The Deacon's Bench
This is sweeping the Internets, so here it is, for those who might have missed it. What happens when a little girl who knows how to work an iPad encounters a print magazine? Read more
This is sweeping the Internets, so here it is, for those who might have missed it. What happens when a little girl who knows how to work an iPad encounters a print magazine? Read more
I found this unexpectedly moving: an unabashed statement of faith and hope addressed directly to God. Read more
Details, from Bishop Robert Lynch’s own blog: Saturday morning at the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle, six new men were added to the rolls of permanent deacons of the Diocese of St. Petersburg. Joined by their wives, children, grandchildren, family and friends, these new deacons completed their four years of preparation and presented themselves to the assembly for ordination. Promising “obedience and respect to me and my successors” the candidates lay prostrate on the floor of the sanctuary as... Read more
Just what you’d expect. Read more
For the last several days, we’ve been hearing a lot about the demonstrations being staged in lower Manhattan and around the country: Occupy (Fill in the Blank) – Occupy Wall Street, Los Angeles, Washington…thousands of people taking to the streets to express their frustration over the economy and anger at Wall Street. It remains to be seen how far the protests will go, or how long they’ll last. It’s unclear if they’ll even have any impact. But the protests have... Read more
Details, from Bishop Robert Lynch’s own blog: Saturday morning at the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle, six new men were added to the rolls of permanent deacons of the Diocese of St. Petersburg. Joined by their wives, children, grandchildren, family and friends, these new deacons completed their four years of preparation and presented themselves to the assembly for ordination. Promising “obedience and respect to me and my successors” the candidates lay prostrate on the floor of the sanctuary as... Read more
For the last several days, we’ve been hearing a lot about the demonstrations being staged in lower Manhattan and around the country: Occupy (Fill in the Blank) – Occupy Wall Street, Los Angeles, Washington…thousands of people taking to the streets to express their frustration over the economy and anger at Wall Street. It remains to be seen how far the protests will go, or how long they’ll last. It’s unclear if they’ll even have any impact. But the protests have... Read more
With the anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council this week, Matthew Cantirino over at First Things takes note of something I often mention — a great success story of the Council, the restoration of the diaconate as a permanent order: The restoration of the permanent diaconate to the Western church …must rank as one of the council’s more under-appreciated moves, perhaps because it has been largely free of controversy. Yet it was a major change in its... Read more
One of the bishops who worked on that landmark document explains why it was not rewritten this year: Four years after the bishops’ overwhelming approval of their teaching document “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” key leaders of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops did not feel that they needed to reinvent the wheel. The document highlighting issues that should be considered by Catholics as they make election-year decisions “was well worked out in 2007,” said Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of... Read more
Well, wouldn’t you know it: one of the biggest news days in the Catholic Church in America, full of head-scratching surprises, and I’m tied up doing Other Stuff. The Other Stuff included being part of a panel on social media at the USCCB headquarters on Washington, in a massive meeting room that is clearly designed to inspire awe and no small amount of stage fright. Thankfully, the presentation went smoothly, despite me, and I was lucky to be in the... Read more
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