2018-09-07T15:43:46-04:00

Last updated on: September 7, 2018 at 3:43 pm   By

From CNS:  A top official from the Vatican Secretariat of State acknowledged allegations made by a New York priest in 2000 concerning Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick, according to a letter obtained by Catholic News Service. Father Boniface Ramsey, pastor of St. Joseph’s Church Yorkville in New York City, told CNS Sept. 7 that he received the letter dated Oct. 11, 2006, from then-Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, the former Vatican substitute for general affairs, asking for information regarding a priest of the... Read more

2018-09-07T15:13:31-04:00

Last updated on: September 7, 2018 at 3:13 pm   By

This is pretty great:  Hundreds of people – priests, brother deacons, Carmelite nuns and laity among them – gathered Sunday, Aug. 26, at St. Patrick Parish, Hudson, to witness Thomas Kroll’s ordination to the permanent diaconate. Bishop James P. Powers celebrated the first ordination of a permanent deacon in the Diocese of Superior in four years. In his opening remarks, he characterized it as “a wonderful day for the diocese, a wonderful day for St. Patrick’s.” Kroll was the first candidate... Read more

2018-09-06T14:39:35-04:00

Last updated on: September 6, 2018 at 2:39 pm   By

The following statement was released today by Albany Bishop Ed Scharfenberger: My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Today I am writing to you to talk about something we are announcing this week, a decision that is necessary and ultimately will result in much good but one that is likely to be difficult and incredibly challenging for us for the foreseeable future. After a lot of prayer and reflection, in the best interest of everyone involved — survivors, clergy, parishioners... Read more

2018-09-06T11:27:58-04:00

Last updated on: September 6, 2018 at 11:27 am   By

Legatus is a large and growing lay organization of Catholic business people founded by Thomas Monaghan, the man behind Domino’s Pizza and the Florida town of Ave Maria. It describes its members as “Ambassadors for Christ in the Marketplace.” As the National Catholic Register put it last year, noting its 30th anniversary: Members are inspired to make a difference by living out their Catholic faith. Members must be Catholics in good standing and an owner, chairman, president or CEO of... Read more

2018-09-06T10:00:22-04:00

Last updated on: September 6, 2018 at 10:00 am   By

From The Omaha World-Herald:  Open your files. This is the directive the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office has given to the state’s three Catholic dioceses. It comes in the wake of last month’s scathing grand jury report examining the sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy in Pennsylvania, where some 300 priests were found to have abused at least 1,000 minors over the past 70 years. Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson is not asking Catholic officials to go back that far in their... Read more

2018-09-05T15:48:25-04:00

Last updated on: September 5, 2018 at 3:48 pm   By

A beloved priest in California faces a terrible diagnosis: Father John Vieira gathers with the Portuguese community at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish every Sunday to celebrate Mass in their shared native tongue.   Conceived in the Azore Islands and raised among the Portuguese farming community in Ontario, Fr. Vieira takes great comfort in this cultural touchstone. It is also helping him adjust to a daunting new chapter in his life: living with Alzheimer’s disease. He had led St. Elizabeth... Read more

2018-09-05T13:42:04-04:00

Last updated on: September 5, 2018 at 1:42 pm   By

From an interview with The Daily Caller: President Donald Trump expressed sadness over the ongoing sexual abuse scandal roiling the Catholic Church and tacitly defended the Pope’s handling of the crisis, in an exclusive Oval Office interview with The Daily Caller. “It’s so sad to watch,” Trump said when asked for his thoughts on the issue, lamenting “the numbers, the length of time, you know, going back 70 years, I think it’s having a really negative impact on the Catholic... Read more

2018-09-05T12:12:31-04:00

Last updated on: September 5, 2018 at 12:12 pm   By

This subject is coming up again now, as the Church wrestles with how to deal with the burgeoning sex abuse crisis. One common call: defrock priests who break their vows! A few years ago, I looked at this issue on this blog and noted that, technically, the Church doesn’t “defrock”—and reminded readers that a priest is a priest forever, even if he is returned to the lay state. Snip:  As one canon lawyer noted a few years ago, the term “defrock” appears... Read more

2018-09-04T18:07:33-04:00

Last updated on: September 4, 2018 at 6:07 pm   By

This is pretty great news, in an email from the International Diaconate Center:  During the Jubilee celebrations of the International Diaconate Centre, Dr. Algirdas Jurevičius – at the time Vicar General of the smallest diocese in Lithuania – spoke about the diaconate in a missionary Church of the future. The diaconate, he said, is characterized by dynamics and flexibility. Jurevičius sees the great opportunity of this ministry in “diaconal action and reaching out to people and their needs”. A missionary... Read more

2018-09-05T06:25:00-04:00

Last updated on: September 5, 2018 at 6:25 am   By

From CNN: Pope Francis met with embattled Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington last Thursday in Vatican City, where they discussed the cardinal’s personal situation, according to a source familiar with Wuerl’s presentation to local priests in Washington on Monday. Wuerl, who is archbishop of Washington, told the priests about the papal meeting, including Francis’ advice that the cardinal should consult with his priests as Wuerl discerns his future. That was part of a larger conversation between the Pope and Wuerl,... Read more

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