Catholics, Orthodox prepare to observe one date for Easter in Holy Land

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:00 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

We first reported on this development last year. Now, it’s closer to becoming a reality. From CNS: For the past 15 years, Catholic parishes throughout the Palestinian territories and many in Israel have been celebrating Easter on the Greek Orthodox date. Now, following a directive from the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, within two years all Eastern Catholics and the Latin Patriarchate in the Holy Land will officially adopt the Greek Orthodox Julian calendar date. The Latin... Read more

“So a sex offender is heading an archdiocesan office…”

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:00 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

That about sums it up. From Phil Lawler: Sunday brought the staggering news that in the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, a priest who had been convicted of groping a young man has now been appointed as co-director for the archdiocesan office of clergy formation. What could Archbishop John Myers possibly have been thinking? How could he be so utterly insensitive? To be sure, the conviction of Father Michael Fugee was overturned on appeal. But rather than risk another trial he... Read more

Newtown’s Lutheran pastor apologizes for taking part in prayer service

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:00 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details: A Lutheran pastor in Newtown, Conn., has apologized after being reprimanded for participating in an interfaith vigil following the shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The Rev. Rob Morris, pastor of Christ the King Lutheran Church, prayed at the vigil the Sunday following the Dec. 14 shootings alongside other Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Baha’i clergy. Morris’ church is a member of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and the denomination’s constitution prohibits ministers from participating in services with members of... Read more

Leo Burnett ad agency travels to Spain to have new website blessed

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:00 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

This may be a first. The Brussels office of one of the largest and most famous ad agencies in the world took the unusual step of going to Seville to have its new website (on a mobile server) blessed by the archbishop, and to ask the intercession of St. Isidore, the patron of the Internet. As they note on the new website: When firewalls fail, rely on the holy spirit. No antivirus software protects your computer for the full 100%.... Read more

Paging the deacon: meet the hospital chaplain, making his rounds

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:00 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Another terrific profile of a deacon at work, from the St. Louis Review: Deacon Del Leonardo carries three pagers and a cell phone on him at all times. It’s a necessity in his work as a full-time evening and overnight chaplain at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, but Deacon Leonardo doesn’t mind all of the buzzing and beeping coming from his hip. Rather, he sees those as opportunities to be with patients “in the moment” who are critically ill or... Read more

Watch what this guy paints in 90 seconds

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:00 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

This fellow, D. Westry, is just amazing. Check out this bewildering performance on Anderson Cooper’s talk show last year. What looks like abstract doodling becomes something else. Read more

Obama at prayer breakfast: “We place our faith in the nail-scarred hands of Jesus Christ…”

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:00 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details: For his fifth year, President Barack Obama attended the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday morning in at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C. Yet even though Obama has taken strong positions in the last year on issues of concern to religious communities, such as same-sex marriage, immigration reform and the contraception mandate in his healthcare reform law, he made no mention of such controversial issues issues in his 19-minute speech at the Washington Hilton. “How we’re going to reduce our... Read more

BREAKING: USCCB says revised HHS proposal “falls short”

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:00 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

The official statement, just released, along with Cardinal Dolan’s response: +++ The Feb. 1 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services related to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) shows some movement by the Administration but falls short of addressing U.S. bishops’ concerns. “Throughout the past year, we have been assured by the Administration that we will not have to refer, pay for, or negotiate for the mandated coverage.We remain eager for... Read more

It’s come to this: dad pays teenage daughter $200 to quit Facebook

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:00 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

A writer at CNET takes note: If there’s one thing young people truly understand, it’s bribery. From their very formative years, parents bribed them to keep quiet, behave, wear appropriate clothing — even, sometimes, desist from using rude words. So it might seem utterly canny of Paul Baier, the vice president of a Massachusetts energy company, to find a veteran’s method to get his daughter away from Facebook. But this tale isn’t quite so simple. I am grateful to Daily... Read more

Meeting Paul Harvey

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:00 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Those who loved the Dodge RAM/Paul Harvey Super Bowl ad — “So God made a farmer”—will appreciate this remembrance of the great radio personality by another great radio personality, Larry McCoy. Larry hired me as a writer when he was the News Director of CBS Radio back in the 1980’s. He posted the following on his Facebook page yesterday. I repost it here with his permission. DGK. +++ It was the biggest office I had ever seen. The carpet,... Read more