“We have reached the point that just about anything goes. We keep making appeals to our people, but it doesn’t seem that anyone is paying much attention. … Some of the ladies, well, you just have to wonder if they looked in a mirror before coming to church. I often ask people this question: ‘Would you dress like that if you were going to meet the queen of England?’ Of course, they always say, ‘No, of course not.’ Then I... Read more
A remarkable glimpse into a world few of us see, courtesy the Chicago Tribune: Every year, first-year medical students grapple with gross anatomy, approaching their first human dissection with a mixture of anticipation, anxiety or sheer dread. On Monday, 150 students at Loyola University Chicago‘s Stritch School of Medicine approached their task with reverence, reciting prayers and bowing their heads as a Roman Catholic priest offered a blessing over the 18 shrouded cadavers — silent teachers who would guide the... Read more
The Archbishop of Denver said his final mass last night — and the celebration included a processional that featured the thundering rhythm of Native American drummers. Details: Archbishop Charles Chaput said his goodbyes Sunday night to a flock that filled the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. He summoned people in from the foyer to fill the aisles and sit at the steps of the sanctuary and warned them that he might preach for an hour. “Instead of saying goodbye,” he... Read more
New York City, 29 August 2011, 1 pm. Went for a walk during lunch, and snapped this with my cell phone about two blocks from my office. Read more
I never knew that the theme song of my favorite sitcom is actually longer than 30 seconds. Until now. Thanks to the God Googler, Mike Hayes, here’s the whole thing — and a peppy little video, to boot! Read more
A man inspects bloodstained copies of the Koran a day after a blast occurred inside Umm al-Qura mosque in Baghdad’s Ghazaliya district August 29, 2011. Details: A suicide bomber posing as a beggar detonated his explosives inside a major Baghdad Sunni mosque on Sunday, killing at least 24 people, including an Iraqi lawmaker, just as they finished evening prayers, hospital and local officials said. The bomber wearing a cast on his arm blew himself up in the main hall of... Read more
The news being reported this morning is pretty remarkable: Weeks after Indiana began the nation’s broadest school voucher program, thousands of students have transferred from public to private schools, causing a spike in enrollment at some Catholic institutions that were recently on the brink of closing. It is a scenario public school advocates have long feared: Students fleeing local districts in large numbers, taking with them vital tax dollars that often end up at parochial schools. Opponents say the practice... Read more
What does a priest do if he wants to build a church, but no one will let him? In Russia, one priest found a unique answer: an inflatable chapel. Details: It is the idea of the Catholic parish priest of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsk, Father Krzysztof Kowal, who having failed to obtain permits and funding to build a place of worship has availed of this sort of “ploy”. The initiative was proposed to him by a long-time friend in Poland who builds inflatable... Read more
A blogger took issue with this post, and offered her thoughts: Deacons have their place but they are not an alter Christus. They are not intended to be a substitute for the priesthood. Yes, yes, yes, I know that the Church allows permanent deacons to preside at weddings, baptisms and funeral home services but most people look at the diaconate and just see nice old men who do all the scut work so that the priest has more time to devote to the sacraments. Other people are quite frank about... Read more
That seems to be the argument put forth by some members of the Church, who are evidently affiliated with SSPX, and it gained some attention this weekend in the Chicago Tribune: Some people believe the world revolves around them — and their belief is born not of selfishness but of faith. A few conservative Roman Catholics are pointing to a dozen Bible verses and the church’s original teachings as proof that Earth is the center of the universe, the view... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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