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April 9, 2007 • VOL. 45, NO. 7 • Oakland, CA
New DVD highlights Catholic faith of top baseball stars
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| Mike Sweeney, captain of the Kansas City Royals
baseball team, holds his daughter McKara at the premiere of “Champions
of Faith” in Phoenix. CNS PHOTO/CARLOS WEAVER, COURTESY OF MAXIMUS GROUP |
PHOENIX (CNS)
-- Baseball is filled with champions who perform well on the field. But
it is also packed with what Tom Allen and Jose Morales have dubbed “champions
of faith.”
Allen, president and editor in chief of Catholic Exchange, and Morales,
host of the “Catholic Exchange Today” radio program, decided
to seek out Catholics in baseball a few years ago. The result is “Champions
of Faith: Baseball Edition.”
The movie premiered March 25 in Phoenix and the DVD was to be released
at the beginning of the 2007 baseball season April 1.
“We wanted to make a film that would appeal to the lukewarm Catholics,
the majority. The ones that are out there more intent on watching ESPN
and Fox Sports than on going to confession regularly or going to Mass,”
Allen said at the premiere.
“We’re honoring God, we’re honoring the Catholic Church
and we’re also honoring these amazing guys who speak so courageously,
beautifully, eloquently and powerfully about their Catholic faith.”
Major League Baseball players Mike Piazza of the Oakland Athletics, Jeff
Suppan of the Milwaukee Brewers and Mike Sweeney of the Kansas City Royals
attended the premiere of “Champions of Faith.”
“We are all going to be in heaven someday because of Jesus Christ
and this is a tool we can use to give to our loved ones so that we can
share eternity with them,” Sweeney said of the film. “We have
to be proud of our faith.”
The 60-minute DVD focuses on only a handful of the more than 20 players,
coaches and managers featured -- highlighting a difficulty each faced
as a person or player and how their faith helped them manage that problem.
These extremely personal stories are broken up with spiritually themed
montages of quotes from players regarding baseball and their faith.
Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix said he immensely enjoyed the film
and hopes it will help Catholics overcome the too-common gap between their
faith and daily life.
“I was especially impressed by the witness to their Catholic faith
given by Mike Sweeney, Mike Piazza, Jeff Suppan and others,” Bishop
Olmsted said.
“As an avid baseball fan, it was fun to get an inside story on some
of my favorite players. And as a bishop, it was heartening to see such
great athletes speaking candidly about their love of Christ.”
Robert Escobedo, a member of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Phoenix,
also enjoyed hearing the testaments of faith from the athletes in the
film, admitting that he was surprised by the faith of those featured.
“I am such a big Mike Piazza fan and followed him ever since he
left the Dodgers and I wasn’t aware he was as into his Catholic
faith as he obviously is,” Escobedo told The Catholic Sun, Phoenix’s
diocesan newspaper.
“I’m a big baseball fan, I’m Catholic and I love my
faith, but I was really impressed with the way they tied the two together.
It was very inspirational.”
Allen and Morales hope that people are sufficiently inspired by “Champions
of Faith: Baseball Edition” to support a possible second movie in
the “Champions of Faith” series. Allen especially hopes that
men will be inspired by this film.
“The principal issue of our time in the Church is a crisis of faith
among men. It goes right to that and speaks to men and boys because at
this moment in time men are not the leaders of their families in prayer,
faith and Mass attendance,” Allen said. “Hopefully, ‘Champions
of Faith’ can start a movement.”
