www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Radio Host Fired : Can Pope be saved?

Aloha Friday Ohana,

Here is another example of misguided individual questioning whether Pope Will be Saved ! I find it really sad . The www.monachos.net [monachos.net] some one also posted calling our Great Pontiff as antichrist and schismatic. I find it really sad.


Radio Host Fired After On-Air Pope Discussion POSTED: 6:08 pm EDT April 14, 2005
UPDATED: 9:35 pm EDT April 14, 2005

PITTSBURGH -- A talk show host who questioned the beliefs of the Catholic church and took a caller's question about whether the late Pope John Paul II would go to heaven has been fired.

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/4381135/detail

Another tempest in a teapot.

My prayers for this misguided radio host - that he will receive the grace of conversion (especially in his thinking)

Lord, have mercy.

Thank God he was fired.

It is fair to say that not all members of the Catholic Church are going to heaven. Once can be baptized and live one�s whole life in the Church without becoming a believer and a follower of Jesus Christ.

I don�t see the hullabaloo here. We can�t be sure of the entire context of what occurred from the news article, but there are certainly fundamentalist Protestant Christians who do not believe that Catholics can enter heaven. It should, therefore, not be surprising that some of them believe that Pope John Paul II is not in heaven. They said the same thing about Mother Theresa when she died. Of course we disagree with such beliefs, but respect the right of these people to those beliefs.

Based upon this news account, I don�t think that this talk show host should have been fired. I have no idea who the complaining callers were or what they said, but I think there was an opportunity here that was lost. A caller should have acknowledged this talk show host�s point: "The Bible makes it very clear that unless a person is born again, the person will never enter or see the kingdom of God again,� placed being �born again� in it�s proper context, and then used the example of the late Holy Father�s life to demonstrate just how much Jesus Christ was the Lord and Master of his life. He or she could have gone on to discuss James� point (to paraphrase) �your works are your faith�.

All of this could have been a teaching moment for this pastor and his listening audience.

Friends,

I have listened to Mr. Minto's program on occasion and have even called in to correct him on mistaken statements he has made about the Catholic Church. I was listening the day he made his comments. I do not know the man personally but on his program he acted like a jerk and was condescending and dismissive of any who disagreed with his particular views on the Faith. I am not at all sad to see him go. He couldn't hold a candle to his predecessor Mark Elfstrand. WORD FM is a very good station and offers a variety of Christian programing including Catholic programs. He insulted a large part of his listening audience and possible cost them advertising dollars and contributions. The station was well within its rights to fire him in my opinion.

Fr. Deacon Lance

Thank you so much for informing us. I feel better than I did (after reading the administrator's post) that I stated I thought this radio show host should be fired.

My daughter is a radio show host and her employers would not allow such negativism against a well known and beloved world figure either I am sure.

And I do repeat that we should be praying for the host. I am not judging him.

Again, thanks for the clarification.

God Bless your day,

Mary Jo

I thank Father Deacon Lance for the additional information he has provided. The news story does not really detail evidence a long-term ongoing misunderstanding about what Catholics believe. If I was asked to form my opinion again based solely upon the news story I would form the same conclusion. Father Deacon provides supporting evidence that justifies the radio station�s decision. It does sound like this talk show host would not be interested in listening to an accurate description of what Catholics believe.

Father Deacon raises another interesting point. One of the benefits of Pope John Paul II�s style of �poping� (to quote one of the Evangelical Christians) is that many of the stereotypes Catholics and Evangelicals had of one another have fallen away. Sure there are still people like this talk show host, and there are certainly differences in understandings of faith, but there is much cooperation on issues where we hold common beliefs.

Ten years or so ago Evangelical Christian radio was severely anti-Catholic. Today many of the guests on these shows are Catholics. Here in Washington, DC, I sometimes listen to the afternoon drive talk show on WAVA-FM and very often the guest of the day is Catholic. In these last weeks I have seen both Pat Robertson and Franklin Graham praise the Christian witness of Pope John Paul II and acknowledge him as the defacto leader of Christians in the world. Progress.

I join my prayers with Mary Jo�s for this pastor and talk show host.

Dear Friends,

Certainly, I was amazed at all the U.S. flags lowered at half-mast leading up to the Pope's funeral last week!

Most Americans easily identified with and respected Pope John Paul the Great for his defence of traditional Christian values AND for his stand against communism, having been an important part of the dismantling of the Soviet Russian empire.

In my recent encounters with other Christians, I've noticed a certain dismay, even to the point of anger in a number of them.

I think these are angry at all the attention the Pope has received and is still receiving, along with the Catholic Church.

Truth be told, no Protestant or Orthodox Church anywhere could ever expect to receive that kind of amazing world-wide coverage as St Peter's Basilica, focused on the Pope, has received.

It is as if the whole world has taken time to honour the Pope.

Like Samson of old, His Holiness has brought more to the Church in his death than ever in life (I believe).

Alex

Thanks, Administrator John,

Yes, I also think that things are really improving with understandings between Christians. At the time following John Paul II's death there were many uplifitng and respectful statements from various denominations on websites. It was heart warming and edifying to read them.

One of my non-Catholic friends, who works for a Christian missionary organization in Hawaii, and who tends to be somewhat anti-Catholic, but who some how or other accepts my being Catholic, emailed me that she watched the papal funeral on t.v. and liked it when they stated regarding John Paul II that, "he made decisions on his knees."

A witness to the world not only in his living but in his passing and I get a feeling there will be much more.

God Bless,

Mary Jo

Dear Mary Jo,

Sometimes Protestants will accept Catholics as "fellow Christians" if they say the "sinner's prayer", read the Bible etc.

These they call "Catholic Christians" as if the former name didn't imply the latter.

But certainly this time must be a challenging time for Protestants and Orthodox who, by the sheer weight of the events in Rome, are forced to take a hard look at the papacy and its impact on the world via Pope John Paul II.

Alex

I had always thought that it would be Rome having to take another look at Her Orthodox Sister Churches and be forced to look at the role of the papacy.
I doubt that the falling asleep in the Lord, of His Holiness would alone bring the Orthodox closer to Rome.
The next Bishop of Rome and the entire College will hopefully continue the legacy Ioannes Paulus II left behind.

Brad

Dear Brad,

The Orthodox who are ecumenical rejoice in the legacy of Pope John Paul II along with us.

For example, one of the most beautiful Orthodox tributes to His Holiness that I've read is on the "Ukrainian Orthodoxy" site by Fr. Ihor Kutash at:

http://www.unicorne.org/orthodoxy

The impact of the Pope on the world is surely not lost on the others.

Alex

Thanks, Alex, yes I know. They just want to be sure we fit the mold and sure doesn't hurt us to witness our relationship with Christ back to them.

And it gives me a chance to share about the "Jesus Prayer."

Mary Jo

To All,

I listen to the show in the car when I am on my way home from work. I noticed he wasn't on yesterday afternoon and thought he took the day off. There was more than one incident, I'm sure, that led to his firing.

Just this past week he was discussing devotion to Mary as the Mother of God and the idea of praying to her. He decried this devotion as baseless and that there is no such thing as an intercessor and that prayer should be directed solely to Christ. A female caller was politely cut short for a commercial break after asking "Do you think Christ is going to condemn me come judgement time for loving His Mother too much?", I smiled a wide grin when I heard that, but after the break that was the end of that discussion. Later he admitted to another caller that Mary was a virgin when she conceived Christ but she had sex and children afterwards, "if you don't believe it read the Bible". He also said there is no basis for the Immaculate Conception and that Mary was born with sin the same as any other human being.

I oftentimes found myself shaking my head at many of his remarks. He is no friend to Apostolic Christianity, a little more giving toward mainstream Protestantism. He routinely and wealky tried to debunk Tradition at every opportunity that arose, relying solely on the Bible as his basis for the faith, and misinterpreting it most of the time. I never called in to his show but listened out of curiousity to hear what would come next. He will not be missed.

Bill

One of the rural independent Baptist churches in our region - translation: Independent Baptist, meaning they can't get along with any of the other Baptists, so they formed their own church - did post a really bad message on their outside sign saying,"No Truth, No Hope, Following a Hell-Bound Pope." On the reverse side it read," False Hope in a Fake Pope." After the story broke on a local TV channel, even the Southern Baptist Convention and it's churches in the area condemned that sign. Also, the mayor of the city said it did not reflect the hearts of the people in his city. The pastor of course, said "his intent was not to offend Catholics." Even the local newspaper said, "you don't have to be Catholic to be offended by this mean-spirited, ignorant, intolerant spume." The columnist went on to say,"I started to add the adjective 'redneck,' but declined; even us rednecks have more class than that." So now the little independent church has a notice on it's sign that says, "Censured - Thanks Channel 6." Given that Catholics are only 6% of the population in East Tennessee, I was surprised at the support and affection for the Pope in this area.