Catholic support for gay marriage growing

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

That, according to a new poll. From Politico: Among Catholics, 54 percent back same-sex marriage, while 38 percent oppose it, the Quinnipiac University poll found. That’s a jump from December, when Catholic support for same-sex marriage was 49 percent to 43 percent. “Catholic voters are leading American voters toward support for same-sex marriage,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in a statement. Among all Americans, it’s a closer margin, with 47 percent supporting and 43 percent... Read more

Key bishops oppose Violence Against Women Act

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From the Washington Post: Five key Catholic bishops are opposing the newly authorized Violence Against Women Act for fear it will subvert traditional views of marriage and gender, and compromise the religious freedom of groups that aid victims of human trafficking. The act…signed into law by President Obama on Thursday (March 7), is intended to protect women from domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking, and allows the federal government to spend money to treat victims and prosecute offenders. But... Read more

Just what we’ve been waiting for: nuns doing the “Harlem Shake”!

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Courtesy Sister Rose. Check it out below. Read more

Deacon baptizes man on death row before scheduled execution

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From the Georgia Bulletin: Warren Hill received the sacraments of the Catholic Church on Feb. 14, in a confined area near his cell where he was awaiting his execution in five days. Deacon Richard Tolcher, who had been meeting regularly with the 52-year-old and teaching him about prayer, the sacraments and the Catholic faith, baptized Hill. Then Father Austin Fogarty, who celebrated Mass in the small holding area where prisoners usually meet with lawyers, gave him his first Communion and,... Read more

Notre Dame’s next commencement speaker: Cardinal Dolan

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

I can’t think of a better choice for the Fighting Irish, can you? From the AP: Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, considered a longshot to succeed Pope Benedict XVI, will be the principal commencement speaker at the University of Notre Dame in May. As head of the nation’s largest Roman Catholic archdiocese and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Dolan is one of the best known religious figures in the United States. “He is a man of... Read more

Could “The American Pope” become the next pope?

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

In a profile a couple years ago, “60 Minutes” famously referred to Cardinal Timothy Dolan as the “American Pope” Now, veteran Vatican observer Sandro Magister is taking a serious look at the possibility that Dolan might become THE pope: The mere hypothesis of the election of Dolan is fraught with terror. But Dolan as pope would also shake up that Church made up of bishops, priests, faithful who have never accepted the magisterium of Benedict XVI, his energetic return to... Read more

And now, a Village People jingle to back Cardinal Tagle for pope…

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

This has to be a first. Someone has cobbled together a version of “Y.M.C.A” endorsing the Philippines’ young Cardinal Luis Tagle for pope. Read more

Making something beautiful in Brooklyn

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

A Brooklyn landmark is about to get an extreme—and much-needed—makeover. As a local website described it: A historic church in Windsor Terrace, the Holy Name of Jesus Church at 245 Prospect Park West, is receiving a big historical restoration. And as a tipster puts it, “This isn’t just any church overhaul: Holy Name was architecturally desecrated in the 1970s, stripped of its beautiful original interiors, painted Pepto-Bismol PINK (it still is), and outfitted like a cross between a fern bar... Read more

Great moments in journalism: a headline for the ages

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Source. Read more

Church removes picture of Pope Benedict over his “hurtful statements about the LGBT community”

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

An interesting development in San Francisco (h/t Creative Minority Report). The pastor at Most Holy Redeemer parish writes in his bulletin: Two weeks ago, after Pope Benedict XVI had announced to the world that he would be resigning the office of Peter as of February 28th, I put the Pope’s picture, that usually hangs in the rectory, in the church. A handful of people told me that they would rather it not be there. They explained that the feeling was... Read more