Can’t say it any better than Matt did.  I often wonder why the mainstream media is always attacking the Catholic Church.  The only answer I can think of is the attacks prove that evil/Satan really does exist.  There are definitely more newsworthy events than attacking the Church.

Always take “advice” from ones enemies, especially on how not to “perish”. Oh, but then CNN probably has the best interests of the Church in mind.

Ha, ha, ha!  Well said, Matt!

Love it! Thanks Matt!

Mainstream media = thoughtless morons undeserving of notice

Perfect rebuttal! Good job, Matt.

Just Awesome

That is what comes of ignorance and the arrogance that prevents one from ever questioning their assumptions.  CNN is hip and trendy and headed toward the irrelevance that results from that.

Now I have flashbacks of Zan and Jana and Gleek the wonder monkey.  Bleah. Although technically, they could give lessons on being more menacing to the Batman in that series The Superfriends.  What’s scarier than the shape of an eagle carrying the form of an ice bucket? answer: CNN do-it-yourself Catholicism.

Spot on! I just hope there aren’t any reasonable Catholics that are pinning their hopes and dreams about the church on what the media says.

I was just telling my husband that CNN has been showcasing a lot of articles on atheism lately. What is going on over there? Never mind…I already know.

Spot On Article. CNN? You mean The Communist News Network. A “Catholic” who takes anything seriously from CNN is a CINO at best. The only exception is for “entertainment value” as in ROFL. Taking advice from them is like asking Bin Laden for survival tutoring.

While I disagree that there should be a Vatican III I do belive that CNN is right about opening up the Church more, but at the same time the Church needs to do less in some areas. Churches and their people (priests,bishops,cardinals,etc.) should not involve them selves into the political arena, as is was never their place to do so. However, it does need to stop the condemnation of those who the Church finds immoral-divorced,unwed parents,LGBT because Jesus would have wanted us to invite them and welcome them ,not on a provisional basis but permanent basis. Here in the US many people had to put up with bullying from the pulpit about so-called religous freedom.True religious freedom is having prayers said at the inaugural events and VP Joe Biden wearing his ashes whlile standing near the President. CNN is very informative, and should not be condemned for being iquisitive about what can the Church do to change or make better. The Church needs to make itself more servant of God,Not being God in God’s place, where everything in our lives is a sin in one way or another.

It is going to be fascinating to watch the reaction of the average American Catholic to the next pope. Over and over again over the past few days I’ve read comments from self-identified Catholics who are certain the next pope will be “reasonable,” and will approve the use of contraceptives and the ordination of women and married men. (Interestingly, I’ve seen no mention of allowing remarriage after divorce. I can only assume that among those who care about church approval, the speedy and generous granting of annulments is meeting demand.) I’m sure the commenters have no knowledge of the theology behind the prohibitions, and no interest in investigating it.

For years I’ve been wondering when it’s going to dawn on cafeteria Catholics that after John XXII the church doubled down on its less popular doctrines, and cannot now walk it back without considerable loss of credibility. Perhaps the election of yet another conservative pope will provide them with a clue, but perhaps they will continue to refuse to acknowledge the reality of the church as an institution.

I’ll never forget when CNN ran a prime time special about the abuse crisis. It was filmed in the offices of Jeffery Anderson who has made tens of millions of dollars suing the Church. Needless to say it was virtually an hour long commercial. This as CNN’s concept of journalistic integrity and balanced reporting.

Good job, Matt.  Ann, the church welcomes all sinners but you have to repent and change your life style.  You can be divorced, etc. but you have to live a chaste life. Religious freedom is being able to practice one’s religion without interference from the the government or anyone - not just saying prayers in public.

“While I disagree that there should be a Vatican III I do belive that CNN is right about opening up the Church more, etc, etc….”

Dear Ann:  Not to be unkind but thank you for proving the point. Spoken like a true cafeteria Catholic. You are misinformed at best. Very easy to say WWJD? You don’t know. If you did you would not make such feel good self justifying statements. The consequences of the 60’s “sexual revolution” and resultant institutionalized Irresponsible Sexual Behavior over the last 45 years has/is destroying the country. The problems in the Country are all caused by the fundamental collapse of moral values and the dumbing down of society. How’s that “Church Nice” worked out since Vatican 2 (1962-65) and the rebellion against “Humanae Vitae” in 1968. Pope Paul VI looks absolutely prescient. Go back and read it. All or his predictions have been correct. Everyone always loves to quote the love,peace and mercy of Jesus. As well they should. But it’s now to the point that “sin” is no more and hell doesn’t exist. However, the God of Judgement and Justice is always ignored. Might have something to do with the fact that, in the Bible, Jesus mentions Hell 90 times versus 27 times for heaven. If He came as our Savior then what did he come to save us from…if there is no sin? The idea that anyone can be saved by just “personally” accepting Jesus Christ and then do whatever they want is just ludicrous not to mention infantile. Does not exist anywhere in Bible, except where Luther added the word “alone” after the word “faith” in Romans. It’s One thing for Luther to subtract 7 books from the Bible. It’s entirely another level of “hubris” to “add” to the Bible after 1500 years. Please learn the true Catholic Faith. Take care. 

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/matthew-archbold/cnn-vs.-the-catholic-church#ixzz2Kor9J3kB

Perhaps if those running CNN where more open minded…to the Truth, the world would be a better place.

Thank you Matthew for your article on how silly the news medias can be!
We don’t elect a Pope because of relevancy, but he should be elected by the Cardinals for his ability to remind us that we are created in the image and likeness of God and how to live that out in the crazy world we live in.To be conformed to Christ, not the spirit of the age. To encourage us and call us to deeper faith and holiness, to transform a culture that has failed to uphold man’s inherent dignity. To meet the needs of those who cannot meet their own needs, to be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, not melt into the mediocrity of degenerate relevancy. It gives light to the teachings of Christ and hope for the future. Christ is very clear in Holy Scripture how to live in order to reach the goal of joyful Eternal life with Him, and what the consequences are of dismissing His teachings. We didn’t make this up to control the masses and make people feel bad about themselves. This isn’t being legalistic or condemning or antiquated. It’s being truthful. Much of our news media are into manipulative sensationalism and fear mongering and deceitful nonsense to boost ratings and create clones of their own ignorance. The Church does not condemn people, it calls a spade a spade when it comes to sinful behavior, because, after all, so did Christ, and we are patterned after Christ.
Our pastors, our bishops, our church leaders in this country are citizens and have every right to speak about politics and to vote, although they’re not supposed to tell us who to vote for. They should not have to hide their heads in the sand so that the culture of death can spread unchecked. If people don’t like the teachings of the Church founded by Christ, then feel free to found your own church instead of pushing for relevancy. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord, and every time we fall, praise God for the sacraments and the grace they give us to overcome our sinful tendencies. His mercy is everlasting!

I felt bad at the anger I had as I heard about CNN’s “advice” to the church.  So angry that I felt compelled to bring it up in confession this Saturday.  I read this and really enjoyed the comparison, so much so, that I added it to my list for Saturday morning.

The laugh I enjoyed while reading is worth every bit of penance given to me.

@Greg: My opinion as to why the Catholic Church is being attacked by many in the media is because it is the oldest Christian denomination and if they can run-down the CC, then all the rest of the Christian churches will follow.  We have a secular society and they do all they can to put down religion every day.

As to Pope Benedict….I channel between CNN and Fox….CNN hardly mentions the Popes decision, while Fox News has been gracious about the Pope stepping down, one commentator being at the Vatican presently.

@Matt: I love your humor.

I’m looking forward to the media’s collective surprise when they find who the next pope is:  “What?  You mean that the pope is Catholic?”

The notion of being modern and trendy hasn’t worked out too well for the Presbyterians and Anglicans.  They have wandered off into ordained women, gay and lesbian bishops, and are losing membership and relevance at an alarming rate.

I quit watching CNN 20 years ago and I haven’t missed it.

@Ann: “...should not involve them selves into the political arena, as is was never their place to do so…”

Oh yes, how dare they force the Roman Empire to stop murdering daughters. How dare they force the Spanish Crown to acknowledge the human rights of Indians (when did Anglos get around to that? 1947?). How dare they topple the Soviet Union.

I’m sorry, why is being involved in politics not the Church’s “place”, precisely?

Great article.  So modernization is the code word for indoctrination to the secular view. I’ll bet they have never once opened the Bible.  I’d recommend they start with the Pentateuch.

Posted by vance on Thursday, Feb 14, 2013 12:52 AM (EST):

I quit watching CNN 20 years ago and I haven’t missed it.”
************************************************************
Apparrently so have a lot of other folk.It has some of the lowest viewer ratings around.

With the church’s 2000+ history CNN’s call for the church to modernise is just deja vue. Through the centuries there have been those that have insisted that the church must change or perish. As long as the church ignores calls to update from popular culture it shall not only survive but thrive. The church has what the culture does not give, the full Truth.

@Jane Howley: “Our pastors, our bishops, our church leaders in this country are citizens and have every right to speak about politics and to vote, although they’re not supposed to tell us who to vote for. They should not have to hide their heads in the sand so that the culture of death can spread unchecked.”

I agree with you Jane, but the Priests in my Parish, never spoke of abortion for fear of losing parishioners. They never speak of anything political…just wishy-washy stuff. This is the South and many of the parishioners have come down here from NY & NJ. The democrat Catholics have an attitude….“I follow the Bible and say my prayers and go to Mass and if anyone does anything wrong it is between them and God and they will get their just punishment”....YET THEY VOTED FOR OBAMA!  About 71% of Hispanics voted democrat because they were promised citizenship. Part of this is the fault of the Church because it approves of “social justice”, [which Obama pushes], and in the past and now still support Social Justice.  Now the Church is catering to the Hispanics because so many have left the Church. I personally am guessing that they will vote for a Hispanic Pope. Wait and see, anything to get the Hispanics back. The head of the Hispanic Ministry in Va. once said at a meeting I attended “we were here before, we are here now and we are here to stay”. The Catholic Church is very political….at one time they were all for the Irish…to be an Irish Catholic was to be a 1st class Catholic….now it is the Hispanics, so they start putting the Anglo down (which means to me the 100% Americans.) One Bishop wrote an article for the NCR and said the Hispanics will teach us Americans (Anglo) all about family really is and faith in the Virgin Mary. Hmmmm

The media does lot of good and more lot of bad. The worst thing withem is their arrogant faith in their infallibility. They think that sex and morality are their subject and their word should prevail. They do not only want to serve as reporters , but also as investigators and even judges. They find pleasure in criticising the Catholic Church because it is a stumbling block against their epicurian, materialist culture that confines to eating and mating.  All rightminded people , leave alone catholics, love truth and humility. Let us work for them peacably, with love and not accusations and belittling and ridiculing.

Kindly correct me if I went wrong

Sue, FYI, the Catholic Church is not a denomination. It is the original from which the others split and splintered.

Sue:
You mention that ” the church approves of social justice which Obama pushes.”  What you do not know is that the term was coined by Pope John Paul II.  The liberal left began using this term in a very different context as a campaign tagline decades ago. Pope John Paul II, instrumental in overcoming the Communist Parry in Poland during his early years, knew very well the consequences of socialism. The problem is that most people have been mislead by the political rhetoric and their lack of knowledge of the Church in my honest opinion.  Just saying.

Sue:
Also regarding your comment on Hispanics.  It is not a matter of bias. Men who come to the priesthood these days are primarily Hispanic and Nigerian. New very active members of the laity in large numbers are Hispanic also. They are a very faithful group. You might want to challenge your own perceptions and trust the clergy a little more than you seem to do.

Oh! and Matt the Lord Himself promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail against It; already having weathered so many storms I don’t have any reason to believe! God save the Catholc Church!

Meant to say ‘not to believe’

It is interesting to note the frequency in which secular organizations assume the authority to dictate to the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.  God doesn’t change, God is Truth, and therefore real truth, is objective, not subjective.  It is unfortunate that so many people believe that God gave us free will so that we can decide what is right or wrong based on our own desires.

“However, it does need to stop the condemnation of those who the Church finds immoral-divorced, unwed parents, LGBT, because Jesus would have wanted us to invite them and welcome them ,not on a provisional basis but permanent basis.”
Dear Ann:  After Our Lord stopped the stoning execution of the adulteress He looked at her and said “Go and sin no more.”  He did NOT tell her to return to her life style.

“You mention that “the church approves of social justice which Obama pushes.”  What you do not know is that the term was coined by Pope John Paul II.”
Dear Jan: Actually, while the idea of social justice is as old as the Old Testament (the Four Sins that cry to Heaven for Vengeance), the actual phrase was first used in the 1840s by Jesuit Luigi Taparelli in describing the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Helmut. Thanks for the but of history. I always enjoy such details.  I do know the left wing DC based lobbyists took the term from Pope John Paul II, encyclicals and twisted its meaning to suit their own agenda.  Sad but true, saw it first hand

To be fair, this article doesn’t bother to address any of the points that might or might not have been in the article.  It’s also riddled with logical flaws, not the least of which is the protracted ad-hominem attack at the end.  The Catholic Church *does* have quite a lot of updating, adapting, and apologizing to do over the next couple of decades if it wants to be at all relevant in the twenty-first century.  And I would like to point out that staying firm and becoming irrelevant (thus losing all its members) is essentially a denial of the Petrian vocation Christ placed upon the Church.

CNN and others of like mind——Remember who is in charge of this world! The Triune God who made it and everything in it. God doesn’t need us, we need Him. In fact we cannot exist if separated from Him. If there is any institution that needs to change it is this man made self important Godless
institution called CNN. God’s Laws and much more found in the Bible, Apostolic Tradition and His 2000 year old One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church,plus its teachings, its Magisterium and its Bishop of Rome come FIRST, not liberalism. The Church is the pillar and foundation of Truth, not CNN(read 1 Timothy 3:15). CNN—be rest assured, Catholics know the Holy Spirit will ensure our next Pope will wisely guide the Church Christ founded. For all the reasons given above by Matthew Archbold,I say to CNN—-don’t be used by satan who is the father of lies and the author of confusion; read and ponder what Matthew says, because even though you are steeped in unholy actions to keep your ratings up,you will do better to stick to God like glue! God’s plan is best, man’s modern plan(God is not important,only man)is a recipe for disaster. Yet it still amazes that God loves all humankind(the good, bad and ugly) and wants us to be with Him for eternity. Some will make it into His eternal Kingdom, many won’t. Our choices made on earth determine our eternal destiny—heaven or hell(Yes, both are real!)
“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. Tot one without faith, no explanation is possible.”(St Thomas Aquinas).
“Christus heri, hodie,et semper!” (Christ yesterday, today and forever! said by Blessed Pope John Paul II on January 28, 2000).

Wow you people are idiots.