Fort Wayne Gets a Catholic Radio Station

WANE-TV, Jan. 4 — A formerly Christian Fort Wayne radio station has transitioned to an all-Catholic format, effective Jan. 1, reported WANE-TV.

WLYV 1450 AM, known as Redeemer Radio, is Fort Wayne’s first Catholic radio station. Bishop John D’Arcy started the New Year by blessing the station’s offices and praying for its work.

While most of the station’s current programming is from existing Catholic radio networks, the station’s president, Chris Langford, said it hopes to introduce more local programming.

Catholic Governor Is a First for Virginia

WDBJ-TV, Jan. 5 — Virginia experienced a first Jan. 14 when Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine took his oath of office. Kaine is Virginia’s first Catholic governor.

WDBJ-TV said it’s a step that would have made headlines 25 years ago. Kaine and his wife, Anne Holton, the Roanoke, Va., are happy his religion has not been an issue, the television station reported. Holton is Protestant but attends Mass with her husband and their children, who are Catholic. She told the station that she could remember a time when anti-Catholic sentiment was common in Virginia.

Kaine, the report said, won his bid for governor “wearing his faith on his sleeve.” It speculated that his call to public service began when he was a 22-year-old Harvard law student who took time off to join missionaries in Honduras, teaching carpentry and welding. The report said witnessing poverty first-hand made a deep impression on him.

Diocese Uses Prayer to Respond to Shortage

SALEM NEWS, Jan. 2 — The Diocese of Manchester, N.H., is praying for more priests. It is calling for prayer at special monthly Masses to respond to its vocation crisis, said the Salem News.

In a newspaper advertisement, the diocese asked the faithful to commit to attending a monthly Mass at St. Joseph’s Cathedral to pray for additional priests. According to a website (www.liveinblackandwhite.com) set up for the effort, more than 400 people have already committed to attending. The first Mass took place Jan. 8.

Jesuit Magazine Apologizes for Offensive Ad

ASSOCIATED PRESS, Dec. 23 — The Jesuit magazine America apologized for inadvertently publishing an advertisement that featured a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary wrapped in a condom, reported the Associated Press.

According to the magazine’s editor, Jesuit Father Drew Christiansen, the condom was not visible in the black-and-white proofs that were used to review the Dec. 5 issue’s final draft. The magazine said that it will be changing its ad review process.

The text of the ad read: “Unique Contemporary Religious Art Work for Sale.” Called “Extra Virgin,” the piece was described as a “stunning 22 cm high statue of the Virgin Mary standing atop a serpent wearing a delicate veil of latex.”

London artist Steve Rosenthal placed the ad as a protest against Church opposition to the use of condoms.

America’s associate editor, Jesuit Father James Martin, responded that the ad was “a deliberate attempt to embarrass us and denigrate Mary.”