The Ten Most Fascinating Catholics of 2008

A blog meme has been making the rounds where various Catholic bloggers list their ten most fascinating Catholics of this past year, as a counter to the grotesque list that Barbara Walters puts out annually. As such, we at the Son Rise Morning Show (actually just me, Matt) have (has) put together a list of our own. Here she blows:

1. Pope Benedict XVI:Inexplicably charitable in his decimation of the dictatorship of relativism, I'm still waiting for this guy to disappoint me. His visit to the United States this year put the Leader of the Free World in schoolboy mode. He's reviving interest in liturgy, Scripture, and the Church Fathers. I heart my German Shepherd.

2. Archbishop Charles Chaput: The so-called "Lion of Denver" continues to lead the charge among American pastors when it comes to the role of Catholics in the public square. His openness about campaigning for the pro-abortion Carter campaign gave him the once-bitten shyness to challenge "pro-lifers" who wanted to support pro-abortion candidates. And "Render to Caesar" continues to sell at an impressive clip. Feel free to send a copy my way this Christmas.

3. Tom Craughwell: What isn't this guy able to write about? In 2008 alone, he's come out with books on the Barbarian invasions and their impact on European history, the failures of American Presidents (in a pre-Blagojevich era), a book on Bad Kids in the Bible, and of course, "Lent and Easter with Mary." I positively love picking this man's brain. His approach to the world is Catholic in every sense of the word.

4. Eduardo Verastegui: A Mexican pop star and telenovela sex symbol leaves it all to use his influence to go on a crusade to save unborn human lives. His Dura Realidad YouTube video took the Hispanic world by storm, and he's been able to personally visit abortion clinics and use his high profile as a Latin megastar to draw women out of the abortion lines and toward a reconsideration of their decision. Way to go, Eduardo.

5. Chase Hilgenbrinck: It's not the kind of thing you hear about every day: a Major League Soccer star leaves a professional athletic career to start seminary, but that's exactly what this young man did. After a successful soccer career in Latin America, he was traded to the New England Revolution. However, after less than a year with the Revolution, he left it all to pursue a vocation to the priesthood. We're excited to hear about what God does with this young man.

6. Lila Rose: Looking like you're 13 when you're in college can be a disadvantage when it comes to getting into certain establishments, but it certainly works in your favor when it comes to exposing minor abuse cover-ups by Planned Parenthood. The diminutive Ms. Rose has taken the YouTube world by storm with her undercover video work, including most recently the exposing of a Bloomington, Indiana abortion facility that has given rise to calls for a statewide investigation of Planned Parenthood by the Attorney General. Her organization, Live Action Films, continues to pursue creative ways to expose the abortion industry's insidious practices.

7. Tom Peterson: Tom's organization, Virtue Media, has led the profoundly successful "Catholics Come Home" campaign, which has helped to bring hundreds of fallen away Catholics back to the faith. Their pro-life ads have aired on MTV and BET, generating over 22,000 phone calls during a short time period (Tom tells us that if you do the math on the ad buys, that's a scant $14 per baby saved. I'll take those odds). Pro-life ads from Virtue Media will be run this winter in our market by Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati.

8. Randy Hain: This year, Randy founded The Integrated Life Channel on Catholic Exchange, which seeks to help Catholics balance faith, work, family, and leisure in a way that glorifies God. In addition, Randy is a regular columnist for the Catholic Business Journal. Randy runs an executive search firm out of Atlanta, where he applies his Catholic faith to the way that he does his business. Randy's a recent convert, who does an outstanding job of exploring practical ways to incorporate Ignatian prayer into one's daily routine.

9. Tim Russert: When Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden argued on "Meet the Press" that the Catholic Church has held ambiguous views on abortion through the centuries, I'm sure I wasn't alone in wishing that Tim Russert were still alive to put a holy smack down on them. Among political journalists, he had no equal. He had a knack for sifting through jargon and getting the truth out of politicians, which is a significantly more daunting task that most people realize. Requiescat in Pace.

10. John Cardinal Foley: This engaging Prince of the Church was awarded the Red Hat early this year, drawing much deserved attention to the man that Pope John Paul II put in charge of communications for the entire Church. Currently, he's the Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, which is in charge of protecting the Holy sites in Jerusalem, and has been since the First Crusade. This year marks the 25th year in a row that Cardinal Foley will be the "Voice of Christmas," doing the English commentary on the Nativity Mass from the Vatican for NBC. His admirers occasionally refer to his home city of Brotherly Love as "Foleydelphia." And of course, he was the keynote for the first anniversary of the Son Rise Morning Show, and helped to celebrate our national launch on EWTN.

Anyone we should have included? Feel free to add them in the combox below.

And I "meme" Rich Leonardi, Fr. Kyle Schnippel, Gail Finke at Merely Catholic, revrobjack.com, and Barry Michaels.