“In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences. To force American citizens to choose between violating their consciences and forgoing their healthcare is literally unconscionable.It is as much an attack on access to health care as on religious freedom. Historically this represents a challenge and a compromise of our religious liberty.” — Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, President of the USCCB, 20 January 2012 Read more. Read more
New Orleans Saints Owner Tom Benson and his wife, Gayle Benson have received from Pope Benedict XVI the highest papal award granted to a layperson. Details, from the New Orleans Clarion Herald: This special papal recognition was granted by the pope at the request of Oblate Bishop Michael Pfeifer, O.M.I., of the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas, who points out that he recommended the Bensons for this highest award for their long, constant and most outstanding generosity and service to the Missionary... Read more
This deacon candidate is due to be ordained later this year. And he’s found that some of the skills he’s developed in sports could be useful in ministry. From Arkansas Catholic: The similarities between John Hall III’s roles as an aspiring deacon and a basketball referee may not be immediately apparent to the layperson, but the 52-year-old Hall begs to differ. He said he finds a lot of similarities between heaven and hardwood. “I am called to be a peacemaker,”... Read more
A little piece of history being made: The bishops of Southern Africa have appointed Sister Hermenegild Makoro as the new Secretary- General of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference. She will replace Fr Vincent Brennan SMA who is to retire in March. Linda Bordoni spoke to Sr. Hermenegild by telephone and asked her about her background, how she views her appointment, and what issues are currently on the table in the SACBC. First of all, very modestly, she points out... Read more
From canon lawyer Ed Peters, one month into the Michael Voris/RealCatholicTV/Archdiocese of Detroit standoff: Canon 216 embraces “any undertaking” not just “any undertaking that seems to be heterodox”. Most of what Voris/RCTV produces would probably pass doctrinal muster, but that happy fact counts for little in the face of the undoubted canonical requirement to secure ecclesiastical permission before claiming the title “Catholic” for an undertaking. Consider: regardless of how safe an appliance actually is, a manufacturer mayn’t attach the UL... Read more
I mean: really? REALLY? We’ve reached the place where reality now is more ludicrous than satire. The Onion should just go out of business. Check this out: KSTU-TV in Utah reports that a new high school’s hope to call its team the Cougars was rejected because . . . wait for it . . . the Victorian-minded members of the school board thought it would be offensive to some middle-aged women. Read it and weep. Read more
Clearly, designed to go viral — so allow me to give it a little nudge. Those who remember this priceless spot from last year will recognize the theme: the Imperial March, a.k.a., Darth Vader’s Theme. But you’ve never heard it like this. Or seen it performed by dogs dressed as those iconic characters. Read more
Details, from the London Daily Mail: The parents of a seven-year-old boy with Down’s Syndrome have accused the Catholic Church of ‘cruel discrimination’ for refusing to allow him to take Holy Communion. Denum Ellarby attends a mainstream Roman Catholic primary school and his parents wanted him to join his classmates in the First Communion ceremony. But they claim their parish priest refused to consider him for the necessary preparation classes and was ‘abrupt’ when Denum’s mother Clare tried to discuss... Read more
It happened in the Archdiocese of New York. Details: The priest, the Rev. Casmir Manyonyi Mung’aho, 34, was ordained in May after graduating from St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers. He had not told his superiors that he had fathered a child in a consensual relationship with an adult woman, “which he certainly should have done,” Bishop Dominick J. Lagonegro, the regional bishop, told parishioners in a statement read at Mass on Jan. 7 and 8. Roman Catholic priests make promises... Read more
This is a great video about a priest who surfs: Fr. Don Calloway. But that’s just the beginning. He’s got a great story — and a great message. Curious for more? Check out his website. Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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