Catholic by Choice

The close proximity in time between the Jewish Passover and the Christian Holy Week is no accident; one could write for volumes of its deeper meaning. However, as I prepare to enter into Holy Week as a Catholic Deacon, I was reminded of the question usually asked by the youngest at the Passover Seder, “why…

The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, the Office within the Vatican which oversees all worship in the Church throughout the world, issued a decree on April 12, 2011 directing that the late Pope John Paul II be remembered in a memorial every year. Another Feast day in the liturgical calendar of the Catholic…

Bill Maher of HBO I spoke with Tom Peterson the founder of “Catholics Come Home”  about the horrid attack leveled against “Catholics Come Home” by HBO Talk Show Host Bill Maher on his television program. Maher had seen one of the commercials of “Catholics Come Home” and decided to reach into the pits of hell…

I preached all the Masses this past weekend at my parish. It is such a privilege to break open the Gospel and offer it to the faithful. Every time I do I become more aware of the great gift we have in the Living Word of God. I am also reminded of the need we…

Geraldine Ferraro died on Saturday in Boston, Mass. at the age of 75. She had been heroically battling multiple myeloma for twelve years. Thursday morning a private funeral Mass will take place at the Church of Saint Vincent Ferrer in Manhattan, New York City for family and friends. It will be off limits to the…

On March 25th Catholic Christians celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord. Our Gospel passage read at Mass is taken from the first chapter of St. Luke (Luke 1: 26 -38). The Evangelist recounts Mary’s encounter with the Lord’s “messenger”, which is what Angel means. Gabriel’s appearance and message to Mary and her…

In my early twenties I attended a conference sponsored by an enthusiastic movement which was flourishing in ecumenical Christian circles at the time. One of the workshop speakers was a Southern Baptist minister who had helped to found a large network of Christian communities which identified themselves as “non-denominational” churches. Born in Alabama and raised…

“Fear is useless; what is needed is trust.” Luke 8:50, Mark 5:36 Have you ever had the experience of awakening from a dream, paralyzed with fear, unable to speak or perhaps even move? Most people have. Some well intended people tell us that such dreams can be the result of stress or worry over circumstances…

He was raised in a Christian home in Britain toward the end of the fourth century. It was an age much like our own, gripped by a “culture of death” and filled with a spirit of lawlessness. Tragedy struck Patrick at sixteen years old when he was kidnapped by Irish Pirates and taken to the…

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil.” (Luke 4:1)  “The truth is that only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light.” (Gaudium et Spes, # 22,…

Deacon Keith Fournier
about

Keith Fournier

Deacon Keith Fournier is the Editor in Chief at Catholic Online, one of the largest integrated Catholic Media Networks on the World Wide Web. He is a widely recognized voice in the Catholic and broader Christian community. He is a member of the Clergy of the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia. In his fifteenth year of service as an ordained Catholic Deacon, he is currently assigned to St Stephen Martyr Parish in Chesapeake, Virginia. He is also authorized to serve the Liturgy of the Greek Byzantine Melkite Catholic Church. Deacon Fournier and his wife Laurine have been married for 34 years and have five grown children and six grandchildren.
Deacon Fournier holds his Bachelors degree in theology and philosophy from the Franciscan University of Steubenville (BA), his Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Theology from the John Paul II Institute of the Lateran University (MTS), his Juris Doctor Law Degree Law (JD) from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and is a PhD candidate in Moral Theology at the Catholic University of America where he is currently writing his Doctoral Dissertation. Deacon Fournier also holds two honorary Doctorates, a Doctor of Laws (L.L.D. 1994,Honoris Causa) from St. Thomas University - Given for pro-life legal contributions, and a Doctor of Divinity Degree (D.D. 2005, Honoris Causa ) from the National Clergy Council and the Methodist Episcopal Church for his contributions to authentic ecumenical efforts toward Christian unity.
Attorney Fournier is a constitutional lawyer who appeared as co-counsel in cases before the United States Supreme Court on Pro-Life, Religious Freedom and Pro-family issues. He served as the first Executive Director of the American Center for Law and Justice for seven years. He then served as a public policy activist for the causes of life, marriage and family issues for a number of years. He has extensive experience in nonprofit and for profit leadership. He has taught at the College level and served in Academic administration. He was a Dean of Students and the Dean of Evangelization at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville, Ohio.
Deacon Fournier is, above all, a communicator. His faith informs his passion to share the fullness of life which he has found in the heart of the Catholic Church. He has written eight books on matters of faith, family and the Christian life and is widely published in the broader Christian community on matters of life, faith, family, and cultural and social issues. He hosted two daily national radio programs, Purpose for Living, and Millennial Moment. He hosted several television series on Christian family and contemporary faith issues on EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network). He is actively involved in preaching and teaching in the Catholic Church and the broader Christian community.
In addition to serving as the Editor in Chief of Catholic Online, Deacon Fournier is the John Paul II Fellow and special counsel for the National Pro-Life Center in Washington, D.C. and is the president of Third Millennium, LLC, a communications and consulting company. He views his role on Beliefnet as an opportunity to share his Catholic Christian faith in what he calls a new areopagus. The areopagus is referred to in the 17th Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the Christian New Testament. Also called Mars Hill it was there where the Apostle Paul shared the Christian faith with the early Greeks in their temple.

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