Details: Boulder County voters whose polling place is Sacred Heart of Mary Catholic Church on South Boulder Road can expect to walk past an anti-abortion display — including thousands of crosses representing aborted fetuses — when they go to cast their ballots Tuesday. County election officials said the display does not appear to violate any rules for polling places, but they will allow voters assigned to Sacred Heart of Mary to vote elsewhere Tuesday — and the county will no... Read more
Australia’s Cardinal George Pell observes: Some decades ago when I was a priest in the country I blessed many marriages and generally attended the wedding reception. As a priest my presence was acknowledged and welcomed. I tried to ensure the telegrams and speeches were not too crude; efforts that met with mixed success. Regularly when tongues were loosened a bit, someone would tell me that he was “a bad Catholic” or “non-practising”. I don’t attend many weddings today but I... Read more
This video shows how Rev. Michael Pfleger —yes, that one—completely re-wrote the Eucharistic Prayer during a performance (yes, performance) of the Mass on Holy Thursday two years ago. It’s used in seminaries as an example of what NOT to do with the Mass. Writer Patrick Doyle notes: This past spring, while reporting “Resurrection,” my story about the Archdiocese of Boston’s recovery from the 2002 sex abuse scandal, I had the chance to attend a few classes for aspiring priests at St.... Read more
… Peggy Noonan senses something happening. Details: Among the wisest words spoken this cycle were by John Dickerson of CBS News and Slate, who said, in a conversation the night before the last presidential debate, that he thought maybe the American people were quietly cooking something up, something we don’t know about. I think they are and I think it’s this: a Romney win. Romney’s crowds are building—28,000 in Morrisville, Pa., last night; 30,000 in West Chester, Ohio, Friday It... Read more
An interesting take on tomorrow, from Sheldon Adelson in the Wall Street Journal: When members of the Democratic Party booed the inclusion of God and Jerusalem in their party platform this year, I thought of my parents. They would have been astounded. The immigrant family in which I grew up was, in the matter of politics, typical of the Jews of Boston in the 1930s and ’40s. Of the two major parties, the Democrats were in those days the more... Read more
Anybody else find the timing of this interesting? Details, from National Catholic Register: The United States Ambassador to the Holy See made a farewell visit to Pope Benedict XVI today. Ambassador Miguel Diaz is leaving his position after just over three years’ service representing the Obama administration. An embassy spokesman said he would probably be leaving Rome at the weekend to take up a teaching position at the University of Dayton, OH. The embassy said the move had been in... Read more
Food for thought on a Monday morning, from Archbishop Claudio Celli, via CNS: Read more
From the great Concord Pastor, Fr. Austin Fleming: The election is tomorrow, Lord, and I was wondering: if you were a candidate – would you be elected? I know if you were running for office, Lord, you’d campaign with open and transparent honesty: no need for fact-checking your statements and press releases! Your campaign promises would be many: life for those who respect and reverence it; peace for those who work for it; justice for the oppressed; pardon for those... Read more
Europe’s hard times are leading more people to take a closer look at Catholic social thought. From the BBC: A new zeitgeist is capturing business people, academics and political players from both the Left and Right, looking for an ethical alternative for our time. Their inspiration? Catholic teaching. In many ways these are difficult times for the Catholic Church. Congregations in England are still in decline, child abuse scandals around the world have cast a long shadow and in many... Read more
The words of newly ordained Fr. Sean Suckiel sum up the hope and aspirations of the hard hit people of Breezy Point, Queens, still reeling from the effects of Sandy. This afternoon, Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio celebrated Mass for the community in a church without lights or heat. Details: Nearly a week after seawater surged into Breezy Pointand fires raged from house to house, hundreds of local Catholics packed the pews of an area church to try to make sense... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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