Michigan Catholic newspaper to close

Last updated on: August 2, 2018 at 6:18 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Sad news, from The Detroit Free Press: The Michigan Catholic, one of the state’s oldest newspapers, is ceasing publication after nearly 150 years. The paper will be replaced later this year with a digital-only news website called the Detroit Catholic, Archdiocese of Detroit officials said. The last print edition will be Aug. 24. Mike Stechschulte, managing editor of The Michigan Catholic, said Wednesday in a letter on the newspaper’s website that circulation has steadily declined over the past two decades amid rising costs,... Read more

A priest’s open letter to McCarrick: ‘You had no right…’

Last updated on: August 1, 2018 at 7:50 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From Father Mark White—formerly of the Archdiocese of Washington but now in Richmond—via his blog Achilles and his Gold: Dear Father in God and brother priest, I stood holding the processional cross, right next to you, when you pressed the crucifix to your lips at the door of St. Matthew’s Cathedral. Then we all marched down the aisle, and you took possession of the episcopal throne, on January 3, 2001. You had no right. On behalf of the priests you... Read more

‘Unprecedented and stunning’: bishop orders names of accused clergy to be removed from buildings

Last updated on: August 1, 2018 at 12:12 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From PennLive.com: In an unprecedented and stunning move, the head of the Diocese of Harrisburg on Wednesday ordered the removal of all former diocesan bishops who over the decades failed to protect children from sexually predatory priests. Just weeks ahead of a bombshell report into clergy sex abuse in the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania, Bishop Ronald Gainer on Wednesday said that all names of bishops dating back to 1947 will be removed from buildings, halls and rooms. Gainer said “anyone... Read more

Why don’t more Americans go to church? It’s complicated.

Last updated on: August 1, 2018 at 10:14 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

From a new survey by Pew: In recent years, the percentage of U.S. adults who say they regularly attend religious services has been declining, while the share of Americans who attend only a few times a year, seldom or never has been growing. A new Pew Research Center survey finds that the main reason people regularly go to church, synagogue, mosque or another house of worship is an obvious one: to feel closer to God. But the things that keep people... Read more

‘We have to be radically open’: Baltimore’s ambitious plan for its basilica and its neighborhood

Last updated on: August 1, 2018 at 12:57 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

This sounds like a sensational idea. From The Catholic Review: Watching the heavy iron gates of the Baltimore Basilica swing shut at 4 p.m. every weekday makes Father James Boric profoundly uneasy. “There are so many people who need God and want peace and don’t know where to get it,” said Father Boric, who became rector of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Feb. 20. “We need to be a place people... Read more

An archbishop writes to his flock: ‘The bitter fruits of the sexual revolution continue to wreak havoc’

Last updated on: July 31, 2018 at 1:04 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City: In response to recent allegations regarding former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Archbishop Paul Coakley has issued a letter to the Catholic faithful, clergy and religious men and women, expressing his concern about the lack of reporting and action in the alleged incidents, and issuing a call for U.S. bishops to re-examine the standards and procedures for reporting abuse. His letter is below: Read more

Delaware priest attacked, doused with wine at rectory office

Last updated on: July 31, 2018 at 11:00 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details: Pastor William Graney and another Resurrection Parish staff member were assaulted on Monday at the Pike Creek Catholic church, according to New Castle County Police. County police officers were called to the church at about 2 p.m., according to a statement from the department. After arriving, witnesses directed the officers to a suspect who was leaving the area on a skateboard, police said. The officers approached the suspect, described as a 25-year-old white man, and apprehended him after a... Read more

Meet the ‘Rosary Runners’ of Alta Loma, California

Last updated on: July 31, 2018 at 9:11 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Now for something different, via The Inland Catholic Byte in the Diocese of San Bernardino: While you’re nestled in bed next Saturday morning thinking about coffee, parishioners of St. Peter and Paul in Alta Loma are lacing up their sneakers and thinking about prayer. These dedicated “Rosary Runners” gather each weekend to exercise both their bodies and their faith. “I get to be with God. I get to be with my friends. Everything about it is right,” says ministry leader... Read more

In a first, Catholic University rescinds honorary degree to McCarrick

Last updated on: July 30, 2018 at 8:57 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

The press release: On June 20, 2018 the Archdiocese of New York reported that it had received and investigated allegations that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick sexually abused a minor when he served as a priest of the Archdiocese some 40 years ago. The Archdiocese concluded that the allegations were “credible and substantiated.” The Archdiocese further reported that the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, at the direction of Pope Francis, had instructed Cardinal McCarrick no longer to exercise publicly his... Read more

Zumba, Led Zeppelin, fetish parties: what has happened to Montreal’s Catholic churches

Last updated on: July 30, 2018 at 9:35 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

From The New York Times: For generations, parishioners whispered their sins in the dark wooden confessional booths of Notre-Dame-du-Perpétuel-Secours, an imposing Roman Catholic church in Montreal. But on a recent day, the edgy Quebec comedian Sugar Sammy was being filmed inside one of the booths, the latest intimate celebrity confessional on the talk show “Y’a du monde à messe,” or “The Church Is Packed.” “I made a sex tape in order to be famous, because I thought it was the path... Read more