TV star Donna D'Errico on her Catholic faith

In recent news, Donna D'Errico, former prime time TV star, has been talking about her renewed Catholic faith. I first read about this at Catholic Vote. The story was in reference to an interview she did with Fox411, in which she expressed her affinity for the Divine Liturgy and the Rosary. See also her recent interview at Ignitum Today.  Pro-Catholic stories like Donna's among the world of celebrities are uncommon. As a follow to that interview, I asked her if she would answer a few short interview questions for my blog, and she was kind enough to reply. Here is her interview with The Catholic Voyager:

TCV: Recently, you articulated that you've made mistakes in life, and eluded to something you've worn for the past 6 years. Can you expound on that item and what it means to you? 

DD: I was referring to my Brown Scapular. I was enrolled into the Brown Scapular many years ago, and have not removed it since. 

TCV: Who is your favorite saint and what about them appeals to you? 

DD: Saint Monica. Her struggles in her marriage resonate with me. 

TCV: Today there are many "Catholics" who dissent with a variety of Church teaching. For example, there are politicians, some nuns and even priests, actors, or actresses who disagree with the Catechism on abortion or doctrines like how priests must be male to sacramentally represent Christ. Would you consider yourself a "traditional" Catholic who embraces the doctrines of the Church? Or do you see yourself as having views opposed to those taught in the Catechism?  

DD: If your beliefs are not in full accordance with the Baltimore Catechism, then you're not Catholic.

TCV: What advice would you give to young people today, especially young ladies, who are adverse to religion, on what the Church has to offer? 

DD: I'm not sure what advice I could give to anyone who is adverse to religion. I'm certainly no missionary. I returned because outside of it, I was lost and headed down the wrong road. I don't buy into the new-age mindset that everyone is automatically saved and automatically goes straight to Heaven. It sounds really nice and all, but it's just not the case. If you die with mortal sin on your soul, you go to Hell - plain and simple. The one, true, Canonically correct, pre-Vatican II Catholic Church offers everything you need to be able to make it into Heaven. 

TCV: You recently mentioned support for Ron Paul as opposed to either major party candidate. Do you feel that the nation could stand to benefit from a third party leader outside the major-two-party system? 

DD: Yes. Although it wasn't always this way, candidates who represent either of the two major political parties are largely all the same person. You may as well cover your eyes and throw a dart, and decide who to vote for that way. They are puppets, controlled by puppeteers. The only chance we have of getting someone in office who is not controlled by the "powers that be" is by voting for the person rather than the party.

I want to thank Donna for her response to my interview request and for all her interviews in which she courageously has spoken with the conviction of truth on things Catholic such as the Liturgy, the Rosary, prayer, and Confession.

Misinformation on Creationism and Evolution

The Osgood File is a mini radio show played on some radio stations throughout the nation. On August 23, 2012, the host, Charles Osgood, reported on Autism risk as it related to the father's age of the child. You can read the whole thing here if you're interested in the Autism study.

One of the parts that caught my ear was the following of Osgood's statement:

...most mutations are benign. And in fact, they're the essential engine of evolution - or, evidence of the Hand of God, if you're a creationist. It's the way that organisms change over time.

As it is stated, it appears that Osgood believes there is a void between someone who believes there is a Creator and someone who believes in the theory of evolution. Osgood's statement is made as a contrast. As we've discussed on this blog, there is a sentiment that religious belief and science are at odds, and Osgood's statement fits in with this myth.

Truth be told, not all Creationists must be anti-evolution. In fact, such believers aren't even a rare exception. And Osgood did not qualify his statement.

Although evolution is a matter of science and not theology, the idea is not incompatible with Catholic theology as long as it does not attempt to eliminate God from the ensoulment of humans. For example:

Taking into account the state of scientific research at the time as well as of the requirements of theology, the encyclical Humani Generis considered the doctrine of "evolutionism" a serious hypothesis, worthy of investigation and in-depth study equal to that of the opposing hypothesis. Pius XII added two methodological conditions: that this opinion should not be adopted as though it were a certain, proven doctrine and as though one could totally prescind from revelation with regard to the questions it raises. He also spelled out the condition on which this opinion would be compatible with the Christian faith, a point to which I will return. (Pope John Paul II, Truth Cannot Contradict Truth, 1996)

Further expounding on Pope Pius XII's Humani Generis, Pope John Paul II continued:

Pius XII stressed this essential point: If the human body take its origin from pre-existent living matter, the spiritual soul is immediately created by God ("animas enim a Deo immediate creari catholica fides nos retinere iubei"; "Humani Generis," 36). Consequently, theories of evolution which, in accordance with the philosophies inspiring them, consider the spirit as emerging from the forces of living matter or as a mere epiphenomenon of this matter, are incompatible with the truth about man. Nor are they able to ground the dignity of the person.

So essentially, evolution is not incompatible with the faith, so long as it does not claim to interfere with the theological matter of the soul––a matter outside the bounds of science.

One of the pertinent statements in Pius XII's Humani Generis reads as follows:

[T]he Teaching Authority of the Church does not forbid that...research and discussions...take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter -- for the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God. (Pope Pius XII, Humani Generis, #36, 1950)

It is thus not a matter of religion being opposed to science. Even in 1950, when scientists were less clear on evolution, Pius XII specifically welcomed research on evolution. He then referenced the matter of "Catholic faith" which teaches that God creates the soul.

Thus, Osgood's blanket statement contrasting those who believe in evolution versus those who believe in Creation beckons clarification.

How to keyword search the Early Church Fathers

This post contains a helpful free method I use when trying to keyword search the Early Church Fathers without falling into websites that do not provide source material or that quote-mine. Some of you may have figured this out, but I will share all the same. Here is a sample:

site:www.newadvent.org/fathers/ Peter keys

Substitute for the bold words "Peter keys" with whatever keywords you want. Then paste the whole line into Google's search field, and that's it!

The search will turn up pages at New Advent of Church Fathers and councils containing those keywords. Click here to see what the search results for the above looks like. Try your own keywords on various topics or even include a Church Father's name, such as "Chrysostom priest" to see texts of St. John Chrysostom containing the word "priest." The sky's the limit––baptism, Liturgy, purgatory, sacrifice, whatever you wish! This is not an exhaustive search, of course, as New Advent does not contain every single text from ECFs, but it is very useful all the same.

Catholic moments in the book "World War Z"

I recently read World War Z by Max Brooks,  a 2006 novel chronicling a zombie apocalypse. The movie comes out later in 2013. There are a few references I call "Catholic/God moments" in the book––some not so flattering, some quite positive. Mind you, the variations seem to be due to the author's choice of the characters' opinions. The whole book is a compilation of fictional interviews conducted by the narrator. So each chapter is filled with numerous "interviews" with different characters. In general, my sense was that God generally was portrayed favorably if there was any such "message" from the story. Below are the related excerpts I highlighted. My apologies for any excerpts I missed while reading it. Following each excerpt is its corresponding page number/e-reader location.

The narrator interviews a "Philip Adler," a "Catholic" who "joined the throngs of visitors to the pope's wartime refuge." He describes his wife as "Bavarian," and she made a "pilgrimage to Saint Patrick's Cathedral." (108/1899) 

An interviewee named Joe Muhammed claims, "Every year some lawyer or priest or politician tries to stoke that fire for whatever side best suits them." (155/2710) 

The character Roy Elliot, a filmmaker, states: "But I do know that just like all those ex-atheists in foxholes, most Americans were still praying for the God of science to save them." The interviewer responds to that comment with, "But it didn't." The subject responded that "it didn't matter," and that his film documentaries about cutting edge military technology were "psychological war winners." (163/2835) 

Todd Wainio, one of the soldiers interviewed, spoke of his battle partner: "Sister Montoya, fifty-two years old, she'd been a nun, still was I guess. Five three and a buck even, she'd protected her whole Sunday school class for nine days with nothing but a six-foot iron candlestick." (273/4672) 

One of the interviewed characters is "Father Sergei Ryzhkov" of the "Holy Russian Empire." I presume he is Russian Orthodox, but the text is not specific. He details his role as a chaplain during the war. At one point, he states, "soldiers killing themselves had cost the Lord too many good souls. Suicide was a sin, and we, his servants––those who had chosen to be his shepherds upon the earth––were the only ones who should bear the cross of releasing trapped souls from infected bodies!" (My note: In Catholic teaching, suicide does not mean a soul is lost. CCC#2282 states: "Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide." This would relate on the qualifications for a sin to be mortal: CCC#1857  For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.")(294/5044) 

Andre Renard, one of the book's many combatants, describes the horrors of escaping the enemy in underground tunnels: "you dash through the passageways, bash your head on the ceiling, crawl on your hands and knees, praying to the Virgin with all your might for them to hold for just a little longer." (308/5301) 

Maria Zhuganova, another character in the "Holy Russian Empire" remarks: "All that religious dogma, that's for the masses. Give them their opium and keep them pacified. I don't think anyone in the leadership, or even the Church, really believes what they're preaching." (327/5625)