Our piano-playing, music-loving pontiff will soon be hitting the road — specifically, heading to Milan: Pope Benedict XVI will attend a concert at the La Scala opera house of Beethoven’s Ninth symphony conducted by Daniel Barenboim. The June 1 concert is part of the pope’s Milan visit for the World Encounter of Families, which deals with issues relating to the family. Organizers of the June 1-3 papal visit said Friday it will be the first time since becoming pontiff that... Read more
[Click here for readings.] To hear audio of this homily, click the green arrow below. This past week, I had a chance to preside at a wedding here at the parish. As many couples do, the bride and groom selected for one of their readings the famous letter from St. Paul to the Corinthians on love. “Love is patient, love is kind, love never fails…” Usually, a couple will ask one of their young friends to do the reading. So... Read more
[Click here for readings.] To hear audio of this homily, click the green arrow below. [audio:http://wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/blogs/deaconsbench/files/2012/05/HOMILY050612.mp3|titles=HOMILY050612] This past week, I had a chance to preside at a wedding here at the parish. As many couples do, the bride and groom selected for one of their readings the famous letter from St. Paul to the Corinthians on love. “Love is patient, love is kind, love never fails…” Usually, a couple will ask one of their young friends to do the reading.... Read more
But no. This headline is real: Georgetown Chooses Sebelius for Commencement Details, from the university: This afternoon, Georgetown announced the speakers for each school’s commencement address. Here is the list: David Simon, creator of the critically acclaimed television dramas “The Wire” and “Treme” will be speaking to the College. Dr. Mark Green, senior director of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition and former ambassador to Tanzania is the speaker for the School of Nursing & Health. Ela R. Bhatt, founder of the... Read more
Glad you asked. Deacon Bill Ditewig has a terrific podcast that answers that very question, and more. Click here to listen. They’re ordaining 13 new deacons on the Diocese of Monterey on Saturday. Keep them in your prayers! I hope to have more after the big event. Read more
Details: Five Catholic priests accused of child sex abuse will not be able to return to their jobs. They are among 26 priests under investigation for abuse in the Philadelphia Archdiocese. Archbishop Charles Chaput announced today that decisions on eight priests had been made, one priest has died since the investigation began, three priest were found “suitable for ministry” and that decisions on 17 more cases are in different stages of investigation but that more decisions would be announced in... Read more
The bishop of Camden is troubled by these findings — and with good reason: South Jersey Catholics know less about their faith and are less committed to its practice than their neighbors in other Christian denominations, according to a new survey that Bishop Joseph Galante calls “troubling.” It found that the Diocese of Camden’s 500,000 Catholics are significantly less likely than other Christians to attend Sunday services, invite friends to visit their church, believe in the Bible, or understand Jesus’... Read more
Details from CNS: A U.S. al-Qaida official concluded that Catholics were “fertile ground” for conversion, “particularly after the rage expanding against the mother church (Vatican) as a result of its scandals and policies refused by many of its public.” American al-Qaida spokesman Adam Gadahn wrote Osama bin Laden in January 2011 and laid out reasons for reaching out to Catholics, particularly the Irish. He urged bin Laden to use public anger at the church’s mishandling of clerical abuse to encourage... Read more
And no special effects. Read all about it here. At the link, there’s also a video explaining how it was done. But first: watch below. Read more
Maybe: Ask ten people to name the most critical swing voting bloc in the 2012 presidential election and you’re likely to get at least five — and maybe ten — different answers. But, new polling from Gallup suggests that it’s Catholics who could well be the best bellwether of whether President Obama or former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney will be elected president this November. Among Catholic registered voters, Obama and Romney each took 46 percent in 19 days worth of Gallup tracking... Read more
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