New York
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Retired respect life director receives national award from bishops
Published August 18, 2016
NEW YORK—The former director of the Archdiocese of Atlanta’s Respect Life Ministry, Mary Boyert, received one of the 2016 People of Life Awards bestowed on Aug. 8 in New York. The People of Life Award recognizes Catholics who have answered the call outlined by Pope St. John Paul II in The Gospel of Life (Evangelium […] Full Story
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Father Daniel Berrigan, advocate for justice, peace, poor, dies at 94
By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Published May 9, 2016NEW YORK (CNS)—Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan, an early critic of U.S. military intervention in Vietnam who for years challenged the country’s reliance on military might, died April 30. He was 94. The author of several books of poetry and one of the first Catholic priests to receive a federal sentence for peace activism, Father Berrigan […] Full Story
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‘The Story of God’ ponders life, death and the divine
By JOSEPH MCALEER, Catholic News Service
Published April 29, 2016NEW YORK (CNS)—Weighty issues of life, death and the divine take center stage in “The Story of God,” an ambitious series now showing on the National Geographic Channel on cable TV. Actor Morgan Freeman serves as narrator and host for this six-part series, produced by Revelations Entertainment. Different cultures and religions are examined for their […] Full Story
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‘Batman v Superman’ offers ‘ear-splitting’ entertainment
By JOSEPH McALEER, Catholic News Service
Published March 31, 2016NEW YORK (CNS)—Darkness hovers over the neighboring cities of Gotham and Metropolis, the main settings of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (Warner Bros). It’s not just the looming clash of the DC Comics titans promised by the film’s title. This follow-up to 2013’s Superman reboot, “Man of Steel,” directed again by Zack Snyder, is […] Full Story
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Doubt, mystery add to remarkable tale of ‘Miracles’
By JOHN MULDERIG, Catholic News Service
Published March 18, 2016NEW YORK (CNS)—The fact-based drama “Miracles From Heaven” (Columbia) tells a remarkable story. Though director Patricia Riggen’s screen version of Christy Beam’s 2015 memoir is clearly designed for believers—and sometimes feels padded—even dedicated skeptics may have trouble dismissing its underlying narrative. A wife and the mother of three daughters, Christy (Jennifer Garner) is going about […] Full Story
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‘Risen’ provides ‘unusually effective’ biblical epic
By JOHN MULDERIG, Catholic News Service
Published March 3, 2016NEW YORK (CNS)—In days of yore, Hollywood knew how to make Christian themes pay off at the box office. Though the result was not always decorous—risque content in 1932’s “The Sign of the Cross” helped spur the formation of the National Legion of Decency—they were sometimes spectacular. And so there arose the biblical epic, a […] Full Story
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‘13 Hours’ dramatizes courage of Benghazi’s unsung heroes
By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Published January 21, 2016NEW YORK (CNS)—Some might fear, simply from reading its title, that “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” (Paramount) would turn out to be little more than a rehash of the congressional hearings on the 2012 terrorist attack in Libya. In reality, the film is a gripping, fact-based account of what happened on the ground […] Full Story
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Central figure in ‘Concussion’ portrayed as devout Catholic
By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Published January 7, 2016NEW YORK (CNS)—Neither the National Football League nor the Federal Bureau of Investigation comes off particularly well in the fact-based drama “Concussion” (Columbia). But the film’s central figure, the Nigerian-born coroner Dr. Bennet Omalu (Will Smith), certainly does. Given that Omalu’s generally admirable character is portrayed as being shaped, more than anything else, by his […] Full Story
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Newest Star Wars movie a worthy continuation of the franchise
By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Published January 1, 2016NEW YORK (CNS)—With “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (Disney), the most popular series in film history resurfaces after a 10-year hiatus. This is the seventh installment in the franchise as well as the first feature in a planned third trilogy. Like its predecessors, it’s essentially a family-friendly piece of entertainment, with only interludes of peril […] Full Story
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Spiritual struggles of Blessed Teresa portrayed in ‘The Letters’
By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Published December 10, 2015NEW YORK (CNS)—As the elaborate procedures that precede the Catholic Church’s decision to declare someone a saint amply demonstrate, genuine holiness can be difficult to pin down or identify in real life. When it comes to capturing sanctity on screen, the elusiveness of a person’s interior union with God becomes even more apparent, even when […] Full Story
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‘Spotlight’ tells story of journalists who exposed priestly misconduct in Boston
By JOHN MULDERIG, Catholic News Service
Published November 12, 2015NEW YORK (CNS)—The clergy abuse-themed drama “Spotlight” (Open Road) is a movie no Catholic will want to see. Whether it’s a film many mature Catholics ought to see is a different question entirely. This hard-hitting journalism procedural—which inescapably invites comparison with 1976’s “All the President’s Men”—recounts the real-life events that led up to the public […] Full Story
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Inconveniences of waiting for pope quickly fade as man of hour appears
By ANGELA CAVE, Catholic News Service
Published October 2, 2015NEW YORK (CNS)—It wasn’t always comfortable waiting for papal events in New York—there were long lines, temperamental security personnel and dashed hopes for last-minute tickets—but when pilgrims did make it into events, the inconveniences quickly became memories when the man of the hour appeared. “People kept (texting me) asking, ‘Was it worth it?’” said Maria […] Full Story
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‘The Intern’ pleasant, but contains tasteless moments
By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Published October 2, 2015NEW YORK (CNS)—Lit by the sunny disposition of its title character, writer-director Nancy Meyers’ generally affable comedy “The Intern” (Warner Bros.) could have provided families with a pleasant, though not especially memorable, visit to the multiplex. Instead, the needless inclusion of some adults-only humor and the questionable amendments attached to her film’s basically moral agenda […] Full Story
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Pope at 9/11 Memorial: Violence is never impersonal, always brings tears
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published September 25, 2015NEW YORK (CNS)—Honoring both the pain and the strength of the families of those who died at the World Trade Center on 9/11 and drawing on the pools of water that are part of the site’s memorial, Pope Francis spoke about tears and quenching the world’s longing for peace. “The water we see flowing toward […] Full Story
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In New York service, pope offers encouragement to men, women religious
By CAROL ZIMMERMANN, Catholic News Service
Published September 25, 2015NEW YORK (CNS)—During an evening prayer service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, Pope Francis thanked the nation’s priests, brothers and women religious for their service and gave particular thanks to women religious saying, “Where would the church be without you?” The pope began with unscripted remarks, extending his sympathy to the Muslim community […] Full Story
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Christian-themed ‘War Room’ successfully emphasizes power of prayer
By JOSEPH MCALEER, Catholic News Service
Published September 18, 2015NEW YORK (CNS)—Prayer becomes the ultimate weapon to save a young family in crisis in “War Room” (TriStar). This Christian-themed drama is the latest offering from Alex and Stephen Kendrick, the fraternal team behind 2008’s “Fireproof” and 2011’s “Courageous.” A McMansion in suburban North Carolina serves as the film’s battleground. There, overtaxed wife and mother […] Full Story
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‘90 Minutes in Heaven’ portrays inspiring take on the power of faith
By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Published September 18, 2015NEW YORK (CNS)—As its title suggests, a trip to the pearly gates and back is the highlight of “90 Minutes in Heaven” (Samuel Goldwyn). Writer-director Michael Polish’s drama is based on the true story of a Baptist minister and his near-death experience. Don Piper lived to tell the story of his celestial journey in a […] Full Story
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‘Compton’ brings narrow perspective to troubled culture
By JOHN MULDERIG, Catholic News Service
Published August 20, 2015NEW YORK (CNS)—The proper limits of free speech and the appropriate use of violence are just two of the topics raised in the striking but gritty dramatization “Straight Outta Compton” (Universal). As he recounts the rise and collapse of the gangster rap group N.W.A, beginning in 1986, director F. Gary Gray clearly intends to use […] Full Story
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‘Mission: Impossible’ another ‘nifty espionage’ movie
By JOHN MULDERIG, Catholic News Service
Published August 6, 2015NEW YORK (CNS)—Light the fuse and cue that nerve-jangling theme music everyone loves to hum; it’s time for “Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation” (Paramount). As helmed by writer-director Christopher McQuarrie, this fifth installment in a franchise that dates back, on the big screen, to 1996—and that began life as a CBS-TV series a full three decades before […] Full Story
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Ant-Man humorous as tiny superhero, but ‘nonetheless great fun’
By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Published July 23, 2015NEW YORK (CNS)—Better think twice before squashing that insect invader at your summer picnic—it could be “Ant-Man” (Disney), the diminutive superhero of the Marvel Comics universe. Shrunk to bug size by means of a special suit, Ant-Man, a.k.a. Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), acquires super-human strength and a nifty ability to control his fellow invertebrates, who […] Full Story