BREAKING: Arrest in “VatiLeaks” case

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

From CNS: The Vatican police have arrested an individual in possession of private Vatican documents in connection to the so-called “VatiLeaks” scandal that began in January. “This person now is being questioned by the Vatican magistrates for further information,” said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, who declined to name the person. He told reporters May 25 that the Vatican gendarmes “identified a person illicitly in possession of private documents.” The committee of three cardinals Pope Benedict XVI appointed in... Read more

Better late than never: Ireland to get first permanent deacons

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

Details, from the Independent: The first married men to be permitted to baptise children and officiate at weddings will be ordained in the Irish Catholic Church next month. The church is looking to deacons to do some of the jobs of the clergy because vocations to the priesthood are at an all-time low. And eight married men are to be ordained deacons in Dublin next month. Deacons are sometimes described as ‘priests-lite’. They can do almost everything a priest can... Read more

Answering the call — at a baseball game

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

From Major League Baseball … a fan with faith. And a phone. Read more

All about Eve

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

That would be Eve Tushnet, who has just arrived at Patheos with her self-titled blog. As Elizabeth Scalia notes: I think Eve Tushnet’s name became much more widely known in 2010, when the New York Times profiled her, identifying her in the opening graph as that (to them) most exotic of all creatures, a “the celibate, gay, conservative, Catholic writer”. My goodness, these labels, categories and pigeonholes — our increasingly polarized world loves them, because they tell us who we should... Read more

Embracing poverty: life at the Catholic Worker

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

What is it like to live and work among the poorest of the poor in New York City? From the Wall Street Journal, here’s a rare glimpse at the volunteers who live at the Catholic Worker: Felton Davis is one of a dozen folks who live and work at Maryhouse and St. Joseph House, East Village shelters run entirely on informal donations and volunteer labor. Rooted in the New York-bred philosophy of Catholic anarchism known as the Catholic Worker movement,... Read more

The joy of sects

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

Is the Catholic Church becoming little more than a sect? Jamie Manson, a columnist at NCR offers this observation: With its attacks on same-sex marriage, battle against providing adequate health care for women, hostile takeover of LCWR and inquisition into the Girl Scouts, the hierarchy continues to make itself an embarrassing media spectacle in a society that long ago refused to accept the teaching on birth control, believes in women’s equality and increasingly supports same-sex marriage. Even those who are not... Read more

Another giant falls: New Orleans paper may cease daily publication

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

Grim news in the media world: The New Orleans Times-Picayune, which distinguished itself amid great adversity during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, is about to enact large staff cuts and may cut back its daily print publishing schedule, according to two employees with knowledge of the plans. Newhouse Newspapers, which owns the Times-Picayune, will apparently be working off a blueprint the company used in Ann Arbor, Mich., where it reduced the frequency of the Ann Arbor News, emphasized the Web... Read more

New York ordains just one priest — and his first Mass is in Latin

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

Details: Today Fr. Patric D’Arcy, newly ordained priest of the Archdiocese of New York, celebrated his first Mass – a Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form – amid the Gothic splendor of Blessed Sacrament Church. Many clergy and seminarians were in attendance. A schola performed both chant and polyphony, including Allegri’s Miserere. The website for the Archdiocese of New York has biographical details about Fr. D’Arcy: As a child, Father Patric D’Arcy looked up to his father as a role model. So... Read more

Vatican publishes rules on Virgin Mary sightings

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

It’s unclear if this is connected to the ongoing investigation into Medjugorje, but it’s an interesting development at the end of the month devoted to Mary. Details: The “Norms Regarding the Manner of Proceeding in the Discernment of Presumed Apparitions or Revelations” have been in use since 1978, but until now had been available only in Latin, never officially published and only circulated among bishops and specialists. The Vatican document has now been translated into English and other languages to... Read more

Chaplain removed for bringing wine into prison

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

It happened in South Carolina: For a quarter century, Monsignor Ed Lofton has served as one of 86 volunteer chaplains at the Charleston County jail. Bringing calm to inmates and jailers alike is considered essential to his mission. But carrying wine into a facility where alcohol is labeled as contraband hasn’t come without controversy. He has fought and won that battle before. For 15 years, he has consumed 1 ounce of sacramental wine during Mass without incident. Inmates partake only... Read more