From AFP: Women should play a greater role in the training of priests to fight the child abuse “crisis” that has engulfed the Catholic Church, Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet has said. More must be done within the church to tackle the root causes of the latest wave of global abuse scandals to rock the institution, said Ouellet, the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. “We would need participation of more women in (training) of priests,” he told reporters on Saturday... Read more
We need something life-affirming and hopeful right now, don’t you think? Try this: Stefan Xidas raised over $18,000 through his GoFundMe page for Special Olympics, a longtime partner of the Chicago Cubs and Cubs Charities. Cubs Charities was proud to support Stefan and Special Olympics by matching Stefan’s donation and fulfilling his wish to sing the national anthem at Wrigley Field. A short preview is above. The full rendition is below. God love him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijo3vfnL_wY Read more
That’s the assessment of former Governor Frank Keating, who chaired the first National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People. It was created by the Catholic bishops of the United States in 2002 to implement their reform charter and to investigate the scandal. He eventually quit the board in disgust, comparing some bishops to “La Cosa Nostra.” Today, he’s published a column describing some of his experience on the board—and what needs to be done: I attended... Read more
This is a staple at my parish— and a suitably joyous entrance song for this week’s liturgies, which mark our parish feast. It was written by the Rev. James Chepponis, a priest of the Diocese of Pittsburgh: Since 1996, Fr. Jim has served the Pittsburgh Diocese as Director of the Office for Music Ministry, and his work includes providing music for all Diocesan liturgies, directing the Diocesan Choir and Schola Cantorum, and serving as music resource person for parishes throughout the Pittsburgh... Read more
Bishop Barry Knestout ordained the men Saturday, on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, at Richmond’s Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. You can read all about the men here. Congratulations, brothers, and welcome! Ad multos annos! Read more
A couple weeks ago, Nike set out to sell some sneakers. The result ended up causing a sensation. The company released a new ad starring the controversial quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The people at Nike clearly thought he would make people pay attention. And he did. For days, the ad was the talk of the Internet. While the man in the ad has gotten most of the attention, and sparked a lot of controversy, what has been lost in much of... Read more
Photographer Michael Mickle captured this image and ones below, as Richmond’s Bishop Barry Knestout took part in a Mass of Atonement at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart last night. He is shown here, lying prostrate before the altar, having removed the symbols of his office: the ring, miter, zucchetto, and crozier. From the diocesan website: The celebration of the Mass is the first of several steps Bishop Knestout is taking in response to the present crisis facing the Church.... Read more
From Reuters: Former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon is helping to craft the curriculum for a leadership course at a right-wing Roman Catholic institute in Italy, stepping up his efforts to influence conservative thinking in the church. Benjamin Harnwell, director of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute based in a mountaintop monastery not far from Rome, told Reuters Bannon had been helping to build up the institute for about half of its eight-year life. Cardinal Raymond Burke, a leading Vatican conservative... Read more
The move appears to be for just nine days, but it’s part of a significant and growing trend in the American church — one that seems to acknowledge someone who rarely gets much attention from the pulpit: Satan. Maybe we’re realizing that needs to change. Cardinal Dolan wrote about it in his newspaper column this week: I hear from so many of you, God’s People, that we need again the weapons of prayer, reparation, and penance, ammunition the Devil dreads.... Read more
This is superb—and much-needed right now. It comes from the blog of Father Michael Niemczak, in the Diocese of Santa Fe. It begins: Dear Seminarians, It is not an easy time right now to be a priest or one studying to be a priest. Praise God. The Church is being not only humbled but humiliated by the sins of Her own ministers. Praise God. Countless innocent priests are looked at with suspicion if not outright hatred because of the sins... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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