How are You Covering the Pope's Visit to America

How are You Covering the Pope's Visit to America

MEDIA ADVISORY, March 13 /Christian Newswire/ -- Between April 15 and April 20, Americans will get their first visit from one of the world's most prominent leaders. While Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger visited the United States five times previously, the now Pope Benedict XVI makes this maiden journey at an interesting time in U.S. history. Americans are in the midst of a controversial and heated presidential campaign in which many of the key issues important to U.S. Catholic and other values voters are in play. It is expected that Benedict will address topics of personal morality, social justice, and the Church's relationship with other religions when he visits the heart of U.S. political activity in the nation's capital and addresses the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York City.

Roman Catholics are the largest single Christian denomination in the United States with slightly more than 65 million members. The Catholic Church in the United States is one of the most respected and influential voices in the country and in the world.

While he is in the United States, Pope Benedict will celebrate his 81st birthday on April 16 and his 3rd anniversary as Pope on April 19.

The Maximus Group, the leading Catholic communications agency in the United States, has assembled a variety of spokespersons to speak on aspects of Pope Benedict XVI's life, theology and pontificate. Here is a sampling of commentators available:


Greg Erlandson, President and Publisher for Our Sunday Visitor, one of the nation's oldest and largest Catholic publishers - OSV newspaper has been covering US Catholic issues for nearly 100 years.
John Norton, former Rome bureau correspondent for Catholic News Service and international news anchor for Vatican Radio, currently Editor for OSV's weekly
Dr. Matthew Bunson, Advisor to the current Causes of Canonization for two Saints, Author of We Have a Pope! - first biography on Pope Benedict XVI, USA Today special consultant
Amy Welborn, Popular author and blogger (authored response to Da Vinci Code)
Michael Dubruiel, editor of Questions and Answers: Pope Benedict XVI, author of a series of books on Catholic topics
Brennan Pursell, Professor at DeSales University, Author of Benedict of Bavaria (New release - March 25, 2008)
Fr. David Toups, Associate Director of the Secretariat for Clergy at the USCCB, Author, Reclaiming Your Priestly Character (Released January 2008)
Mark Shea, Senior Editor for CatholicExchange.com, popular blogger
Christopher Kaczor, Ph.D., Former Fulbright Scholar, Author and Director of Catholic University of America Honors Program in Philosophy, Has met with Pope Benedict
John Henry Crosby, Founder and director of the Dietrich von Hildebrand Legacy Project, Met with Pope Benedict about the Project
Joanna Bogle, Author, based in Great Britain, working on biography of Pope called "The Benedict Code"
Thomas Peters, Young, Popular Blogger on the Pope
Christopher West, Research Fellow at Theology of the Body Institute, Cultural Commentator on sexuality and personal morality
Dr. Pia de Solenni, expert on Women's Issues, Moral Theologian and Cultural Commentator
Michael Voris, Popular host of The One, True Faith covering all Catholic issues and topics

Full biographies of these commentators and their topics are available.

The Maximus Group, LLC The Maximus Group, a Catholic communications agency, first offered this unprecedented service to the media in 2005 at the time of the passing of Pope John Paul II, during the days of the interregnum and the papal conclave, and concluding with the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and his installation as Pope Benedict XVI. At that time 95 percent of the media outlets Maximus contacted worked with at least one expert commentator for regular appearances on their news programs and commentary in their publications, making Maximus the "one-stop shop" for media during this period. In fact, time and again media outlets return to Maximus for this service and have commented that when faced with a need for commentary from a Catholic perspective, "all roads lead to Maximus."

Maximus' mission includes providing the news media with reliable, informed, unbiased sources who can participate in intelligent discussions on topics that include a relevant and sometimes entertaining perspective from the Catholic space.

For interview requests or additional information, please contact Ashley Walker at 678-990-9032 or visit www.maximusnewspub.com.

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How the Ventriloquist Lost His Voice

How the Ventriloquist Lost His Voice
Article written by Terry Jacobson

DALLAS, March 10 /Christian Newswire/ -- A conservative evangelical leader was recently quoted as saying he would rather not vote for a Presidential candidate in this year's election than vote for Senator John McCain. Apparently, voting for one of the Democratic candidates was out of the question. When he said it, he claimed he was speaking as an individual and not on behalf of his ministry. Of course, that had to be the case--for tax reasons he is not allowed to use his ministry to spread his political views. I had two immediate reactions to his statement. The first reaction was: "If you are speaking as an individual then why not keep your views to yourself?" My second reaction was similar: "Why should I or the rest of the world care who you vote or don't vote for? What is it to us? This is America, vote for whomever you like."

And then something very interesting occurred to me-- this man thought he was also speaking for me because, as an evangelical Christian, I had been letting this man speak for me for years. I had been Charlie McCarthy to his Edgar Bergin. It was only natural for him to presume to speak for me--his words had been coming out of my mouth for a long time. And I let him. My fault, not his.

As an evangelical Christian, I believe in the inerrancy of Scripture. I believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, died on the cross, and was raised on the third day. I believe that when He died, He died for me and paid a debt that I couldn't pay for myself. And I believe that He has now sent me, and everyone else who believes in Him, into the world to share this great news with people of every nationality and language. So, I qualify as an evangelical Christian in every sense of the word.

But, I found myself having a problem with this man suggesting that the "Christian" thing to do was to not vote for Senator McCain. And I have to confess that it took me a little while to get comfortable disagreeing with him. After all, he was an evangelical leader, a man whom others recognized as a godly man. He is a man who has had a positive influence on a lot of people. Who was I to disagree with him? But his words didn't resonate within me. I found myself not wanting to be this ventriloquist's dummy anymore.

I had to ask myself why? And then it occurred to me. When he talks like that, he isn't speaking for God. And if he doesn't speak for God, he doesn't speak for me. To be fair to him, maybe he doesn't claim to be speaking for God on this subject. But because of who he is there is always a "Thus sayeth the Lord" quality about his statements. So even if he doesn't intend to speak for God, other people think he is. And that is a shame.

The Bible directly addresses a bunch of issues. But there are some things it doesn't address. In those instances, we are left to work out our salvation with fear and trembling--as Paul puts it in Philippians 2. Christians are free to be green. Christians are free to love sinners--even the ones who are caught in the worst kind of sin. Christians are free to support tort reform or the tort system, tax cuts, or tax increases. Christians are free to be Democrats or free to be Republicans. They are even free to be apolitical--like Jesus.

So, if anyone out there is listening to me, please take note. This man doesn't speak for me. The ventriloquist lost his voice when he stopped using the words that God uses and saying the things that God says. He lost his voice when he stopped being passionate about the things that God is passionate about. When he stopped loving people the same way Jesus loves people, when he stopped advocating service and humility, he stopped being a ventriloquist and I stopped being his dummy.

Terry Jacobson practices civil trial law in Corsicana, TX, where he lives with his wife, Tina, and their 3 children. He has been an elder at Believers Bible Church since 1998.

For interview information, contact:

Audra Jennings
The B & B Media Group
1-800-927-0517 Ext. 104
ajennings@tbbmedia.com
Visit us on the web at www.tbbmedia.com

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