‘The Catholic View’:
Conference speakers encourage women to engage culture, live out faith
Seated from left, Rosalind Moss, Teresa Tomeo and Marjorie Murphy Campbell take part in a panel discussion, while Servants of the Gospel of Life Sister Diane Carollo moderates.
By Mary Ann Wyand
(Listen to the reporter read this story)
They jokingly called their program “The Catholic View,” but their speeches and fast-paced panel discussion addressed a variety of serious issues in contemporary society.
Three nationally known speakers—author and broadcast journalist Teresa Tomeo of Detroit, “Catholic Answers” staff apologist Rosalind Moss of El Cajon, Calif., and attorney Marjorie Murphy Campbell of San Francisco—enthralled 400 women with insightful comments during “Treasuring Womanhood,” the fourth annual Indiana Catholic Women’s Conference, on April 28 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.
“The Great Dignity, Potential and Responsibility of Women” was the theme for the conference, which was sponsored by the Marian Center of Indianapolis and archdiocesan Office for Pro-Life Ministry.
Tomeo, a media specialist who left secular journalism because God called her to work for Catholic Radio, criticized the entertainment industry for producing movies, TV shows, video games and music that promote sex and violence.
The author of Noise: How Our Media-Saturated Culture Dominates Our Lives and Dismantles Families cited a new report by the Federal Communications Commission about the impact of TV violence on children.
“They are so concerned about it that they are now going to work with Congress to try to legislate [restrictions on] violence on television, which they are not allowed to do at this point,” Tomeo explained. “The FCC is only allowed to regulate indecency, obscenity and profanity on radio and television.”
Urging the women to become “culture warriors,” she said Catholics need to engage the culture to combat the spiritual war that hurts families and individuals.
“Satan hates women,” Tomeo said. “It’s pretty obvious—with abortion, birth control and pornography—the way women are being used and abused.”
As a teenager, Tomeo said she struggled with an eating disorder caused by media pressure about the importance of beauty, which is continually emphasized in TV programs and advertisements.
“No one can … tell me it’s just a TV show or it’s just a movie or it’s just a video game because the debate is over,” she said. “The research … shows a connection between the impact that the media is having on women, primarily in the areas of body image, pornography and sexual promiscuity.”
Discouragement is one of the devil’s greatest tools, Tomeo explained, and Satan uses the entertainment media to spread discontent and envy.
Citing a report on the sexualization of girls that was released by the American Psychological Association in February, Tomeo said the study showed that women and girls suffer greatly from media images that glorify beautiful actors and models.
“The APA report found out that they have problems when their value is directly related to sexual appeal or behavior, emphasis is placed on personal appearance and a person is made into an object for sexual use,” she said, “and that all media forms—music, TV, radio and movies—contribute to this problem. … They saw an increase in eating disorders, depression and low
self-esteem related to the way women are portrayed in the media.”
Tomeo said the association’s report corresponds with Pope Paul VI’s concerns about the misuse of human sexuality detailed in his encyclical “Humanae Vitae” (“On Human Life”) in 1968.
“One out of every four TV commercials contains messages about appearance,” Tomeo said. “Eighty percent of women questioned by People magazine said media images make them feel insecure. … One out of every three women is on a diet at any given time in this country. Diet products and programs are a $33 billion a year business. The average age for young girls to start dieting is 8 years old, and 81 percent of 10-year-olds in this country say they are afraid of being fat.”
Pornography and sexual promiscuity undermine marriage and family life, she said, and are encouraged by content on the Internet, in movies and on TV shows.
“It is greatly affecting families,” Tomeo said. “It’s affecting marriages. It’s affecting kids, and it’s right out of the pit of hell because it totally distorts the
God-ordained relationship between man and woman that was meant for the sacrament of marriage.”
About 200,000 Americans admit to an addiction to pornography, and 38 percent of Americans say they think it is morally acceptable, she said. Pornography generates $10 billion to $20 billion a year.
“Nearly 70 percent of all programming on TV contains sexual content,” Tomeo said. “Young people view 14,000 sexual messages a year [in the media]. Forty-six percent of high school students in the U.S. have had sexual intercourse, and one case of a sexually transmitted disease is diagnosed for every four sexually active teens.”
Inappropriate Internet use by teenagers on social chat room Web sites also is extremely alarming and dangerous, she said. “One-third of teens have talked with strangers online about meeting in person.”
Violence portrayed in the media also is a huge problem, Tomeo said. “The Parents Television Council came out with a study in January called ‘Dying to Entertain.’ They found that violence increased in every major time slot on television. On all the crime shows, the violence is very perverse and involves some sort of sexual activity.”
Researchers also found that at least 10 percent of youth violence was caused by anti-social behavior attributed to violence on television, she said. “Over 1,000 studies connect media violence to aggressive behavior in children. We have to start silencing the noise.”
A quotation from Pope Benedict XVI on the cover of her book explains, “Put simply, we are no longer able to hear God. There are too many different frequencies filling our ears.”
In Pope John Paul II’s message for World Communications Day in 2004, Tomeo said, the late pope noted, “Parents need to regulate the use of the media in the home. This would include planning and scheduling media use, strictly limiting the time children devote to the media, making entertainment a family experience, putting some media entirely off limits and periodically excluding all of that for the sake of other family activities. Above all, parents should give good examples to children by their own thoughtful and selective use of media.”
Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church, papal writings and bishops’ documents, she said, to form an enlightened conscience then practice moderation and discipline regarding the use of media.
“This isn’t just me talking,” Tomeo said. “It’s the Holy Mother Church [and] the Blessed Mother. The Church is right on target. … The vicars of Christ are telling us that we have to get involved, we have to engage the culture, we have to engage the media.”
Tomeo advises parents to “do a media reality check in the home” then limit its usage, establish values-based guidelines, and keep TVs and computers in family areas of the house, not in bedrooms.
Attorney Marjorie Murphy Campbell, contrasting feminism and womanhood within the Christian tradition, said the genius of women is a treasure.
Early feminists supported traditional values as well as equality for women, she said, but by the 1970s feminism had evolved into a liberal movement.
In recent years, she said, Feminists for Life reclaimed traditional values as a secular organization whose motto is “Women deserve better” than abortion.
Catholic women are blessed by the writings and advocacy of Pope John Paul II, Campbell said. “He has and will continue to save the lives of women. … He wrote a document called ‘Mulieris Dignitatem’ (“The Dignity of Women”) … about the meaning and purpose of life … and the true path to happiness. … He said both man and woman were created in the image and likeness of God.”
Back by popular demand, “Catholic Answers” staff apologist Rosalind Moss told the women to always remember they are God’s beloved then encouraged them to frequently share their faith with others.
“What is the secret to loving the Church, to loving God, every moment?” she asked. “What is the secret to the greatest possible happiness we can know on earth—in the midst of struggle, in the midst of tragedy, in the midst of heartbreak, in the midst of Church scandals, in the midst of heresies, in the midst of families breaking up?”
Moss said Scripture tells us that as God’s beloved we are temples of the Holy Spirit, members of Christ’s body, new creations, saints, holy ones, prisoners of Christ and sheep of his pasture chosen by and reconciled to God.
“His love for us is based on who he is—a God of love,” she said. “Don’t let anyone or anything rob you of your worth and dignity as a woman of God … or rob you of your faith. … Walk with Christ.”
Christians witness their faith by everything they say and do, Moss said. “A vocation to love is a vocation to holiness. They’re one and the same. … God has a plan for you. Seek him with all your heart. Be holy. Spend time before the Blessed Sacrament. … Give love away. God made us with hearts to give and hearts to love and hearts to sacrifice. … We need to love as Jesus loved.” †
