From the BBC: The Vatican official charged with prosecuting sexual crimes has acknowledged that the US media helped the Church confront the abuse scandal. Father Robert Oliver, a lawyer from Boston, was speaking after being named as the Vatican’s “Promoter of Justice”. Officials said about 600 cases of abuse – most of which took place from 1965 to 1985 – are being reported each year. In the past, Vatican officials have accused the media of irresponsible reporting on the story.... Read more
From the Los Angeles Times: In the midst of renewed public outrage over its handling of clergy sex abuse, the Los Angeles Archdiocese is considering a $200-million fundraising campaign that could erase debts brought on by the scandal. The archdiocese has hired a New York company, Guidance In Giving Inc., to study the feasibility of a large-scale fundraiser that would shore up a bottom line hit hard by costly abuse litigation. It would be the archdiocese’s first capital campaign in... Read more
Well, certainly that’s the best explanation for why, like the Super Bowl, we found ourselves tonight suddenly in the dark. Okay:so the Super Bowl people aren’t blaming Beyoncé and (to the best of my knowledge) she has more interesting things to do than spend her days in her jammies and fuzzy slippers blogging about Michael Voris. But if she’d like to join us, I’m sure we could find a desk for her. And maybe a chair. And some warm clothing. Meantime,... Read more
This is really something. (H/T to my classmate and diaconal brother, Mike Brainerd). From YouTube, where this was posted last summer: Andrea had a very special dance with some very close family and friends at her wedding. Her father passed away so her brother recored “Butterfly Kisses” and she danced with with all of them during her Father and Daughter dance. it was a truly touching moment not a dry eye in the house. Her dad, Mark, died earlier in the... Read more
Look at my tab bar. Are you looking? Right under the black-and-white church image with the words “The Deacon’s Bench”? I’ve added a new tab: “FAQ ABOUT DEACONS.” It’s pulled from the USCCB website, and offers some basic information about who deacons are and what they do. I thought it might be helpful for anyone who might be dropping by—the curious, the inquirers, even deacons and their families. (Hey, you never know…) I’ve had the tab up for a few... Read more
An update on a story from the weekend. From our Potty Mouth Desk: Days after a coed Catholic school made headlines for asking only its girls to take a pledge to stop cursing, it administered the oath Monday to some boys who sought equal opportunity. Some staff members at Queen of Peace High School in North Arlington were upset that the media attention and online comments that followed The Record’s coverage of the girls-only pledge on Friday focused largely on... Read more
With the Newark story in the news, I got an e-mail this morning from someone who works on safe environment issues for a another diocese. The author writes: I can’t tell you how disconcerting and disheartening this situation is. Child protection people at every diocese have been killing themselves to keep out of church ministry anybody with a hint of a pedophilia problem… In fact, I can’t even understand how this man is still a functioning priest. Essential Norm 8,... Read more
You may remember this story from last month. Now, the hospital is changing its tune: A Catholic hospital group said on Monday it was “morally wrong” to contradict its church’s teachings on the beginning of life when it argued fetuses are not people to defend itself against a wrongful death lawsuit in Colorado. Catholic Health Initiatives said it will instead use other legal theories in the case. The legal defense the hospital group has since disavowed stems from a malpractice and wrongful death lawsuit filed by Jeremy Stodghill in... Read more
Look at my tab bar. Are you looking? Right under the black-and-white church image with the words “The Deacon’s Bench”? I’ve added a new tab: “FAQ ABOUT DEACONS.” It’s pulled from the USCCB website, and offers some basic information about who deacons are and what they do. I thought it might be helpful for anyone who might be dropping by—the curious, the inquirers, even deacons and their families. (Hey, you never know…) I’ve had the tab up for a few... Read more
Details: A high-ranking Vatican official on Monday (Feb. 4) voiced support for giving unmarried couples some kind of legal protection even as he reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage. Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, head of the Pontifical Council for the Family, also said the church should do more to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination in countries where homosexuality is illegal. In his first Vatican press conference since his appointment as the Catholic Church’s “minister” for family, Paglia... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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