The hole in the floor: the burial of bishops in cathedrals

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:36 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

With Archbishop Philip Hannan’s funeral set for Thursday in New Orleans, the local paper looks at a venerable tradition surrounding the burial of bishops: After his funeral Mass, Hannan’s remains will be lowered into a crypt below the crimson carpet in the sanctuary in front of the altar, where he will lie alongside eight predecessors. Burying the honored dead within churches — or more accurately, building churches atop the remains of honored dead — is an ancient tradition, dating to... Read more

Happy October

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:36 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

It’s the month of the rosary – so, to kickstart the month, here’s a great video that was produced a couple years ago for young people. Read more

Andy Rooney: "I'm a writer who reads what he's written"

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:36 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

In his final commentary Sunday night, the celebrated grouch looked back at his 70-year career. Andy’s part of the last generation of journalists who genuinely cared about words, and who prided themselves first and foremost on being writers — not broadcasters or personalities, but writers. He’s an anachronism now: an analog man in a digital age, who actually typed on an Underwood. And he’s that rarity, someone in the public eye who spent his career actually saying what he... Read more

Is this the heart of Jesus?

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:36 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Maybe. It was discovered three years ago, but could signify a Eucharistic miracle in Poland. Details: Roman Catholics in Poland gathered Sunday for a special Mass celebrating what they see as a miracle: the appearance on a communion wafer of a dark spot that they are convinced is part of the heart of Jesus. The communion wafer in question developed a brown spot in 2008 after falling on the floor during a Mass in the eastern Polish town of Sokolka.... Read more

Good boy, Petey!

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:36 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Anyone up for hoops? Behold, a little game of one-on-one with a dog. Read more

Resurrection: the Catholic Church's comeback in Cuba

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:36 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Cuba’s Catholic Church is enjoying new popularity and influence — and TIME magazine examines why, and some of the challenges the Church is facing: Last November, it opened a new seminary — the first since Fidel Castro’s communist revolution all but shut down the church 50 years ago. In May, Cuba’s bishops finished brokering the release of 115 political prisoners. Though education is strictly the role of the regime, Catholic dioceses have been able to expand their training of teachers,... Read more

A new deacon reflects: “It’s almost indescribable.”

Last updated on: October 2, 2011 at 9:47 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

As we reported here last week, Toledo recently ordained nine new deacons. And a local paper chatted with one of them, Deacon John Walter (the third from the left above) who described his long formation and his “new line of work”: John F. Walter is a life-long resident of Seneca County and a retired farmer. He and his wife, Julie, have four children and 11 grandchildren. With his son and a grandson taking care of the family farm, he has... Read more

A new deacon reflects: "It's almost indescribable."

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 5:17 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Respect Life: "The Circle of Life"

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:37 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

One spring morning in 1998, my wife and I got up early and went down to 42nd St. and bought standing room to see this show, just a few weeks after it opened on Broadway. We wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Was it really that good? Well, yeah. And then some. The music began, the animals entered, and my jaw just dropped open. I didn’t stop grinning for the next five minutes. There was a... Read more

Whatcha readin'?

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:37 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Well, put it down and pick up something over at the Patheos Book Club! Elizabeth Scalia offers an introduction to what’s new this month: From today until October 15, the Patheos Book Club will be taking in-depth looks at three books, Father Robert Barron’s Catholicism: a Journey to the Heart of the Faith, Brandon Vogt’s The Church and New Media: Blogging Converts, Online Activists, and Bishops Who Tweet, and Richard J. Foster’s Sanctuary of the Soul; a Journey into Meditative... Read more