Update: Muslim CUA students slam Banzhaf

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

The Catholic University students are not pleased with the complaint filed by a lawyer, alleging discrimination, and made it clear in the student newspaper that they don’t support him: University Muslim students have announced their opposition to the recent lawsuit against the University proposed by George Washington University professor John F. Banzhaf, who claims that the University is discriminating against Muslim students by not offering them a separate place to pray on campus. The University has not received any official... Read more

Basketball legend, sportscaster and deacon dies

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

From the St. Louis Review: Basketball Hall of Famer, former sportscaster and pro-life advocate Deacon Ed Macauley, known as “Easy Ed,” died Nov. 8 at age 83. Deacon Macauley was best known as an All-American with St. Louis University and a pro player with the St. Louis Bombers, Boston Celtics and St. Louis Hawks. The St. Louis University High School grad also coached the Hawks for two seasons. He was ordained a permanent deacon of the archdiocese in 1989. He... Read more

On joining a convent: “You have to knock three times…”

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

The age of women who are attracted to religious life in Britain is getting younger, and Vanity Fair is taking a look at the phenomenon: For twenty-something women considering a life in a habit, it’s God’s honest truth: “Not everyone looks good in black.” So says Triona Adams, an effervescent former nun who, at 26, left her position with a successful London theatrical agency and joined an enclosed Benedictine order in Oxfordshire, England. The youngest at the convent by far—... Read more

Diocese still bidding for Crystal Cathedral

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

Evidently, the deal announced a couple weeks back isn’t a done deal. Details: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange has once again increased its offer to buy the Crystal Cathedral — by $1.8 million to $55.4 million. Alan Martin, an attorney representing the diocese, made the announcement about the cash offer Wednesday in a bankruptcy court hearing that focused on issues that may arise during Monday’s confirmation hearing. The diocese also promised to honor the legacy of Crystal Cathedral founder Robert... Read more

Want to play a game with the Blessed Mother?

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

A friend sent me the following flier for a “rosary game” app now available on iTunes. It’s not clear how, exactly, this works. But visit the app store for details and to purchase. Read more

Here come the Arab Christians

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

It’s a phenomenon that’s transforming more and more communities around the United States (shown above: St. Elias Maronite Church in Birmingham, AL). From the AP: Jordanian immigrants take Communion at an Arabic-language Mass in Albuquerque. Lebanese-Americans help raise nearly $2 million for major improvements to a West Virginia church. Iraqi refugees who practice an ancient religion that views John the Baptist as their teacher hold baptisms in a Massachusetts pond popular for rowing regattas. As war, the economy and persecution by Muslim extremists push Arab... Read more

“We need more deacons”

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

That’s the argument that Phyllis Zagano makes in her column in this week’s National Catholic Reporter, as she notes several dioceses that for one reason or another have suspended their formation programs: A while back, Cardinal Walter Kasper said bishops have two arms: the priesthood and the diaconate. But a few U.S. bishops have interrupted their diaconal formation programs and are not training new candidates during this academic year. Will there be others? Why now? Can we expect a cadre... Read more

Deacon Robert Jergovic update

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

Last week, I posted a prayer request for this remarkable man. Tonight, this comment was left at that post: The world lost an amazing man today. He has left this life in pursuit of our dreams. As his son, I appreciate everything and every prayer that was spoken or thought. I am flattered at how many people reached out to us during this tough time. I lost my father today but I gained both knowledge and faith seeing who he... Read more

RIP, Bil Keane

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

The legendary creator of the popular comic “Family Circus” — who never shied from bringing his Catholicism to the fore, as shown above — has gone to the great drawing board in the sky: For more than a half century, Bil Keane’s clever “Family Circus” comics entertained readers with a mix of humor and traditional family values, intentionally simplistic because the author thought the American public needed the consistency. Keane, who started drawing the one-panel cartoon featuring Billy, Jeffy, Dolly,... Read more

“Communion under both kinds is…encouraged and is expected to be the norm”

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

That’s the sentiment of Bishop Patrick McGrath of the Diocese of San Jose who, breaking with recent trends in other parts of the country, has issued a statement for his own diocese: In light of recent statements by the bishops of the Dioceses of Phoenix and Madison regarding the limited use of Holy Communion under both kinds, I would like to take this opportunity to clarify our normative practice in our own local Church. In the Diocese of San Jose,... Read more