Athletes

Anti-Religious Propaganda in the Soviet Union: Could It Ever Happen Here?

May 4, 2013 By Kathy Schiffer Leave a Comment

I was in elementary school during the Cold War. I remember praying the Leonine Prayers for the conversion of Russia—or, more exactly, “to permit tranquility and freedom to profess the faith to be restored to the afflicted people of Russia”. The Soviet Union in those days was a hotbed of militant atheism, we believed; and we stood vigilant against their errors of faith.

According to Soviet propaganda in the first half of the 20^th century, Christian virtues such as humility and meekness were to be ridiculed. Rather, the Communist government, through its “Godless Five-Year Plan”, encouraged self-discipline, loyalty to the party, confidence in the future, and hatred of class enemies.

In the place of religion, the Communist regime sought to promote science. The government sponsored anti-religious processions, newspaper articles, and lectures. The Society for the Godless was organized to advance atheism on a national scale, while magazines such as Bezbozhnik (The Godless) helped to spread atheistic propaganda.

By 1930, the central task of Soviet education became the spread of atheism. Eventually, all religious education was banned, and education which had as its goal the expansion of atheistic ideals was encouraged.

ATHEISTIC PROPAGANDA POSTERS

In the first propaganda poster, a Russian triptych displays three icons: an image of Christ in the center, with Mary, the Theotokis, on one side and a saint, possibly St. Nicholas, on the other. A younger woman—perhaps a relative—sneers at the display of icons in the home. The same young woman glances at a television set, where a Russian satellite is shown in orbit. The caption reads:

The bright light of science has proved that there is no God.

Nikita Khrushchev, who led the Soviet Union as First Secretary of the Communist Party and then as Premier in the 1950s and ‘60s, said the same thing, when he announced that a Russian satellite had completed a lunar orbit, peering at the previously unseen “dark side” of the moon, and did not find God.

The second poster is titled “Down With Religious Holidays!” It blames the church (visible in the background) for the drunkenness of the marauding men.

Filed Under: Athletes, Politics Leave a Comment

World Series Fans: Did You Know There’s a Catholic Mass at Comerica Park?

October 28, 2012 By Kathy Schiffer 3 Comments

Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers

For Major League players, weekends are devoted to baseball—and it can be pretty difficult for a Catholic athlete to find time to attend Sunday Mass.

But at Detroit’s Comerica Park, the athletes, stadium employees and journalists can attend Mass each weekend the Tigers play on the home field. That’s because Comerica Park is one of 19 stadiums around the country to offer a Sunday liturgy.

Father Ron Richards, pastor of St. John Neumann parish in Canton, Michigan, first proposed the idea of a private liturgy to Comerica Park officials; and he was subsequently named the team’s Catholic chaplain. As chaplain, Father Richards celebrates Mass a few hours before game time, in a lower-floor room which is often used for media interviews. He is also available for confessions.

According to the Detroit Free Press:

The services at Comerica started after Richards contacted Catholic Athletes for Christ last year; the group was created after the late Pope John Paul II’s “call to evangelize the world of sports,” it says.

After getting the OK from Comerica Park officials, Richards started the services during the first home stand and became the Catholic chaplain of the stadium, available for services like confessions. The mass is not open to fans; the stadium has had a nondenominational service on Sundays.

A lifelong Tigers fan, Richards used to be a swim coach at Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Hills.

“I never thought I’d be the chaplain of the Tigers,” Richards said. “Having this is sort of a grace I’ve been given, that’s really cool.”

Read the rest here.

Pope John Paul II encouraged priests and others to bring the New Evangelization to the world of sports. Speaking on the occasion of the Jubilee of Sports on October 29, 2000, the Pope said:

“It is a fitting occasion to give thanks to God for the gift of sport, in which the human person exercises his body, intellect and will, recognizing these abilities as so many gifts of his Creator.

“Playing sports has become very important today, since it can encourage young people to develop important values such as loyalty, perseverance, friendship, sharing and solidarity.

“Sports, in fact, can make an effective contribution to peaceful understanding between peoples and to establishing the new civilization of love.

“Sports contribute to the love of life, teaches sacrifice, respect and responsibility, leading to the full development of every human person.

“Every Christian is called to become a strong athlete of Christ, that is, a faithful and courageous witness to his Gospel. But to succeed in this, he must persevere in prayer, be trained in virtue and follow the divine Master in everything.

“Lord Jesus Christ, help these athletes to be your friends and witnesses to your love. Help them to put the same effort into personal asceticism that they do into sports; help them to achieve a harmonious and cohesive unity of body and soul.

“May they be sound models to imitate for all who admire them. Help them always to be athletes of the spirit, to win your inestimable prize: an imperishable crown that lasts forever.”

Filed Under: Athletes, Catholic, Liturgy, Mass, Sports Tagged With: Comerica Park 3 Comments

“PERFECT”: ESPN’s Dramatic Story of How Down Syndrome Daughter Won Her Father’s Heart

October 14, 2012 By Kathy Schiffer 7 Comments

“Have an abortion,” Heath White urged his wife. The couple already had one beautiful little girl, and they had just learned that their second child would be born with Down Syndrome.

He was, by any measure, a success: an ace military pilot, a marathon runner, a respected businessman. Heath feared how having an “imperfect” child, a daughter with Down Syndrome, would reflect on him. His wife Jennifer, though, was firmly pro-life and refused to abort the child, even though she feared continuing the pregnancy might mean the end of her marriage.

Heath didn’t leave his family, although for months he was emotionally absent. Then, when little Paisley was several months old, she smiled at her father—and he realized how precious she was, he felt for the first time that this precious life was just like any other child.

The story doesn’t end there. Heath had learned from his little girl—once unwanted, nearly aborted, now greatly loved—what “perfection” really is, and how beautiful life can be when we welcome each child as a gift from God.

Heath White, his life changed by the gift of this loving child, began to compete in marathons while pushing her stroller. He became an advocate for Down Syndrome children, educating others about the disease, even having “Down Syndrome” tattooed on his chest so that when people looked at him, they would be reminded of the condition just as they were when they looked at little Paisley.

* * * * *

The Whites’ story is the subject of an ESPN report on their weekly show “E:60” and the episode was recently posted on YouTube. “E:60” is an hour-long investigative show which features sports-related stories, frequently highlighting deeply personal, even tragic stories in the lives of competitive athletes.

The segment of “E:60”—which is aptly titled “Perfect”—will make you smile and make you cry. It runs fourteen minutes, long for a blog link; but I know you’ll be happy you took the time to watch.

You may be interested, too, in this article about our government’s lopsided policies toward the developmentally disabled: You can’t call them a name, but you can kill them at will.