Details: The Vatican has brought in the Fox News correspondent in Rome to help improve its communications strategy as it tries to cope with years of communications blunders and one of its most serious scandals in decades, The Associated Press learned Saturday.Greg Burke, 52, will leave Fox to become a senior communications adviser in the Vatican’s secretariat of state, the Vatican and Burke told the AP. “I’m a bit nervous but very excited. Let’s just say it’s a challenge,” Burke... Read more
[Click here for readings] For audio of this homily, click the green arrow below. Last week, we had a parish council meeting, and Msgr. Funaro made an announcement that truly shocked people. Some people actually gasped. “Time is really slipping away,” Msgr. Funaro said. “Fr. Anthony reminded me the other night: It’s only six months until Christmas.” Go ahead. Gasp. But for a preview of coming attractions, and a glance ahead to Christmas, look no further than the feast we... Read more
A highlight of the Catholic Media Conference this week was an address Friday by Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. Archbishop Celli is endearing, brilliant and utterly disarming. (At the Sign of Peace during Mass, he clasped both my hands and whispered with a smile, “Peace to you and ALL deacons!”). His address to the conference was inspiring — and, in some ways, challenging. An excerpt: I would also like to consider what this means when we... Read more
With Rocco and Elizabeth after our panel presentation on blogging this afternoon in Indianapolis. Read more
With Rocco and Elizabeth after our panel presentation on blogging this afternoon in Indianapolis. Read more
Below, a couple shots of the beautiful St. John the Evangelist Church in Indianapolis — the oldest church in the city — where I’ve served Mass every evening during the Catholic Media Conference. Read more
You could feel the shockwaves rippling through Indianapolis as this story made its way around the Catholic Media Conference: On Wednesday, when he addressed a conference of Catholic journalists in Indianapolis, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput said, “The habits of Catholic culture run very deep in the Philadelphia region.” On Thursday, Chaput announced deep and drastic cuts for the church back here in Philadelphia, including 45 layoffs, the consolidation of several offices and ministries, and the elimination of its print newspaper,... Read more
Last night, I had the great privilege of serving as deacon alongside Bishop Christopher Coyne as he celebrated Mass for the Catholic Media Conference in Indianapolis. His excellent homily focused a great deal on Christian aspects of communication, and prompted a lot of enthusiastic comment at the dinner afterwords. Here’s a key part: As one who is missioned with you, I would like to offer a four simple points of advice that arise from my time as spokesperson for the Archdiocese of... Read more
Last night, I had the great privilege of serving as deacon alongside Bishop Christopher Coyne as he celebrated Mass for the Catholic Media Conference in Indianapolis. His excellent homily focused a great deal on Christian aspects of communication, and prompted a lot of enthusiastic comment at the dinner afterwords. Here’s a key part: As one who is missioned with you, I would like to offer a four simple points of advice that arise from my time as spokesperson for the Archdiocese of... Read more
I got mine, thanks to the folks at the Catholic News Service booth at the Catholic Media Convention. Let’s see how many I can squeeze into my suitcase to bring home … Read more
The Deacon's Bench
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In