Camping: Going home

Camping in the wilderness with three small children in a tent for three days is a unforgettable experience — even though there are some aspects of the experience that are forgettable. We’re 100 miles from home zipping down I-75 at 75 mph… again. Michele is driving, the kids are in “zombie mode” watching a show, and I’m reflecting on our camping adventure. I’ve already uploaded most of our pictures to Facebook and video clips to my YouTube account.

But beyond the amazing world of digital technology, something special happens when a family spends a few days together in close quarters. You fight more, you love more and you live more.

We set out on our journey five days ago, driving 750 miles north to the Chattahoochee National Forest. We camped near Cleveland, Georgia, at Jenny’s Creek Campground. On our first night, we found our campsite around 6 pm, pitched our tent and had dinner made just before the sun faded behind the 80-foot maple and oak trees. The little creek winding its way through the camp bubbled as we worked to build a roaring camp fire. The eight-man tent was plenty big enough for the five of us. We packed in two air mattresses and a portacrib for Stephen. Despite a small space heater in our tent, it was difficult to keep warm. It’s no wonder. When I got up the next morning, our car said it was 36 degrees. Much chillier than we’ve ever experienced in Southwest Florida.

After a hearty breakfast of eggs and sausage cooked on our handy Coleman camp stove, we met up with some friends who live in Dahlonega, 20 miles from the campsite. We wandered around downtown Dahlonega, the site of the first gold rush in America. After lunch at a local sandwich shop, we drove up to Amicalola Falls State Park, home to a 729-foot (222 m) waterfall — the highest in Georgia. We drove up to the top of the falls, parked and walked to an overlook where we could see the falls tumbling down over the edge. We hiked down a path about 100 yards through the woods, taking in the spectacular beauty of the valley below, the misty-blue hills in distance and the changing fall leaves. It was a great beginning. After checking out the base of the falls, the afternoon was nearly done. We headed back to camp to get a fire going and make dinner.

The second night was warmer. Only 40 degrees when we woke up. Cold noses and hot coffee for breakfast! Michele blew a shoe the day before. So after stopping at Wal-Mart for some new rubber, we were on our way to Helen, a Bavarian-themed village on the outskirts of the Chattahoochee National Forest. Our first stop was more hot coffee! Then up to Anna Ruby Falls, created by two separate streams — Curtis Creek and York Creek — which join at the base of the falls to form Smith Creek. We followed the trail, a half-mile hike from the parking lot. The paved path followed the creek to the base of the falls — a truly spectacular sight.

The kids enjoyed the hills, rocks and trees. They also loved the leaves — red, green and gold. They each had a substantial stash of them leaves  by the time we got back to the car. We chose to visit Northern Georgia because it is the closest piece of nature that is substantially different from Southwest Florida. The 100-foot trees, rocks, mountains, streams, varied terrain and chilly weather was just the thing. We all appreciated the change in scenery — especially Michele who has always loved camping, but hadn’t had the opportunity since we had our first child more than six years ago.

Our final night in the tent was the warmest — a low of 58 degrees. We had nearly gotten used to the camping way of life when we woke up on Friday morning. It was after 7:30 am when I heard the pitter-patter of rain falling on our roof. Time to strike the tent and break camp! Wet weather was coming. We were on our way within an hour.

It’s the little things that have made the camping-with-kids experience worthwhile. Waking up to see the children snoozing just inches away, the smell of a roaring campfire, roasted marshmallows, picking Jenna up off the ground after she crashed her bike, throwing rocks into the stream with my three kids, Stephen throwing whatever he could find in the fire and in the trash can, and watching our little two-year-old dancing to Veggie Tales music as we drove.

They say that families who grow up in small homes are closer because they have to learn to exist in cramped quarters. They’re forced to be physically closer, so they grow closer emotionally. I think that’s true, but three days in a tent is a big enough taste for me. I’m looking forward to a shave, shower, clean clothes … and my own bed.

Camping: Going there

I don’t know about you, but I’m still baffled by most modern technology. I’m sitting in the passenger’s seat whizzing down I-75 at 75 miles per hour and blogging. I’ve got my AT&T air card plugged into my laptop and am connected at a speed that rivals my home Wi-Fi. I don’t know how it works, but I think it’s pretty amazing. I’m no techno geek (at least I don’t think I am), but I’m fascinated by the ability to communicate virtually anywhere.

My wife, three children and I have just begun a great adventure — or what could amount to a great adventure —our first family camping trip. Jonathan, 6, is reading books. Jenna, 4, is listening to Cat Chat on CD with half an ear … bored … talking … asking when she can watch a movie. Stephen, 2, is watching the trees whiz by and singing: “Uh! Uh! Uh!” He alternately takes a basket (formerly filled with books) and puts it on his head saying, “Dark!”

White County Water Falls

We’re headed 750 miles north to Cleveland, Georgia. We’ll be camping at the southern edge of the Chattahoochee National Forest where we hope to see three amazing waterfalls, do some hiking and biking (they’re strapped to the back of the minivan), and see some of God’s great creation.

This all began about two weeks ago when, in a fit of insanity after returning home from two trips (10 days away from home), I said to my family at the dinner table: “What would you think about taking a camping trip?” Before I could make any qualifications to my query, everyone at the table unanimously shouted: “YES! When can we leave?” I’ve since learned to keep my road-weary comments to myself.

Anna Ruby Falls

Then the planning began. Where to go? What to see? We’ve been in Florida for more than four years and everyone seemed bored of the flat terrain and warm weather (if you can image that). So, Georgia was it. We scoped out a few state parks online, but they all looked a little too much like Florida. South Carolina looked good, too, but a real forest was what held the greatest attraction for me at least. The others were easily swayed. They were ready for just about anything. So when we discovered that the Chattahoochee was within driving distance, we were hooked.

We aired out the tent, brought the camp stove down from the attic and borrowed a few sleeping bags. Amazon shipped me a five-bike carrier for the van and here we are. Michele and I had camped a few times before we had children. We had been waiting for the right time to go. I guess we found it.

Day One didn’t go according to schedule. We planned a 3 p.m. departure, but our minivan battery died as we were about to pull out of the driveway. When I boosted it with my car, we noticed that the battery had a three-year warranty. Lucky break. Then we read the date on the battery: 09/06. Yup. The warranty expired one month ago. Ain’t it always the way. Wal-Mart was good enough to inform me that the battery had a prorated warrant, so I ended up paying exactly half of the new battery’s sticker price.

We’ll be in The Villages in an hour, ending our first night at my in-laws’ rental property. Then an early start should get us through Atlanta before rush hour. We should be camping real hard by dinner time. God willing, of course, and our new battery keeps us going!

The right kind of health care reform

I used to marvel at how the U.S. Post Office could move a letter from Miami, Florida, to Fairbanks, Alaska — more than 5,000 miles — for only 44 cents! After doing a little research, I wondered no longer. The post office can’t even move my utility payment half a mile down the street for the price of a stamp.

Most analysts estimate that the USPS will spend $7 billion more than it takes in this fiscal year. As a result, the government monopoly has floated the idea of a five-day delivery cycle, a move that would require Congressional approval. Although the Postal Service receives no tax dollars for its operations, it’s still mandated to provide mail service to everyone in America, and Congress maintains oversight.

Similarly, most government-run programs are running massive deficits. The Government Accountability Office estimated that by 2027, the combined costs of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and net deficit interest will eat up all federal revenue. Furthermore, Amtrak would cease to exist without government subsidies. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Disasters.

Without getting into the minute details of ObamaCare, it’s sufficient to say that the government doesn’t have a good track record of running its programs. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the new health care reform bill introduced by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) will cost $880 billion over 10 years. That alone is enough put the brakes on yet another disastrous government boondoggle.

President George W. Bush added $2.5 trillion to the public debt over his eight years. President Barrack Obama has more than doubled that in less than three months — and the meter keeps running.

However, I’m encouraged by prelates like Sioux City Bishop R. Walter Nickless who wrote that “no health care reform is better than the wrong sort of health care reform.” He joins a chorus of bishops across the country who are calling for principled reform that will reduce wasted spending, increase access and help those most in need.

“The Church will not accept any legislation that mandates coverage, public or private, for abortion, euthanasia or embryonic stem-cell research,” Bishop Nickless writes. “We refuse to be made complicit in these evils, which frankly contradict what ‘health care’ should mean.”

As legislation begins to move through Congress, we must make our voices heard. Tea Parties and massive rallies have drawn national headlines, but we also have to make sure our congressmen know that health care reform has to respect all human life, include guarantees that it won’t add to our already crippling deficit, and that conscience rights are protected for health care workers who object to controversial procedures.

Massive government spending is not the answer to health care reform, nor is it the answer to the recession. Let’s work hard and pray for a solution that respects life and the private sector.

Patrick Novecosky is Legatus Magazine’s editor. This editorial appeared in the October 2009 issue of Legatus Magazine.

The dying art of proofreading

Actual (or purportedly actual) headlines where proofreading was lacking and/or non-existent:

Man Kills Self Before Shooting Wife and Daughter
This ran in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Someone called the Editorial office and asked who wrote the headline. It took two or three readings before the editor realized that what he was reading was impossible! They put in a correction the next day.

Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
No kidding! Ya think?

Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
Now that’s taking things a bit far!

Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
Such dedication!

Miners Refuse to Work after Death
No-good-for-nothing, lazy so-and-so’s!

Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
See if that works any better than a fair trial!

War Dims Hope for Peace
I can see where it might have that effect!

If Strike Isn’t Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile
Ya think?!

Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
Who would have thought!

Enfield (London) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
They may be on to something!

Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges
You mean there’s something stronger than duct tape?

Man Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge
He probably IS the battery charge!

New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
Weren’t they fat enough?!

Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft
That’s what he gets for eating those beans!

Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
Do they taste like chicken?

Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
Chainsaw Massacre all over again!

Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors
Boy, are they tall!

And the winner is…

Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
Did I read that right?

Now that you’ve smiled at least once (I hope), it’s your turn to spread the hilarity and send this to someone you want to bring a smile to (maybe even a chuckle). We all need a good laugh, at least once a day! Copy this URL: http://bit.ly/4C0aiX then copy & paste into an e-mail or Facebook.

Freedom for all

by Patrick Novecosky
Legatus Magazine
July/August 2009

I’m a new American. A few hours after my son was born two years ago, I raised my right hand and took the oath of citizenship. I swore to “defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America” because the Constitution’s values are essential to a healthy, just and moral society. This fact seems to be lost on some of our elected officials who should renew their own commitment to the Constitution, particularly the First Amendment rights to religious liberty.

America was founded by Christians who wanted a nation where the free exercise of religion was permitted and encouraged. George Washington famously said that “of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”

John Adams, the second President, added to that idea, saying that “our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Over the past several decades, the culture has taken the Founding Fathers’ idea of religion as an unshakable support for freedom and turned it on its head. The First Amendment allows for the “free exercise” of religion. But activist judges and the mainstream media have interpreted the “freedom of religion” as the “freedom from religion.” Groups like the ACLU strive to eradicate of all religion from the public square.

And when Christians stand up to voice their concerns, those in power do everything they can to silence them. In March, the Bridgeport diocese bused Catholics to a rally to protest a bill that impinged on religious freedom. Bishop William Lori urged parishioners to contact lawmakers about that legislation and another bill to legalize same-sex “marriage.”

In June, the Connecticut Office of State Ethics launched a probe into whether the diocese acted as a “lobbying organization” in heading off the bills. When a Catholic diocese can’t  exercise its constitutional rights to free speech and assembly, something has gone terribly wrong with the American Experiment. There’s little doubt that much of the blame is ours. Irish statesman Edmund Burke said that “the only thing necessary for  the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

However, we might want take a page from the ACLU’s playbook, which urges its members to be in touch with legislators who “believe that a letter represents not only the position of the writer but also many other (100) constituents who did not take the time to write.”

I’ve always contended that politics follows culture. If lawmakers want votes, they have no choice. By changing the culture one soul at a time and urging our lawmakers to follow, we will light the way to reestablishing religious freedom in America.

Patrick Novecosky is the editor of Legatus Magazine. He emigrated to the United States from Canada in 1996. This editorial appeared in the July/August 2009 issue of Legatus Magazine.

Father Corapi … live!

by Patrick Novecosky
Legatus Magazine

Father Corapi will preach a one-day retreat in Buffalo on Aug. 15. (George Martell photo)

Father John Corapi has a profound way of telling it like it is. The renowned preacher’s booming baritone cuts through the clutter of easy answers and points to the fundamentals of our faith. The dynamic evangelist, who fashioned his ministry around the mold of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, suspended his hectic travel schedule two years ago, then fell ill.

Now restored to health, Fr. Corapi will preach one-day retreat on the Holy Spirit in Buffalo to more than 15,000 people on Aug. 15. EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo will speak at the conference, and Catholic Answers Live host Jerry Usher will serve as emcee. Father Corapi spoke to Legatus Magazine editor Patrick Novecosky from his headquarters in Montana.

How is your health these days?

Excellent. I was incapacitated for about eight months. Even the Mayo Clinic had difficulty getting the diagnosis right. It turned out to be two very simple things: an acute Vitamin D deficiency and chronic sleep deprivation. Those two things together disrupted my immune system. Now I’m back to normal.

The topic of my doctoral thesis in dogmatic theology was on the meaning of Christian suffering in the teaching of Pope John Paul II. So we always have to look at the transcendent dimension of something like sickness or suffering and realize it’s not a useless thing. It can be a channel for grace. Pope John Paul II’s fantastic apostolic letter on suffering Salvifici Doloris is a synthesis of this.

How has your ministry changed since your recovery?

I never stopped my ministry. I was sick for a while, but I think the part you mean is the traveling. Before I became sick, we had already decided to stop traveling for a while. We had no idea that I would become sick, but if I had my normal 35-40 events per year scheduled it would have been a catastrophe.

The decision to not travel so much is based mainly on my mission, established by my superiors, to preach using the means of social communication — television, radio and the Internet. We reach millions of people that way.

Traveling and doing events is a good thing but, on the hierarchy of effectiveness, it’s much less effort to reach millions of people than going to a conference and only talking to a thousand. Next year we hope to accept a few invitations, but not nearly as many as we used to. With the volume of work we have now, it’s just not physically possible.

The world is going through trying times — both economically and morally. What’s the remedy?

In order to remedy catastrophes like this, it has to be one person at a time. Pope John Paul II said a very profound thing in his post-synod apostolic exhortation on reconciliation and penance. He said that all of the divisions we see in the world — country against country, within individual countries, within families — can all be traced back to divisions within individual human persons called sin.

So the renewal of the country, the world, and the Church comes about one person at a time. Saint Francis of Assisi gave a great example of that. He didn’t set out to reform the Church and the world, he set out to reform himself. He he did such a great job that he ended up reforming the Church — and through the Church, the world.

When enough Catholics become true to their calling, a great power will be unleashed. The reason we have this mess, in my estimation, is because the vast majority of Catholics have not lived their faith. We have a billion Catholics on the face of the earth. If they knew their faith, lived their faith, loved their faith, I assure you that the world would be a very different place.

The United States, the situation would be profoundly different if we had 60-70 million Catholics truly living their faith. But, of course, as many as 80% don’t even go to Mass on Sunday — and that’s a precept! So we have a long way to go. But it has to be kind of grassroots, one person at a time. That is why the Church has always encouraged personal holiness, because that is where the reform is going to come from.

How did the conference in Buffalo come about?

We’ve done several events in the past with Buffalo’s Catholic radio station. They wanted to do a large event, so it fell into place. This is shaping up to be the largest event that I’ve ever preached at. Already 10,000 people are registered.

The topic is going to be on the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s a powerful thing to combine Catholic teaching on the Holy Spirit in a very practical and powerful way with the troubled times we find ourselves in. These are no ordinary times. It’s not just a downturn in the economy. We’re already well into a downturn morally, economically, socially. It’s almost cataclysmic. We have the answer. The problem is that we have to convince enough of our own people that there is a problem and teach them how to solve it.

How is the Holy Spirit key to America’s spiritual awakening?

Obviously, they are intimately tied together. I’ve been a harsh critic of ourselves, meaning the Church leadership — priests, bishops and theologians. I don’t think we’ve done a particularly good job in my lifetime. We’ve had great popes; the top of the hierarchy has always been fantastic. But we’ve had a serious problem with “middle management.” There has been a significant problem with bishops and priests. Although, it’s better now than it was 20 years ago. However, the vast majority of Catholics aren’t even going to Church, so we shouldn’t wonder that the Church has been losing its influence on an increasingly secularized society.

You have to ask yourself why people have drifted away. I’m sure there are a lot of societal reasons. We don’t have control over those reasons, but we have control over the reasons inside the Church. You can start with the top. There is an old saying: “The fish stinks from the head down.” Lousy leadership is a disaster.

I once asked an old Carmelite nun why we have a crisis of leadership inside the Church as well as in the secular order. She never batted an eye. She had been a nun for over 60 years and a prioress for decades. She said, “That’s easy. Punishment for sin.” Why do we have bad leadership? Punishment for sin. It’s very biblical. You go back to the Old Testament and you see that leadership was removed from the people of God, the chosen people, because of infidelity to the covenant. They cried out to God because they had no priest, prophet or king. Why not? Because they were unfaithful.

One can recall what happened during the tenure of Pope Paul VI, when he came out with his landmark and prophetic encyclical Humane Vitae. Significant numbers of bishops, priests, theologians and others rejected it. They absolutely rejected it. The majority of Canadian bishops signed the infamous Winnipeg Statement that just categorically rejected Humane Vitae. That kind of rebellion is catastrophic. Paul VI was prophetic with that encyclical and much of what he warned about has come to pass.

The argument can be strongly made that the proliferation of abortion can pretty much be traced to artificial contraception. It’s almost a cause-and-effect kind of thing, and Paul VI warned about that. But large numbers of Church leaders rejected it and were so bold as to even reject it in writing, and that’s not without consequences. There were profound consequences not only in the Church but in the United States, Canada and the whole world. It’s had a profound effect on de-Christianizing the culture.

I always hope that things will get turned around. My mother reminds me periodically that we know the last chapter: We win! So I don’t know when it will get turned around. And don’t think for a minute that the best is going to happen without a bitter fight! We’re just heading into a tremendous period of spiritual and moral combat. We have a situation where the secular order, government and so forth are unashamedly anti-Christian and the Catholic Church is getting the brunt of the attack. I’m sure it’s going to get worse before it gets better. What we have to go through between now and then, I’m not so sure. I hope for the best, but I plan for the worst.

Tell me more about the focus of your ministry.

Before I was ordained, Fr. James Flanagan, the founder of my congregation —the Society Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity — told me that my mission in the Church would be to preach using the means of social communication using Archbishop Fulton Sheen as the model. It took me a few years to get on television and radio, but around 1996 we started to get on EWTN radio and then television — then non-stop Saturday and Sunday night for 12 years.

Now with the Internet, my website is reaching more and more people. We have a weekly webcast called Weekly Wisdom. We’re almost ready with a new redesigned website with new downloadable material. When I started, we were reaching dozens, then hundreds, then thousands. Now it’s up in the millions and tens of millions. EWTN tells me that we reach over 130 countries and territories every week — over 150 million households and that’s just television. We’re also on dozens of Catholic radio networks.

With the Internet, you can say something, put it on your website and before you can blink your eye it’s all over the place. So it’s a very rapid deployment (to use a military term) of news. With all those things together, we are reaching more and more people more effectively.

Patrick Novecosky is the editor of Legatus Magazine. An abridged version of this interview was published in the July/August 2009 issue.

‘Passion’ Producer’s Islam film

By Patrick Novecosky
National Catholic Register
June 28, 2009 Issue

Steve McEveety

Steve McEveety is no stranger to controversy. The veteran producer of films like Bella, Braveheart and We Were Soldiers has worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood. But he’s also taken heat for projects like The Passion of the Christ, which some groups charged as being anti-Semitic and too violent for the screen, and An American Carol, which lampooned liberals.

The latest project from McEveety’s Mpower Pictures is more akin to The Passion. Filmed in English and Farsi, The Stoning of Soraya M stars Jim Caviezel and hits the big screen on June 26. Controversial in its own right, it tells the true story of a Muslim woman unfairly accused of adultery in a small Iranian village circa 1986. The film took second runner-up at last fall’s Toronto International Film Festival, finishing just behind the Oscar-winning megahit Slumdog Millionaire. Register correspondent Patrick Novecosky spoke to McEveety from his office in Santa Monica, Calif.

Your father and uncle were in the movie business, so you literally grew up in a Hollywood family. Was the faith part of your upbringing?

Yes. I was brought up in a Catholic family, and we went to Mass every week. I went to Catholic grammar school and high school, and then to Loyola Marymount, which is a Catholic university. So I think it was drilled into me quite properly. I ignored the Church for a while when I was young, then came back. The faith is bred into you, and that foundation is always there. When it’s time to turn to the spiritual side, you have a direction to go in.

You’ve worked on a number of films with faith themes — Braveheart, Bella, The Passion. What’s your definition of a good film?

The essential aspect of any film being good is that it’s entertaining. If you don’t have that, you don’t have anything. After that, you can layer it with all sorts of cultural, personal or moral opinions. That’s how films can lead people in all sorts of different directions. They are layered with messages that people don’t realize are there. For me, anything that shines a light on God is the right direction. The more covert that light is, the more effective you might be.

My faith certainly has had an effect on my work. How could it not? And part of it is chance — what doors are opened, and what doors are closed. That’s God’s providence. I’ve been able to work on some great movies and thankfully avoid others. I’ve been blessed.

Did you found Mpower in order to make movies that appeal to a Christian audience?

Not really. My taste in art just does that naturally. I make movies that appeal to me. All of my movies, with the exception of The Passion of the Christ, are not Christian films. The rest of them have Christian values in them — the mention of God or the suggestion that there’s a higher being — because that’s who I am. So I can’t avoid that; it’s going to come out in the films I have control over.

How does the Christian faith fit with your new movie, The Stoning of Soraya M?

A film is made by many filmmakers. I’m one of several on this film. If you’d ask the director or the actors, you’d get a different answer. For me, it’s a biblical film, a New Testament film.

Although it takes place in the Muslim world, it’s a very Christian film. The title gives a bit of the story away. The woman who is stoned to death in the film carries her cross, and she carries it quite well. In the end, she is “crucified.” Her last detectable words are to her God. So, in that regard, it’s very much a Jesus story. It may never dawn on my fellow filmmakers, but that is very evident to me.

Many of the surrounding characters are much like the ones that Christ confronted. There are good people; there are bad people; there are people who denounce this woman and accuse her unfairly. There’s a lot of commonality there. Soraya is really quite Christ-like, and that’s what drew me to this film. But the movie is about much more than that. It’s about a victim and bullies. In the course of our lives, we’ve all been both.

There are some striking similarities to The Passion — the actor (Caviezel), the location in the Middle East, the violence, the score by composer John Debney, the foreign language. Was any of that on purpose?

Not really. I just loved the script and felt like the story must be told. Debney is my buddy. I grew up with him. I brought him onto The Passion. He’s absolutely one of the best composers in the world, and I got him to do this film. It was a blessing.

We hired two high-profile actors for the character Caviezel plays. Both accepted the part, and each one of them decided three days later to drop the part. They were living in Europe, and their families were concerned for the potential danger of playing the role. I was set to go into production in three weeks, and I didn’t have an actor. Caviezel is my buddy, and our kids go to the same school. I ran into him on the day the second star backed out. I explained what happened, and he said, “Let me read it.” So he read it and said, “I’ll do this part.” He turned out to be just perfect for the role.

The director always wanted to do the film in Farsi, the native language, so people would feel like they were really there. And he was absolutely right. You experience this film rather than watch it.

Before The Passion and Slumdog Millionaire, foreign language films didn’t appeal to a mainstream audience in the U.S. Have they opened doors for films like The Stoning?

You’re probably right. Movies are becoming more international. People here in the United States are responding to international-themed films. The Stoning of Soraya M was the second runner-up at the Toronto Film Festival, which I was pretty excited about. It was quite a feat in itself, but I was kind of disappointed that we didn’t win. Some “stupid movie” called Slumdog Millionaire beat us. I didn’t know what that was at the time. Now I’m not feeling so bad since it went on to win Best Picture and seven other Oscars.

Before The Passion, I’m not aware of films in foreign languages made by Hollywood filmmakers. I think it was one of the first. We have a different way of making movies than Europeans do. Films done by Hollywood filmmakers in a native language might be a little more accessible to an American audience.

You’ve screened The Stoning for a number of groups — secular, Christian and Muslim. What has the reaction been like?

It is way above normal in terms of how people rate the film, but the personal reactions have been just incredible. Across the board, people are stunned at the movie. I don’t know how many people have told me it’s the most powerful film they’ve ever seen.

On the flip side, any time you make a statement like this film does, you’re going to get people who disagree or are upset or offended. About 4% or 5% are either angry with us, or the movie made them angry, but there isn’t anyone who isn’t emotionally involved.

Some people can’t handle the stoning scene. They’ll close their eyes or leave, then come back. But even those people thank me for making the movie. No matter what people’s reactions were after seeing this movie, it’s stronger and more positive two days later. It’s a movie that doesn’t leave you. If there are movies you don’t forget in your life, I think this is one of them. Unfortunately, we don’t have the funding to advertise, so we’re relying on word of mouth and reviews. If we do well with both of those, the film will catch on.

What’s down the road for Mpower and Steve McEveety?

We’ve got about 20 films in development right now, including several family films. We just finished filming one called Snowmen (Ray Liotta, Christopher Lloyd). It’s fun and sweet. My dad worked at Disney, so I grew up around family films. It’s a blast for me.

We’re also doing a movie on spiritual warfare based on [Rwandan genocide survivor] Immaculée Ilibagiza’s best-selling book Left to Tell. We have a screenplay; we’re raising money, and we’re hoping to start shooting soon. We really want to get into her soul and explore what she went through spiritually to get to a point where she could forgive.

Patrick Novecosky writes from Naples, Florida.

Obama and the new holocaust

Piles of shoes several feet high filled a glassed-in room. Next to it was another room filled with eyeglasses. Then I saw the room filled with human hair—clumps of hair and even long braided hair which had been shaved off of women destined for the gas chambers. Despite the fact that it was over 50 years old, the braid looked freshly cut. Coming face-to-face with the remnants of horror and mass murder is life changing. The camp commandant at Auschwitz testified at the Nuremberg Trials that up to 3 million people died there. The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum has revised this figure to 1.1 million.

My 1997 visit to the Nazis’ largest death camp in southern Poland is still fresh in my mind after more than 12 years. The memories came rushing back after hearing of news reports of President Obama’s June 5 visit to the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany.

Buchenwald is a place “where people were deemed inhuman because of their differences,” Obama said. “These sights have not lost their horror with the passage of time.” Even though more than 50 years have passed, he said, “our grief and our outrage over what happened have not diminished. I will not forget what I have seen here today.”

The main gate at the Auschwitz death camp

He’s right. My experience left me with the same feeling. I left changed forever after seeing the ovens that the Nazis used to cremate the remains and erase their crimes. It was almost surreal to walk under Auschwitz’s iron gate crowned with the infamous motto “Arbeit macht frei” — work brings freedom — an obvious lie … and everyone involved knew it.

There are no words to describe the horror of standing in a place where millions of innocent human lives were so callously extinguished. It’s important that the world never forget the holocaust in order that it may never happen again. Civilized human beings should never permit the wholesale slaughter of a race of people under any circumstances.

If you’ve ever stood in front of an abortion mill and recognized what goes on inside, the feeling of horror is no different than that of visiting a Nazi death camp. There’s no question that the Nazis were good at killing. The abortion industry, however, has perfected it. Their efficiency would have left even the most hardened Nazi in awe. Hitler himself would be proud. Every state in the union has “clinics” where women can come to have their child exterminated. There were over 1 million abortions in the U.S. last year — 50 million dead since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized the new holocaust in 1973.

Since taking office in January, Obama has consistently made pro-abortion appointments to key administration positions like the head of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius. One of his first acts was to reverse the Mexico City Policy, sending millions of dollars to fund abortions overseas. Obama issued an executive order on Jan. 22 reversing the Bush administration policy that bans the use of federal dollars by non-governmental organizations that discuss or provide abortions outside of the United States.

Life is good. Really good.

Interestingly, despite his popularity, Obama has shown himself to be incredibly out of touch with the American public. A spate of polls in May revealed that the majority of Americans are against abortion on demand.  A Gallup poll, conducted from May 7-10, found that about 51% of Americans call themselves “pro-life” and 42% “pro-choice.” This is the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking that question in 1995.

If this trend continues, it’s conceivable that within my lifetime, a future president of the United States will make a pilgrimage at a former abortion mill, lay a wreath and echo Obama’s very words: “I will not forget what I have seen here today. These sights have not lost their horror over time.”

Let’s hope. And let’s pray that this comes to pass.

Kresta in the Afternoon

Al Kresta, Ave Maria Radio

Al Kresta, host of Kresta in the Afternoon, interviewed me on Monday, May 11, while I was in Amman, Jordan, with Pope Benedict XVI.

Kresta is the President and CEO of Ave Maria Radio, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His show is a nationally syndicated Catholic radio talk show. It’s carried by EWTN Radio and broadcast on Sirius Satellite Radio.

Click here to hear the entire 15-minute interview.

Pilgrim of peace

Holy Father calls for Palestinian state during Holy Land pilgrimage

by Patrick Novecosky
Legatus Magazine
June 2009 Issue

Pope Benedict XVI stepped into the fray of Middle East politics by endorsing a Palestinian state during his recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

During his May 15 farewell speech at the Tel Aviv airport, the Pope stressed the need for universal recognition of Israel’s right to exist and the Palestinians’ “right to a sovereign independent homeland.

“Let the two-state solution become a reality,” the Holy Father said, noting that six decades of bloodshed in the Holy Land has distressed him.

“No more bloodshed! No more fighting! No more terrorism! No more war!” he pleaded. “Instead, let us break the vicious circle of violence. Let there be lasting peace based on justice; let there be genuine reconciliation and healing.”

A model for peace

The impassioned speech was one of the many highlights of Pope Benedict’s May 8-15 pilgrimage to the Holy Land, which began with a four-day stop in Jordan. In many ways, his visit mirrored that of Pope John Paul II, who visited Jordan and Israel in 2000.

Pope Benedict began his journey with a stop at Jordan’s Mount Nebo, where tradition says Moses gazed out upon the Promised Land before his death.

“It is appropriate that my pilgrimage should begin on this mountain.” This holy place, he said, should remind all Christians to “undertake a daily exodus from sin and slavery to life and freedom.”

The Pope visited a mosque in the Jordanian capital of Amman before participating in vespers at St. George Melkite Cathedral. It was inspiring to see the Jordanian Christians’ affection for the Holy Father. They shouted, waved flags and sang when he entered the cathedral. The applause was almost deafening.

More than 30% of Jordan’s 109,000 Catholics piled into Amman International Stadium on May 10 for the papal Mass. The youth presence was impressive. Thousands of young people cheered and sang long before the Holy Father’s arrival. A song written especially for the papal visit — “Benvenuto Benedetto in Jordania” (Welcome to Jordan, Benedict in Italian) — rang through the crowd dozens of times throughout the morning.

In his homily, the Pope exhorted the Middle Eastern Christians to stay in the Holy Land and give testimony to Jesus in this conflict-plagued region.

“Fidelity to your Christian roots, fidelity to the Church’s mission in the Holy Land demands of each of you a particular kind of courage: the courage of conviction, born of personal faith, not mere social convention or family tradition; the courage to engage in dialogue and to work side by side with other Christians in the service of the Gospel.”

In his farewell address in Amman on May 11, the Holy Father hailed Jordan as a model for peace and religious tolerance in the Middle East.

“I would like to encourage all Jordanians, whether Christian or Muslim, to build on the firm foundations of religious tolerance that enable the members of different communities to live together in peace and mutual respect,” he said.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II has gone to great lengths to foster interreligious dialogue, the Pope said. “This spirit of openness … has contributed to Jordan’s far-sighted political initiatives to build peace throughout the Middle East.”

Two-state solution

The Holy Father wasted no time getting down to business after touching down in Israel. He called for a Palestinian state in his first speech. He went on to meet with other religious leaders, visit the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and celebrate Mass in Nazareth for about 50,000 pilgrims.

Together with Israeli president Shimon Peres, the Pope planted an olive tree at the presidential palace as a sign of the close relationship between Jews and Christians. He called this gesture, along with meeting with Holocaust survivors at the Yad Vashem memorial, the most memorable of his pilgrimage to Israel.

“So many Jews … were brutally exterminated under a godless regime that propagated an ideology of anti-Semitism and hatred,” he said. “That appalling chapter of history must never be forgotten or denied.”

The Holy Father also met with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the Palestinian territories. He called the security wall separating Palestinians from Israelis “one of the saddest sights for me during my visit to these lands.” Acknowledging how hard it will be to achieve lasting peace, the Pope said said he had prayed “for a future in which the peoples of the Holy Land can live together in peace and harmony without the need for such instruments of security and separation.”

Patrick Novecosky is the editor of Legatus Magazine. He was in Jordan for Pope Benedict’s four-day visit to that country.