Will it be grandparents who save the faith?

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:06 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

One woman from Ireland is counting on it. She’s entrepreneur Catherine Wiley, who has founded the Catholic Grandparents Association, and now bishops around the world are asking her to set up branches in their diocese. Details: Upon returning to her native Mayo, Catherine organised a grandparents’ pilgrimage in Knock in 2006, which 5,000 people attended. Cardinal Séan Brady blessed it and, at Catherine’s request, Pope Benedict XVI wrote a prayer for grandparents in 2006, the first of its kind in... Read more

Gallup: American confidence in organized religion at all-time low

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:06 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details: According to a recent Gallup poll, the number of Americans who have faith in organized religion is at an all-time low. Only 44 percent of Americans today have a lot of confidence in organized religion, compared to 66 percent in 1973 when organized religion or church was the highest rated institution in Gallup’s “confidence in institutions measure.” Organized religion and the Church “continued to rank first in most years through 1985, outranking the military and the U.S. Supreme Court, among... Read more

Swing low, sweet flashmob…

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:06 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Admit it: you have been waiting and WAITING for someone to do a gospel flash mob with “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” Haven’t you? Well, the wait is over. The setting: the University of Toronto, last month. Chancellor David R. Peterson was about to depart after a six-year term. The faculty and students arranged a little musical surprise for his final convocation. The description of this on YouTube notes: “Chancellor Peterson has been a tireless volunteer, extraordinary ambassador, master of... Read more

At the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, caring for the things they leave behind

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:06 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington has become a magnet for memories, and countless people leave at the wall their own personal tokens of love, gratitude and grief. Catholic News Service looks at a remarkable corner of the Washington bureaucracy that helps care for these objects, many of which have religious meaning. Read more

The drug dealer who became a monk

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:06 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

A remarkable vocation story from Vancouver, British Columbia: After years of a life of hedonism and drug addiction, he returned to the faith and for about a dozen years now he has been serving as a hieromonk (pastor-monk) in the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Father Taras (Terry) Kraychuk, who currently lives the monastic life in the Derwent, Alberta area, gave a partial testimony of his life at the Catholic Family Life Conference at Lac Ste. Anne July 1. Born and raised... Read more

The (abridged) history of Western Music, told through “It’s A Wonderful World”

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:06 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Here’s a fun little palate-cleanser for you, from the fiendishly clever folks at CDZA: Read more

“Fidelity oaths” spark controversy, resignations in Virginia — UPDATED

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:06 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details, from the Washington Post: Kathleen Riley knows her beliefs on the male-only priesthood and contraception put her at odds with leaders of her church. But as a fifth-generation Catholic who went to a Catholic school and grew up to teach in one, Riley feels the faith deeply woven through her. So when her Arlington parish asked for volunteers last summer to teach Sunday school, she felt called by the Holy Spirit to say yes. A year later, the 52-year-old... Read more

When celebrities return to the faith

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:06 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Following reports that Katie Holmes is joining a Catholic parish in New York City, CNN looks at what happens when the famous are also among the faithful: Joseph Zwilling, the spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese of New York, couldn’t confirm or deny that Holmes had joined the Church of St. Francis Xavier or any other Catholic church, saying that “if a person joined the parish, it’s done on the parish level.” Zwilling said he had not heard one way or... Read more

So, papa, how do you like the iPad I bought you?

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:06 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

This comes from Germany, but no translation is necessary. Read more

A beautiful day in Brooklyn: we have two new bishops

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:06 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

I didn’t have the best seat, but at least I had a seat, and captured on camera a few moments from the episcopal ordinations of Raymond Chappetto and Paul Sanchez as the newest auxiliary bishops of Brooklyn. Lining up outside Our Lady of Angels Parish in Bay Ridge, I saw a lot of Knights of the Holy Sepulchre… The Ladies were there, too… The procession was enormous, and started over 30 minutes before the ordination Mass… Once inside, one of... Read more