One sister’s story: “WE are the Church”

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:08 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

As representatives of the LCWR meet with officials at the Vatican today, one sister talks to the Washington Post’s Michelle Boorstein about the controversy surrounding the Vatican’s intervention: Anne Curtis’s Silver Spring office is decorated with warm afghans and photos of her late parents, and her phone ring is set to a chime like something you’d hear in a spa. The 59-year-old nun with the blond highlights, who speaks amiably with a heavy Rah-chester accent, sounds more like the helpful... Read more

Fake? Historian claims Shroud of Turin was one of 40 made in the Middle Ages

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:08 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details from the Daily Mail (with a h/t to Hot Air): Not only is the Turin Shroud probably a medieval fake but it is just one of an astonishing 40 so-called burial cloths of Jesus, according to an eminent church historian. Antonio Lombatti said the false shrouds circulated in the Middle Ages, but most of them were later destroyed. He said the Turin Shroud itself – showing an image of a bearded man and venerated for centuries as Christ’s burial... Read more

How Sargent Shriver planned JFK’s funeral: “He enacted his faith…”

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:08 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Just in time for Father’s Day, Mark Shriver has published a memoir about his father called “A Good Man.” At one point, he describes, powerfully and poignantly, how his father planned the funeral for JFK: I firmly believe that Dad’s faith in God gave him the strength and the discipline to orchestrate the funeral events— at times grisly, at times heartbreaking, by turns wrapped in ambition, intrigue, chaos, pathos, and raw grief… ...From addressing the rumored threat of another assassination to... Read more

Why God made copy editors

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:08 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

CARA survey: many U.S. Catholics parish shop

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:08 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

The group’s ongoing study of American Catholics is continuing to yield interesting nuggets, like this one: One of the most surprising aspects of the results so far has been how positive Mass attending Catholics are in their evaluations of their parish (…yet there are also many interesting sub-group differences here as well). I always remind people that many respondents in these surveys have chosen to be a part of the parish they are evaluating. One way we know this is that... Read more

Swearing off swearing: town considers fines for cursing

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:08 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Well, shut the front door: Mimi Duphily was hanging baskets of pink geraniums on antique street lamps downtown for the Middleborough Beautification and Activities Group when she noticed something else that needed cleaning up—citizens’ mouths. “The cursing has gotten very, very bad. I find it appalling and I won’t tolerate it,” said Ms. Duphily, a civic leader in the otherwise quiet New England community, which calls itself the Cranberry Capital of the World. “No person should be allowed to talk... Read more

South Dakota monastery announces it’s closing this summer

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:08 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

It’s the Blue Cloud Abbey, and the abbot posted the following message on its website today: This is not an easy message to write. As a community we have been discussing our situation for some time. However, because of all the hoops and hurdles which come with such a discussion, we were unable to mention it outside the community. Though it has not been an easy decision we have come to the conclusion that it is a necessary one. At... Read more

Benedict on loving your neighbor at the airport

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:08 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

“In airports, you have daily contact with a great many men and women who work in an environment marked by continuous mobility and constant technological development, both of which tend to obscure the centrality of the human person. Often more attention is paid to efficiency and productivity than to the love of neighbour and the solidarity that should always characterise human relations. Here too, your presence is of great value and importance: it is a living witness to a God... Read more

Japanese couple married by a robot

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:08 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Somehow, I missed this news when it broke last month: Almost everyone stood when the bride walked down the aisle in her white gown, but not the wedding conductor, because she was bolted to her chair. The nuptials at this ceremony were led by “I-Fairy,” a 4-foot tall seated robot with flashing eyes and plastic pigtails. Sunday’s wedding was the first time a marriage had been led by a robot, according to manufacturer Kokoro Co. “Please lift the bride’s veil,”... Read more

Retiring bishop: “Wider reform is needed” in the Church

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:08 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

He has a reputation for being both progressive and outspoken — and both qualities were on display in an interview with Australia’s ABC News: Father Pat Power has resigned after more than 25 years as the bishop of Canberra and Goulburn. He has become known as one of the church’s more progressive leaders, questioning the need for priests to be celibate and for women to be excluded from senior roles. Father Power says the sexual abuse scandals have diminished the... Read more