He gave an interview recently to Charles Moore of the Telegraph. An excerpt: Tony Blair is vigorous proof of life after political death. He is back in London, looking well, smartly dressed in the combination of blue suit and brown shoes that, traditionally, is the mark of being not quite a gentleman. “I’ve put my tie on for The Daily Telegraph,” he says. He will be at the Olympic opening ceremony on Friday. But today , he has a different... Read more
Below is a very good report looking at the life of Fr. Larry Blake, a married priest in Minnesota. KEYC – Mankato News, Weather, Sports – Details: Father Andrew Cozzens with the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity said, “Well it’s actually a sign of how important the Church sees it that only the Pope can give this permission.” Fr. Cozzens says this exception should be viewed as a positive ecumenical statement rather than a statement about what church discipline... Read more
That would be in the United Kingdom. The worldwide diaconate continues to grow, praise God. This is the first class ordained in Westminister. The three are shown above. Here’s an email I got this afternoon from Across the Pond: Here’s three amigos. Anthony Curran who is the Director of Catechetics for the archdiocese of Westminster; me, Brian McMahon, a health and safety consultant; and NickAgule, an accountant with BP. Between us our average age is 45 and we average three... Read more
That would be in the United Kingdom. The worldwide diaconate continues to grow, praise God. This is the first class ordained in Westminister. The three are shown above. Here’s an email I got this afternoon from Across the Pond: Here’s three amigos. Anthony Curran who is the Director of Catechetics for the archdiocese of Westminster; me, Brian McMahon, a health and safety consultant; and NickAgule, an accountant with BP. Between us our average age is 45 and we average three... Read more
A memorial for 12 shooting victims sits at the fountain of Aurora Municipal Center after a prayer vigil Sunday. Read more
An overview, from the Washington newspaper The Hill: Challenges to President Obama’s birth-control mandate are piling up in court. Twenty-four lawsuits have been filed against the federal birth-control mandate so far, mostly from religious groups that view the policy as a dangerous erosion of religious freedom. Foes of the mandate got a boost after Illinois-based Wheaton College — a prominent Protestant school — filed its own suit on Wednesday, joining mostly Catholic-affiliated institutions in arguing the mandate tramples on religious... Read more
Details, from the Los Angeles Times: At Queen of Peace Catholic Church, about 20 minutes from the Century 16 theater, service-goers on Sunday almost completely filled the 1,500-seat building at a morning Mass to remember parishioner A.J. Boik and to pray for at least two other church members injured in Friday’s tragic theater shooting. Some had worked at the theater, others had relatives there or nearby when the shooting happened. “People feel unsafe now,” Israel Gomez, 15, said before the... Read more
Why am I not surprised? Details: Ryan Holiday could be called an “expert.” As head of marketing for American Apparel, an online strategist for Tucker Max, and self-styled “media manipulator,” he can talk social media and modern advertising with the best of them – he’s done so both online and in print on countless occasions. He is not an expert in barefoot running, investing, vinyl records, or insomnia. But he is a liar. With a little creative use of the... Read more
A priest offers some insight, via CNS: The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started July 20 in many countries, is a time of fasting, prayer and repentance, when Muslims distance themselves from worldly activities in an effort to align their lives more closely with God and his laws. According to the Vatican’s point man for dialogue with Islam, Ramadan is also an opportunity for Catholics to learn from Muslims’ example of obedience to the Almighty — and thereby strengthen... Read more
Details, from the Montana Catholic: An ordination, much like a wedding, is a momentous occasion, both for the man receiving Holy Orders and for those gathered in joyful witness. But the ordination of 17 men to the permanent diaconate takes on historical significance. June 29 was a day for making history as Bishop George Leo Thomas ordained 17 men who spent the past 4½ years in formation for their vocation as permanent deacons. This ordination was the largest in the... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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