We just received the following email:

Dear Catholic Communicator:

As a fellow communicator, we want to personally extend an invitation to become a part of making history.

In his visit to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI called for a “New Pentecost.”

In response to this call - and the continuing call of the Church to use all of the “new technologies” for the “New Evangelization” - Catholic Online, a global integrated media network, has launched The Catholic Media Association (TCMA).

The Catholic Media Association exists to provide a virtual home and association-based community for faithful Catholics involved in any and all forms of media.

We now live in an era of integrated communication, and with this we are given an even greater responsibility for the proper stewardship of these tools. “Technology” is not an “add-on” to our communication or our community; it is an extension of the person, the family and our communities with no limitations.

This is the new world of social networking, where the old differentiation of media no longer exists. Print, radio, TV, and the worldwide web are now integrated with the newer technologies of video-casting, podcasting, blogging, and the world of social networking. We now have a more united media available for a unified message – the message of the Gospel, as lived in it’s fullness in the heart of the Church.

This is the world of TCMA.

Dedicated to the Servant of God John Paul II, Patron of the New Media, the motto of TCMA reveals our mission: “New Technologies for the New Evangelization.” Our vision is exciting - we see the need to place all communications technologies at the service of the person, the family, the Church and the culture. This is our business and our passion. The use of every communicative advance is integral to the “New Evangelization”. We will be satisfied with nothing less.

Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have both challenged all who are baptized, whatever their state of life, to fully participate in the New Missionary Age in which we live. They have used rich phrases such as “New Evangelization” “New Springtime” and a “New Pentecost” to speak of the universal call to missionary activity. Media and technology are two of the greatest resources we have available for this work.

We are inviting you to join us in this exciting endeavor.

• Are you involved in the more traditional expressions, such as print, television, radio, and the Internet?
• Are you a part of the wonderful new world of Web 2.0 and beyond, through blogging, podcasting, video-casting, and other forms of social networking?

Whatever your expertise and interest, TCMA can provide a foundation and forum for your work in media and theChurch.

Join The Catholic Media Association today.

CLICK HERE – THE CATHOLIC MEDIA ASSOCIATION

To find out more about who we are and what we offer to you right now.

For the New Evangelization through the New Media,

Michael Galloway , Publisher Catholic Online
Deacon Keith Fournier, Editor-in-Chief Catholic Online

If you have any urge to join this association, please refrain. Michael Galloway is currently facing multiple fraud charges and if convicted, could go to federal prison for the theft of thousands of dollars from various organizations including Hurricane Katrina relief money for the Diocese of New Orleans. If you want to read the case, it is a very lengthy complaint against Michael Galloway, Catholic Online, Catholic Financial Services, Your Catholic Voice and Your Catholic Voice Foundation. He is also facing prosecution by the IRS, the state of California and Kern County for over $300,000 in unpaid taxes.

If that isn’t enough, he kept all the funds collected for the Chant Art project, an online image repository, that he was hosting instead of giving them to the owner and then had the gall to send her a bill for several thousand dollars when she told him to shut down the program.

Deacon Keith Fournier, if you are really still involved with this organization, it’s time to publicly disown Michael Galloway and Catholic Online. Your continued association just makes the Church look bad.

In case you have missed the ongoing saga with Catholic Online, you can read past problems here.

For those who still aren’t convinced that this organization (which still owes us several hundred dollars and is due in court in August on multiple counts of fraud) is bad, you can read the compiled list of liens filed by various government agencies here. Between the IRS, the state of California and Kern County, Michael Galloway and Catholic Online owe over $300,000 in back taxes and fines. This is apart from the money owed to various dioceses, organizations and religious orders that Catholic Financial Services has been holding for a couple of years. If you want the nitty-gritty of the whole case, here it is.

If you are actually paying this organization for advertising, I would recommend you stop. The local tv station is planning on airing an expose on the whole situation soon and being associated with the company when that happens won’t be beneficial to your image.

The poor lady who runs a website selling old images has had her work stolen by Catholic Online and sold in their Chant Art section for over a year (taken offline since last week) without compensating her even though she is still listed as the owner in their user agreement. We also know that the company added the old Catholic Encyclopedia to their website simply to spite the owner of New Advent (Michael Galloway told me this directly). Here is a link to a pdf of the entire complaint filed with the Kern County DA about Catholic Online. It’s a very disturbing list of accusations. We can vouch that many of them are true from first-hand experience.

We (and others) have had plenty of problems with the Catholic Financial Services division of Catholic Online. It turns out that others have too. Catholic Online has a section of their website called Chant Art. This content was compiled by Julie Brown and Catholic Online was supposed to pay her as they sold images. It turns out that they are selling the images at far below what she was selling them for and haven’t been paying her for the sales. She has called, emailed and sent letters with no response.

If you advertise with this group, I would recommend you stop. You are just helping to support an organization that gives Catholics a bad name.