law.

5:30 – The Economic Thought of Augustine and Aquinas
The work of Augustine and Aquinas decisively shaped the early and medieval Christian Church, including its thought about the economic realm of life. Alex Chafuen examines their thought on economic matters, underlines the continuities and distinctions, and illustrates how they contributed to the future direction of economic thinking.

Live From Acton University This Week

Stay with us all week as we broadcast live from Acton University in Grand Rapids, MI this week. The "conference" is sponsored by the Acton Institute, and we will be interviewing many of the speakers such as Robert George, Fr. Robert Sirico, Kishore Jayabalan, Jennifer Roback Morse, Sam Gregg, Mustafa Akyol, Anthony Bradley and many more.

We will post pictures and watch the live webcam every day from 3-6 p.m. Eastern Time. ENJOY!!! We sure will.

Hollywood-Catholic truce broken?

This from the National Catholic Reporter:

Just when we thought that "Angels & Demons" had called a truce in the battle between Catholics and Hollywood, a new front has been established.

Screen Gems, part of Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group and Sony Pictures Entertainment, has announced it is working on "Priest," about a rogue, "warrior" priest in a future world ravaged by centuries of war between humans and vampires. The film is based on the Korean comic book series of the same name created by Hyung Min-woo.

Starring are Paul Bettany (You may remember him as Silas in "The Da Vinci Code." I remember him as Geoffrey Chaucer in "A Knight's Tale.") as warrior priest Ivan Isaacs, and Cam Gigandet (who played a vampire in that other vampire movie, "Twilight") as a half-human, half-vampire sheriff. The two team-up to save Gena (not yet cast), Bettany's niece and Gigandet's girl friend.
The film is in pre-production. A late summer 2010 release is expected. Stay tuned for culture war fall out.

Benedict: Social Encyclical Coming "Soon"

Pope Benedict XVI offered a quick preview of his forthcoming social encyclical, and disclosed that it would be issued "soon," during a June 13 audience with members of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation.

The Holy Father said that a market economy serves society "only if oriented toward the common good." Moreover, he said, "freedom in the economic sector must be circumscribed within a strong juridical framework which places it at the service of human freedom in its totality."

The Pontiff said that reflections on economics and the common welfare are particularly necessary today in light of the worldwide financial crisis. That crisis, he said, "clearly indicates the need to reconsider certain economic-financial paradigms that have dominated over the last few years."

Pope Benedict said that his encyclical, applying the principles of Catholic social teaching to current economic discussions, will address that need for a new examination of the global economy. The text, he said, will "highlight what, for us as Christians, are the objectives that need to be pursued and what values to be tirelessly promoted and defended in order to create a truly free and united form of human coexistence."

Seems especially appropriate since we are broadcasting this week from the Acton Institute and their "conference" - Acton University.

Another American Takes a Top Post at the Vatican

Pope Benedict XVI has made a key personnel change in the Roman Curia, appointing an American Dominican, Father Augstine DiNoia, as secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship. Father DiNoia-- who will become an archbishop as he assumes his new role-- replaces Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don, who has been named Archbishop of Colombo in his native Sri Lanka.

The replacement of Archbishop Ranjith had been rumored for months. Hand-picked by Pope Benedict to take the #2 spot in the Congregation for Divine Worship in December 2005, the Sri Lankan prelate had become the focus of some controversy in Rome because of his outspoken stand against liturgical abuse and his clear sympathy for traditionalist Catholics. In December 2008 the Holy Father appointed Cardinal Antonio Canizares as prefect of the liturgical congregation. Because the Spanish cardinal is also firmly committed to the Pope's agenda for liturgical reform, that appointment was widely regarded as a sign that Archbishop Ranjith's presence in the Congregation for Divine Worship was no longer essential, and he would soon be moved to a new post.

In Sri Lanka, Archbishop Ranjith will lead the Church in the nation's capital, and face the challenge of restoring unity in the wake of the country's long civil war. Many Vatican-watchers suspect that he will be raised to the College of Cardinals at the next consistory, as a sign of the Pope's support. In Colombo he replaces Archbishop Oswald Gomis, who is retiring at the age of 76.

Archbishop-elect DiNoia, who joins the swelling ranks of American prelates in the top ranks of the Roman Curia, has been the undersecretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The 65-year-old native of New York had been called to Rome after a stint as the chief staff member for the US bishops' committee on doctrine.

Today on Kresta - June 16, 2009

Talking about the "things that matter most" on June 16
Live from Acton University in Grand Rapids, MI

3:00 – The Church and its “Two Lungs”
The Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma was established in 1969 and is celebrating its 40th anniversary this month. The Eparchy now includes Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Those organizing the event say that now is the time for the Church of Parma to experience newness: new appreciation of the pioneers who formed the eparchy and forged ahead through its early years, the New Evangelization begun by Pope John Paul II, the new hope in Christ expressed by Pope Benedict XVI on his visit to the United States, new zeal, new excitement, new life. Fr. Deacon Lawrence Hendricks is here to discuss the Byzantine Church and John Paul II’s description of the Church needing two lungs to breathe.

3:20 – Voting Rights…And Wrongs
The 1965 Voting Rights Act is the crown jewel of American civil rights legislation. Its passage marked the death knell of the Jim Crow South. But that was the beginning, not the end, of an important debate on race and representation in American democracy. When is the distribution of political power racially fair? Who counts as a representative of black and Hispanic interests? How we answer such questions shapes our politics and public policy in profound but often unrecognized ways. The act’s original aim was simple: Give African Americans the same political opportunity enjoyed by other citizens—the chance to vote, form political coalitions, and elect the candidates of their choice. Abigail Thernstrom argues that southern resistance to black political power began a process by which the act was radically revised both for good and ill. She makes her case.

4:00 – Kresta Comments

5:00 – Acton University
Acton University is a unique, four-day exploration of the intellectual foundations of a free society. Guided by a distinguished, international faculty, Acton University is an opportunity to deepen your knowledge and integrate rigorous philosophy, Christian theology and sound economics. As we kick off our week-long broadcast from the Acton Institute in Grand Rapids, MI, Acton’s Founder, Fr. Robert Sirico, is with us to look at what the Institute does and what we can expect to encounter as we speak to the presenters at this week’s Acton University.

5:30 – Health Care Reform – A Catholic Look
Reform of the American health care sector is urgent. The current trend of ever increasing health-care spending, superimposed upon technological advancement and an aging demographic, is unsustainable. Approximately 15 percent of Americans lack health insurance and millions are underinsured or struggling with medical bills. Employer based medical care is disintegrating. Well-intentioned leaders often advocate for ‘comprehensive’ or ‘universal’ reform with more government or employer involvement in health care. Yet our government has a record found wanting in the defense of human dignity. Broad mandates threaten those whose consciences are committed to the sanctity of life. Furthermore, approximately 50 percent of medical spending is already government funded and expenses continue to escalate. Medicare faces insolvency by 2019, or earlier. United States firms struggle to compete in the global marketplace against firms not similarly responsible for medical benefits. How ought health care be reformed? We attack that question with Kevin Schmeising of the Acton Institute.

Today on Kresta - June 15, 2009

Talking about the "things that matter most" on June 15
Live from the Acton Institute in Grand Rapids, MI

3:00 – Kresta Comments

3:20 – Talking Jesus: Obama vs. Bush
There’s an important article in the Politico, titled, “Obama Invokes Jesus More Than Bush.” President Barack Obama, says the article, has mentioned Jesus Christ “in a number of high-profile public speeches,” more so than did President George W. Bush, and in much less “innocuous contexts.” Obama has done so in order to promote certain policies, especially his economic policies, and “to connect with a broader base of supporters.” He does this via various “targeted messages.” Most remarkable, the article considers whether Obama is using the bully pulpit to pursue “an even larger goal” of resurrecting the Christian left, of appealing to disillusioned conservative evangelicals, and to attract “swing Protestants” and “swing Catholics.” In other words, Obama is doing the things, faith-wise, that Bush was angrily accused of doing. Is it true, and if so, what does it mean. Political scientist Paul Kengor has the analysis.

3:40 – Archbishop Burke and Catholic Media Responsibilities
In the Decree on the Media of Social Communications, Inter Mirifica , the Second Vatican Council Fathers spoke of the need for “A truly Catholic press with the clear purpose of forming, supporting and advancing public opinion in accord with natural law and Catholic teaching and precepts.” Enter Catholic News Service (CNS) — an agency of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops that was created more than forty years before the Council specifically for the purpose of carrying out this very mission. Today, CNS is the world’s largest Catholic news organization of its kind, generating news items and editorial pieces that are reprinted in more than 200 Catholic publications worldwide. Mission accomplished, right? Well, not exactly. CNS’ failure to consistently apply reliably Catholic editorial standards had become so problematic that Archbishop Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura at the Vatican, has taken the extraordinarily bold step of criticizing CNS from Rome. “The bishops need to look at our Catholic News Service; they need to review their coverage of the Church’s moral and social teachings and give some new direction,” he said. We look at it with a man who has written extensively on the subject, Louis Verricchio.

4:00 – Walking Across America for the Conversion of Youth
It was in the heart of Iowa, where Jon Leonetti was born and raised, that he fell in love with his Catholic faith. As the host of the Catholic radio show, Martyrs of the Third Millennium, Jon was ready to take the message of the New Evangelization from the air waves to the streets. Inspired through reading the lives of the saints Jon has realized that in order to live his Catholic faith to the fullest, he has to give it all. That is why he has chosen to walk, over 3,500 miles, asking young people to take on a new way of living, one where they are lost in the love of Jesus Christ. Through this journey in faith, Jon and his friend Jesse are encouraging young people to live their lives as a Martyr of the Third Millennium, one who continually dies to self and lives for something greater, our God. We catch up with them in IL.

4:20 – Were the Iranian Elections Fixed?
Defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi appeared in public today for the first time since an election that has divided the nation, joining hundreds of thousands of supporters who defied a ban to stage a mass rally in Tehran. "God willing, we will take back our rights," Mousavi shouted from the roof of a car amid a vast sea of Iranians, young and old, who packed into central Tehran to protest Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election.Iran , battling one of its worst political crises since the Islamic revolution three decades ago, faced a growing international backlash over the validity of the election and the subsequent crackdown on opposition protests. Iran's supreme leader ordered a probe into allegations of vote-rigging in the election that returned Ahmandinejad to power, denting Western hopes of a change in domestic and foreign policy of the oil-rich Shiite-dominated nation. Ahmadinejad has defended the results of an election that gave the combative hardliner another four years in power. We talk with Ali Alfoneh of the American Enterprise Institute

4:40 – Acton University
Acton University is a unique, four-day exploration of the intellectual foundations of a free society. Guided by a distinguished, international faculty, Acton University is an opportunity to deepen your knowledge and integrate rigorous philosophy, Christian theology and sound economics. As we kick off our week-long broadcast from the Acton Institute in Grand Rapids, MI, Acton’s Communication Director, John Couretas, is with us to look at what the Institute does and what we can expect to encounter as we speak to the presenters at this week’s Acton University.

5:00 – NY: Cash for Eggs
New York’s Empire State Stem Cell Board (ESSCB) has approved a plan that would pay women to provide human eggs for research purposes. Bucking a national trend seen in states like California and Massachusetts, which prohibit payment for eggs for research, the ESSCB Ethics Committee voted for state research funds to be provided to researchers who pay women for their eggs, making New York the only state in the union to tacitly endorse a cash-for-eggs scheme. At its meeting on June 11, the ESSCB approved providing state money for direct payments to women to try to obtain human eggs for research. Fr. Thomas Berg of the Westchester Bioethics Institute is our guest.

5:00 – Concluding the Year of St. Paul
Zealous for the God of Israel, Saul of Tarsus pursued murderous threats against the disciples of Jesus. But Saul's zeal was turned upside down when he was knocked from his "high horse" and humbled by the hand of God. As we conclude this year of St. Paul, we are joined by Steve Ray, who will take you on the road with St. Paul through Israel, Syria, Turkey, Greece and Italy. Fall from a horse in the desert and dangle over the Damascus Wall in a basket. Cling to driftwood in the sea and stride along ancient Roman roads. You'll better understand the life, ministry, and sufferings of Paul the Apostle.