…is right here: this hilarious tribute to self-awareness, “Am I A Man or A Muppet?” from “The Muppets.” If Mother Dolores Hart didn’t have her moment on the Oscar stage, I’m glad that the Muppets did. And I was cheered to hear the composer thank the late, great Jim Henson. Read more
Hollywood’s most famous nun since Julie Andrews returned to her old stomping grounds last night: It wasn’t hard to spot Elvis Presley’s old co-star on the Oscars red carpet. She was the one wearing the nun’s habit. Mother Dolores Hart, who left Hollywood 49 years ago to pursue a religious life, made a dramatic return Sunday to take part in the 84th annual Academy Awards ceremony. The Oscar-nominated documentary short film “God Is the Bigger Elvis,” tells the 73-year-old nun’s... Read more
It’s something the pope himself has said needs a closer look. And now a leading theologian is adding his voice to those calling for “re-evaluation.” Details: At the seminar in Salzburg by Austrian Catholic Action, the German theologian Eberhard Schockenhoff, a professor of moral theology at the University of Freiburg, has launched an appeal for a “theological re-evaluation ” of divorced and remarried persons and a new way to interact with them by the Church. According to Schockenhoff, the Catholic... Read more
The new cardinal of New York gave a stemwinder of a homily Saturday night — repurposing some material from the homily we’d heard on Thursday — and it’s just too good not to share. Looking for something to kickstart your Lent? Take 20 minutes and watch one of the greatest preachers in the American church. H/T to Rocco. Read more
“I don’t believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute. The idea that the church can have no influence or no involvement in the operation of the state is absolutely antithetical to the objectives and vision of our country. This is the First Amendment. The First Amendment says the free exercise of religion. That means bringing everybody, people of faith and no faith, into the public square. (John) Kennedy for the first time articulated the... Read more
Yep. J. Wilson did exactly that last year, and reflects on what the experience taught him: About this time last year, I set off down a path that hadn’t been traveled for centuries. I fasted on beer and water for the duration of Lent. While that sounds like a frat boy stunt, my “Diary of a Part-Time Monk” project was actually rooted in the Catholic Church, though that’s not what brought me to the idea. A homebrewer and certified beer... Read more
The Archdiocese of Omaha will start the ball rolling next month to have Father Edward J. Flanagan declared a saint. Details: Flanagan dedicated much of his life to ministering to orphans and troubled youth, and is best remembered for establishing in 1917 the Omaha orphanage Father Flanagan’s Boys Home. The archdiocese will formally open the canonization process — which is often lengthy — with a March 17 prayer service at Boys Town’s Immaculate Conception Church. Flanagan, who died in 1948,... Read more
Need a little help this Lent? Look no further than your smartphone: We’re a few days into the Lent 2012 season and what a better way to have an excuse tonot give up your iPhone and iPad than collecting a few apps that help, encourage, motivate, and inspire you to give up something else during this time. Here’s a few apps we think think will do just that. Check the link for a full list — including, first and foremost,... Read more
Anyone asking that question clearly doesn’t know about Dolores Hart — Hollywood starlet who left the movies to become a cloistered Benedictine nun in the early 1960s. Now her story has been made into an acclaimed documentary called “God Is Bigger Than Elvis,” which is up for an Oscar. And Dolores Hart — now known as Mother Dolores — will be at the Academy Awards tomorrow night, walking the red carpet in her habit. A decade ago, “20/20″‘s Bob Brown... Read more
In tribute to New York’s new Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the city’s other new landmark — the soon-to-be-finished One World Trade Center — is wearing red. (Take that, Empire State Building…) A tip of the red biretta to Rocco for the snapshot. Read more about it here. Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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