Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 19, 2020 / 12:01 pm (CNA).- The U.S. will be working against the use of technology to suppress religious minorities, the religious freedom ambassador announced this week.
“The United States announced today that we will pursue the topic of misuse of technology to oppress religious minorities,” said Sam Brownback, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, on a Nov. 17 press call about the 2020 Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief.
Brownback cited China’s abuses against Uyghurs; it has created a “virtual police state” to track the movements of the population and to engage in predictive policing.
“We’re seeing this graphically done in Xinjiang, where high-tech observation systems using artificial intelligence and facial recognition are oppressing a dominantly Muslim majority from practicing its faith, this along with being locked up in detention facilities – over a million Muslim Uyghurs locked up in detention facilities,” Brownback said.
Poland hosted the third annual ministerial, held virtually Nov. 16-17 due to the pandemic. The meeting featured leaders from more than 50 countries and international organizations. The United States hosted the first two ministerials in 2018 and 2019.
Callista Gingrich, U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, stated Nov. 16 that “[u]pholding the right to religious freedom is not just a moral necessity. It is a national security imperative. When nations effectively protect religious freedom, they are safer, more prosperous, and secure.”
Brownback was asked about the recent election of presumptive President-elect Joe Biden, and what a new administration might mean for the future of religious freedom in U.S. diplomacy.
The ambassador said he was “optimistic” because promoting international religious freedom “is a bipartisan movement” that “goes deeply into the American psyche.”
The new International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance, with 32 member countries, “is not going to stop with the change of an administration,” he added.
One of the priorities for the U.S. in the coming year will be countering China’s deployment of a “virtual police state” to suppress Tibetan Buddhists and Uyghur Muslims, among others.
“And we want to stop this from spreading to other countries around the world or spreading more to other countries around the world,” he said.
Some other priorities for the U.S. next year include advocating for the release of prisoners of conscience and the repeal of blasphemy laws, Brownback said.
“We advocated for prisoners of conscience to be released during the pandemic,” he said, adding that “literally thousands of religious prisoners were released” in several countries.
“There are 10 countries in the world that give – they give the death penalty for apostasy or blasphemy,” he said, noting that the U.S. is working “for all of them to be repealed as a undue restriction on people’s religious freedom.”
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Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis delivers remarks during the FOX Business Republican Primary Debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on September 27, 2023 in Simi Valley, California. / Credit: Justin Sullivan/… […]
Douglas Ernst’s “Soulfinder” series of graphic novels follows the adventures of combat vets-turned-exorcists. / ICONIC Comics
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 20, 2022 / 05:00 am (CNA).
Father Patrick Retter kept his wits about him as he faced the giant, red-eyed cobra slithering out of the possessed woman’s mouth.
“In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti,” he chanted the Sign of the Cross in Latin, as he thrust a bottle of holy water at the demon.
The woman bit his hand with her teeth — emitting a loud crunch — but the priest kept going. Clutching his wooden cross, he declared, “I cast you and every satanic specter out — in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! It is he who commands you.”
So begins one of the many action-packed scenes in the “Soulfinder” graphic novel series about a fictional “special forces of exorcists” within the Catholic Church.
“‘Soulfinder’ is about a major order of combat veteran exorcists who are recruited to engage in spiritual warfare with a demon called Blackfire until the end of time,” Douglas Ernst, the writer and creator of the seriestold CNA.
The 42-year-old writer began the series to fill a void in today’s comic-book world — and in the culture.
“The heroes that I grew up reading are often unrecognizable because the creators at Marvel and DC are activists posing as serious storytellers,” he explained. “I created ‘Soulfinder’ because I wanted to give people solid stories and artwork that also imparts something good, true, and beautiful.”
Together with a team of artists — Timothy Lim, Brett R. Smith, Matthew Weldon, and Dave Dorman, to name a few — Ernst brings to life characters who dedicate themselves to serving God after serving their country. They apply their experience of fighting in the physical world to, now, battling in the spiritual realm.
The series is already saving souls, both inside and outside of its pages.
“I love it when someone writes me and says that reading the books brought them back to the Catholic Church after they drifted away,” Ernst revealed. “Perhaps they haven’t gone to Mass in years, but something in the stories rekindled the flame of faith.”
Stories of selfless service
A Catholic veteran himself, Ernst shares something in common with his protagonists. He served as a mechanized infantryman in the ‘90s, leaving before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He saw many of his friends go to war — and never return.
Ernst brings this background to his books, which follow the adventures of Retter (an Iraq/Afghanistan war veteran), Father Reginald Crane (a Vietnam veteran), and Detective Gregory Chua.
“My hope is that I’ve done right by the military community,” he said. “Selfless service and the willingness to lay down one’s life for another is a crucial component of the series.”
Ernst, who previously worked as a journalist in Washington, D.C., now splits his time between Reno, Nevada, and Missoula, Montana, while focusing on his graphic novels.
His first two — “Soulfinder: Demon’s Match” and “Soulfinder: Black Tide” — greet readers with vivid colors and rich Catholic symbolism. The second book, available in hardcover, shimmers with gilded pages — and even a glow-in-the-dark monster.
“Where are the Catholic creators who will attempt to pick up where G.K. Chesterton and J.R.R. Tolkien left off?” asks Douglas Ernst, the creator of the “Soulfinder” graphic novels. ICONIC Comics
There is a dramatic reality at the core of these works of fiction. The series illustrates Catholic priests not only as courageous heroes but also as imperfect human beings — men who may fall, but always pick themselves back up, driven by a desire to do the right thing. Along the way, their personality (and sense of humor) shines through the narrative.
Available through ICONIC Comics, the first two volumes also appear on AmazonKindle. In January, both made No. 1 on Amazon’s list of new releases in “Religious Graphic Novels.”
Inspired by Catholic writers
Ernst — who learned to read by devouring the adventures of Spider-Man, Iron Man, Daredevil, and Captain America as a boy — began his series after encountering mainstream comic books filled with moral relativism.
“Where are the Catholic creators who will attempt to pick up where G.K. Chesterton and J.R.R. Tolkien left off?” he asked. “That’s a tall task, but the culture will continue to drift into dangerous waters if Catholic writers and artists do not enter as many creative places as possible.”
Ernst shared what he did to prepare for the books, to ensure that they were theologically sound.
Being a “cradle Catholic” helped, he admitted, in addition to consulting with other Catholics, including a priest. His stories, he said, have been inspired by the works of St. Francis de Sales, Father Gabriele Amorth, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Catherine of Siena, and others.
Ernst began the series after organizing a hugely successful crowdfunding campaign. He also credits his success to working with talented artists and to Word on Fire, Bishop Robert Barron’s media ministry, which has featured his work in blog and YouTube interviews.
A ‘PG-13’ advisory
Teenagers and adults seeking classic storytelling with “good vs. evil” seem to enjoy Soulfinder, Ernst said of his series, which he rates as “PG-13.” This is because, among other things, the series addresses a dark subject matter.
In his first book with artist Timothy Lim, also a practicing Catholic, a black mass scene involves a naked woman.
“She is nude, but there’s shadows where there needs to be shadows,” Ernst pointed out the strategic shading over her body. “It’s also shown as a bad thing.”
While the series is for more mature readers, it offers content for Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
“Most Catholic characters in modern comics and in Hollywood tend to be cartoonish version of the Faith,” he said.
His series, he emphasized, is different.
“It makes me incredibly happy when readers who are not Catholic say that these stories show a side of our faith that they have never encountered before.”
Third book on the way
Ernst told CNA the third installment of the series is in production.
“‘Soulfinder: Infinite Ascent’ takes our heroes to the other side of the world to apprehend a rogue member of the CIA who has evaded capture through supernatural means,” Ernst told CNA. “The U.S. government was so impressed with Father Retter and his friends regarding their success in ‘Soulfinder: Black Tide’ that it returns to them once again to clean up a global network of occultists.”
While there is no official release date yet, Ernst expects the book to be colored and lettered in March. From there, it will be sent to the printer.
“The story, at its core, focuses on the loss of loved ones, grief, and the need for forgiveness,” Ernst hinted. “The key to saving the day hinges on one character’s ability to forgive others for their trespasses against him.”
The volume will include a bonus story, “Soulfinder: War Cry,” which takes place at Arlington Cemetery.
In the end, Ernst hopes that these books will bring him, and his readers, closer to heaven.
“I know that one day I will stand before my Creator and I’ll have to give an account of what I’ve done with the talents I’ve been given,” he said. “I hope that my creative team has done its small part in saving souls while simultaneously entertaining readers.”
Birmingham, Ala., Dec 16, 2019 / 08:01 pm (CNA).- EWTN will release Wednesday a short film on the early life of Venerable John Augustus Tolton – the first African American priest – whose cause for canonization progressed in June.
“ACROSS: The Father Tolton Movie” will debut 10 p.m. ET Dec. 18 on EWTN. It will showcase the boyhood story of Tolton and his journey from a Missouri slave to a freeman in Illinois.
Prior to the film, a discussion will be held by Nashville filmmaker Christopher Foley, the movie’s writer and director, and Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Perry of Chicago, the diocesan postulator for Tolton’s sainthood cause. This will take place at 8 p.m. with host Father Mitch Pacwa.
The 36-minute film is in preparation for a full-length feature, which Foley will start producing this summer. He told CNA that the movie is called ACROSS for two reasons – the cross that Tolton carried, and the obstacles he had to conquer.
“He had to go across the ocean to get ordained. He had to get across the Mississippi River to escape slavery, but he had to carry a cross his entire life because he stood out and was different,” he said.
“He accepted that and great things came out of it. He made so many converts, and he just sets such a great example for everybody through his perseverance.”
Tolton was born into slavery in Monroe County, Missouri, in 1854. During the Civil War, Tolton and his family escaped slavery.
The young Tolton entered St. Peter’s Catholic School in Quincy, Illinois, with the help of the school’s pastor, Fr. Peter McGirr. The priest went on to baptize Tolton, instruct him for his first Holy Communion, and recognize his vocation to the priesthood.
Because of his ethnicity no American seminary would accept Tolton, so he studied for the priesthood in Rome. When Father Tolton returned to the U.S. after his ordination in 1889, thousands of people lined the streets to greet him. A brass band played hymns, and black and white people processed together into the local church.
Father Tolton was the first African American to be ordained a priest. He served for three years at a parish in Quincy before moving to Chicago to start a parish for black Catholics, St. Monica’s, where he remained until his death in 1897.
Foley said the film will explore Tolton’s family dynamic and his childhood. He said Tolton’s mother and siblings were owned by the Elliot family and his father was owned by the neighboring Hagar family. Tolton’s entire family lived in a cabin between the two properties.
“Both families of the owners were Catholic and they made sure that all of their slaves were baptized, which is kind of a weird dichotomy that they could believe in slavery but at the same time understand that these are souls that need to be baptized.”
In the movie, Peter leaves the family to join the Union Army when Tolton is 10 years old. Sometime afterward, Tolton convinces his mother and siblings to flee to the north. They are then shown outrunning slave-catchers and Confederate soldiers, eventually crossing the Mississippi River to achieve their freedom.
Foley said, while the country continues to face issues of racial inequality, the film has come at the proper time. He said Tolton overcame hatred with acts of love.
“We see a lot of racial angst and discord in our country now. It was so much different back then and worse, but the solution is the same,” he told CNA. “He met hatred and discrimination with love.”
“It was interesting because he was actually one of the reasons he was kind of ousted from his hometown of Quincy. He was told to minister just to black people in Quincy, Illinois and white people started coming to his church and he was fine with that. He welcomed everyone, but that raised the ire of other people. He believed that there’s no hierarchy of races.”
He said the movie has also come at a time of great difficulty in the Church, including the clergy sex abuse scandal. Similarly, he said the story will highlight the Church’s overall good even among villainous men.
“One of our bad guys is a priest who was a racist, but that doesn’t change the goal and mission of the church as being good,” he said.
“The majority of her priests are good, holy men, like Father Tolton. We need to kind of hold up this example now in the midst of these scandals and say, ‘Hey, most priests are more like Father Tolton than the ones that are making the headlines. We need to raise up those good stories.”
Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtue of Fr. Tolton June 12, making him “venerable”.
In a recent newsletter, Bishop Perry said Tolton is a model of civil rights and overcoming racial adversity with Christian virtues.
“Father Tolton shows us Christians how to get through to the Kingdom, surviving the apparent contradictions of life with our faith, hope and love intact,” said Perry.
“The unfinished business of racial reconciliation in America is inspired by Father Tolton’s sense of openness to walk amidst and serve both black and white at a time, post Civil War-Reconstruction, socially not yet ripe for interaction between the races. He was ahead of his time in leading both black and white under the roof of his Church while being resented for it by pockets of Church and society of his time.”
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