Posted on 08/14/2006 12:07:57 AM PDT by freepatriot32
LONDON - The U.S. publishing company Ignatius Press has refused to sell any works by Welsh singer Charlotte Church after she called German-born Pope Benedict XVI a Nazi and mocked the Catholic Church.
The directors of Ignatius Press said they were offended when the Welsh singer mocked the Catholic Church in the pilot of a proposed eight-part television chat show.
Church, dubbed the "Voice of an Angel" before she turned her talents to popular music, also dressed up as a nun and pretended to hallucinate while eating "communion" wafers imprinted with smiling faces signifying the drug Ecstasy.
She smashed open a statue of the Virgin Mary to reveal a can of hard cider inside, said she worshipped "St. Fortified Wine," and stuck chewing gum on a statue of the child Jesus.
Ignatius Press announced that Church's products have been withdrawn from its Web site and catalogue.
"It is with regret that we do this," the company said in a statement to its customers on its Web site, www.ignatius.com.
"Miss Church possesses a great gift from God, and in the past she has used her talent often to offer praise and glory to Our Lord," the statement said.
"We cannot stand by a young woman who uses her stature in the media to mock the Eucharist, slander the Holy Father, and denigrate the vows of religious women," it continued.
"Therefore, our catalogues and Web site will immediately withdraw all compact discs, cassette tapes, DVDs and VHS tapes that feature Miss Church. Please join us in praying for this troubled young woman," the statement added.
Church declined to comment.
Church, 20, was raised a Catholic and sang for Pope John Paul II at the Vatican at the age of 12.
The pilot for "The All New Charlotte Church Show" was filmed before a live studio audience July 12.
Ignatius Press was founded by Father Joseph Fessio, a California Jesuit who studied under the future Pope Benedict at the University of Regensburg in Germany in the 1970s and who continues to be a close friend.
Pope Benedict, the son of a German policeman opposed to Nazism, was forced into the Hitler Youth movement as a child, and during World War II he served briefly in an anti-aircraft battalion
(Go Israel, Go! Slap 'Em Down Hezbullies.)
Lucky for her she makes her living with her voice 'cause if she had to rely on her brains she would be in real trouble.
Charlotte Church is a gifted operatic talent where Madonna is a pop singer with much charisma and voice amplification.
Charlotte Church's poor choices seem to have led to a tragic loss in the world of music but Wales has yet another beautiful, seemingly more stable renowned Welsh opera singer, 23 year old Mezzo-Soprano Katherine Jenkins.
Miss Jenkins sang the Welsh National Anthem "Hen wlad fy nhadau" (Land of My Fathers) live prior to a match between England and Wales.
Jenkins singing Welsh National Anthem
Thanks.
All that talent.
What a waste.
Very sad, indeed! Such a gifted voice, but not too surprising, when you realize that in the culture today, one must sell their soul to stay on the top. Many young people don't really understand what they are doing until they are in too deep. I hope that she wakes up soon!
Has she announced a change in religious beliefs before this? You'd think she would have let on that she was unhappy with the Roman Catholic Church before doing something like this.
You're welcome, Anti-Bubba182. :-)
On 9/11 she said some stupid, insulting things about the US until her agent or manager shut her up. She's a piece of work.
Charlotte: Welcome to the "Recovering Catholic" club.
"Recovering alcoholics" typically don't produce TV shows in which they smash and muck up as many bottles, cans, and pieces of barware as possible. I smell more than "recovering," I smell a grudge.
Perhaps through Tom Cruise's coercing she has secrectly joined the Church of Scietology.Maybe she's been hanging around Mel Gibson.
Sometimes the pressures of early stardom are immense.
Charlotte Church achieved fame at age 12 for her incredibly beautiful "angelic" voice. Now she is dating a popular Welsh soccer player and allegedly trying to find her way into adulthood. It sounds like she has a very long way to go.
Here a British tabloid displays her recent weight gain.
Is Charlotte struggling with her weight again?
Perhaps people believe that with fame comes maturity and wisdom. Charlotte Church was born on February 21, 1986 which meant that she was 15 years old in 2001.
I hadn't heard about her disparaging 2001 comments so I looked it up. On November 29, 2001, BBC published an article Church: 'Terror comments distorted'.
Singing star Charlotte Church has said controversial views on 11 September terror attacks attributed to her in a UK newspaper were "distorted and misrepresentative".
Church said comments included in a Sunday Times interview published earlier this month - quoting her criticising the hero status afforded to New York firefighters who lost over 340 colleagues - were "quite upsetting for me to read."
"The New York fire-fighters display remarkable courage and sacrifice every day and their work and efforts at Ground Zero are an extension of that," she said on Thursday."
"I have an undying love for America and I would never choose to offend the place that holds a special place in my heart."
"... she was asked what it was like to visit Ground Zero during her recent trip to New York.
She was quoted as saying:" I went to Ground Zero just as an ordinary person. It was awful, people taking debris to sell...
"Everyone there has to relate themselves to it. They are like 'Yeah, my neighbour's dogs' owners' sister's dog was involved, but he got out just in time'.
"It was a bit sick. People overdramatise and lose perspective."
As far as references to firefighters were concerned, Church was reported to have said: "They went from here in society to celebrities.
"They are even invited here to present television awards which I just don't agree with."
Such views have been met with anger by members of New York's Welsh-American community.
Geryrd Williams, 19, the son of a firefighter currently clearing debris at Ground Zero, dismissed her alleged comments as "childish".
"For somebody like Charlotte Church - who I'm sure has never lifted a finger in her life - to say this is ridiculous," he told BBC Radio Wales.
"Even if she does have these views as a celebrity I don't think she should come out and say it."
The interview also included Church's reaction to Sir Paul McCartney talking about how he witnessed the World Trade Center attacks.
She apparently said "There was Paul McCartney saying 'I witnessed the crash'.Who cares? Thousands witnessed it."
Church has insisted she does care.
"As for the statements on Sir Paul McCartney, I have nothing but the greatest respect for him as a performer and as a person," her statement read.
"I have an undying love for America and I would never choose to offend the place that holds a special place in my heart," it continues.
"America has embraced me and it has become a second home for me.
"I owe an immeasurable amount of gratitude to the American people and their acceptance of me and my music in the States."
14 Dec 00 | Wales
Charlotte breaks US chart record
08 Dec 00 | Wales
Church's ex-manager seeks star
12 Mar 00 | Wales
Charlotte is UK's youngest millionaire
12 Dec 99 | Wales
Charlotte chosen to sing at Dome
03 Jun 99 | Entertainment
Angel to sing for the President
19 Jan 01 | Wales
Church at Bush inauguration
Most of us Recovering Catholics DO have a grudge, and for good reason.
I don't think Portman sings, does she?
She's taking her Christmas presents back and exchanging them for a box of rocks.
Sounds like Britany Spears is her role model.
Pity - she has a great singing voice. Don't know if any of the stunts she pulled were really her idea - or that of her producers. The entertainment biz has some pretty despicable snakes among its members.
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