RIP, Andy Williams

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:04 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

The legendary crooner is gone: Andy Williams, the silky-voiced, clean-cut crooner, whose hit recording “Moon River” and years of popular Christmas TV shows brought him fans the world over has died, his publicist said. He was 84. Williams died Tuesday night at his home in Branson following a yearlong battle with bladder cancer, his Los Angeles-based publicist, Paul Shefrin, said Wednesday. With an easy style and a mellow voice that President Ronald Reagan once termed “a national treasure,” Williams proved ideal for television. “The Andy Williams Show,”... Read more

Can the German bishops do this? — UPDATED

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:04 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

The news out of Germany last week left a lot of people surprised — even shocked. Now the blogger Fr. John Boyle takes a closer look at what Canon law has to say on the subject: It would seem to me that the burden of proof is with the ecclesiastical authorities to verify that one who has removed his/her name from the religious tax register has in fact notoriously abandoned the faith or formally defected from the Church or is... Read more

Euthanasia climbs 18% in Netherlands; dementia and psychiatric cases soaring

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:04 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

The news is chilling. Details from Christian Medical Comment: According to Dutch media reports today, euthanasia deaths in the Netherlands in 2011 increased by 18% to 3,695. This follows increases of 13% in 2009 and 19% in 2010. In fact from 2006 to 2011 there has been a steady increase in numbers each year with successive annual deaths at 1923, 2120, 2331, 2636, 3136 and 3695. Euthanasia now accounts for 2.8% of all Dutch deaths. In addition euthanasia for people... Read more

“Les Miserables” movie poster revealed

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:04 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

First, there was the trailer. Then the “extended first look.” Now, ladies and gentlemen, the movie poster for “Les Miserables,” from FirstShowing.Net It may look vaguely familiar: the image is a re-interpretation of the well-known poster for the stage version. Read more

Ice skating with Fulton Sheen

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:04 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

You may remember a posting from July, when I mentioned meeting Fulton Sheen’s niece. (She’s pictured above with Sheen’s successor at the Propagation of the Faith — and my current boss— CNEWA president Msgr. John Kozar.) Now, she’s given an interview and shared some fascinating details about the life of her celebrated uncle. From the Catholic World Report: CWR:What was your relationship to Archbishop Fulton Sheen? Joan Sheen Cunningham: My father, Joseph Sheen (1899-1956), was the younger brother of Fulton Sheen.... Read more

Notre Dame invites Obama, Romney to speak

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:04 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From the university’s press release: The University of Notre Dame’s president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., and student body president Brett Rocheleau have joined in inviting both President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Gov. Mitt Romney to speak at the University during the fall election campaign. Continuing a long-standing tradition, Father Jenkins and Rocheleau addressed letters to each of the presidential aspirants, offering Notre Dame as a “forum for serious political discussion” on important issues facing the nation. The intent... Read more

Remembering “the people’s priest” of the Bronx

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:04 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Every now and then, we receive a blessed reminder of what it means to follow in the footsteps of Christ. Here’s one, from the New York Times: The Rev. John C. Flynn could have been a monsignor, but as he told the story in later years, he refused the elevation because he already held a title more to his liking: the people’s priest. Father Flynn, 83, who spent a half-century championing the poor, the disadvantaged and the forgotten of the... Read more

Ordination update: the new deacons of Milwaukee

Last updated on: September 25, 2012 at 7:19 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

The Catholic Herald newspaper in Milwaukee has posted a terrific gallery of pictures of the diaconate ordination held on September 8th. Check it out. Congratulations! Read more

For Yom Kippur: “On this day, it is our privilege to be alive…”

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:04 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

“The daily whisper of mortality grows to a roar on this holiest day. While we pray to be granted one more year we look around the synagogue. Some who were there last year, for many years past, are no longer with us. The empty seat or the new occupant brings the shock of unpleasant recognition: One day, each person knows, she or he will be that missing worshiper. Judaism asks us to grasp both ends: We know we will die,... Read more

Church seeks donations to pay for ads to defeat same-sex marriage

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:04 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details from the Minnesota Star-Tribune: Minnesota Roman Catholics will receive a letter this week from the state’s bishops, urging them to donate money for television ads asking voters to say yes to a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. For many of the more than 400,000 Catholic households expected to get the letter, it marks the first time they’ve been asked by church leadership to make a financial donation to Minnesota for Marriage, the chief group campaigning for passage of... Read more