It’s official: Tobin to Indy

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:02 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From the Archdiocescan website: Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., the Archbishop Secretary of the Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the sixth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. The Holy See made the announcement today in Rome. Archbishop Tobin, 60, succeeds Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein, O.S.B., who was granted early retirement by Pope Benedict on September 21, 2011 for health reasons. Since Archbishop Buechlein’s retirement, Bishop Christopher J. Coyne... Read more

Ordination update: 9 new deacons in Detroit

Last updated on: October 18, 2012 at 5:16 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

From Michigan Catholic: Archbishop Allen Vigneron told the 2012 ordination class of permanent deacons that they were being consecrated particularly to the work of proclaiming the Gospel of Christ. “The ordinary minister of the Gospel (at Mass) is the deacon,” the archbishop said in his homily at the Oct. 6 ordination. And he bade the nine men being ordained to remember, “It’s not your word, it’s not the bishop’s word, it’s not the pope’s word — it is the Word... Read more

Obscene: 2012 Neiman Marcus catalog and its $100,000 chicken coop

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:02 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details: Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus rolled out its annual holiday catalog Tuesday, and the priciest gift this year is a pair of “his and hers” timepieces for just over $1 million from Van Cleef & Arpels. The watches depict a tale of lost love on the faces and come with a trip to romantic Paris and Geneva. Dallas-based Neiman Marcus is known for featuring expensive and often outrageous “fantasy gifts” in its Christmas Book. The 86th edition also includes a... Read more

Bishops, priests and deacons together: Brooklyn’s clergy convocation

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:54 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Just got back from the second-ever joint clergy convocation for my diocese—a remarkable gathering of bishops, priests and deacons. (Shown above: the cover for the prayer booklet, featuring an image of the three levels of Holy Orders.) There was a healthy turnout—easily, a couple hundred clergy gathered under one roof—and a good deal of camaraderie and carbohydrates (dinner was involved). It was organized as part of the Sacred Heart Institute, the trailblazing new collaboration between the Dioceses of Brooklyn and... Read more

Pope sending bishops to Syria on peace mission

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:02 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From Catholic News Service: A papal delegation of bishops, including Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, will travel to the capital of war-torn Syria in late October to show solidarity with victims and encourage peace negotiations. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, made the announcement Oct. 16 at the evening session of the world Synod of Bishops. “In the certainty that the only possible solution to the crisis is a political solution, and bearing in mind the immense... Read more

He’s back: the return of Father Frank Pavone

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:02 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

David Gibson at Religion News Service has the scoop: A year ago, the Rev. Frank Pavone was facing an existential crisis in the unlikeliest of places. The longtime head of the anti-abortion group Priests for Life, Pavone had been confined to the Diocese of Amarillo by his bishop, Patrick J. Zurek, who sent a letter to every other U.S. bishop declaring that he had so many concerns about the group’s $10 million budget that Pavone shouldn’t be trusted with donors’ money. Pavone’s... Read more

The challenges facing Catholicism in Poland

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:02 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

The country is changing, and the faith is losing its influence. From Reuters: At the sound of a bell from the altar, relayed over loud-speakers, about 50,000 people at an open-air mass last month in the Polish capital dropped down to kneel in the street. It was a powerful symbol of Poland’s deeply felt Roman Catholicism, a reminder of the scenes in the 1980s when, inspired by Polish Pope John Paul II, people prayed in the streets and brought down... Read more

Bishops, priests and deacons together: Brooklyn’s clergy convocation

Last updated on: October 17, 2012 at 5:28 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Missing from the synod: deacons

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:54 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

An interesting observation from John Allen at NCR: Here’s a rather striking omission at the synod: So far, nobody’s said anything about deacons. In the abstract, suppose somebody told you that there’s a corps of 40,000 Catholics out there ready to go to work for the New Evangelization, who have received something like five or six years of hard-nosed formation specifically to equip them to preach the gospel in the modern world, and who can represent the church in an... Read more

“I forgot to call out the deacons”

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:54 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

My new blog neighbor, Lisa Hendey, posted the following today: This past weekend, I learned an important lesson while giving my keynote address at the Archdiocese of San Antonio’s Catholic Formation and Leadership Conference. I’ll admit I was nervous going into the talk. I’ve spoken to crowds this size in the past, but there’s something about sticking the word “keynote” into the title of a talk that ups the ante. And this — probably unbeknownst to my hosts — was my... Read more