Kerry Tells Church to Stay Out of Campaign

THE NEW YORK POST, March 29 — Despite supporting abortion and vetoing fetal-protection laws — supporting positions that contradict Church teachings — Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., still insists his faith will not be a campaign issue.

“I don't tell Church officials what to do and Church officials shouldn't tell American politicians what to do in the context of our public life,” Kerry told Time magazine. “As John Kennedy said very clearly, I will be a president who happens to be a Catholic, not a Catholic president.”

Also on the campaign trail, President Bush criticized Kerry for using a Bible verse to criticize leaders March 28. While not referring to Bush by name but referring to current national leaders, Kerry asked, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?”

A Bush spokesman called it “a sad exploitation of Scripture for a political attack.”

Lifelike Fatima Statue Comes to United States

THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, March 25 — After having spent months in India and Australia, the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima is visiting the United States.

The 40-pound, 46-inch-tall lifelike sculpture has traveled the world since 1947, when it was carved in Portugal. It was then blessed by a bishop and designated “a pilgrim,” the newspaper reported. The nonprofit New Jersey-based Lay Apostolate Foundation oversees the statue.

Carl Malburg, 63, and his wife are current custodians of the statue and take it “wherever the statue wants to go.” Churches around the world call almost daily requesting visits.

Malburg said he has witnessed many miracles, including alcoholism cured, vision restored and relationships mended. During speeches he gives at visits, Malburg reminds audiences the statue is just a representation of the Virgin Mary and a conduit for prayer.

Note to Hollywood: PG and G Films Do Better at Box Office

THE WASHINGTON TIMES, March 25 — A yearly study of the moral content in films has found movies depicting violence, sex, foul language and criminal behavior simply do not sell.

The Christian Film & Television Commission found films that emphasized “strong moral content” made an average of $92,546,413, six times that of those with “immoral, negative content.” Those films brought in an average of $14,626,234. The figures were based on an analysis of 250 movies released in America last year.

The study also found that from 2000 to 2003, movies with “no nudity” brought in an average $137.8 million compared with movies with “full male and/or female nudity,” which brought in an average $43 million.

So why does Hollywood continue to produce risky fare? the paper asks.

“The concept of affirming the basic and traditional values of flyover country is absolute anathema to these filmmakers,” said Andrew Breitbart, co-author of Hollywood Interrupted: Insanity Chic in Babylon — the Case Against Celebrity. “They live in an isolated world, which is nihilist to the core — the more cynical you are, the hipper you seem.”