The Deacon's Bench
Least surprising headline of the year (so far): Maria Shriver files for divorce. Read more
Least surprising headline of the year (so far): Maria Shriver files for divorce. Read more
And a New Yorker, too! The sainthood cause of Blessed Marianne Cope of Molokai has taken a significant step forward with a Vatican medical board ruling in favor of a miracle attributed to her intercession. Details, from CNS: According to a news release from her religious community, the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities in Syracuse, N.Y., the seven physicians at the Vatican Congregation for Saints’ Causes declared there is no medical explanation for the cure of a... Read more
If you leave St. Patrick’s Cathedral by the front door, on Fifth Avenue, you can’t help but be jolted by the figure greeting you as you leave. It’s Atlas: a mammoth, four story high statue of the Greek titan, cast in bronze, his arms spread wide has he carries the universe on his back. He was created by artist Lew Lawrie in 1937. It’s the largest sculpture in Rockefeller Center – bigger, even, than Prometheus, down by the skating rink. ... Read more
The sad story of Kansas City just seems to get worse. Details: The Kansas City Catholic Diocese is defending itself against a groundbreaking lawsuit involving the alleged distribution of child pornography. The attorney representing a family suing the Kansas City Catholic Diocese says this is the first time that someone has sued the Catholic Church for violating federal child pornography laws. “The (federal) law has pretty severe penalties for anyone who holds or views or otherwise distributes any kind of... Read more
If you leave St. Patrick’s Cathedral by the front door, on Fifth Avenue, you can’t help but be jolted by the figure greeting you as you leave. It’s Atlas: a mammoth, four story high statue of the Greek titan, cast in bronze, his arms spread wide has he carries the universe on his back. He was created by artist Lew Lawrie in 1937. It’s the largest sculpture in Rockefeller Center – bigger, even, than Prometheus, down by the skating rink. ... Read more
Close calls don’t get much closer than this. Read more
The new Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Angelo Scola, automatically leaps to the top of the list. NCR’s John Allen has a very good overview of the man he calls the “new Crown Prince of Catholicism”: Among insiders, he was already considered an ecclesial heavyweight and top-tier future prospect. Yet Milan is, well, sui generis. It’s one of a handful of pace-setter dioceses, such as Paris or Westminster or New York, whose occupant automatically is a worldwide point of reference. It’s... Read more
In fact, she entered the same day that Joseph Ratzinger was born. Details, from ZENIT: She entered the Cistercian Buenafuente del Sistal Convent the day that Joseph Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI) was born, and today Sister Teresa is 103 years old and the world’s record holder for having lived the longest as a cloistered nun. After 84 years as a cloistered nun, Sister Teresa says that the greatest gift she has received has been prayer: “Without it, one cannot sustain... Read more
A good dissection of marriage can be found right here by Dick Houck, of the Catholic Defense League (not to be confused, evidently, with the Catholic League): Man and woman naturally complement each other physically, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. They were made to give themselves completely and fully to each other, for the two to become one. Marriage is merely one man and one woman making a complete and total gift of self to the other, for the rest of... Read more
How’s this for a Rocky Mountain High? Details: The Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception was filled with family, friends and clergy on June 25 to witness the ordination of eight men to the diaconate. Seven of the men—Matthew Archer, Charles Hahn, Steven Hinkle, Timothy Kelly, Jerome Kraft, Christopher Pomrening and Johnie Riviera—were ordained to serve the Archdiocese of Denver. One of the men—Colin Coleman—was ordained for the Community of the Beatitudes, a Catholic community that includes consecrated and lay... Read more
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