The Archbishop of New York made his remarks this morning on a New York radio show: Timothy M. Dolan, the Roman Catholic archbishop of New York, who has been a low-key presence during the debate over same-sex marriagein the state, called in to a capital radio talk show Friday morning to warn that the proposed legislation posed an “ominous threat” to society. Archbishop Dolan, who was in Seattle to preside over a meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said... Read more
Pixie dust, anyone? Here are the Fab Five (Disney fans know who THOSE are) for central Florida. Details, from Florida Catholic: It was a long journey of formation and a long drive into Orlando to celebrate the ordination to the diaconate for George and Kayette Ferraioli of St. John Neumann Parish. “We prayed on the way over,” said newly ordained Deacon George Ferraioli of the hour-plus trip from Lakeland to St. James Cathedral where the Mass was celebrated. “We talked... Read more
“As in the wake of Notre Dame’s invitation to President Obama, the message (George) Weigel and the like-minded are sending is clear: one’s position on abortion is the defining feature for faithful membership in the Roman Catholic Church. To link so imperiously authentic Catholicism with one’s attitude toward abortion, however, confines the fullness of discipleship. It encourages people to think, ‘I am against abortion; thus, I am a good Catholic.’ The position incites people to exalt viewpoints alone, and to... Read more
The changes received overwhelming approval, but not everyone is completely on board, according to CNS: Introducing the document to the bishops June 15, Bishop Cupich said the experiences of the past nine years have shown that “the charter works.” “The charter has served the church well,” he said. “It is a helpful tool as we keep our pledge to protect children, promote healing and rebuild trust.” The proposed revisions reflect changes in church law since the last revision in 2005,... Read more
Pixie dust, anyone? Here are the Fab Five (Disney fans know who THOSE are) for central Florida. Details, from Florida Catholic: It was a long journey of formation and a long drive into Orlando to celebrate the ordination to the diaconate for George and Kayette Ferraioli of St. John Neumann Parish. “We prayed on the way over,” said newly ordained Deacon George Ferraioli of the hour-plus trip from Lakeland to St. James Cathedral where the Mass was celebrated. “We talked... Read more
An unusual but potentially potent alliance has formed in recent weeks to try and keep New York from becoming the sixth state in the country to allow homosexual marriage. Details: Evangelicals, Jews and Catholics in the state are urgently mobilizing their communities to bring a stop to the legalization of gay marriage. Senators’ offices are being inundated with calls with the Senate expected to vote on the Marriage Equality Act Friday. “There is a reason marriage is between a man... Read more
Remember when priests never went anywhere without a breviary? Here’s the 21st century (Anglican) version, from the BBC: A parish priest is turning heads by using the latest technology to help communicate with his flock. Father David Matthews, who jokingly calls himself “Father Gadget”, uses an iPad for readings, prayers and music. The Church in Wales priest said the device also helped him to personalise services, particularly weddings, baptisms and funerals. His tech-savvy approach impressed guests at a recent wedding... Read more
By one measure, the answer appears to be: yes. Online queries about Catholicism have taken a measurable plunge over the last several years, as the graph below indicates (click to enlarge). CARA has details: Searchers from the United States for anything with the term “Catholic” in them have dropped significantly in the 2004 to 2011 period (e.g., Catholic school, Catholic Church, Catholic Charities). The graph above shows weekly search volumes in Google (which dominates the search industry)… …There is a clear and... Read more
Or maybe, word of the day: “It was simply inconceivable — in the Wallace Shawn sense of the word — that Corapi’s accuser was telling the truth.” — Max Lindenman, with his take on the Corapi news. If you don’t get the reference, see below. Read more
A controversial Anglican from Australia is now a happy Catholic: A former bishop who resigned from the Anglican church under a cloud has become a Catholic. Ross Davies resigned as bishop of the Murray last September, just before a church tribunal found he had failed to deal appropriately with sexual misconduct allegations against an archdeacon. The tribunal also found he displayed a lack of commitment to the Anglican church and used threatening and aggressive language towards parishioners. He had faced... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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