The following comes from an August 5 Hollywood Reporter article by Matthew Belloni and Chris Gardner:
The pontiff has shortlisted Hollywood heavy-hitters for a special meeting at the Vatican this fall. The topic? Improving the church’s portrayal in Western entertainment.
Ari Emanuel might soon get a chance to hug it out with the pope.
Sources say the William Morris Endeavor superagent and his co-CEO Patrick Whitesell are on a shortlist of media players whom reps for Pope Francis have approached for a special meeting at the Vatican this fall.
The pontiff apparently is interested in discussing how the church is perceived by Western media influencers and ways to improve its portrayal in entertainment. The Vatican, which is said to be working with the nonprofit Varkey Foundation, came up with a list of Hollywood players to invite to a summit of sorts. Film and television producer Brian Grazer, OWN mogul Oprah Winfrey, actor Matt Damon and semiretired supermogul David Geffen also scored invites, according to sources.
WME declined to comment on whether Emanuel, the brother of Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel and the inspiration for Entourage’s Ari Gold, would accept the invitation to break bread with the Catholic Church leader.
Again, the answer has to be More Jesus, Less Francis.
Perfectly stated, Kristin.
For I cannot imagine Our Lord consulting the Pharisees to determine what He could/should do to make the Truth more acceptable and/or popular. The obvious answer is already to deny the Truth or at the very least cover it up. And that is precisely the milquetoast methodology that has led to a Vicar of Christ engaging in such absurdities.
Pray God this pustule of crisis comes to a head soon so that it can be drained and heal.
This story mis-states the purpose of the meeting. It is about how the media influences the values of young people.
If what you say is true, and what you say does make more sense, let us hope and pray that the Holy Father gives them a “good talking to” about what is right and what is wrong with their programming, and that they listen to him and make more decent movies and so forth.
And if that is the purpose, then the Vatican has erred again. Oprah’s audience was middle aged women, not young people, and her new age fascinations have led many astray.
Yes, they have. I once bought a book that she recommended and later regretted it when it came in the mail. I stopped listening to her after that. I think she was sexually abused when she was under aged, but saying there is no such thing as sin, and that is what “The Course in Miracles” teaches, is not the answer to any kind of healing.
“The Course in Miracles” is not the book I bought, but I have seen it at books stores, and she has recommended it, and that does seem to be her philosophy.
Nevertheless, if Oprah was abused when younger, if my memory serves me correctly, perhaps Pope Francis wants to hear her story and how it affected her life and attitude toward God. I do not know of course what is his motive in inviting her and am just speculating as to what it might be.
Does it give you jollies to criticize everything and everyone all the time? Can you try to be supportive and uplifting once in a while? If the Pope put his left shoe on first, you’d complain he should put his right shoe on first. Sheesh.
Being supportive is saying, “Please. Stop. Enough. The troops are effectively hamstrung from the taffy pull of trying to explain this nonsense.”
We can’t get a handle on the media statements coming from the Vatican and we’re going to sit down with the former star of ‘Dogma’ and Oprah Winfrey who advocates against Christianity to talk about media and the Catholic Church. Or media and its effects on kids.
If only we were talking a simple matter of putting on one’s shoes.
Recognize that lots of comments on this site are purposefully wrong and misleading. In charity, these things must be pointed out to those do this evil work and those who might be influenced by their falsehoods. Calm down Anonymous, God is in His heaven, and we are trying to do His work here. Join us! :)
Kristin, don’t be so condescending as to tell me to calm down. This site is completely full of fools who think they have the only true way forward. They criticize everything under the sun. No good deed goes unpunished. If the Pope puts his shoes on the right foot, they would criticize him for not putting it on his left. Trust me, I’ve seen enough of these pharisees.
Anonymous says CCD is “full of fools” and “Pharisees”. Other than himself of course.
Ann Malley if its more Jesus for you now, then we welcome you back with open arms in full communion with Rome but guessing from some of your comments, that may not be the case. Take care. Im with Pilar Jesus must increase and i add we must decrease. ☺
Abeca, you align yourself too closely with Jesus without first amending your own un-Christlike behavior. (…then ‘we’ welcome you back.) Perhaps if you were more of Jesus in deed instead of only your assertions, there would be no need to continually tell others of your own holiness. It would show.
Know thyself.
Right. I would suggest Francis should begin by improving how the Church is perceived, not by the western media, but by her own members. They are confused and baffled both by his statements, and statements about him by the secular media. For example, he passionately speaks of the sacredness of heterosexual marriage while seeming to recognize goodness and love in same sex marriages. He preaches on the sanctity of human life, but invites only avid promoters of abortion to his climate change conference at the Vatican.
The Pope seeks to be popular. He is bringing Peronismo to the entire Sister Earth.
hahaha. Very amusing Gratias, and I think that’s Mother earth …and sister moon. My word for it is Peron-istitis, similar to peritonitis but definitely the same malaise as Peronismo, I think. Frankly, we’d all be better served if he asked Tom Cruise. At least he doesn’t make anti-God, anti-democratic, anti-capitalistic movies and has a great smile…and he’s still really good looking. I read he’s leaving scientology. Do you think there’s any truth in that? Oh, that’s right, we’re discussing the Vatican! Sorry.
Well, what do you expect, after all, from a Pope who likely speaks little (?or no?) Latin, does not know much about Catholic Tradition, and a Vatican that assists in destroying that Tradition whenever it can, including tolerating bloviating fools like cardinals Dolan, Wuerl, Kasper, Marx, Baldisseri, and Abp. Forte, Cupich and many other bishops and priests (particularly the many who are homosexual, or friends of).
These are career people, who now want to be noticed by Hollywood. Certainly Oprah respects Catholic doctrine and Tradition, doesn’t she? How pathetic.
The Hollywood reporter? Really? don’t trust these articles from liberals, you just never can trust them! The following comes from an August 5 Hollywood Reporter Even to tell me, run like the wind and don ‘t look back because when these liberals write, they will tell it how “they” see it……..
Lord have mercy!
PS you should see what I found on articles from those extreme on the right against our Pope! Now don’t get me wrong, this articles does concern me. But publicly I can’t cause scandal by thrashing our Pope when I don’t have my facts together!
It is not against the Pope, but rather his confusing policies, that people are rightfully speaking, Abeca. If these matters were private, that would be another matter.
But it is precisely the public nature of statements, appointments, proposed advisers etc of this current pontiff that are confusing the Faithful. To ascribe the reality of them to mere muckraking of either the political right or left is to be less than honest.
Lord have mercy is right.
….that Anonymous was me, Abeca. Cleared the cache.
But really. Catholics everywhere need to begin owning what this Pope is saying. He is the Holy Father. Something is obviously not what it should be.
Oh yes i need to clear the cache too old friend. Lol. Well thanks for sharing the same concerns that we have. Praying for our Pope and getting our facts straight too. Pax Christi
Anonymous i understand what your saying but im even suspicious of the title of this article. Oprah? Really? When? No facts were introduced. Lord have mercy. Its time again to write to the Vatican, share with our Pope the confusion his holiness is portrayed as causing. Letting him know. After we do our part. Fast and pray asking Jesus to intervene and speak to His Pope. Take it up to our Lord.
Anonymous i understand. Im not happy with his style of doing things. It certainly is humbling to have to hear this stuff and not have answers for what is portrayed of our Pope. Well this is a test. We must offer it up and give it to God to correct His children.
…we must guard our children and brethren, Abeca, and promote the Catholic Faith in the face of such contradiction/confusion. This is indeed a test. And staying faithful to the Faith is it.
As for ‘Oprah’ really? Yes. The Pope’s encyclical was presented by an atheist. Yes. This perpetual dismissal of ‘No, no, it couldn’t be,” is the same brand of frozen denial that gets many killed in disaster situations. Because they refuse to ‘see’ the reality in front of their face and take appropriate action to stay alive and/or maintain the Faith.
It is past time to write to the Vatican. Policy is policy, Abeca. And the Holy Father is not a dolt, but a man with a decided leadership style that rejects the rational. That’s…
… That’s not just talk, but the reality of a pontificate in action.
You seem to have no qualms about correcting a priest in error, one who is your spiritual superior, but you shy away from correcting or even addressing errors spread by those in a position to cause even graver damage to Holy Mother Church.
Wasn’t it St. Pope John Paul who was favored of saying, “Be not afraid?” That’s not just an instruction to close one’s eyes as a child on a roller coaster, but also a call to DO what one can. And calling error and imprudence precisely that is the help that we who see can and should do. In fact, it’s the very least we can do.
Have mercy.
No Ann Malley you misunderstand me. Im sorry for that. Are you seeking clarity? If so can you please stop assuming. I dont know which question you want addressed first? If i try to address your false assumptions youll think im attacking. I dont know what exactly you want from me. But you certainly have your opinions in which i do not agree with.
This is totally silly.
Where the Varkey Foundation is operative, the Clintons can’t be far behind.
David Geffen is openly gay and has been a long-time gay rights and gay marriage advocate and financial supporter:
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/24/us/gay-marriage-effort-is-attracting-a-novel-group-of-donors.html
That was exactly my thought (Geffen = Gay) but I didn’t have time to web search at the moment. Thank you for confirming my suspicion.
What a great idea! Why try to reinvent the wheel when he sees what has worked for other people. Media is key in these times and helps spread the new evangelization. People need to step back and look at the big picture and stop criticizing the Pope. He is trying his best in the culture of death. I for sure know I could not do his job with all the battles he must face.
….perhaps if those experts had converted, yes. But this approach seems rather like asking Cecile Richards what is wrong with pro-life branding.
Don’t forget Anonymous, that this pope came out swinging- telling pro-life people to stop being “obsessed” with abortion. Not one word from him about Ireland (and the US Supreme Court) “legalizing” same sex marriage, silence again about the vile Planned Parenthood videos the world has seen recently. The Culture of Death is growing yet he scolds us for driving, using air conditioning, taking showers, blah, blah, blah…
Important to note also that despite my misgivings, I pray for this pope and hope others do as well.
Other than the Pope, Francis or others, and a few heads of state, who has the most influence on peoples’ views than Hollywood? We don’t like the way the portray the Church! Do we hide in our rectories and palaces or do we talk to the ones that create what we don’t like? The fact that a person the Pope talks to is gay, favors gay marriage or is pro-abortion is not very relevant if they are influencing millions of people around the world about how bad our Church is. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer” as the old saying goes.
….one should also look at what the folks one is taking on as advisers currently produce. If the Holy Father hasn’t watched TV since the ’90s, he maybe should take a gander before seeking the advice those who are presently producing the trash.
So while you keep your enemies close, you don’t take their advice on policy.
Which is why the Pope needs first to get his own message straight, rather than concentrating on the secular media and entertainment industry, most of whom are determined to distort the message and paint the Church in as bad a light as possible. Francis is merely helping them do so.
The Holy Father wants to get the media to treat the Catholic faith with greater fairness, and you folks pile on him like a bunch of hyenas.
Disgraceful.
I suggest you look rationally at the very real concerns with this pope’s words and actions. Pointing out these examples is perfectly reasonable given what is happening in our Church.
Consider that it may be the hyenas in high places that are piling on us! :(
Why is the Pope doing this?
“Improving the church’s portrayal in Western entertainment.”
Well, guys, we all complain that our beloved Church is constantly portrayed as stupid, evil, corrupt and misogynist, so why attack Pope Francis for inviting the very people who know show biz to help solve the problem?
If you want America to be better understood by Muslims throughout the world, you dialog with Muslims throughout the world – not atheists or Jews or Southern Baptists.
Are any of these celebs the least bit pro-Catholic? If not, what incentive do they have to help the Church?
I wouldn’t trust a word they said.
….exactly my thoughts, Steve. Where is the incentive to help the Church?
Pope Francis should have a secret meeting with Mel Gibson. Say what you’d like about his situation, that man understands the Faith at the very least and knows how to make an audience engage.
Steve we dont even have our facts straight. Where are the facts? What exactly was said? None of us here have access to our Pope’s private cell phone number to his holiness for clarity.
Abeca,
Hopefully you’re correct. I’m not familiar with the media source, but I certainly agree with you that the media, in general, has a tendency to distort the truth. Regretfully, however, I’ve also lost confidence in Pope Francis. It could be true that he’s the victim of media bias. But, in a best case scenario, I’ve lost the ability to discern the truth in media accounts about the Pope.
Thank you Steve. There is no sin in not liking how this Pope runs things because im with you on your reasonable concerns. Dont fret if whether im right or not, its not about being right but its about being faithful to Christ and trusting Him. He didnt promise us an easy road.
Abeca,
No problem. I appreciate the “thank you.”
Abeca, the Vatican has evidenced clearly that they do not even have a handle on projecting a consistent and clear message of what the Church actually teaches/believes. That is why the piling on of more schemas that ring like publicity, public relations events that include getting Oprah’s advice and those of the secular media like Matt Damon who starred in ‘Dogma’ (please look it up) is so disturbing to believing Catholics.
Just like it is disturbing that the advisers to the Pope for his latest encyclical are atheist, population control advocates.
We have our facts straight. IOW: We know the Faith. That is why looking to this Holy Father is so confusing as he ‘seems’ to want to pretend too often that matters of…
…Catholic Faith and morals are open to debate. Or at the very least not speaking of them directly all the time.
That may be the right approach for a parish priest working one on one with an individual in private, not speaking so clearly and directly so as not to scare off/discourage penitents. But the papacy has a different duty that that of an individual spiritual advisor/confessor.
Pray for him.
☺ sounds good Ann Malley ill continue to pray. Thanks.
…you may want to add praying for true charity, Abeca. The sunshine smiley is no cover for the sourness. You’re welcome.
Ann Malley no sourness at all. I feel sorry for you. You cant even identify when a person is being kind, your always suspicious thinking the worst in people here. I wish to correct your faulty assumption. My smiliey face was sincere. No crookedness like your eye tends to see. Praise Jesus that He reads hearts and thats all that matters. But it explains alot and speaks volumes. Go in peace.
….difficult to see the smiley as just a smile, Abeca, when you level barbs down below. You may want to read the whole of Bishop Morlino’s letter and attempt to understand it in full. The same goes for the interview with Bishop Athanasius Schneider which was so maliciously edited and twisted on CMTV as to use the good Bishop for a press op and then plug their own magisterium.
No spin stopping there….at lest not all of it.
That said, yes, we are blessed that Our Lord reads hearts. As for crookedness, an eye that is regularly poked is going to be wary. You can thank yourself for that. Not rocket science.
Enjoy your evening.
The Holy Spirit had Pope Francis elected. The evil attempts to undermine him on the internet will not work.
Let us pray for our Sovereign Pontiff Pope Francis:
May the Lord preserve him and give him life and make him blessed upon the earth and yield him not up to the will of his enemies.
And grant his intentions.
Anonymous, you negate free will. God allowed Francis to be elected. All people – to include conclaves – have the ability to ignore the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Not to say that that was definitively the case with Francis. But even Pope Francis has the capacity to ignore grace and make poor choices. And when anyone advocates against the Faith, it is prudent to call it out, especially if the danger involves misleading souls.
“Anonymous”, you are a fool if you believe that the “Holy Spirit had Pope Francis elected”. The cardinals elect the pope. And many men elected as pope were so elected to advance the essentially political views of their group.
God permits evil to happen, and to flourish. The Holy Ghost certainly counsels the man elected as Pope, that is always true. But, sadly, many of these men do not listen. Some do awful things, and many err and overtly sin, as men will do. Then, here and there, we get a true saint, and obvious intervention of the Holy Ghost — “Humanae Vitae” is such an example (and by a very flawed man).
Every cardinal before placing his vote has to say this prayer: I call as my witness Christ the Lord who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who before God I think should be elected.
….and your point, Anonymous? To further indite those who hold a more worldly view of who should be elected and why?
What someone ‘thinks’ is best is not necessarily best. Especially if that someone has decided that the Faith should take a back seat to the radicalization excoriating Mother Church.
Abeca is the wise one again!
“The Varkey Foundation has been in discussions with representatives of the Vatican about a potential meeting examining the role of media on the values of young people throughout the world,” the spokesperson said. “Recent media speculation about the purpose and possible participants of such a meeting is inaccurate and premature. The meeting under consideration is emphatically not a discussion about the reputation of the Catholic Church and never has been.”
Thank you Anonymous. We must be careful. One can commit an act of infidelity against Christ and His church by causing unnecessary scandal by what they post or declare over the internet. We must guard our soul and always seek the truth before over reacting. Plus one must becareful not to mislead others due to our insecurities or be mislead by those who refuse to be in full communion. Those who are in full communion and trust in Christ always seek the best interest of His church while fighting the good fight with in Christ’s church. It doesnt mean we have to like our current Pope but we have a moral obligstion to fast and pray for his holiness. May God have mercy on us since we have our concerns but our faithfulness remains in Christ and…
I’ll bet if you called the pope and claimed you and your lesbian partner can’t receive the Eucharist because your local priest is so unkind and mean he’d call you right back, then you could say you were just kidding and would he please explain the purpose of the whole Hollywood sin-od and who’s coming and why, he’d explain all, but he doesn’t speak English so you might need an interpreter handy! Good luck!
On the contrary, they are very hostile to the Church, and continually seeking ways to disparage and discredit Her. This move really gives them a chance to do that even more successfully. I strongly suspect that this “special meeting” was engineered by the left for that very purpose.
No, in fact they are very hostile to the Church, continually seeking ways to spin news to disparage and discredit Her. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that this “special meeting” was engineered by the left to manipulate Church teaching. Can’t you imagine them telling Francis to continue saying things like “who am I to judge?”, and that we shouldn’t be “preoccupied” with life issues, and they will give the Church favorable publicity, and do puff pieces on this “forward thinking” and “compassionate” Pope?
I do not really understand what the Pope is trying to do– improve the Church’s “image,” to anti-Catholic, pagan, immoral, Godless, materialists, in Hollywood, and so-called “Western entertainment??” WHY?? Since when is “Western entertainment,” of any value, to a devout Catholic?? Our family stopped going to the movies, watching tv, listening to pop music, and having any interest at all, in so-called “Western entertainment,” when the filthy hippie era started, in the 1960’s! GARBAGE!! So– who in their right mind, needs this “trash,” called “Western entertainment??” To us– it DOES NOT EXIST!!
The Holy Father badly needs to understand the difference between the holiness of Christ and His Church– and the Godless, sinful, ignorant, secular world!! He must try to lead a truly devout, traditional Catholic life, along with his prelates — and encourage the whole world to follow him, and his Church leaders! He must seek to convert the whole world, to Christ! That is his true calling!!
I’ve always hoped and prayed for the day– when “Western entertainment” and the leftist, Godless liberals, would all pass out of history, and be forgotten!! We desperately need strong laws against sexual sins, including pornography, and profanity, as well as drugs. Maybe “Western entertainment,” which is also based on money— will just collapse and DIE, at some point, because it is so HORRIBLE and WORTHLESS!! I truly hope so!!
Pope Francis’ adage should be: ‘ Christ must increase, I must decrease’.
That’s only six words, Pillar. Try to find at least two paragraphs that say that very thing but in contradictory ways, and then round it off with a severe scold for hard=hearted, spiritually dead traditional Catholics who are always complaining and how loving are the heroine addicts on Skidrow and why can’t we learn true humility from them, and then throw in a decrease and an increase for good measure.
Are there no faithful Catholics in the entertainment industry that can be consulted? This is just one more sour note that confuses the faithful in the pews. And why would you expect to get correct answers from those who hate the Church and what she stands for?
I wonder if all of us (a small minority in the Catholic Church) are having a difficult time in the era of a Pope from the Southern Hemisphere, brought up to know the pain and suffering of dictatorships and greed in his native land? Any person I have ever spoken to who was from South America or Africa has always seen the world and the Church in a different light than we U.S. folks because of their history, how they were colonized, how the faith was brought to them, etc. Somehow, and this is a guess, the folks in the Southern Americas and Africa are not confused by this Pope.
“Not confused?” True Catholics are MISERABLE with this Pope!
I will say one more thing. European and Latino Catholics, before Vatican II, were very well-educated in their Church’s teachings, and devout Catholics were very serious, about their religion! Much more serious, than many Catholics in a Protestant country, like America! They also produced many saints! Their general outlook, I think, is that our religion endures, beyond all hardships– just like the case of Pope St. John Paul II, in Poland, for example– terrible hardships, yet, the Faith shall endure, eternally! God, and Catholicism– is the guiding light of their very old countries, and cultures— through all things, no matter what!!
“Linda Maria” is correct: Many people from Latin America are very concerned with Pope Francis (and his cronies like Cardinal Maradiaga). These people were not successful bishops, leaving diocese with growing dissatisfaction, losing members, opposing Catholic Tradition, and basically seeking to transform the Catholic Faith into a leftist-socialist political party.
Only the Holy Ghost knows why Bergoglio was elected Pope. But, with all prayer for and respect of, he, as Francis, has been a miserable leader of the Church, to date. Perhaps Francis, like Paul VI, will ultimately listen to the Holy Ghost and publish something like the inspiring, “Humanae Vitae”.
I believe these numbers are reasonably accurate, or within the margin of error.
There are about 305 active Bishops in the U.S. (there are another 100+ retired Bishops) and there are roughly 5,100 Bishops in the world. The U.S. therefore has about 0.06 percent of the world’s Bishops. Since we have about 6% of the world’s’ Catholics, we have more influence in the universal church than we deserve, but at least we know that there are a whole lot of people out there that don’t understand a lot of what think is important.
I have known many South Americans, throughout my life (including several relatives!) and they have all been very miserable with the Church, since Vatican II!! It is also nearly IMPOSSIBLE, to try to raise– and educate– Catholic children, in the Vatican II Church! The Vatican II Church is WRONG, for them! Will the REAL CHURCH please stand up?? Where is it?? A HORRIBLE situation!!
And yet the S.S.P.X. and other Traditionalists are treated with scorn and yet these perverts and anti-Catholics are invited by Bergoglio. This papacy is a total and complete utter nightmare with no end in sight!
Janek when where they invited? As I recall SSPX was invited numerous of times too to reunite but nothing came of it. Pax Christi. If you have your facts right about this article to be true, then please send your protest in writing to Rome expressing your displessure. It would be noble to do so but first get the facts together. God bless.
….you should be grateful that the Society didn’t accept the invitation to look the other way as to the confusion spurred on by VII. The very same Bishop Athanasius Schneider calls out. Funny how the Society must capitulate to agreeing with all of VII – something not required of others.
But make no mistake, if the Society stopped being a perceived alternative, you’d quickly lose your FSSP and diocesan Latin offerings. As it stands, the majority of the USCCB dislikes Catholic tradition. Lay folks too often have to fight the diocese for what is theirs by right. That is why looking a gift horse in the mouth is nothing but advertisement of having no facts at all. Pax Christi.
Ann Malley you know the facts about the SSPX. Weve posted them here before. Nothing new under the sun. But i hope you felt good getting that out.
Perhaps you should reread all the facts then, Abeca, for you seem to have missed a great deal despite all your posting. Possibly because you do not read anything but your own cut and pastes.
You may want to review real sources and your own motives. Otherwise the only thing that is getting out is more testimony of your bias blindness.
That cannot feel very good.
“Call Him Poprah. Daily Beast. Pope Francis—who routinely surprises believers and nonbelievers alike by doing things such as espousing revolutionary environmentalism and denouncing unbridled capitalism as “tyranny”—has just released his top 10 tips for achieving personal happiness. The holy listicle serves as further proof that the 2013 papal conclave elected Oprah as the new pope. “Poprah,” if you will. https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/31/call-him-poprah-pope-francis-s-10-commandments-for-a-happy-life.html