Movie Critics Lukewarm About DaVinci Movie

From Yahoo News:

The Cannes audience clearly grew restless as the movie dragged on to two and a half hours and spun a long sequence of anticlimactic revelations.

"I kept thinking of the Energizer Bunny, because it kept going and going and going, and not in a good way," said James Rocchi, a film critic for CBS 5 television in San Francisco and the online outlet Cinematical. "Ron Howard makes handsome films. He doesn't make bad ones, but he doesn't make great ones."

One especially melodramatic line uttered by Hanks drew prolonged laughter and some catcalls, and the audience continued to titter for much of the film's remainder.

Some people walked out during the movie's closing minutes, though there were fewer departures than many Cannes movies provoke among harsh critics. When the credits rolled, there were a few whistles and hisses, and there was none of the scattered applause even bad movies sometimes receive at Cannes.

New Book on Natural Family Planning

Amy on The Big Story w/John Gibson (FoxNews) Today

Correction on the time...

Look for Amy on The Big Story with John Gibson today on Fox News between 5:10 and 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Little Rock Bishop is New Bishop of Jolliet

From the Vatican Bulletin, Now in English:

- Appointed Bishop Donald W. Wuerl of Pittsburgh, U.S.A., as metropolitan archbishop of Washington (area 5,447, population 2,630,894, Catholics 578,796, priests 1,166, permanent deacons 187, religious 1,677), U.S.A. The archbishop-elect was born in Pittsburgh in 1940, he was ordained a priest in 1966 and consecrated a bishop in 1986. He succeeds Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese, the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.
- Appointed Bishop James Peter Sartain of Little Rock, U.S.A., as bishop of Joliet in Illinois (area 10,920, population 1,768,390, Catholics 636,862, priests 293, permanent deacons 178, religious 779), U.S.A. He succeeds Bishop Joseph L. Imesch, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese, the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

What is interesting about the Joliet appointment is that Bishop Imesch isn't 75 just yet, but will turn 75 next month. So here we have the pope effectively accepting his resignation before he reaches the age. Hmmm

Soon to be Cardinal Wuerl

Bishop Wuerl named Archbishop of Washington, DC.

From Reuters:

Pope Benedict on Tuesday named Donald W. Wuerl, bishop of Pittsburgh, to be the new archbishop of Washington D.C., one of the most prestigious posts in the American Catholic Church, the Vatican said.

Wuerl succeeds Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, 75, who is retiring after five years in the job.

The post of archbishop of Washington is one of the most influential in American Catholicism because of the regular contacts the prelate has with the White House and other branches of U.S. government.

Wuerl, 65, has been bishop of Pittsburgh since 1988. He was ordained a priest in 1966. Before moving to Pittsburgh, he served as assistant bishop in Seattle.

He speaks Italian, French and Spanish and earned degrees from Pontifical universities in Rome.

Traditionally, the archbishop of Washington is a cardinal, so Wuerl could likely be elevated to that high rank the next time the Pope creates cardinals.

Dixie Chicks "Shut up and Sing" Again

Just in the nick of time, cause now just about everyone agrees with them but they are still mad and "not ready to play nice"...preview their new video

Just for the record, as a veteran...they had every right to express their opinion against the war.

Traveling Pope--To Spain in July

From Vatican Information Service:

Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls today announced that "on July 8 and 9, 2006 the Holy Father Benedict XVI will make an apostolic trip to Valencia, Spain, for the occasion of the Fifth World Meeting of Families."