From ABC News: For Democrats, there is no God in 2012 — at least as far as the party’s platform is concerned. Nor is there a Jerusalem. Democrats removed those two words, and the passages surrounding them, from the 2012 party platform as it was released this week. In Charlotte on Monday, the Democratic National Committee released its 2012 party platform after the DNC Platform Committee approved it under the leadership of Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker. The Platform Drafting... Read more
From Catholic News Agency: Franciscan friar Father Benedict Groeschel has stepped down as host of EWTN’s Sunday Night Prime television show following his apology for making comments about the sexual abuse of minors. “Father Benedict has led a life of tremendous compassion and service to others and his spiritual insights have been a great gift to the EWTN family for many years. We are profoundly grateful to him and assure him of our prayers,” Michael P. Warsaw, president and CEO... Read more
Some years back, I wrote a piece for Catholic Digest on “Thomas Merton’s New York.” The story was a pilgrimage, of sorts, visiting some of the landmarks of Merton’s life that are still standing in Manhattan. In the short video below, Fr. James Martin takes us to two of those landmarks: the church were Merton was baptized and the rowhouse in Greenwich Village where he lived. At the end, Fr. Martin quips that he credits his vocation to four people:... Read more
If you drop by some of my neighbors here in the Catholic cul-de-sac of Patheos, you’ll find a few mentions of a particularly nasty rumble that took place over the weekend. My mind wandered back to some remarks made early in the summer by another clergy blogger, Bishop Christopher Coyne: Always take the high road. By this I mean, always be polite, never respond in kind, do not make any more enemies than one already has in these matters, and... Read more
Details, from Haaretz: The Catholic Church condemned the so-called “price-tag” attack against an Christians monastery on Tuesday, with high-ranking church offices denouncing the “teaching of contempt” against Christians prevalent in Israeli society. Earlier Tuesday, the door of a Christian monastery in Latrun, near Jerusalem, was set on fire on morning, and anti-Christian slogans were found spray-painted on the monastery’s walls. The arson and graffiti are suspected to be a “price tag” attack, following the recent evacuation of Migron, a settlement... Read more
Over at his blog, Bishop Christopher Coyne of Indianapolis has some thoughts on the power of liturgy to evangelize: The Church’s liturgy, by it’s very nature, is an evangelical act, meaning it is a proclamation of the Word who became flesh, who desires an encounter with himself that sparks a relationship grounded in his Body through Word and Sacrament. Even more so, if Christ is truly present in the Word proclaimed and in the Sacrament celebrated, those present at the... Read more
Religious News Service has a look at one man’s story: Nationwide, about 80 Protestant clergy have left to become Catholic priests, according to research from Catholic University in Washington. Some Eastern Rite Catholic churches, which are loyal to Rome, ordain married men. And after 1980, the Vatican allowed Protestant clergy who converted to Catholicism to remain married to their wives. But [Gerry] Murphy isn’t necessarily a supporter of married Catholic priests — the issue could cause resentment within the ranks... Read more
Unbelievable.It happened in West Yorkshire in Northern England. I suspect that after it happened, he not only had to replace his car window, but probably had to replace his underwear, too. Details: A man cheated death by seconds when a freak lightning bolt sent a tree branch hurtling through the rear of his car. Bernard Williams had just removed his gym bag from the boot during a rainstorm when the bolt hit an adjacent willow tree catapulting a 10-foot long... Read more
The latest, from the Associated Press: The building of the largest Roman Catholic church in the Gulf was supposed to be a chance for the tiny island kingdom of Bahrain to showcase its traditions of religious tolerance in a conservative Muslim region where churches largely operate under heavy limitations. Instead, the planned church — intended to be the main center for Catholics in the region — has turned into another point of tension in a country already being pulled apart... Read more
He’s retiring from his position with the USCCB—and he could be one of the most important Catholics most people have never heard of. From the Washington Post: For the typical American Catholic, seeing Cardinal Tim Dolan, the country’s top bishop, give the closing prayer at the GOP convention was the big political event of the summer. But for Catholics who know how the church really operates in Washington, something far more significant went down last week: John Carr retired. For... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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