Bob Faw looks at that question in this incisive story for PBS’s “Religion & Ethics Newsweekly” and focuses on two experiments underway in New York and Philadelphia. Check out the story below. Watch Saving Catholic Schools on PBS. See more from Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly. Read more
A friend in Florida sent me the picture above just before Christmas, with this explanation: Juana Diaz is a little town on the south coast of the island of Puerto Rico, next to my home city of Ponce. In 1884 an Spanish priest started something like a Medieval Epiphany play. The entire town (literally) participated as shepherds (people of all ages dressed up). Since then they have been reenacting it with music. Starts with a procession coming from the different... Read more
This Sunday’s New York Times looks at that question through the eyes of Kate and Andy Grosmaire, whose daughter Ann was shot by her fiance Conor McBride (the two are shown here in this snapshot from 2010). The article is a deeply affecting view of the redemptive power of forgiveness, especially from a Catholic point of view; the Grosmaires are devout Catholics and Andy, the article mentions, is a deacon candidate in Florida. A snip: Andy Grosmaire, Ann’s father, stood... Read more
If you have some things you’d like to change in the new year, you might take comfort from a new report which notes that change, one way or another, is inevitable. From the New York Times: When we remember our past selves, they seem quite different. We know how much our personalities and tastes have changed over the years. But when we look ahead, somehow we expect ourselves to stay the same, a team of psychologists said Thursday, describing research they conducted... Read more
This time of year, a lot of us are sending and receiving Christmas letters – those detailed accounts of how we’ve spent the last year. As interesting as they sometimes are, they are basically intended to tell the reader three things: 1. Our kids are smarter 2. Our dog is cuter 3. Our vacation was better. Oh, and: Merry Christmas. But this year, I got one of those letters, but it was quite different. It came from a former... Read more
This time of year, a lot of us are sending and receiving Christmas letters – those detailed accounts of how we’ve spent the last year. As interesting as they sometimes are, they are basically intended to tell the reader three things: 1. Our kids are smarter 2. Our dog is cuter 3. Our vacation was better. Oh, and: Merry Christmas. But this year, I got one of those letters, but it was quite different. It came from a former... Read more
A deacon from Richmond wrote me this morning: Our classmate Don Fox was ordained a Permanent Deacon in Abu Dhabi yesterday. He was a part of the (huge) Diocese of Richmond 2012 formation program (began in 2007) and took the academic portion of formation via internet link to our classroom. Earlier this year, in the Catholic Virginian, then-candidate Fox wrote about his experiences as a Catholic (and deacon candidate) in the Arab world: When I tell people that I live... Read more
And, perhaps fittingly, the star is literally a son of Grace. Details: His performance is both a tribute and a thank you to his father Chris, who brought him up after his mother walked out of the family home in Australia when Hugh was just eight years old. Both parents are English-born, but settled in Australia, where Jackman was born. When the marriage broke up, Hugh’s mother, Grace, returned to England with his two sisters, leaving Chris, a Cambridge-trained accountant,... Read more
Details: The head of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X said he has been receiving mixed messages from the Vatican for years over if and how the group might be brought back into full communion with the church. Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the society, claimed that top Vatican officials told him not to be discouraged by official statements from the Vatican, because they did not reflect Pope Benedict XVI’s true feelings. The Vatican press office declined to... Read more
We’ve all heard Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” sung in a variety of styles — from the sweetly simple to the epic and grandiose. But you’ve probably never heard it quite like this, beautifully re-imagined for the Christmas season by the band Cloverton. Purists will blanche. But I loved it. See for yourself and decide. Consider this a blissful gift for the final hours of the Christmas season. Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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