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A four-day film festival celebrating the life and mission of Blessed Mother Teresa is being held in her adopted hometown of ‎Kolkata in eastern India, in the run-up to her canonization or sainthood ceremony on September 4 in the Vatican.  ‎Predominantly featuring documentaries, the Aug. 26-29 Mother Teresa International Film ‎Festival (MTIFF) in the capital of West Bengal state, is taking centre stage at the Nandan multiplex, Kolkata’s prestigious film and cultural centre owned by the state government.  Organized by the Indian chapter of ‎SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication, the film festival will travel to numerous ‎locations around India and then go overseas.  To know more about this event, we talked to Mr. Sunil Lucas, the president of SIGNIS India and director of the film festival.  Speaking to us on his mobile phone from Kolkata, Mr. Lucas first explained that this is the fourth such film festival on the saintly nun in Kolkata, the first being soon after her beatification in 2003.

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(Vatican Radio) German Chancellor Angela Merkel has dismissed suggestions that the influx of refugees over the past year has brought Islamic extremism to Germany. Her remarks come amid European concerns that insecurity following a failed coup in Turkey will lead to a new wave of migrants fleeing war and poverty, though activists have urged youngsters in Budapest to remember their suffering.

Listen to Stefan Bos' report:

In one of her toughest comments on the issue in recent weeks, Merkel made clear that she condemns those who link the influx of more than a million refugees into Germany last year to extremism.

German news agency DPA quoted Merkel as saying that "Islamist terrorism by the Islamic State group isn't a phenomenon that came to us with the refugees, it's one that we had before too."

Merkel spoke at a political rally in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where her Christian Democrats face strong competition from the nationalist Alternative for Germany party in state elections next month.

Germany has been shaken by recent attacks, two of which were the first in Germany claimed by the Islamic State group. In those, only the attackers - both asylum-seekers - were killed. In unrelated violence, a German teenager killed nine people in Munich.

TERRORISM THREAT

Yet German authorities claim they take the terrorism threat seriously. On Thursday prosecutors filed terrorism charges against a 22-year-old man accused of joining the Islamic State group in Syria and appearing in propaganda videos.

Federal prosecutors said Thursday that the German national, identified only as Tarik S. because of German privacy rules, was facing several charges including membership in a foreign terrorist organization, disturbing the peace of the dead and deprivation of liberty. The suspect appeared in an Islamic State video mocking a decapitated corpse. He returned to Germany in March because his wife was pregnant, but was detained at Frankfurt airport.

Despite a German crackdown on terror suspects, other countries such as Hungary fear it will not be enough to prevent militants from mingling among refugees. Hungary has stepped up security along its borders after some nearly 18,000 migrants illegally entered the country this year despite razor wire fences. 

Neighboring Serbia has also deployed joint army and police patrols on its border with Bulgaria where migrants have been arriving through illegal routes. It says over 2,000 migrants were prevented from crossing from Bulgaria and 24 people smugglers were caught in less than a month.

However more refugees can be expected. On Thursday charity Save the Children said the number of migrants arriving in the Greek islands has nearly doubled in recent weeks, putting pressure on overcrowded camps. Greece has been a key country on the Balkan route towards more prosperous EU nations. Save the Children says that so far in August 1,367 arrivals have been reported in Greece compared with 1,721 in the entire month of May.

MORE REFUGEES SEEN

The charity says the increase is partly down to insecurity since the failed coup in Turkey last month.

Activists are now trying to raise awareness among youngsters about the suffering of refugees, including here in Budapest, at the 'Sziget', or Island festival, one of the largest music gatherings in Europe with nearly half a million people attending.  

In the exhibition called ‘Tent without borders’, organized by a French and Hungarian museum there is a collection of lost objects recovered from the Hungarian-Serbian border last year.

“The exhibition shows objects found after the huge wave of refugees last year at the border villages of Roszke and Assotthalom," said organizer Hanna Foster. "It makes people think about the objects that might be significant during a migration or an escape which are personal. Which are the objects they must take and which are those which they can leave when crossing a border.”

TENTS FOR REFUGEES

Rights group Amnesty International hopes that many people will leave behind their tents at the festival. It expects at least 4,000 to remain to be offered to refugees.

“It is very important to get the attention of the visitors to the festival, that there are those in the world for whom living in a tent is not a temporary situation, it is not only for a few days and who are waiting for their safety again and to live in a dignified fashion as well,” explained Orsolya Jeney, director of Amnesty International Hungary.

Her enthusiasm isn't shared by Hungary's anti-migration Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

His government wants people to vote against a European Union plan to divide refugees among member states in a referendum in October.

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Denver, Colo., Aug 18, 2016 / 06:02 am (CNA).- He hates the way things are done these days, and church sure ain’t what it used to be.

Church Curmudgeon may be one of the most cantankerous guys on Twitter, but he’s also one of the most hilarious. His complaints range from sinful dancing to boring homilies to music that’s too loud to shenanigans from the “youths” at church.

 

While the character himself is actually Southern Baptist, it turns out grumpy old men who complain about things in church is not just reserved to one denomination. His nearly 90 thousand followers on Twitter come from all walks of life - Catholic, Evangelical, and even some atheists.

First day of VBS, and I got 3 kids to rededicate themselves to staying off the lawn.

— Church Curmudgeon (@ChrchCurmudgeon) June 6, 2016 We tracked down the guy behind the wisecracking angry old man staring back at you from the Twitter handle @ChrchCurmudgeon. Here’s the story behind the sass:

What was the inspiration for Church Curmudgeon?

Back when I was first getting on Twitter, there were a few anonymous accounts that would be parody pastors or worship leaders. And I thought why shouldn’t there be somebody like the grumpy old guy at the back of the church who complains about everything? And so I decided to be that guy.

I am a music minister so I had a lot of experience with the older folks in the congregation and people who would...complain about the music and this that and the other thing, and how things used to be done, and how they aren’t done that way anymore. I thought I could add a humorous side to that.

What is the value of the Church Curmudgeon in the church community in real life?

Early on in my ministry, I was encouraged to get to know the seniors group at my church. I was encouraged to go to their potlucks and bible studies and get to know them as people, because they are people who have a lot more life experience and a lot more life wisdom than I did. They’ve been through wars, they’ve been through depression, children and grandchildren and building businesses and working their whole lives - they’ve had a lot of life experiences and they’ve been through much, and I can learn a lot from them.

So essentially with the Church Curmudgeon, what I wanted to do was humanize them.

#4picswhereiwasthehappiest pic.twitter.com/zNDo4pfdOU

— Church Curmudgeon (@ChrchCurmudgeon) August 14, 2016 What made you take to Twitter?

I’ve always had a wisecracking sense of humor where I like to put in my two cents. It’s gotten me in trouble in staff meetings and things, but I love to have a little wisecrack here and there, I love puns, I love wordplay and all of that, and Twitter was kind of just a really good way to scratch that itch.

I could say something useful or just something funny or that brought a different light to a situation, or just kind of crack wise, and I’d get a positive response from it.

What is the value of humor and satire?

I like to poke fun at myself a lot through the Church Curmudgeon, because the target of his ridicule is often the music guy, and that’s me. So I get to poke fun at the way I do things.

It's one thing to be at a loss for words in worship. It's another to write a song called "Jesus, I'm All, Like, Dude".

— Church Curmudgeon (@ChrchCurmudgeon) February 8, 2013 I am a Baptist and I like to poke fun at Baptists. A lot of people think I’m being mean spirited at times, especially on Facebook - some people take things so seriously.

But I’ve always believed that you do have to take yourself lightly. There are matters that we need to treat with a great deal of gravity, and I try to do that appropriately, but at the same time, I think that sometimes you laugh the hardest at a funeral, because you’re remembering what’s important, and you realize that there is so much joy and mirth and life that we do need to have that brought out to us, and it reminds us of great truths.

Church Curmudgeon is a Southern Baptist, but much of what he says applies to Christians across the board. Why is that?

I have been in lots of different evangelical churches, and so I have some broad church knowledge. I grew up Mennonite, I’ve been in Presbyterian churches, independent churches, non-denominational churches, megachurches, mini churches, I’ve experienced all kinds of church life here and there. And I’ve realized from my friendships but also from my church audience, there’s a lot of these things that apply very broadly, so it resonates.

The main reason he’s Southern Baptist is because as a character - he needed something that he really was, you know? It helps to settle your character a little bit. I don’t think that limits him to speaking only to Southern Baptists, I think it just helps him be a developed character.

What are some of the Curmudgeon music complaints that you hear as a music minister?

It’s too loud, too many new songs, they’re too repetitive, you played that too fast or you played that too slow. There have been days when I have gotten equal and opposite complaints.

But I really must say i’ve been blessed to have congregations that really love me as a person and who respond to what I do. I have had relatively little complaint in my life.

I know that sometimes among worship leaders there is a tendency not to listen to people and to think that they’re there for their own artistic expression, they think that they’re there to be a rock star, and that’s not it. Their goal is to assist people in the worship of God,

Is there a Church Curmudgeon complaint that you most identify with?

That the music reflects the reverence of God in the congregation. It’s not just self-expression when we worship together.

Worship leader's at a songwriting conference to learn how to rearrange the same seven words louder & with fewer chords.

— Church Curmudgeon (@ChrchCurmudgeon) August 16, 2016 Because I think a lot of the art has gone out of musical expression.

What posts have been the most popular with your followers?

There have been a couple that were specifically towards Baptists. Baptists are notoriously against dancing, at least in most people’s memories. If you were a Southern Baptist, you didn’t dance, it wasn’t allowed.

But probably the most popular post of all time was: “Do you know why God doesn’t let Baptists dance? Have you ever watched a Baptist dance?”

#NationalDanceDay pic.twitter.com/QQKliy3dJC

— Church Curmudgeon (@ChrchCurmudgeon) July 31, 2016 That and some things about how Baptists are generally very stoic in their worship, like: “The reason that Baptists have to hire a pentecostal to change the lightbulbs in the sanctuary is because otherwise they’d have to raise their hands in church.”

One of my first break-out popular tweets was in the fall, when we were changing the clocks back. I made a post saying it’s Benny Hinn day, everyone fall back. He’s a Pentecostal preacher who slays everybody in the spirit and everyone in the auditorium falls over when he moves his arms around. That was one of the big days when my inbox blew up from all of the responses. I had to turn off notifications after that.

Do you have a wide following across denominations?

It’s interesting because there are priests and nuns who follow me, I’ve been retweeted by Rick Warren and Andy Stanley and other big name pastors. I have Methodists and Pentecostals and Presbyterians, and there’s some atheists out there who think I’m genuinely anti-Church.

I’m always kind of mystified by that, because my hope is that people see that I have a genuine love for the body of Christ and for the people of the Church. I can count on two hands the number of Sundays that I have not been in church in my adult life, and I’m pushing 50, so it’s the fabric of who I am.  

You’re a one-man team - do you accept contributions?

I have some people who have sent me some ideas, but if they do I rewrite them in my own voice. That’s only happened a handful of times, I really have strived to do it on my own and to keep it original.

When you’re not running Church Curmudgeon, what do you do?

I’m a music minister, dad, and freelance musician.  

Are you willing to out yourself?

I’ve remained somewhat mysterious and that’s worked out well for me so far. But if people really want to do their research they can figure out who I am.

I’m also working on a book about the Church Curmudgeon, so my name will be on there.

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc

By Mark Pattison

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- It's been 57 years since the last film version of "Ben-Hur" hit movie theaters. That alone is, for most Hollywood types, reason enough for a remake.

But when the husband-and-wife team of Roma Downey and Mark Burnett saw the screenplay of the new version from John Ridley, he of Oscar-winning "12 Years a Slave" fame, "we loved the script," said Downey, an executive producer of the new film, as is Ridley. "We loved the rephrasing of the story as one of forgiveness and reconciliation instead of the previous incarnations which were revenge-driven."

Downey added, "Certainly, my faith is important to me as a Catholic and I feel that the values in this film are important and valuable. In the time we're living, in a world that's uncertain, with fear and confusion, I feel the central themes of forgiveness and reconciliation is a message that's needed now more than ever. It's my hope that audiences will leave the film with this message of reconciliation."

Downey and husband Burnett, one of the producers of "Ben-Hur," spoke to Catholic News Service during an Aug. 13 telephone interview from Los Angeles, in a last promotion push for the film, which was to open nationwide Aug. 19.

"It's very tricky, all the marketing," Burnett said. "All it means is a number. You've got to make projects that you love, you've got to make them very well, do your best job, then tell people about it, and sit back and let it happen."

Burnett added, "There's a big push in the secular market," noting big "Ben-Hur" billboards around Los Angeles, which she said is exciting. "We were excited to see the letter from Cardinal (Donald W.) Wuerl (of Washington in support of 'Ben-Hur,' and Archbishop (Jose H.) Gomez here in town (Los Angeles), and Cardinal (Sean P.) O'Malley (of Boston)."

Advance support for the movie has come "across denominations from all churches across the country," Downey added, "but the Catholic Church this time has really stepped up and endorsed the film." She said she hopes the church can "reach out to people who are unchurched and maybe don't know about Jesus.

Downey praised the performance of Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro as Jesus. "He brings a gentle strength but also a beautiful timelessness to the role." Jesus in the 1959 version was played by Claude Heater, who didn't even get his name in the credits. "Jesus was more of an imperial presence, he wasn't interpreted as a person you could see or feel his presence," Downey told CNS. "That's something John Ridley addressed in his script. Not only he (Jesus) the son of God, but the son of man."

The new "Ben-Hur" was filmed at Rome's Cinecitta studio complex, and Burnett and Downey "had the opportunity to get a blessing from the pope," she added. "Pope Francis personally blessed Rodrigo Santoro. That was an extraordinary moment for him, and for us."

John Mulderig, CNS' associate director for media reviews, gave "Ben-Hur" a classification of A-III -- adults, citing stylized but harsh violence including combat, and a nongraphic marital bedroom scene.

Even amid the busy-ness of moviemaking, the couple still finds time to pray. "Every day," Burnett said. "For me personally I try to start my day with small prayers, and then I try to train physically for a couple of hours, then I take a solid half an hour after training to do nothing but praying."

Apart from the cinema and television work, Downey and Burnett co-founded a charity, Cradle of Christianity, last year to address the exodus of Christians from the Middle East. Downey is working on a documentary called "Faithkeepers" to tell their story.

"We should be doing more to help them," Downey said. "They're about to be going into another winter over there, displaced and homeless. We're trying to find ways to get organized and get money and help these people before the winter hits." She said she appreciated the declaration by Secretary of State John Kerry that Islamic State was committing genocide against Christian and other populations in the region, "that a spade would be called a spade."

Burnett told CNS how Cradle of Christianity last year played "a small part in getting 153 Iraqi Catholics resettled in the Czech Republic. It was really, really complicated to get people visas and passports and settled in another country."

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Follow Pattison on Twitter: @MeMarkPattison.

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