Let the fire fall: a new iPhone app may help

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:35 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

How about a little digital evangelization that can — almost literally — spark your spirit? Check this out: Catholics now have a sure-fire way to know when their religious fervor needs some rekindling. A new iPhone application gaining popularity across the country tracks users’ religious activity — everything from reading Scriptures to posting prayers — and reflects it in the flame of a virtual candle tied to the app that grows larger and brighter with every completed task. Stray from... Read more

Nun spared jail time for gambling, embezzlement

Last updated on: July 11, 2018 at 1:01 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

And it nearly landed her in jail. Details: Sister Marie Thornton gambled her life away playing the one-armed bandits in Atlantic City, losing nearly $1 million she pilfered from the coffers of upstate Iona College, where she worked as a trusted financial officer. Sister Susie, as she is known, was spared three years in federal prison by a compassionate Judge Kimba Wood in Manhattan Tuesday, after pleading guilty to one count of embezzlement. But the 65-year-old nun has been sentenced... Read more

Another way to Occupy Wall Street: meet the Sisters of St. Francis

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:35 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

They’re finally getting their due, in the pages of the New York Times: Not long ago, an unusual visitor arrived at the sleek headquarters of Goldman Sachs in Lower Manhattan. It wasn’t some C.E.O., or a pol from Athens or Washington, or even a sign-waving occupier from Zuccotti Park. It was Sister Nora Nash of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. And the slight, soft-spoken nun had a few not-so-humble suggestions for the world’s most powerful investment bank. Way... Read more

Three become one: historic merger of seminaries in New York

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:35 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

This ambitious move has been in the works for many months, but yesterday it became a reality. From the In My Backyard Desk (with a cheerful diaconal bow in the direction of The Anchoress): Archbishop Dolan and his brother bishops of the Diocese of Brooklyn and the Diocese of Rockville Centre Nov. 10 jointly signed a joint operating agreement creating a single program of priestly formation for their three dioceses at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie beginning in September 2012.... Read more

Dolan meets privately with Obama

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:35 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

I had gotten wind of this earlier in the week, but this is the first I’ve seen it in print: President Obama met quietly with New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan Nov. 8, the White House has confirmed. Dolan is the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The men discussed a range of issues related to the often complicated and recently fractious relationship between the administration and the U.S. church hierarchy. A spokesperson for the USCCB declined to confirm... Read more

Doing a 180: Phoenix reverses communion decision

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:35 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

A surprising change of course, reported in the Arizona Republic: Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix has backed away from his ban on using consecrated wine for Communion at most Masses, a decision that was originally met with widespread outcry. In an explanation of his decision in a letter to the priests of the diocese, Olmsted apologized for his own misunderstanding of church documents, including new guidelines and translations for the Catholic Mass, and for any confusion arising from his... Read more

Medical study discovers a powerful anti-depressant: church

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:35 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

It’s something a lot of us have known for a while, but now there’s scientific proof of a connection: People who go to religious services routinely are 56% more likely to view life positively and 27% less likely to have symptoms of depression, researchers from Yeshiva University reported in the Journal of Religion and Health. The authors added that those who attend services every week tend to be less cynical too. The researchers based their study on the “Women’s Health... Read more

The Christians of Occupy Wall Street

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:35 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Some Christians are making their voices heard in the Occupy Wall Street protest in New York, and the New York Times spoke with some of them: At Occupy Wall Street and the allied events, there are police officers in the symbolic 99 percent, wearing uniforms. There are self-proclaimed mothers in the 99 percent. There are Marines. There are Muslims and Jews, yoginis and puppeteers. Sometimes they proclaim their tribes on signs in protest-movement Magic Marker; other times their meaningful headgear... Read more

Waiting for Christmas

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:35 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

A British department store has come up with a sweet commercial for the Christmas season (and, in fact, Advent) that will resonate with anyone who has ever been 8 years old. Read more

Catholic college sues HHS over contraception mandate

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:35 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

The college is arguing — correctly — that the requirement to give out contraceptives violates its religious beliefs. Details: Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, N.C., said Thursday (Nov. 10) that the mandate, ordered in the health care bill passed last year, is unconstitutional because it violates the school’s freedoms of religion and speech. Hannah Smith, senior legal counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which filed the suit on behalf of Belmont Abbey, said: “This is much worse than... Read more