Below, the first picture of the new group, ordained last Saturday. Deacon Steve Swope writes: “This group brings us to 244 deacons in the Archdiocese. We still have 53 in formation too!” I’ll try to post names and more information as I get them. Congratulations, brothers! Ad multos annos! Photo: by Thomas Spink/Georgia Bulletin/Archdiocese of Atlanta. Read more
David Gibson of the Religion News Service has an interesting analysis of the contraception c ontroversy, from a moral theology perspective that most people have, as yet, failed to consider: When President Obama last week bowed to political reality and changed the rules on mandated contraception coverage, the White House was trying to find an elegant solution to a political conundrum. Under the revised plan, insurance companies — not faith-based institutions — would arrange for the coverage and pay for... Read more
A wide array of voices, from this morning’s New York Times: The near-unified front led by the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops to oppose a mandate for employers to cover birth control has now crumbled amid the compromise plan that the Obama administration offered last week to accommodate religious institutions. The leaders of several large Catholic organizations that work directly on poverty, health care and education have welcomed the president’s plan as a workable compromise that has the potential to protect... Read more
Below, the first picture of the new group, ordained last Saturday. Deacon Steve Swope writes: “This group brings us to 244 deacons in the Archdiocese. We still have 53 in formation too!” I’ll try to post names and more information as I get them. Congratulations, brothers! Ad multos annos! Photo: by Thomas Spink/Georgia Bulletin/Archdiocese of Atlanta. Read more
“I confess I no longer understand Obama. He did not go to the mat to end the Bush tax cuts for the super-rich. He did not go to the mat for comprehensive immigration reform. He did not go to the mat to close Guantanamo Bay. He did not go to the mat for Card Check. He did not go to the mat for a public option in the health care reform. But, he went to the mat over the principle... Read more
Olympic swimmer Matt Grevers proposes to his girlfriend Annie Chandler after winning the Missouri Grand Prix. Read more
Um, no. Surprised? The WaPo explains: Lydia McGrew questions whether 98 percent of Catholic women have actually used contraceptives, a figure that became ubiquitous in last week’s birth control debate. She parses the research behind the stat, which comes from a 2011 Guttmacher Institute study: The survey was limited to women between 15-44. Ah, well, that explains how we weren’t including the elderly, but it also means that the silly “percent of all Catholic women” thing should be chucked out... Read more
You have to go to school now to learn?? Details: Looking for a wild-and-crazy time at college? Don’t sign up for Justin McDaniel’s religious studies class. The associate professor’s course on monastic life and asceticism gives students at the University of Pennsylvania a firsthand experience of what it’s like to be a monk. At various periods during the semester, students must forego technology, coffee, physical human contact and certain foods. They’ll also have to wake up at 5 a.m. without... Read more
The Detroit Free Press has a lengthy profile of the controversial televangelist: As a Catholic TV station based in Ferndale becomes increasingly popular around the world, church officials are trying to tell the public that the media outlet does not represent Catholicism. In two public statements, the Archdiocese of Detroit has taken the unusual step of publicly criticizing Real Catholic TV, saying “that it does not have the authorization required under church law to identify or promote itself as Catholic.”... Read more
The following comment was posted on an earlier thread, from Mark: You might have noticed I have had a number of posts in the last hour or so. I lost my partner this afternoon, the love of my life, my Greta. I am mad as hell about losing her and remember the many battles she waged to try to end abortion and it makes me mad to see Catholics defending this guy and his party of death. I would love... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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