reflections, updates and homilies from Deacon Mike Talbot inspired by the following words from my ordination: Receive the Gospel of Christ whose herald you have become. Believe what you read, teach what you believe and practice what you teach...
Pop star Gwen Stefani shared her admiration for the patron saint of musicians on the saint's feast day.
The popstar recording artist Gwen Stefani recently shared with her millions of Instagram followers a picture of St. Cecilia, on the feast day of the patron saint of musicians, November 22.
In the simple story shared with her 17.7 million followers, the 55-year-old posted a holy card of St. Cecilia -- or Sancta Caecilia in Latin -- accompanied by a love heart emoji, as shared by Church Pop.
This is not the first time the founder of the band No Doubt and coach on the popular NBC television series The Voice has shared her sentiment for her Catholic faith.
Just over a year ago, the mom-of-three commented "beautiful and brave" on ChurchPOP's Instagram reel when they covered Napa Institute's annual Eucharistic procession in New York City:
The singer also shared in an interview with Today how her faith helped her through the difficulties in her life, particularly at the time of her divorce:
For me, I was turning to my faith right away. That was a seed that my mom planted in me when I was a little girl … it's a journey. It's almost like you get lost, it's like you get lost on your journey. We all do and we all will and I will again at some point I'm sure."
Hopefully Stefani can continue to inspire others with her faith, and her music -- especially if St. Cecilia is by her side!
There may be a measure of angst for some Catholics over the new Pew Forum Study in anticipation of the papal visit. Despite its title — “U.S. Catholics Open to Non-Traditional Families” – only half of the findings were related to hot-button issues, but the spin is on. Still, there are some intriguing statistics for evangelizers.
For the purpose of analysis, we can break this study into five sections but first, it is worth mentioning that the Catholic sample in this study is much smaller than the recent 2014 Religious Landscape Survey. That study interviewed 7,200 Catholics and claimed a 1.5% margin of error. This latest report contains margins of error up to plus or minus 10.3% percent (!) where millennials are discussed, because only 120 millennial Catholics were interviewed. The Cultural Catholics
Pew’s look at former Catholics in considerable detail is very useful. In fact, the study describes a new kind of “former Catholic”: people who no longer considers themselves to be a Catholic in terms of “religion” (and may now be properly called “Protestant” or “None”) but who nevertheless identify as Catholic or “partially Catholic”, either culturally, ethnically, or because of their family background. Pew calls this group “cultural Catholics”.
1) 20% of US adults when asked what religion they belong to, say they are Catholic. That’s about 50 million adults.
2) The new category: so-called “Cultural Catholics”. 9% of US adults who described themselves as non-Catholic religiously, when asked a second question as to whether or not they currently consider themselves “Catholic or partially Catholic”, say “yes”. About 22 million adults.
2/3 of this group (6% of US adults) were raised Catholic or have a Catholic parent. Of those “cultural Catholics” who were raised Catholic, fully half (3%) are now Protestant. 2% are “Nones” and 1% joined another faith. But they still regard themselves as Catholic or “partially Catholic”. That means 43% of those who were raised as Catholics and are now “cultural Catholics” (as defined by Pew) could “see themselves returning to the Catholic Church”. That translates to 6 Million Adults.
1/3 of these “cultural Catholics” ( over 7 million adults) were not raised Catholic, yet still identify as culturally or partially Catholic in some way, even though they don’t consider themselves to be a member of the Catholic faith. This includes some converts to the faith who have left the Church.
Pew says “About one-in-eight cultural Catholics who were not raised in the faith (13%) name participation in specific kinds of Catholic activities as the basis for their Catholic identity. This includes 6% who say the sacraments are important in their lives and 5% who say they attend or attended a Catholic church. Those Catholics involved with the New Evangelization – whether clergy or lay – should feel encouraged by these findings.
3) 9% of US adults are “Ex-Catholics”, or about 22 million adults. Roughly 10 million are now Protestants and 10 million are “Nones” or “religiously unaffiliated”. 2 million have joined some other faith. These are the hard core “I’m not Catholic” group, 89% of whom say they are not open to returning.
4) American adults who are not Catholic by religion or culture but are still “connected” — the majority because they have Catholic parents or a Catholic spouse but some because they attend Mass a few times/year — (CARA research found that 2% of those at Mass on a given Sunday are not Catholic, including adults from non-Catholic background in RCIA).
When you add it all up, 45% of American adults (112.5 million) have some Catholic “connection”. As disciple-makers, we have a whole lot of bridges to walk across. Latinos
The good news is that 84% of Hispanic Americans have some kind of connection with Catholicism.
The bad news is that only 45% answer “Catholic” when asked what their “present” religion is.
(It’s worth noting how the language of these surveys is changing to reflect our realities, acknowledging that being part of a certain “religious faith” is a “present” thing – not necessarily a life-long inherited thing.)
45% of US Hispanic adults say they are “Catholic” religiously.
13% of US Latino adults fall into the Pew study’s “cultural Catholic” category. Of this number, 4% are now Protestant and 5% are now “Nones”.
18% of US Hispanic adults are “Ex Catholics”, of whom 9% are now Protestant and 7% are now “religious unaffiliated”.
8% of US Hispanic adults are “connected” to Catholicism – mostly through Catholic parents.
Catholics who become Protestant
Catholics who leave and become Protestant (about 17.5 million adults) tend to fall into two, roughly equal different camps:
“Kinda-Sorta Catholic”: These are Protestants who retain various levels of attachment to the Catholic faith and world. Members of this group are much more open to returning.
“Not Catholic”: Protestants for whom the rejection of Catholicism is central to their new religious identity. Hispanic former Catholics are twice as likely to fall into this camp as into #1 while white former Catholics are equally divided between the two.
Converts and Reverts
91% of US Catholic adults are cradle Catholics, and 9% are converts
Converts: the percentage of converts to Catholicism in each generation becomes smaller, the younger you are.
13% of 65+ year old Catholics are converts while only 7% of millennial Catholics were not raised Catholic.
White Catholics (12%) are much more likely than Hispanics (3%) to be converts.
College graduates (12%) are more likely than high school grads (8%) to be converts.
(In 2000, a US Bishops’ study of RCIA found that college graduates made up over half of all who are finally received into the Church at a time when only 25% of American adults had college degrees. The person least likely to finish had a high school diploma or less. RCIA is functionally being run by-educated-people-for-educated-people”.)
And this is not good news: in terms of Mass attendance, converts make up 11% of those Catholics who seldom or never attend Mass.
Reverts: 17% of American Catholics (8.5 m) are reverts who have left the Church at some point and then returned. Fewer millennial Catholics are converts but larger numbers of millennials (26%) are reverts than any other generation. (Millennials have the lowest percentage of life-long Catholics.) Only 12% of 65+ aged Catholics are reverts. 20% of Hispanic Catholics have left and returned. Jesus and Sin
Pew pollsters asked this question about 10 different beliefs or religious activities that were described briefly: ” ________ is essential, important but not essential, or not an important part of what being Catholic means to them personally”
So the question was all about “what being a Catholic means to me personally.”
Two highest results were about 1) believing in the resurrection of Jesus and 2) having a personal relationship with Jesus.
This is the first time I have ever seen a study ask Catholics a question phrased in terms of “personal relationship with Jesus” and that alone is very intriguing. 68% of Catholics responded that “having a personal relationship with Jesus” was essential to what being Catholic meant to them and 67% said that believing in the resurrection of Jesus was essential.
The so-called “cultural Catholics” are close behind with 60% saying that “personal relationship with Jesus” is essential. Participating in the sacraments is lower; only 54% of Catholics and 32% of “cultural Catholics” found that essential.
We know that the Catholic (as in religion) adult population has dropped from nearly 25% of the US adult population in 2007 to only 20% in 2015. The Pew 2014 Religious Landscape Survey found that 41% of US Catholic adults (32 million) have “left” the faith and the ones most likely to do so are those who didn’t practice, who didn’t show up at services. We also know that Mass attendance rises and falls with the percentage of a generation that is certain of the possibility of a personal relationship with God (Pew 2007 Religious Landscape Survey).
Which brings us to Sin: This
89% of Catholics believe in the “concept of sin” – that there are actions or deeds that are offensive to God. The number jumps slightly for those who leave the Church and become Protestant and drops dramatically to 47% for ex-Catholics who are “religiously unaffiliated”.
79% of those who still consider themselves to hold to the Catholic “religion but seldom or never attend Mass also believe in the idea of sin.
But there is a big divergence between the Church’s teaching and the views of Catholics when it comes to views of concrete behaviors as sin. For instance, only 33% of Catholics believe that living with a romantic partner outside of marriage is sinful and only 17% believe that using contraceptives is a sin. Both findings may suggest one reason that only 43% of Catholics go to confession at least once a year.
So, the gap between what is meant by “personal relationship with Jesus” and intentional discipleship remains broad indeed, but for those who seek to evangelize Catholics within their families, and their parishes, and outside them as well, this Pew study suggests that millions of Catholics are willing to be persuaded back into the pews, with the right outreach. That’s certainly something to keep in mind, as we anticipate the upcoming papal visit to the United States.
As the author of a book about demons and exorcism, I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when, over Memorial Day weekend, I received a number of emails asking me to comment on the “Charlie Charlie Challenge.” During the last week or so, this alleged means of contacting a “Mexican spirit” has spread through social media and surged in popularity among teens.
The “challenge” goes like this: Two intersecting lines are drawn on a piece of paper; the word yes is written in two opposite squares and no is written in the other two. Then a pencil is laid down on the horizontal line, and another is laid across it vertically. The player then says, “Charlie, Charlie, can we play?” and watches to see if “Charlie the Mexican demon” moves one or both pencils toward a yes or no square. Players continue asking yes or no questions and laying the pencils one on top of the other to see the answers. The internet is full of spooky videos showing the “demon” moving the pencils.
Not having pencils handy, I went into the secretary’s office to get some, and tried it, without—of course—the accompanying paper and invocation to the demon. Sometimes neither pencil moved, sometimes one moved, and sometimes both moved. It depended on where on the desk I placed them, and the amount of friction keeping the one on top of the other. Later I talked to my goddaughter—a grade-school teacher—and she said her students have played this game, and one girl confessed to moving the pencils by exhaling through her nose.
I think we can conclude that the movement of the pencils does not necessarily signify a demonic presence. Although it is possible that the devil could express himself in even the most mundane ways, I think the vast majority of those playing this game are not communicating with demons. Catholics should not blame the devil every time a pencil rolls across a desk. But does that mean this is an acceptable game for Christians to play, just for fun? Definitely not.
The only spiritual beings we call upon are God, his angels, and his saints; and certainly none of them are going to give us secret information through a pencil trick. Silly as it is, if one’s intention were to contact spirits, playing this game would be at least a venial sin,. We should teach children and teens to distinguish between the scary and the sacrilegious. If young people want to have fun in spooky ways, I don’t see anything inherently sinful: with scary fictional stories (Irish folklore is full of these), make-believe “haunted houses” at Halloween, and movies with monsters such as vampires and werewolves (provided they are not gory). Attempts to contact spirits or see the future, on the other hand, whether through Ouija boards, psychics, horoscopes, or even the “Charlie Charlie Challenge,” are putting faith in things other than God and—rare though it actually happens—inviting the possibility of true demonic influence.
What should Catholic parents do if their children ask about it or have played it? My advice is not to overdramatize the demonic aspect of it, since it is doubtful (though not impossible) that they would contact a demon. Instead, I advise reminding them that one of the reasons God became man was to free us from the oppression of the devil (Acts 1:38). Our Lord subjected himself to the horrible suffering of the Crucifixion, therefore it would be greatly offensive to him if we attempted a playful conversation with his enemy. If they have played it, have them pray a rosary with you tonight, in reparation for sins and for protection against any demonic presence. And then quit worrying about it.
If children and teens show an interest in things with spiritual power, have them carry a small crucifix in their pocket, and keep holy water handy in their bedrooms. Be sure to explain the difference between magic/superstition and sacramentals: the former are human attempts to control things in the spirit world, the latter are acknowledgements of God’s control over the spirit world.
A good counterbalance to young peoples’ attraction to the spooky is to introduce them to the numinous. In his book The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis describes the difference between fear and what he calls the experience of the numinous. If you were told there is a tiger in the next room, you would likely feel fear. If you were told there is a ghost in the next room, and you believed it, you would feel fear of a different kind; less fear of what it might do to you and more of the fact of its presence. But if you believed a great spirit were present in the next room, your feeling would be that of the numinous: “A sense of inadequacy to cope with such a visitant and of prostration before it.”
To experience this, take your teens into the church to pray when no one else is present (you might need to arrange in advance with the pastor). Take them to a cemetery at night, and pray for the souls in purgatory. Drive out to the country on a clear night and look at the stars. Feeling awful is a good thing, if it is the creator of the universe before whom we feel full of awe.
(CNN) —Shirley Temple Black, who rose to fame as arguably the most popular child star in Hollywood history, died late Monday night, her publicist said.
She was 85.
Temple Black, who also enjoyed a long career as a diplomat, died of natural causes at her Woodside, California, home. She was surrounded by family and caregivers, a statement from Cheryl Kagan said.
She began acting at age 3 and became a massive box-office draw before turning 10, commanding a then-unheard of salary of $50,000 per movie.
Her first film of notice was in 1932 when she played in "War Babies," part of the "Baby Burlesks" series of short films.
For about 18 years, she sang, tap-danced and acted her way into the hearts of millions. Her corkscrew curls were popular with little girls from the 1930s through the 1970s. Early years
Her star shone brightest as a toddler, and 20th Century Fox cranked out a series of feature films with the adorable, talented little girl. Her hits included "Little Miss Marker" (1934), "Curly Top" (1935) and "The Littlest Rebel" (1935).
At the box office, she beat out the great adult stars of her day, such as Clark Gable and Bing Crosby. Her popularity spawned a large array of merchandizing items, such as dolls, hats and dresses.
She was the top box-office star four years in a row, from 1935 to 1938. Her career was at its peak as the country was suffering the effects of the Great Depression, and her films offered uplifting moments.
But as she got older, the pace of movies slowed, and by 1939, her popularity was fading. She and 20th Century Fox terminated her contract early in 1940, just before she reached her teenage years. U.S. diplomat
She retired from filmmaking at 22 and married Charles Black, changing her last name from Temple to Temple Black.
But she did not fade from the public eye.
She embarked on a new career as a foreign diplomat: She served in the U.S. delegation to the United Nations from 1969 to 1974 was U.S. ambassador to Ghana from 1974 to 1976, and U.S. ambassador to Czechoslovakia from 1989 to 1992.
"We salute her for a life of remarkable achievements as an actor, as a diplomat, and most importantly as our beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and adored wife of fifty-five years of the late and much missed Charles Alden Black," a statement said. Enduring icon
She remained a cultural icon for decades after stepping down from the silver screen.
In 1958, she made a comeback as an entertainer, this time on television, in an hourlong show, "Shirley Temple's Storybook."
She later received two lifetime achievement awards for her performing career.
In 1972, Temple Black successfully battled breast cancer.
'Duck Dynasty' Star Targets Abortion: 'You Have a God-Given Right to Live'
By Tim Molloy | The Wrap
View Photo'Duck Dynasty' Star Targets Abortion: 'You Have a God-Given Right to Live' (Video)
"Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson has said the A&E hit downplays his family's religious faith -- but the intensity of his beliefs comes through in a videotaped speech condemning abortion.
Robertson says in the speech that he is in Pennsylvania, though it is unclear when it was shot. It was posted by the conservative site CNS News, and linked on the Drudge Report, giving Robertson a huge forum. His show is the highest-rated reality series on cable, and his remarks put him in the middle of one of the country's most contentious issues.
In the speech, he talks about presidents he says relied on the Bible, then turns to abortion.
"Listen, from the time you started inside your mother's womb, Thomas Jefferson had it right, you have the God-given right to live, for crying out loud. You're this long!" he said, holding out his finger. "You're a week old inside your mother. They suck you out of there when you're about like that."
"And, when you got to be the size of my thumb, they suck you out. You wouldn't be here. Then, you grow a little bigger, like my fist - and finally eight, nine months later you come out. "And we debate whether it's a -- some woman has the right to tear you out of there, a piece at a time? C'mon! You have a God-given right to live. And of all places, inside your mother -- what in the world happened to us?"
Robertson told The Wall Street Journal in June that his shows plays down his family's religion. The show follows Robertsons family of Louisiana hunters, who are rich from selling duck calls.
"We can't get into spiritual matters on the show too much," he said. "That's a little much for the production company. They say, you know, it's not the Pat Robertson show."
A&E did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
James Gandolfini was Bacchus at Mardi Gras in 2007. The actor died Wednesday in Italy at the age of 51. (File photo by Jennifer Zdon, The Times-Picayune)
LOS ANGELES -- James Gandolfini, whose portrayal of a brutal, emotionally delicate mob boss in HBO's "The Sopranos" helped create one of TV's greatest drama series and turned the mobster stereotype on its head, died Wednesday in Italy. He was 51.
Jean Stapleton, best known for playing Edith Bunker in 'All in the Family,' dies at 90
Published June 01, 2013
Associated Press
NEW YORK – Jean Stapleton, the stage-trained character actress who played Archie Bunker's far better half, the sweetly naive Edith, in TV's groundbreaking 1970s comedy "All in the Family," has died. She was 90.
Stapleton died Friday of natural causes at her New York City home surrounded by friends and family, her children said Saturday.
Clean-cut crooner Andy Williams, whose performance of "Moon River" became a pop music classic, has died at the age of 84.
"[Williams] passed away last night (Tuesday) at home in Branson, Missouri following a year long battle with bladder cancer," his rep said in a statement to FoxNews.com.
>>>This story has been on the web, in the news most of the week and I just got around to really reading it. Seems to be a sincere appreciation of life over all the sad, sorry excuses used by the pro-abort crowd. Read carefully the comments from the young Justin himself. Amazing!
September 18, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a recent interview with Kathie Lee Gifford for NBC’s TODAY show, Justin Bieber’s mom, Pattie Mallette, talked about the pressure she suffered to abort her famous pop-star son.
A victim of childhood sexual abuse, Pattie engaged in drinking, drugs and sex at a young age, ultimately finding herself pregnant at the age of seventeen. Even though she was encouraged to abort, she told Kathie Lee, “I just knew I couldn’t. I just knew I couldn’t. I just know I had to keep him.”
“I didn’t know how I was going to do it. But I just knew that I couldn’t abort. I had to do my best, and I was determined to do whatever it took.”
Justin Bieber with his mom, Pattie Mallette
Pattie’s interview, some say, sheds a new light on a 2011 interview then-sixteen-year-old Justin granted with Rolling Stone’s editor Vanessa Grigoriadis in which he stated, “I really don’t believe in abortion.”
“I think it [the unborn child] is a human. It’s like killing a baby,” Bieber said at the time.
When pressed as to whether he opposed abortion in the case of rape, the young singer replied, “Um. Well, I think that’s really sad, but everything happens for a reason. I don’t know how that would be a reason. I guess I haven’t been in that position, so I wouldn’t be able to judge that.”
Bryan Kemper, Youth Outreach Director for Priests for Life, commented on Mallette’s revelations about her pregnancy with Bieber.
“I applaud Justin Bieber’s mother for having the courage to stand up and say what she did, and I hope people will look up to what she did in protecting and carrying her son, see the potential of the child they are carrying and follow her example,” said Kemper.
“Justin is a survivor of Roe v. Wade, and as we go into 40th anniversary of Roe v Wade, this year marks one full generation that has lived under the shadow of that Supreme Court decision. This is the generation that will abolish abortion. We have survived Roe, we will not let it survive us. We will not allow another 40 years to pass of legalized child-killing.
In a similar story in 2011, NFL player Tim Tebow was featured in a Focus on the Family Superbowl ad with his mother, Pam Tebow, who shared how she almost lost Tim before birth due to some serious health problems. In interviews about the ad, she spoke of the pressure from her doctors to abort Tim, but how she chose life despite the pressure.
Colbert to NY Fordham students: 'I love my church'
By RACHEL ZOLL | Associated Press
Enlarge PhotoAssociated Press/Charles Sykes, File - FILE - In this May 21, 2012 file photo, TV personality and author Stephen Colbert attends the 71st Annual Peabody Awards in New York. Stephen Colbert says he loves the …more Roman Catholic Church no matter its human flaws. The host of "The Colbert Report" talked about his faith Friday night, Sept. 14, 2012 at an event at Fordham University in New York. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, File) less
NEW YORK (AP) — In a rare public moment out of character, actor Stephen Colbert told students at the Jesuit Fordham University on Friday that he loves the Roman Catholic Church no matter its human flaws.
The host of "The Colbert Report" talked about his faith in a discussion on humor and spirituality with New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan and the Rev. James Martin, author of "Between Heaven and Mirth" and the official chaplain of Colbert's show.
Colbert, who has taught Sunday school classes to school-age children, said people in comedy often don't understand how he could remain Catholic. But he said he views the church as teaching joy, which he called the "infallible sign of the presence of God."
"I love my church — warts and all," he said, before an audience of about 3,000 cheering students, who posted his quotes on Twitter using the organizers' (hash)dolancolbert hashtag.
Colbert said people in comedy often make jokes at the expense of religion, but he makes jokes about what he called people's misuse of religion in politics and other arenas. Still, he said, "If Jesus doesn't have a sense of humor, I am in huge trouble."
Colbert took the opportunity to needle Dolan about the new English-language translation of the Roman Missal, the text of prayers and instructions for celebrating Mass. The translation was introduced last fall in U.S. parishes to initial grumbling over what critics called stilted language. A focus of the complaints was the translation of the Nicene Creed, replacing the phrase "one in Being with the Father" to "consubstantial with the Father."
"Consubstantial?" Colbert said, as Dolan shook his head and laughed. "It's the Creed. It's not the SAT prep."
For his part, Dolan, who gave benedictions at both the Republican and Democratic national conventions, told of his encounter with Clint Eastwood at the GOP event.
According to the cardinal, Eastwood said he had once played a preacher in a movie and said "I know that neck thing is really uncomfortable."
The cardinal didn't mention Eastwood's peculiar talk on the convention stage with an imaginary President Barack Obama in an empty chair.
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Sherman Hemsley, the hot-tempered, upwardly mobile, janitor-turned-dry-cleaner-owner George Jefferson in TV's iconic The Jeffersons, has died at 74.
Hemsley died at his home in El Paso, Texas, police say. A cause of death was not immediately known.
Introduced each week with the gospel Movin' On Up theme song, Norman Lear's show gave Hemsley a larger-than-life character who delivered a brand of comedy all his own.
Zingers like "If I paid you to think, you could cash your check at the penny arcade!" paired with over-the-top gestures left audiences across the country in stitches. The show has lived on for years in reruns on cable.
The actor, who first played the role in All in the Family – going head to bigoted head with Carroll O'Connor's Archie Bunker – went on to embody a softer character, Deacon Ernest Frye on TV's Amen.
Born in South Philadelphia, Hemsley dropped out of high school to join the Air Force. He returned to Philadelphia and worked for the U.S. Postal Service, while taking acting classes at night.
After performing with local groups in Philadelphia, Hemsley moved to New York to make his Broadway debut as Gitlow in Purlie.
While touring with the production, television writer and producer Lear contacted Hemsley to play the role of Jefferson on his new sitcom, All in the Family. Hemsley hesitated to accept but Lear held the role open for him and two years later, Hemsley joined the cast.
Less than two years after Hemsley made his television debut, he and All in the Family costar Isabel Sanford were given their own spin-off in The Jeffersons. The series earned Hemsley Emmy and Golden Globe nominations in 1984 and 1985 respectively.
In 1986, Hemsley was cast as Deacon Ernest Frye in the NBC series, Amen. The role would last five seasons, ending in 1991.
He was also a professional singer and released a single on Sutra Record called "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" in 1989. In 1992, he released Dance, an R&B album.
Although he retired from television acting, Hemsley joined Sanford through the late '90s and early 2000's to reprise their roles as George and Louise "Weezy" Jefferson on guest spots. The duo appeared on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and in commercials for Old Navy, Gap and Denny's.
Melinda Gates responds to contraception program controversy
By Stephanie Smith, CNN
updated 5:33 PM EDT, Fri July 6, 2012
(CNN) -- Responding to simmering controversy among Catholic bloggers about her new birth control program, Melinda Gates -- a practicing Catholic -- said she will not shrink from her role as an advocate for poor women.
"Part of what I do with the (Gates) Foundation comes from that incredible social justice I had growing up and belief that all lives, all lives are of equal value," said Gates during a recent interview with CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
About the flak over her Catholicism she said: "We're not going to agree about everything, but that's OK."
Gates is promoting an ambitious family planning program -- which includes raising billions of dollars to provide contraceptives to 120 million women worldwide -- at the London Summit on Family Planning July 11.
While most Catholics, in the United States, at least, according to polls, seem to agree with Gates that contraception for women is not controversial, some Catholic bloggers are taking issue with the plan.
One blog in particular, LifeSiteNews.com, has frequently published diatribes against Gates, calling into question her faith, and calling her plan a "blatant attack on Catholic sexual morality."
As far as the broader Catholic church stance on the Gates program, CNN requested a comment from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, but did not get a response.
For her part, Gates is trying to deflect the controversy, and concentrate on what she describes as a real need for contraception to empower women.
"I think we made birth control and contraceptives way too political in the United States," said Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "I think if people understood that 200 million women want this around the world they would start to say, 'OK that makes sense.' ... We shouldn't make it such a political issue.
According to the Gates Foundation website, the focus of the family planning initiative will be on urban areas in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, areas where maternal and infant mortality rates are high and contraception use is low.
"Africa's the one place really in the world, for the most part, that contraceptives haven't been available and it's really been a crime," said Gates. "If you see what's happened in other countries that have had contraceptives, they use them first of all and the birth rates go down. ... The question is could it have come down even more quickly?"
Gates frequently cites research from a decades-long study in Bangladesh as a rationale for family planning. Given the ability to space out their children using birth control, women can begin what Gates calls a "virtuous economic cycle."
The study, started in the 1970s in Matlab, compared a group with access to contraception and birth-control education to a similar group that did not have access to those things.
"(In) the community that had access to contraceptives, the women chose to use them, the families grew up wealthier, fewer women died in childbirth," said Gates. "And what we're seeing happening with that is that it's playing out again all over the world. These small scale things you have in terms of giving a family the access leads to huge economic changes. "
To effect that cascade of economic change worldwide will take $4 billion, according to Gates. The London summit kicks off the Foundation's official campaign for support and funding for that effort.
No doubt, the family planning initiative will roll out despite Catholic protestations, and Gates says this is the issue for which she hopes to be remembered.
"I work on a broad set of foundation issues," said Gates. "But this one for me has really grasped my heart and my mind.
She added: "This will be my lifetime's work at the foundation."
>>>>Another example of Catholics who could care less about authentic Catholic teaching.
>>>>Another example of a Catholic who is, in a word, wrong.
>>>>And another example of the sheer delight CNN gets from finding disaffected Catholics to help them smear the Catholic Church.
In this undated photo released by J&R, child actor, Max Page, who played little Darth Vader in Volkswagen's 2011 Super Bowl commercial, is shown. The 7-year-old underwent surgery to replace a pulmonary valve on Thursday, June 14, 2012, without incident. The operation was done at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. - AP Photo - J&R, JPI Studios
The 7-year-old actor known as the boy behind the Darth Vader mask in a popular car commercial underwent open-heart surgery Thursday, hospital officials said.
The surgery to replace Max Page's pulmonary valve lasted two hours and took place without incident, according to the surgeon, Dr. Vaughn Starnes. The operation was done at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, where the boy was recovering in the cardiac intensive care unit.
Max, who plays Reed on the CBS soap opera "The Young and the Restless," was born with a congenital heart defect and has undergone multiple surgeries.
The valve used for Max will last about 15 years and won't require invasive surgery to replace it, according to the hospital. He was expected to be released in about five days, a hospital spokesman said.
He faces six to eight weeks of recovery.
Jennifer Page, his mother, said there's been an outpouring of support and kindness and that Max and the family welcome all "prayers and encouragement."
Max's parents and his younger brother, Els, were at the hospital with him. He was in good spirits the night before the operation, making everyone laugh, his father, Buck Page, said in a family statement.
"Max wanted to hold his brother's hand, and Max said to Els, 'It's OK, I'm not scared.' He just wanted to hold our hands and his stuffed animals. He was much calmer than we were," Jennifer Page said.
