Reading about the new married priest in Buffalo, and thinking of other priests in similar circumstances, a reader gripes: As my wife pointed out, this guy at 65 …with no pension…will now camp in a free rectory with free utilities, a car and stipends… Whoa. Not exactly. I contacted the Anglican Ordinariate. A source there clarified: Some, but not all of our priests, have outside sources of income. However, before a person is ordained, or even advanced in the formation process, the... Read more
From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Say so long soon to Colleen Carroll Campbell, former Post-Dispatch staffer, who is moving to Washington to anchor a daily program on EWTN. Campbell will be moving from Kirkwood for the new assignment. The show — logically labeled “EWTN Daily News with Colleen Carol Campbell” — is slated to debut June 3. “We’re hoping the show will be a serious player on the international as well as national media scene,” she said. The new gig requires Campbell’s hubby, Dr. John Campbell,... Read more
This is pretty big news: Recalling his trip to Lebanon and inviting the whole Church to remember the problems of and the Christian communities in the Middle East in their prayers, the Holy Father has invited―through his cardinal secretary of state―His Beatitude Bechara Boutros Rai, O.M.M., Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites, to prepare the texts for the Via Crucis on Good Friday at the Colosseum. Under the guidance of the Patriarch, the texts will be prepared by two... Read more
This is pretty terrific, and deeply moving: a short video about a boy named Antonio Lopez from northern Spain. He has cerebral palsy but has become a kind of hero to his classmates, who have embraced him with something that can only be called love. (Hey, any kid who likes Angry Birds is okay by me.) It’s (understandably) become a sensation on YouTube. (H/T to Rome Reports!) Check it out below. Read more
Most of us know the answer. The Chicago Tribune puts its finger on a trend with significant implications: Demographers have long known that the baby boom of the 1950s was giving way to a baby bust nationwide. Now Illinois and the Chicago area are providing a vivid example of the trend: According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, from 2000 to 2010, Illinois had a 6.2 percent drop in children under 10, among the biggest declines in the country.... Read more
A one-time giant in journalism gets caught with its pants down. It’s not pretty. From Get Religion’s Mollie Hemingway, who did a little digging into a prominent sidebar the Times ran on the March for Life. The sidebar focused on a letter sent by 60 presumably prominent Catholics, “saying that if marchers and politicians truly want to defend life they should support “common-sense reforms to address the epidemic of gun violence in our nation.” Mollie found a few surprises: Believe it... Read more
A heartening story from this morning’s New York Times: For more than 160 years, St. Brigid’s Roman Catholic Church has borne witness as transformation after transformation has cascaded through the Lower East Side. Yet conflict, drama and wrenching change occurred within its walls, too: In the church founded by Irish immigrants who fled the famine of the 1840s, the pews were in turn occupied by Poles, Ukrainians and Puerto Ricans. The church played a role in the clashes in nearby... Read more
Details: Franciscan friar Stephen Baker, who faced brewing litigation for alleged abuse, died Saturday at St. Bernardine Monastery in Hollidaysburg. His death was ruled a suicide by Blair County Coroner Patricia Ross. Blair Township Police Chief Roger White said the cause of death was a self-inflicted knife wound. He said the investigation into Baker’s death was closed. An autopsy was conducted Saturday afternoon at Nason Hospital in Roaring Spring. Baker was pronounced dead at the monastery by Blair County Deputy... Read more
After Friday’s column, in which Kansas City’s Bishop Robert Finn accused it of undermining church teaching, the National Catholic Reporter posted a response on its website Sunday: Finn seems to imply NCR has had bad relations with its local bishops since 1968. This has not been the case. Bishop Helmsing’s successors – Bishop John Sullivan and Bishop Raymond Boland – had cordial relations with NCR. Once Boland came to our Kansas City office and blessed our building as we consulted with him about use... Read more
With a new married priest in Buffalo getting so much buzz, I was intrigued by this item, which moved on Zenit two days ago: Why can’t priests marry? It’s a question people often ask and the requirement of celibacy has also been blamed as one of the causes of sexual abuse by priests. A recently published translation of an Italian book addresses the topic in a question and answer format, “Married Priests? Thirty Crucial Questions about Celibacy” (Ignatius Press). It... Read more
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