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What did Pope Francis REALLY Say? News Sources to Accurately Follow Our Holy Father

What did Pope Francis REALLY Say? Accurate Catholic News Sources for Following Our Holy Father from @ACatholicNewbie

As Catholics and non-Catholics alike get ready to welcome the leader of our worldwide Church here on American soil, the media is literally going ga-ga. Headlines and cartoons and analysts galore are filling the airwaves with all sorts of anticipation of what Pope Francis might say or do as he meets President Obama, speaks to Congress and visits the United Nations. Is he going to allow gay marriage? Divorce? Condemn capitalism?

But, reader, tweeter, listener, watcher … beware! The non-Catholic media wants to turn Pope Francis into a man who is going to turn the Catholic church on its head. But, as Teresa Tomeo likes to say: “Newsflash, the Pope is still Catholic” — and he’s not going to change a thing about Catholic church teaching, which has been held since Jesus walked the earth. We can speculate and infer and twist his words to our culture’s liking all we want, but it just isn’t happening.

I say all this to encourage everyone — Catholics and non-Catholics — to get your news about Pope Francis’ visit straight from the source … and that would be The Vatican. Go to Vatican.va and READ FOR YOURSELF what Pope Francis said. Please don’t read what the New  York Times or ABC News or NPR said he said. Nine times out of 10 they get it flat wrong.

There are lots of other great Catholic-based media sources that will also provide you with accurate information from experts and journalists who are well versed in Catholic teaching, who have covered popes for decades and who understand Church law and history.

Here are a few Catholic news sources I recommend during Pope Francis’ U.S. visit:

  • EWTN — It doesn’t get any better for television or radio than the Eternal Word (ie Jesus) Television Network. They will have around the clock coverage of the World Meeting of Families, Pope Francis’ whereabouts and the Synod on the Family. Find out what’s on when here.
  • Teresa Tomeo — One of my favorite journalists for telling it like it is, but with a sense of humor :). She’ll be broadcasting her Ave Maria Radio/EWTN Radio show Catholic Connection LIVE from the World Meeting of Families this week 8-10 a.m. Eastern on Catholic radio stations. You can also stream it live via the EWTN app, tune to Sirius-XM 130 or listen online.
  • Al Kresta – Al hosts a weekday afternoon drive time show on EWTN/Ave Maria Radio from 4-6 p.m. called Kresta in the Afternoon. He’ll provide a recap of the news of Pope Francis’ visit each day.
  • The Catholic Channel on Sirius-XM 129 – They are changing themselves to Pope Radio this week. 🙂 Lots of great shows airing all day long.
  • Catholic News Agency – Continually updated coverage on all things Pope Francis and the Vatican
  • Joan Lewis – As the Rome correspondent for EWTN, Joan knows about everything there is to know about the Pope and the Vatican. Follow along on her blog.
  • Aleteia – A fairly new website with a more contemporary slant newly edited by Elizabeth Scalia. They sponsored the adorable Popemojis (emoticons & emojis for your smartphone) and will provide more youthful coverage of the Pope’s visit.
  • National Catholic Register – Solid Catholic news coverage online and in newspaper format.

What did I miss? What are your favorite Catholic news sources that get Pope Francis right and provide fair and balanced coverage?

Remember, take non-Catholic news coverage with a grain of salt and read the REAL story for yourself so you can make informed judgments and commentary on Pope Francis’ historic visit to America.

 

 

How I Stay Updated on All Things Catholic

Great Catholic resourcesSince I’ve now spent more than a year on this journey to Catholicism, I thought I’d share with you some of the many daily resources I’ve come across to stay up to date on all things Catholic. I thought it might save you the work of finding it all for yourself :).

Here are some of my favorite resources, both online and off, that keep my thirst for Catholicism at least partially quenched:

  • National Catholic Register daily email – This is a newspaper that is published weekly; however, they have a great website with wonderful, very down to earth columnists/bloggers and they send out a daily email with the Catholic news of the day. Great way to stay updated on Pope Francis’ speeches and other activities. Sign up here (click Register for our E-Letter at the top). They also are calling for donations to keep them afloat and provide us with news from a Catholic perspective (so helpful!), so please help if you feel called: Donate to the National Catholic Register.
  • Catholicism.About.com – This is another website who offers a regular email. They offer a very informed perspective on both daily Catholic news and the liturgical year. I like this one to keep me updated on novenas and special indulgence opportunities and thoughts on the liturgical year. Sign up here.
  • ETWN TV – I just discovered EWTN TV during the Papal Conclave. I can’t believe I didn’t know about it before! It’s a tremendous resource not just for news (they offer daily shows in the evenings with a wrap up of Catholic news), but also Masses, rosaries and other prayers on TV. I’ve enjoyed shows so far about the saints and one during Lent from Bishop Timothy Dolan, as well as watched the announcement of the new Pope, his installation Mass and more. Good stuff. Check with your TV provider to see if they carry it. I have AT&T Uverse and it’s 562 on there. They also have good Catholic resources on their website.
  • Pray More Novenas – This is an email that regularly sets up and encourages you to pray a select novena with thousands of other participants around the world. It’s helpful because they pray the particular novenas relevant to the liturgical season. For example, we prayed the Divine Mercy Novena leading up to Divine Mercy Sunday and we prayed a special novena during the Papal Conclave. They write and send the prayers every day and remind you to pray them. One of my favorites! Sign up here.
  • Laudate iPad and iPhone App – Another of my favorites! This free app has tons of prayers, the entire New American Bible, the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church, Liturgy of the Hours/Daily Office prayers (which I try to do 1-2 times daily and it’s easy when it’s on my phone!), a digital rosary, the scripture readings for the day, a reading on the featured saint of the day and lots more. So handy! Our bishop actually just mentioned it in a recent column he wrote.
  • For Christ and The Church Blog – This is the blog of one of my church’s priests. He updates usually daily both with information about our parish, as well as great videos, texts from the Pope, spiritual thoughts for the day, his homilies and just generally great food for thought.
  • The “Little” Books – I was given a variety of these throughout my RCIA process and loved incorporating them into my daily routine. They are small paperback books and they make them for Lent, Easter and Advent, as well as reflections on the four books of the Gospel. The books give you a daily tidbit about Catholicism (maybe about a saint or an event that happened on that day) and then they reflect on the scripture reading for the day. It can be done in less than 5 minutes and is a great spiritual “shot” to boost you for the day. They are very inexpensive ($2 for one with $1 shipping!) and you can buy them here.

These are all resources that I use on a daily basis. How do I work it in? Usually I pray the Liturgy of the Hours around 9 a.m. and before bed, using the Laudate App on my iPad. I read my National Catholic Register and Catholicism.About.com emails, as well as any updates from the For Christ and the Church blog while waiting in line or after dinner and before the kids go to bed on my iPad or iPhone.

I usually set my DVR to record shows on EWTN that I’m interested in and then watch them when I have time. At noon, I take a work break and starting today am incorporating a prayerful hour daily (more to come on that). So I work in my Little Books daily read then along with any novena prayers that are relevant for the day, as well as the daily scripture readings and Saint of the Day on my Laudate app.

It really does not take all that much time when it’s all said and done with these very helpful Catholic resources.

What are your go-to resources for Catholicism? Please share! I love to find great new resources!