Catholic Connection – March 5, 2024 – Hr 2

Guest host Vanessa Denha Garmo speaks with Arielle Del Turco on a new report showing hostility against churches is on the rise in the USA. Marge Fenelon talks about her new booklet, “Behold Your Mother: Marian Stations of the Cross.”

 

 

Segment 1 – Intro & News

 

Segment 2 & 3 – Hostility Against Churches Is on the Rise in the United States
“Family Research Council (FRC) released the newest edition of its Hostility Against Churches report, updated to include hostility incidents from calendar year 2023. The report’s findings suggest that the rise in hostility against U.S. churches that were identified in FRC’s inaugural December 2022 report has neither slowed nor plateaued; rather, it has accelerated rapidly. FRC identified 436 hostility incidents in 2023–more than double the number identified in 2022 and more than eight times the number identified in 2018, the first year for which FRC collected data.”  Read more here.

Arielle Del Turco serves as Director of the Center for Religious Liberty at Family Research Council, where she is responsible for international religious freedom policy and advocacy efforts. Through research and analysis, she helps craft effective policy solutions and coordinates FRC’s advocacy on international religious freedom. 

Segment 4 & 5 – Behold Your Mother: Marian Stations of the Cross
“When we pray the Stations of the Cross, we walk alongside Jesus to Calvary. In Behold Your Mother: Marian Stations of the Cross, we walk alongside the Mother of the Redeemer as she accompanies him during his Passion and death. Written from the unique perspective of a child who is witnessing Mary’s unspeakable anguish, this booklet helps us to grow in devotion to the Blessed Mother as she leads us closer to her Son.”

Marge Fenelon is an award-winning journalist and author, internationally known speaker, life coach, retreat leader, and Catholic media personality. She’s been published in dozens of Catholic and secular publications and is the author of several books about Marian devotion and Catholic spirituality.