The Deacon's Bench
Below, a statue in the lobby of our hotel: Read more
Below, a statue in the lobby of our hotel: Read more
Philadelphia’s Archbishop Charles Chaput delivered a challenging and potent address last night to the Catholic Media Convention in Indianapolis. I was privileged to be there to hear what amounted to the kickoff for the Fortnight for Freedom. A snip, courtesy First Things: We need to look honestly at the arc of Catholic history in our country. The lessons may not be comforting. American Catholics began as an unwelcome minority. The Church built her credibility by defending and serving her people. She developed... Read more
From the New York Times: Thick wooden beams barred the doors of St. Cyril’s Church in Damascus when friends of Bassel Shahade, a young opposition filmmaker killed in Homs in late May, arrived for a memorial prayer service. Government thugs dragged some mourners off to jail and chased away the rest, according to activists. The leadership of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church did not intervene, they said. But the Rev. Paolo Dall’Oglio, an Italian Jesuit, invited Mr. Shahade’s friends to... Read more
From the Philadelphia Inquirer: After 11 days of deliberations, jurors at the landmark clergy-sex abuse trial of two Philadelphia priests said Wednesday they were deadlocked on all but one count. Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina immediately pressed them to keep trying. In a note sent the judge shortly before noon, the panel of seven men and five women reported they had reached “a hung jury status” for four of the five charges in the case. They did not... Read more
And it doesn’t sound like something most people reading this will want to see: Deadline reports that the Robocop and Total Recall filmmaker has an alternate take on the life of Jesus Christ brewing, based on his book Jesus of Nazareth that he co-wrote, and the film is sure to stir up some controversy. More below! Pulp Fiction co-writer Roger Avary is writing the movie, which offers a radically different take on the life of Jesus Christ than what Christians... Read more
I’m headed to Indianapolis for the next few days for the Catholic Media Convention. (Indy deacons: If you’re in the nabe, stop by and say hello! Among other things, I’ll be serving as deacon every evening at this gorgeous church.) Blogging will be light, but I’ll look for opportunities to write something, because you never know what might pop up on my hotel room TV and inspire me. See you soon. Read more
Details: When you’re a kid, surfaces are made to be doodled on. Walls are crayon-canvases; wooden tables seem naked without some colorful finger paint prettying them up. It takes a while — from parents’ perspective, avery long while — for us to learn to contain our decorational impulses. Creativity, we’re gradually conditioned to accept, is best confined to paper. The lesson must be learned, but the learning is sort of sad nonetheless. And it’s why I love this desk: a... Read more
From The Hill: An association of lay Catholics will air a nationwide ad against the Obama administration’s birth control coverage mandate on Fox News Thursday. The move serves to highlight a two-week effort by U.S. Catholic bishops to build momentum against the mandate, which some have argued violates religious freedom. The debate puts the church in a tough spot because polls show that the vast majority of Catholic women use and support birth control. “We are Catholics. Together, we are the... Read more
From the Valley Catholic: Eight men were ordained deacons, seven of them to be Permanent Deacons and one transitional deacon, on May 12, at St. Joseph Cathedral Basilica, with Bishop Patrick J. McGrath presiding. The one transitional deacon is Antonio Alvernaz Silveira who had been in formation for the Permanent Diaconate and whose wife of 33 years died in early 2011. He has applied to study for the priesthood and will continue his formation at St. Patrick Seminary and University... Read more
Seriously. First, there was the Trayvon Martin boondoggle a few months ago. Then yesterday, evidence of some creative editing regarding Mitt Romney’s visit to a Wawa in Pennsylvania. Today, we have Andrea Mitchell’s spectacularly lame followup to “criticism of the Romney clip edit” — which amounted to Ms. Mitchell saying, with a sigh and a frown, “Oh, bother. Fine. Here’s what we left out.” She failed to acknowledge what the “criticism” entailed; she neglected to point out how the editing... Read more
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