State agency in India calls for sacrament of confession to be abolished

Last updated on: July 27, 2018 at 9:34 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details: An Indian federal agency has proposed abolishing the sacrament of confession on grounds that Christian priests misuse it to blackmail and target women, but church officials believe the plan is unnecessary interference in religious affairs. The National Commission for Women, a body that protects women’s interests, has also proposed a federal inquiry into two cases of rape and sexual assault involving clergy of two Christian churches in Kerala, media reports said. “The priests pressure women into telling their secrets... Read more

Ohio woman ‘deacon’ refused Communion at Mass

Last updated on: July 26, 2018 at 7:45 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From NCR: When Kathleen O’Connell Sauline came forward for Communion at St. Luke Parish in Boardman, Ohio, the priest placed a cloth over the bread and said he could not give her the Eucharist. Likewise, a deacon refused to give her the consecrated wine from the chalice. The longtime parishioner and parish volunteer had been expecting it. Eight days earlier, Sauline had been ordained a deacon through the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, which is part of the international... Read more

Was this teenager denied communion for being transgender?

Last updated on: July 26, 2018 at 11:40 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

That’s a question I haven’t heard before. But it’s being asked in Charlotte, North Carolina, according to the Charlotte Observer: Lilliana Redd’s daughter, who is transgender, was refused Communion during a Sunday Mass this month at St. Vincent de Paul, one of Charlotte’s more conservative Catholic churches. Nobody disputes that it happened. But Redd and the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte do disagree on why 15-year-old Maxine Arbelo — nicknamed Max — was turned away by a Eucharistic minister at the... Read more

Why does Mary weep?

Last updated on: July 26, 2018 at 10:55 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Here’s a powerful reflection on mystery, miracles and McCarrick — tied to the story of a statue of Mary weeping oil, from Elizabeth Scalia. She concludes: If Our Lady is weeping an oil so powerfully associated with the priesthood and the sacraments, it touches on the whole ecclesiology of the Church. Thus, it should be considered in light of the beyond-troubling headlines concerning powerful “princes” of the Church”—the men who use that oil, in persona Christi, to claim us for Christ,... Read more

Vandal breaks into landmark Los Angeles church where Cardinal Mahony now worships

Last updated on: July 26, 2018 at 9:03 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

From The Los Angeles Times: The interior of one of Los Angeles’ best known Catholic churches was badly damaged by a vandal who broke into the building Wednesday morning and caused more than $100,000 in damage, police said. The perpetrator also set fire to trash bins along Moorpark Street, damaged two cars and scrawled graffiti on a Chase Bank building. The perpetrator used a pole to smash a window to enter St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church at 10800 Moorpark St.... Read more

When a son vests his father at his ordination

Last updated on: July 26, 2018 at 6:28 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

From The New Orleans Advocate: It was a sunny Saturday afternoon in June when a rare father-and-son moment took place inside the sacred walls of St. Louis Cathedral. Martin Gutierrez, along with 21 other men, was ordained as a permanent deacon in the Catholic Church by New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond. The June 23 service included a “vesting” ceremony, a rite of ordination for permanent deacons, transitional deacons and priests in which a cleric selected by the ordinee presents the... Read more

Signs of NOLA

Last updated on: July 25, 2018 at 11:41 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

As I sit in the Delta Sky Club and wait for our flight home, I thought I’d toss out a few more images from our memorable and richly blessed visit to the National Diaconate Congress. Looking over my snapshots, I realized I took a lot of pictures of signs. I liked this big one in our hotel — with its nod to a familiar New Orleans anthem — saluting the city’s 300th birthday. Like most tourist cities, New Orleans doesn’t... Read more

Bishop quits Twitter, calling it ‘an occasion for sin’

Last updated on: July 25, 2018 at 12:05 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details: The leader of Rhode Island’s Roman Catholics deleted his Twitter account on Monday. Diocese of Providence Bishop Thomas J Tobin called the social media platform a major distraction, in what he wrote was his final tweet, shared on Monday. Tobin also called it an obstacle to his spiritual life and an ‘occasion of sin’ for himself and others. Some background: On July 19, after the latest revelations of sexual abuse by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the retired Archbishop of Washington, he... Read more

What I saw at the 2018 National Diaconate Congress

Last updated on: July 24, 2018 at 5:42 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

It’s only Tuesday, but already I can report: this has been phenomenal. The sense of collegiality, fraternity, mission and joy is palpable — and it’s been wonderful to rub elbows with so many great folks from so many different corners of the country. (And even from outside the country: John Donaghy is here from Honduras, and I also met a deacon and his wife from England!) The main events are all happening at the Marriott on Canal Street, just a... Read more

USCCB releases a new book on Pope Francis’s vision of deacons

Last updated on: July 25, 2018 at 7:34 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

I’m here at the National Diaconate Congress in New Orleans this week—more on that to come!—and was pleased to discover this announcement yesterday: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is making available a new book titled, “Pope Francis, Deacons: Servants of Charity.” Written through the eyes of a deacon, this study of the permanent diaconate discerns who deacons are in relation to the Church and the service that flows from their interior character as ordained ministers, preachers of the... Read more