Denver, Colo., Sep 16, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A new Catholic university has announced the launch of their Masters of Sacred Art degree program, which is available online.The program will include the study of theology, philosophy, architecture, film, music and art, and is available through Pontifex University, a Catholic University established in 2015 by the Solidarity Association of the Christian Faithful.“The goal of Pontifex is to guide students along the path, the Way of Beauty, which leads to the supernatural transformation in Christ, so equipping one to serve Him,” David Clayton, provost of Pontifex, said in an announcement.“The Masters of Sacred Art (MSA) offers the same formation that enabled the great Catholic artists of the past to create works of radiant beauty that are at once noble, elevating and accessible to the many, drawing all to God,” he said.The two-year program is an online course, with occasional regional workshops in the Unite...
Denver, Colo., Sep 16, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A new Catholic university has announced the launch of their Masters of Sacred Art degree program, which is available online.
The program will include the study of theology, philosophy, architecture, film, music and art, and is available through Pontifex University, a Catholic University established in 2015 by the Solidarity Association of the Christian Faithful.
“The goal of Pontifex is to guide students along the path, the Way of Beauty, which leads to the supernatural transformation in Christ, so equipping one to serve Him,” David Clayton, provost of Pontifex, said in an announcement.
“The Masters of Sacred Art (MSA) offers the same formation that enabled the great Catholic artists of the past to create works of radiant beauty that are at once noble, elevating and accessible to the many, drawing all to God,” he said.
The two-year program is an online course, with occasional regional workshops in the United States, Italy or the Holy Land, and includes special access to the Vatican museum and the restoration workshops as well as an optional graduation Mass in the Vatican. Residential programs are available in the U.S., Italy and the Holy Land.
The program seeks to provide training and formation for artists, priests, religious, laity or “anyone looking to create beauty as a sign of hope in today's world.”
The idea for the program has been forming for about 20 years, ever since Clayton, at the time a recent convert to Catholicism, decided to become an artist but could not find any training programs in which to pursue sacred art.
The result of his years of research on the subject culminated in both a book, “Way of Beauty,” published in 2015 by Angelico Press, and the MSA program with Pontifex, he said.
“I am thrilled now to see this being offered to the next generation…” Clayton said.
The program includes classes on Scripture, architectural design, Gregorian chant and many other subjects, taught by “expert faculty including highly respected Catholic artists,” although Pontifex also holds that the “ultimate Educator is God Himself.”
According to the announcement, Pontifex prepares students to pass the test laid down for artists by Pope Benedict XVI in his book “A New Song for the Lord”, in which he wrote: “It is precisely the test of true creativity that the artist steps out of the esoteric circle and knows how to form his or her intuition in such a way that the others—the many—may perceive what the artist has perceived.”
“Pontifex University’s MSA is the new catalyst that shows how to bring these elements together in harmony with one’s personal vocation, whatever it may be, for the glory of God and joy of mankind.”
HOUSTON (AP) -- Some childhood cancer patients will chat Friday with an astronaut aboard the International Space Station wearing a hand-painted spacesuit they helped decorate....
HOUSTON (AP) -- Some childhood cancer patients will chat Friday with an astronaut aboard the International Space Station wearing a hand-painted spacesuit they helped decorate....
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -- The University of California at Berkeley has suspended a course amid accusations it shared anti-Semitic viewpoints and was designed to indoctrinate students against Israel....
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -- The University of California at Berkeley has suspended a course amid accusations it shared anti-Semitic viewpoints and was designed to indoctrinate students against Israel....
BEIRUT (AP) -- Russian troops have deployed along a main road leading into besieged rebel-held neighborhoods of the northern city of Aleppo ahead of the possible arrival of aid convoys later Friday, a Syrian activist said, as fighting broke out in the capital, Damascus, in what appeared to be a serious violation of the U.S.-Russia brokered cease-fire....
BEIRUT (AP) -- Russian troops have deployed along a main road leading into besieged rebel-held neighborhoods of the northern city of Aleppo ahead of the possible arrival of aid convoys later Friday, a Syrian activist said, as fighting broke out in the capital, Damascus, in what appeared to be a serious violation of the U.S.-Russia brokered cease-fire....
(Vatican Radio) European Union leaders are meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Friday to try to inject new momentum into their communal project amid deep-seated divisions over migration and economic policy.The summit is overshadowed by the United Kingdom’s decision in June to leave the EU. British Prime Minister Theresa May is not taking part in today’s meeting. Listen to Christopher Wells' report: European Council president Donald Tusk called on EU leaders to take a "brutally honest" look at the bloc's problems as they meet in Bratislava to find a way forward after Britain's vote to leave the Union.With British Prime Minister Theresa May absent, the other 27 leaders are gathering on Friday to try and agree a diagnosis of why people across the bloc are increasingly voting for eurosceptic parties and on ways to regain trust in the EU."We must not let this crisis go to waste," Tusk told reporters on his arrival in the Slova...
(Vatican Radio) European Union leaders are meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Friday to try to inject new momentum into their communal project amid deep-seated divisions over migration and economic policy.
The summit is overshadowed by the United Kingdom’s decision in June to leave the EU. British Prime Minister Theresa May is not taking part in today’s meeting.
Listen to Christopher Wells' report:
European Council president Donald Tusk called on EU leaders to take a "brutally honest" look at the bloc's problems as they meet in Bratislava to find a way forward after Britain's vote to leave the Union.
With British Prime Minister Theresa May absent, the other 27 leaders are gathering on Friday to try and agree a diagnosis of why people across the bloc are increasingly voting for eurosceptic parties and on ways to regain trust in the EU.
"We must not let this crisis go to waste," Tusk told reporters on his arrival in the Slovak capital on Thursday. The Polish President of the European Council is chairing the summit. "We can't start our discussion ... with this kind of blissful conviction that nothing is wrong. We have to assure ... our citizens that we have learned the lesson from Brexit and we are able to bring back stability and a sense of security and effective protection."
With governments deeply divided over how to bolster the economy and the euro zone and respond to an influx of refugees, Tusk has highlighted three priorities - strengthening external border controls, combating terrorism and reassuring people of protection from adverse effects of economic globalisation.
Leaders want the summit to launch a process that ends with agreements when they meet in March in the Italian capital to mark the 60th anniversary of the bloc's founding Treaty of Rome.
However, with leading powers France and Germany holding national elections over the coming year, the bloc's immediate scope for agreeing substantive new policies is limited.
The summit host, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, is one of a group of leaders in ex-communist central and eastern Europe who has led a vocal revolt against Brussels and Berlin over their willingness to take in refugees. The so-called Visegrad group said they will repeat their call for tougher controls.
Stockholm, Sweden, Sep 15, 2016 / 10:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Arne and Barbara Sahlstrom are a Swedish married couple, both brought up as Lutherans, though they were not practicing.They began to be interested in the Catholic faith with the visit of Pope John Paul II to Sweden in 1989, and got fully into it through programs on EWTN while they were living in Dubai and they finally entered the Catholic Church. This is their story.As told by José Miguel Cejas, author of the book Cálido Viento del norte (Warm Wind from the North), Barbara studied voice in various Swedish cities and in Uppsala she met Arne Sahlstrom whom she would later marry. Arne was studying French and English literature before starting a medical career and he was also from a Lutheran family, although he was not practicing. Arne specialized in advanced surgical techniques and Barbara became a professor of voice and was part of the choir of the symphonic orchestra. In June 1989, John Paul II vis...
Stockholm, Sweden, Sep 15, 2016 / 10:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Arne and Barbara Sahlstrom are a Swedish married couple, both brought up as Lutherans, though they were not practicing.
They began to be interested in the Catholic faith with the visit of Pope John Paul II to Sweden in 1989, and got fully into it through programs on EWTN while they were living in Dubai and they finally entered the Catholic Church. This is their story.
As told by José Miguel Cejas, author of the book Cálido Viento del norte (Warm Wind from the North), Barbara studied voice in various Swedish cities and in Uppsala she met Arne Sahlstrom whom she would later marry. Arne was studying French and English literature before starting a medical career and he was also from a Lutheran family, although he was not practicing.
Arne specialized in advanced surgical techniques and Barbara became a professor of voice and was part of the choir of the symphonic orchestra. In June 1989, John Paul II visited Sweden. At that time they were surprised by his personage.
Religión En Libertad (Religion in Freedom) tells this story of conversion and drawing near to the faith. Shortly after the pope's visit to Sweden, Barbara's mother came down with cancer. It was then that Barbara began to pray and found a Bible.
“As I had never read it I couldn't tell the difference between the Old and New Testament. When I was a girl, from the ages of five to eight, I went to Sunday School every Sunday, where there were some ladies who read us the Bible.”
In July 2001, Arne was assigned to work in Saudi Arabia, a majority Muslim country. There, Barbara began to look on the Internet for religious programs. This is how she got to know the EWTN network, founded by Mother Angelica.
“Day after day I watched programs that talked about that Catholicism that my mother was so interested in, and I commented on them or watched them again with Arne,” Barbara said.
Discovering Catholicism was a big surprise for Barbara. “We had never heard the infinite mercy of God spoken about and the love of a God who is very close to us: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity that lives in our souls. The God that had been presented to us until then was very distant. We also then learned about the doctrine of Purgatory.”
Later they decided to leave for Bahrain and Dubai. There they found Saint Francis Catholic Parish where Mass was celebrated on Friday, the Muslim day of worship, because the other days were work days.
In that place Father Eugene Mattioli helped the couple learn about Catholicism and delve into the history of the Church. “It was a pleasant journey. Everything attracted us. What we especially liked was the importance given in Catholicism to the relationship between reason and faith,” Barbara explained.
When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope in 2005, Arne and Barbara especially rejoiced. “It was a real blessing. His theological knowledge, his way of expressing himself, his enormous humility, his simplicity, his knowledge of the liturgy and liturgical and sacred music, his wonderful books, etc. There we saw the hand of God.”
During 2005, Barbara and Arne deepened their knowledge of the faith and the liturgy, as well as song, till they finally decided to take the final step of entering into full communion with the Catholic Church.
Some of those who played a key role in helping Arne and Barbara to find their way were their bishop in Sweden, Anders Arborelius, and several Opus Dei priests.
After all the ground they covered to get to the Church, both said that God was drawing near to them through the art, music, painting, and architecture.
When they would visit some church “even though we understood almost nothing, we spent a long time contemplating the statues,where the Virgin looks at you smiling. Many times we sat down to pray in the midst of that quiet and that silence.”
“And when Arne's parents died we lit candles. Later I spoke to Arne about this and he told me that the Holy Spirit was there with us even though we didn't realize it,” they said.
LONDON (AP) -- Medical data from some of the world's leading athletes has been posted to the web and the World Anti-Doping Agency says Russians are to blame. Even the hackers seem to agree, adopting the name "Fancy Bears" - a moniker long associated with the Kremlin's electronic espionage operations....
LONDON (AP) -- Medical data from some of the world's leading athletes has been posted to the web and the World Anti-Doping Agency says Russians are to blame. Even the hackers seem to agree, adopting the name "Fancy Bears" - a moniker long associated with the Kremlin's electronic espionage operations....
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Megan Rapinoe knelt during the national anthem before a U.S. women's national team match against Thailand on Thursday night....
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Megan Rapinoe knelt during the national anthem before a U.S. women's national team match against Thailand on Thursday night....
MARGARITA ISLAND, Venezuela (AP) -- This resort island was once mobbed with international tourists who loved the sparkling blue water, fine white sand and flawless sunny days. Now, swimming pools are empty, toilets don't flush and many hotels can't afford to offer meal service....
MARGARITA ISLAND, Venezuela (AP) -- This resort island was once mobbed with international tourists who loved the sparkling blue water, fine white sand and flawless sunny days. Now, swimming pools are empty, toilets don't flush and many hotels can't afford to offer meal service....
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The oldest Latino civil rights group in the United States opens every meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, a tradition resulting from a long fight to prove Hispanics belong in this country....
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The oldest Latino civil rights group in the United States opens every meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, a tradition resulting from a long fight to prove Hispanics belong in this country....
