Kids from Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown appeared on “Good Morning America” yesterday with singer Ingrid Michaelson for a sweetly moving rendition of a song that, I dare say, has never resonated quite like this. Check it out, and learn the story behind it, below. Warning: Kleenex suggested. Read more
This could have interesting ramifications, judging from the comments below. From Zenit: The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments is preparing a booklet to help priests celebrate the Mass properly and the faithful to participate better, according to the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments. Cardinal Antonio Cañizares confirmed this Tuesday at an address at the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See on “Catholic Liturgy since Vatican II: Continuity and Evolution.” “We are preparing it;... Read more
Details: A southwestern Pennsylvania hospital will stop delivering babies after March 31 because its obstetricians are either leaving or refocusing their practices, and because hospital officials believe they can’t afford it based on projected reimbursements under looming federal health care reforms. The Windber Medical Center, about 60 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, is losing two obstetricians and two others are shifting their focus more to gynecology. Hospital officials say the population of women of child-bearing age is dropping and that the... Read more
Evidently, some people mistakenly think that the Catholic Church teaches that the only good homosexual is a straight former homosexual. Um, no. Check the catechism. And listen to the bishops. But then along comes this story from Canada. (h/t Thomas McDonald) The Toronto Star headline sums it up succinctly: “Gay celibacy group prompts parishioners to leave.” What was bothering them? The gay part or the celibacy part? (Technically, the issue is chastity, not celibacy, but the secular media always confuses... Read more
I stumbled on this over at the Patheos Evangelical Channel. Take a few minutes and watch. The speaker is Angela Patton, Executive Director of Camp Diva in Richmond. Camp Diva started as a five-week summer retreat and has since expanded to offer several after-school programs, summer and other programs that empower African-American girls —young women she refers to as “at-promise.” Pull up a chair and pull out a tissue. It’s just great. You can also read more about this remarkable father-daughter dance here. Read more
He replaces Louie Giglio, the evangelical pastor who found himself in hot water for his remarks on homosexuality two decades ago. From CNN: The president has picked a neighbor to deliver the closing prayer at the inauguration. The Rev. Luis León told CNN on Tuesday the White House and the Presidential Inaugural Committee invited him last week to deliver the closing prayer at the 57th Presidential Inauguration. León pastors Saint John’s Church, an Episcopal parish just across Lafayette Park from... Read more
Fr. Jay Finelli of the Diocese of Providence stumbled on yesterday’s post and recounted on his blog his own experience with adding an altar rail at his parish: Since installing the altar rail in 2010, a number of people requested to use if at all of our Masses. We began using the altar rail for daily Mass shortly after it was installed. However, a number of people kept requesting using in for all of our Masses…I announced that we would... Read more
Today, the Atlantic announced it was pulling an “advertorial” singing the praises of the Church of Scientology. Slate has details: The sponsored content drew the attention—and ire—of both reporters and readers, and no doubt sparked an untold number of newsroom conversations about the ethics and optics of such revenue-generating efforts. In place of the the advertorial headlined “David Miscavige Leads Scientology to Milestone Year” that trumpeted the opening of a dozen new Scientology churches around the world, the magazine is... Read more
That’s evidently the translation of the headline above, trumpeting Vanity Fair’s story on the pope’s private secretary. Details: Archbishop Georg Ganswein, Pope Benedict’s private secretary, who has been dubbed “Gorgeous George” by the Italian media, is now a real-life cover boy. The prelate has landed on the cover of Vanity Fair. The cover on the Italian edition of the magazine shows the 56-year-old archbishop smiling, his blue eyes beaming, above a headline that reads “Father Georg – It’s not a... Read more
From my blogging friend and neighbor, Fr. Michael Duffy, heres’s great testimony on his own vocation, over at the USCCB blog: When people ask how I knew in that moment that I wanted to be a priest and I simply tell them I fell in love. In an instant I fell in love with the priesthood, with the Church, with Jesus Christ. That love has since developed into a deeper and more fruitful relationship than I ever could have imagined.... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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