Fr. Barron, we all know that the sex abuse scandal has caused a number of the faithful to fall away by entering other churches or by indifference and just not attending mass regularly.  I was one of those that Left the Church, went to an Evangelical church and by the Grace of God, I am back home 25 years later.  My experience is that I was looking for truth, found in scripture and teaching but could not find it in the church at the time some thirty years ago.  What percentage of Catholics do you feel may have left for reasons other than the sex abuse and Why?  Do you see the trend reversing and improving as the faithful realizes the value of Sacred Tradition and Scripture knowledge? Is there Hope for our Chruch, even with the decrease in vocations?

1. Throughout your filming of CATHOLICISM, you visited many countries and experienced myriad expressions of faith. What one thing did you see overseas is most missing in the American church?

2. You are one of the Internet’s most prominent Catholic evangelists. To what limits can digital evangelism extend? How can the typical Catholic use New Media to spread the Gospel?

I am a religion teacher in a Catholic high school in a community greatly affected by the abuse scandal.  While many of my students are receptive to the Gospel, they no longer have faith in the Church and believe it is an unnecessary and outdated institution.  From your experience with the CATHOLICISM Project, do you have any words of wisdom as how one can share the Church’s message of hope with our adolescents who feel disengaged and betrayed?

RE: Meg, Religion teacher:  Meg, It must be very difficult for you as well as the students you teach.  I don’t know if you have read “the Light of the World” but BenedictXVI addresses issues of sex abuse and the importance and relivance of faith and absolut nessicity of it in today’s society.  There is alos a Youth CCC coming out.  it is being released at world youth day in Spain this summer.  IT is focused on your very age group.  You might check with your Priest to sse if they can get it.  Here is an article on the very subject you bring up here.

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1101307.htm

http://theoburgcatholic.blogspot.com/2011/04/pope-benidict-xvi-speaks-to-youth-in.html

I Pray God help you as you continue to serve His Chruch

I always heard if a Catholic attends DAILY Mass over a period of three years, the WHOLE Bible is read.  But recently, Jesuit priest Fr. Felix Just did a study of precisely how much of the Bible is read at Mass.

These are his findings:
Over a three-year cycle, Sunday Masses include 3.7% of the Old Testament (plus Psalms) and 40.8% of the New Testament. If you add weekday Masses you’ll hear 13.5% of the Old Testament (plus Psalms) and 71.5% of the New Testament.

Believers “meet” God the Father in the Old Testament.  That is how I learned about how the Father thought and worked.  Yet Catholics are sadly kept in the dark unless we read the Bible on our own - which is what I did.  I have not left the Church.

What can be done to encourage pastors (and the Vatican) to insist ALL of the Bible is taught to church-going Catholics at Mass, and in other venues, so we will be taught matters of Eternal Value?  And what can be done to insist the letters of St. Paul are taught to Catholics, IN FULL?

What is your opinion of the anthropological work of Rene Girard and its potential impact on biblical interpretation in bringing more clarity and understanding to the often problematic violence so often “sacralized in biblical texts?

Fr. Barron, I would appreciate suggestions for parents of busy teenagers. We used to spend a lot of time discussing our faith when they were young, because they were here most of the time.  Now, I am struggling to have family dinner together, and making time to study our faith together is next to impossible, but incomparably important. Can you suggest resources for that age group which are brief, to the point, and easy to understand, but not “dumbed down” by “teen speak”?

I love Christ and His Bride the Church, but rather than strengthen her and show Him to others, I seem only to fail her and harm His cause. In a world full of Psalm 117s, I feel like a Psalm 42. How do I bridge the gulf between the man I am and the man I want to be?

Could you ask Fr. Barron about his vocation story? What were his influences and heroes growing up that brought the faith alive for him so that he gave his life to the Church as a priest? Catholicism promises to be a beacon of hope for the youth and Robert Barron is a hero of my own as I continue to study for the priesthood.

Father, There is a crisis of education among the separated brethren.  The protestant churches have a skewed perception of our Catholic faith and of the history of Christianity.  How can we answer the call to greater ecumenism (and concomitant evangelization) and best approach our non-Catholic friends with the Catholicism series?  How does the coincident airing of the new Borgia series on Showtime conflict with the message of your project and how can it HELP it by providing a counterpoint that can be answered with the whole truth of Catholic history?

My question for Fr. Barron on the topic of the future of evangelizing online:  http://vimeo.com/22080941

Fr. Barron,

How are we to properly educate Catechumens on the Church’s teaching on artificial birth control when a simple glance around most parishes & Catholic schools reveals that many, many Catholics reject this teaching as evidenced by the absence of large families?

Hello Father Barron. I’ve been thinking long and hard about the priesthood and/or religious life. How did you find out that you were called to be a Priest?

Fr. Barron,

    Jesus died for our sins, would that mean he is also a martyr? I think St. Stephen was considered the first martyr, what do you think?

RE: sicut cervus.  You ask a question of Father that so many suffer from.  I for one an adding you to my prayer list.  I hope father addresses your question.  But if he doesn’t… be assured that YOU have taken the very FIRST step!  Recognizaing your need.  I pray you don’t stop there.  Seek out a priest and celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation… and keep moving forward

Three concerns:
1) I would very much like to host screenings of Catholicism in my home town of Birmingham AL, where more people attend church on Sunday than any other US city.  However, the materials need to be proof read once again; there remain a few typos and misspellings (not from quotations).  Thank you!
2) Do you think there will ever be a final, visual, unconditional mea culpa from the Holy Father regarding the sex abuse crisis?  We are a culture of images and THAT image would bring more healing and souls back to the church than all the investigations, settlements and busy work in the world.  Why hasn’t it been done? 
3) This is a quote from my 20 year old son, raised Catholic but attending a Southern Baptist college:  “The non Catholic churches may not have the Eucharist but at least I leave there having heard a sermon that tells me HOW to apply the gospel.  I am there for an hour and a half but time flies because I am instructed and educated in a practical sense and truly inspired.  In Catholic church I just feel hammered and bored.”  So my question is:  Are seminarians taught to be deliberately unprovocative and uninspiring so as to perhaps avoid a cult of personality?  Our young people desperately need to be engaged by the homilies - even Jesus knew the power of storytelling - but they are leaving in droves from the lack of it.
Thank you Father Barron!  I have tremendous gratitude and respect for your work!  I cannot wait for CATHOLICISM!!

RE: Posted by Diane Penney on Friday, Apr 8, 2011 12:15 AM
My Dear Faithful Catholic Friend,  I don’t know if they will be able to have father Barron address our every question so to insure that you remarks and concerns are addressed… I pray you will review my comments.  We share all Share the same concerns that you and YOUR SON do.  I have listed just a few of the recent apologies that the pope has given for the recently discovered sex abuse scandals that surfaced in Ireland.  He has repeatedly said he was sorry.  Several times, he was deeply shaken as tears fell from his cheeks.  I do not know what more he can do.  He has made the same announcements repeatedly, to people of America and elsewhere.  John Paul II did the same thing.  Unfortunately, my friend the wounds created by this sex abuse are very deep and wide.  We must all be part of the healing process, as you know if one of the body of Christ sins it affects the whole.  And the whole must cooperate in the healing as well.  I must also point out that I have read most of the deeply felt words and quotes in articles that seem to appear in the Catholic press.  It is rare that these quotes can be found in the Mainstream media.  I do not pretend that there are some who do not want the wounds to heal.  Here are just few quotes that I found in just two min.  There are hundreds if you Google it.  I assure you I have read the words of John Paul II and Benedict XVI who have taken ownership of the disgrace and long for the healing just as we all do.
“Yes it is a great crisis, we have to say that.  It was upsetting for all of us.  Suddenly so much filth. It was really almost like the crater of a volcano, out of which suddenly a tremendous clould of filth came, darkening and soiling everthing, so that above all the priesthood suddly seemed to be a place of shame and every priest was under the suspicion of being one like that too.”
“I express my deep sorrow to the innocent victims of these unspeakable crimes, along with my hope that the power of Christ’s grace, his sacrifice of reconciliation, will bring deep healing and peace to their lives,” Benedict said in his homily….(source: cbs news)
Pope Benedict XVI said on Saturday he was deeply ashamed of the “unspeakable” sexual abuse of children by priests,
Pope Benedict XVI told British parishioners Saturday that he is very sorry for the victims of the “unspeakable” child sex abuse in the Catholic church. “I express my deep sorrow to the innocent victims of these unspeakable crimes, along with my hope that the power of Christ’s grace, his sacrifice of reconciliation, will bring deep healing and peace to their lives,” Benedict said.
“…the pope acknowledged the effect it has had on the faithful and said the community of believers has been wounded in recent times by the attacks of evil and sin in the heart of the church. He went on to say: “Do not take this as a pretext to flee from God’s presence; you yourselves are the body of Christ, the church!” …”
As to you your Baptist son, We Catholics did not do a very good job of studding our faith, both Holy Scripture and Sacred Tradition in the last century.  I myself left the Church for more than 20 years where I to studied scripture.  As Catholics, there was no need.  The countless priests of the 40s and 50s threw all the laity into a lax and comfortable situation.  We didn’t have to do anything… the priests did it all because there were so many of them.  Times they are a changing.  I returned to the Catholic Church 5 years ago (after vowing NEVER to return I might add).  To my astonishment, I found a church with Lay minister programs, small faith sharing & study group programs.  Why Catholic? Programs, etc etc etc.  I am so busy with RCIA, Faith Sharing and Study Groups… I don’t have time to do much else.  AND I AM LOVING It!  WE all have choices and today the choices are endless.  We just have to ask and I am sure that any priest would welcome your help today.  As to the Mass, it is NOT “all about me”.  The Mass is a worship service where the BODY comes together to WORSHIP, we listen to the Word proclaimed in the readings, responses, and the Gospels and Celebrate the Eucharist where we are everyday renewed and experience conversion; are changed as we receive the Eucharist and Christ conforms us to and into the body of Christ.  IT is not all about “me” it is about allowing Christ to change me so that I can be a better instrument of the body.  Then we are SENT OUT… stent FORTH… to evangelize.  That takes many forms… but today… we must all, because of our lax past… engage in re-discovering the value of studding Sacred Tradition and Scripture.  It is not all about scripture alone… but Scripture and Sacred Apostolic Tradition. (Read the last 2 verses of the gospel of John 21:24-25) One of the best things Vatican II did for the church is give us our bibles back and the well-written document of Sacred Tradition… the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC).  EVERY home needs to have them both and read them both daily.

As a University student, I am constantly hearing criticism against the Catholic Church from both my fellow students and professors. Undoubtedly, the two main criticisms are on the Church’s stance on gay marriage and women in the priesthood. Could you give us some idea of how to respond to this?

Will the Cubs ever win a World Series?

Dear Bill, Thank you so very much for your heartfelt response.  I hope and pray the mainstream media somehow one day is compelled to record and broadcast Benedict actually shedding tears and beating his breast over the sex abuse crisis and/or writing a book about nothing else but the crisis and centering it SOLEY on the church and not the victims; even a breath of shared culpability will destroy and efforts of reconciliation.

Mu son is a devout Catholic but unfortunately there are not any Catholic universities in the Southeast that offer his course of study; a conservative Baptist college was the closest he could find.  He and I are both taking it upon ourselves to learn Catholic apologetics and spread the gospel - it would just be so much nicer to be inspired and educated in that way during mass.

Thanks again for your response!

God bless,
Diane

Maureen - In case your question is not chosen, here’s a comment that you can easily validate in Scripture and in universal church tradition-

Regarding same sex marriage and why the Vatican opposes it - the Magesterium is correct.  Just read Romans Chapter 1, among other Bible verses in the Old and in the NEW Testament about that.  Any denomination that approves of same sex relationships is an apostate church.  So the bishops have that right, to oppose the behavior.  They are not opposing the PERSON.  Jesus came for sinners, to call them to repent, and to turn to God.  But Jesus did not LEAVE the sinners the same way He found them- it wasn’t an “I’m okay.  You’re okay.” stance that He took.  Just read the Bible - especially Paul’s letters.  There are 13 of Paul’s letters in the New Testament.  But sadly, most of our clergy are uneducated in the New Testament, or they just lack courage (or support, as reflected in another comment on this blog) - so they do not teach Paul’s writings.

Regarding women being ordained to the priesthood - again, it would be against Scripture, even NEW TESTAMENT teachings, as women are not to LEAD men.  It’s only a role.  Even in Universal church Tradition, there were not women priests.  The closest one can come to an “official” - not necessarily “ordained”, but just an official church ROLE for women would be that of a deacon.  In the New Testament, Phoebe is described as a deaconess, and it was she that Paul entrusted to deliver his letter to the Romans - check the end of the letter, and see how Paul “presents” Phoebe to the recipients of that letter.

The reason why, I believe, our Magesterium does not want to promote Paul’s New Testament letters in Church, in homilies, or in diocesean newspapers, is that if you read Paul’s Pastoral Letters to Timothy and Titus (1Tim. 3:1-5 and Titus Chapter 1), and read 1Corinthians 9:5, you’ll see that the ideal qualifications for those that are in ordained ministry are MARRIED MEN.

That would go against everything the Magesterium has crammed down pew people’s throats, since the year 1139, when the made celibacy mandatory. —it would be to admit that they were not really going by “the Good Book”, and it’s a big no-no for the Magesterium to admit that any previous Magesterium was not speaking for the Holy Spirit.
So instead, they do a little dance around those verses, ignoring them when they can, and since most Catholics have Bibles, but only as coffee table books, never opening them - or studying The Word - pew people have been easy to fool. 

It’s because of that, your professors have such little respect for what the Magesterium says, and for us easy-to-fool Catholics, in general.  It’s sad.  Especially because about the two questions you pose: 1) same-sex marriage and 2) women priests, the Vatican is 100% correct. 

When folks like you, younger pew people that ask questions, and are not afraid to speak out for truth, start to READ the Bible, in context and in full, the Magesterium will one day, begin to respect the qualifications for ordained ministers, and the “practice” of mandated celibacy will end, respecting what Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus.  It could end tomorrow, by the way - it’s only a practice.  Even the Vatican admits that it’s not a hard-fast rule, as is NO same sex relationships and NO women priests.

I have always enjoyed you showing the Church as smart. But within our tradition their appear to be saints that are uneducated and yet we hold them up as saints (Blessed Lawerence of the Resurrection, St. Andre in Canada). how do you reconcile these men and other women with the tradition which, as shown by you, is smart and in some sense brilliant?

What might be God’s message to the Church with Newman and John Paul II being beatified the same year?

What precisely is the Church’s message that was so subversive in the early centuries? What did Jesus reveal and in a post modern world where many Christian values are embraced without connection to Jesus how do we evangelize?

Father

How do take Catholicism Series’ and truly evangelize so as to bring about a true manifestation of The New Evangelization?

Where should we start and what should we strive for the most?

Thank you for the inpiration and revelation of the beauty and truth in our Faith!!!

Can you give any Good refutations of Nihilism/existentialism?

Here is a question about the Priesthood.  Looking at many of the comments and questions written here, I would like to see some clarification as to why the Church believes that Priest should be celibate and single.  I have a friend who is married to an Anglican Priest.  She often struggles with the time her husband must spend away from family life in his ministry.  She often says that she cringes when she hears that Priests in the Catholic Church think it would be better if they were able to marry.  She does not think so.  There is scripture that says it is good for a man and a woman who feel called to be single are better for it.  This way they only have “one master” the Lord instead of two… the Lord and the spouse.
As a divorced male who did not want a divorce, I see that I am able to spend much more time committing time to Evangilization.  My kids are out of the house, married or in college.  Now as a commissioned lay minister, I am an RCIA team member, on evangelization committee, faith-sharing facilitator.  Please give us your words of wisdom on the matter and why the Church thinks, it is better to have Celibate priests.  Thank you.

Bill - You have not asked for God’s wisdom, those specific verses in Scripture that apply to those in ordained ministry.  Rather, you ask for Fr. Barron’s words of wisdom on the matter.  And you ask him why the Church thinks it’s better to have Celibate priests.

So my next question to Fr. Barron is “Why is it that not only the Vatican, but even average Catholic pew people and our leaders, continue to ignore what the Bible specifically says about qualifications for ordained ministers?  I just don’t understand that.

Fr. Barron, is it okay to ignore God Himself?  I guess a follow-up question would be, “Do Catholics and the Vatican really not believe the Bible is the Word of God?”  Because if they believe it is the Word of God, how can they dismiss it, so easily?

i can wait to listen to fr robert barron on tv or my computer. folks all sang the praises of rev fulton j sheen.. This guy is dynamite. I just love him. He really is a “Gift of God….....what a treatt.