Hot off the wires: The politically correct term for an anti-Catholic Fundamentalist is “nativist American.”
A new kind of computer software is on the market. You’ll find it on the shelves next to the Bible programs. It’s called “born-again software.” All data files are automatically saved.
We promise not to pick on Jimmy Swaggart this year. He’s doing that well enough on his own. His once-mighty ministry (supported, sad to say, by thousands of credulous, paying Catholics) reached 403,000 households and 93 markets in July 1991, but declined to 143,000 households and 30 markets by November 1991, according to Arbitron statistics. The plummet seems to be continuing. An immediate plus for our side: Swaggart won’t be writing any more anti-Catholic books–he’s losing his means of distribution.
Abbot Edmund F. McCaffrey, O.S.B., who was the retreat master at the first Catholic Answers retreat (held last year), will be leading a “Peace Pilgrimage to Fatima” from July 26 through August 6, 1992. The cost from Kennedy Airport is $1,299, which includes air fare, meals, and accommodations. For further information call (704) 366-5127 or write to Mrs. Kathleen Potter, 2710 Coltsgate Road, Charlotte, NC 28211.
As the full-page advertisement elsewhere in this issue notes (and none too subtly, we might add), Karl Keating is leading a pilgrimage to Catholic sites in Central and Northern Japan, a country he’s visited often. But this won’t be a one-time thing. We’re planning other pilgrimages and would like to know what places you’d be interested in visiting with him or with other Catholic Answers staffers.
Among the possible pilgrimage destinations are: (1) Central and Southern (instead of Northern) Japan, including Nagasaki, which is where Christianity first was planted in that country, (2) the Holy Land, which is where it was first planted anywhere, (3) Rome, which is where it’s been headquartered ever since, and (4) the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, where the faith supplanted a religion based on human sacrifice.
Each pilgrimage package will be all-inclusive–the price will include travel, lodging in adequate but not luxurious establishments, and lots of religious doings, including daily Mass. (A chaplain will accompany each group.)
Prices will vary, and we can’t give precise figures now because we just don’t know what they will be. The pilgrimages to Japan may be the most expensive because living and hotel costs are high there and the airplane trip is long. The pilgrimages to Mexico City will be less expensive because Mexico is cheap and near.
If any of these pilgrimages interest you, please drop us a note. Write to Catholic Answers, P.O. Box 17490, San Diego, CA 92177.
We’re not asking you to commit yourself; we just want you to indicate an interest so we can decide which pilgrimages should be arranged in which order. All pilgrimages will be announced later through This Rock.
One of this month’s letters asks about our proposed Panama office. The need for such an office is shown in news about Billy Graham‘s recent tour of Latin America.
In the U.S., as you may know, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association often cooperates with Catholics when putting on a crusade. Not so in Latin America. “Graham avoided contact with Latin American Catholic leadership,” reported Christianity Today. “Such association would be counterproductive . . . because of the strong feelings of Latin Protestants against the Catholic church.”
In 1962, the last time Graham visited Buenos Aires, he preached in a 5,000-seat stadium. In 1991 his choir alone totaled 4,200 people! At the time of the earlier trip there were 250 Evangelical churches around Buenos Aires–now there are ten times that number, including some of the largest congregations in the hemisphere.
As you read this, Karl Keating and Patrick Madrid are at the Vatican, hobnobbing with high ecclesiastics, introducing them to the work of Catholic Answers. Our guys are meeting with half a dozen cardinals and archbishops, an equal number of lesser dignitaries, and, if all goes as hoped, with the Holy Father. Please keep this journey in your prayers. Full report to follow.
In August the same two Catholic Answers staffers will be in Australia. No, they won’t be putting shrimp on the barbie. They’ll be giving seminars in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth. Australian Catholics are every bit as concerned and confused about their faith as are American Catholics (readers of this magazine excepted, of course–our readers always are concerned, but never are confused).
Longer term, we’re looking to Africa. The Church in Nigeria is growing especially fast–in fact, the whole country is. In Nigeria are found one in five Africans, or so say the guide books. We get lots of letters from Nigerian priests, deacons, and catechists, all asking for our help.
Our staff would like to make a speaking tour of Nigeria, perhaps with a foray into nearby Ghana, sometime next winter (when the temperature will be marginally lower than it is during the rest of the year).
All this is in God’s hands, of course, but also in yours–at least if your hands are joined in prayer that the means may be found to underwrite such a tour. Since Nigeria is a poor country by our standards (even though it is fairly well off by African standards), we can’t expect the larger expenses to be picked up at that end. We need to raise nearly all the funds here. We’re looking at more than just airline tickets. We want to leave the people more than just memories.
Nigerian Catholics, like Catholics everywhere, need solid Catholic literature. We’re working on a proposal to distribute at no charge thousands of copies of one or more Catholic books during our visit. The printing and shipping costs would be underwritten by Catholics in America–by a few, if we can find some major donors, or by many, if we must rely on many small donations. Please keep this long-term project in your prayers. Many thanks.